Your day's wildlife

[i hate hills]

On my ride today i saw some sheep a rather pissed off looking bull and a red squirrel . Remeber kids red = good / grey +evil .

 

[MikeG]

Don't worry about the greys. Pine martens will spread across the country soon and deal with the problem. They catch the greys easily, but the reds are light enough to sit on weak branches that the martens can't access. There are people asking for licenses to re-introduce them into areas they haven't been seen for a couple of centuries.

Anyway, we were watching "our" barn owl yesterday as it hunted across the set set aside rough grassland across the lane from us, when it was mobbed by 3 crows. Its answer was to go and sit on the ground, so the crows sat down there with it, surrounding it. It was quite a worrying moment, as crows have a pretty fearsome set of armoury and are much bigger than the owl. They all took off again, and they chased the owl across 2 fields before I lost sight of them all. I hope everything is OK, as we're getting pretty used to having the owl around these days.

 

[jongooligan]

Midday! Wow. It must be hungry. I guess opportunities to hunt have been limited lately.

I've seen this type of behaviour too. I guess that as the days get longer and chicks get more demanding they just can't catch enough food in the darker hours.

 

[albal]

Is that a spotted redshank top right, next to the avocet? Great pics btw

I had a few hours to spare in Portsmouth yesterday, an opportunity for a walk around Farlington Marshes. There was a lot of rain about but it cleared at the right time. No great rarities that I could see, not that I'm a great expert! But the light was good and the birds were sitting nicely for my trusty SX50:

View attachment 399457

 

[Illaveago]

On the way down to Salisbury from Stonehenge the other day I saw a Partridge , sadly it was road kill. A bit further on we saw a couple of Hares.

 

[potsy]

Just now, in a brief flurry of snow.

 

[Illaveago]

I just saw a Little Egret flying over our garden. It's the first time I've seen one around here .

 

[potsy]

Nipped out for a walk earlier...

 

[chriswoody]

Well no photo alas, though I did try! However, cycling home from work tonight along a well used path when I noticed some movement to the side in amongst the trees. There, no more than 3 metres from the path, was a Buzzard snacking on a dead rabbit. Quite amazing to watch, he was quite unperturbed by the cyclists going past, but as I attempted to get my phone out for a snap he looked up and flew off. I've seen wild Buzzards close before, but never like this.

 

[gbb]

2 Red Kite dead overhead my mums house, just rooftop height, being mobbed by a couple of crows. So close I could see the Kite twist his neck/head sideways snapping at one crow.
I told mum when I went in, dad would have been ecstatic had he been alive, he never saw one despite being a lifelong outdoor man and nature lover...sadly he went blind around the time they began to establish themselves here.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

2 Male Brimstone Butterflies on today’s Audax. Another ‘brown’ but I didn’t see it well enough. Likely to be a leaf for all I know. It’s official then with Brimstones being the real harbingers of spring and all that.

 

[Glow worm]

Saw the first sand martins (3 in total) of the year this afternoon at a nature reserve near Ely. Also a great white egret, marsh harrier and heard the first chiffchaffs singing in the sunshine too. Really pleased I chose that destination for today's ride.

 

[Katherine]

I saw a pair of Great Crested Grebe doing their elaborate courtship display on the Manchester Ship Canal today, as I was approaching the path over Irlam Locks. I think that's the first time I have seen any.
I stopped to get my phone out but they moved away when some a young family passed behind me.

 

[nickyboy]

Is that a spotted redshank top right, next to the avocet? Great pics btw

It's a Common Redshank. They're hard to tell apartin winter plumage. However, Common Redshank's base of bill is all red. Spotted Redshank's base of bill only the lower mandible is red. If you look closely both mandibles are red..hence Common

 

[Illaveago]

Did the birds know the clocks went forward yesterday as we had Buzzards soaring above, we even had a pair of Crows doing aerobatics diving and weaving around . Later on in the afternoon all of the birds were singing.