Your day's wildlife

[albal]

Mandarin the highlight of last weekends walk. Others spotted : Goldeneye Great black backed gull Mediterranean gull little grebe turnstone greylag goose gc grebe oystercatcher Brent goose

 

[Dirk]

Came across a small Slow Worm sunning itself on Baggy Point, North Devon this morning.

 

[Poacher]

As promised, some pics from Madeira: no idea what species this is, but a rather attractive (IMO) moff:

A Ruddy Turnstone

As promised, the biggest, darkest Madeiran lizard I've ever seen (most are light brown, with longitudinal beige stripes)

A very proud-looking Canary

Two specially for @potsy : a Little Egret and a Grey Wagtail

On islands, isolated species develop very differently from their mainland ancestors. I think this must be some kind of pigeon....

Actually, Madeira does have its own endemic pigeon species, the Trocaz Pigeon, which I've seen, fleetingly, on previous visits, but it's a bugger to photograph, and for various reasons, including the difficulty of of rousing Mrs Poacher before about 8:30 in time to catch a bus to the north of the island, I didn't even get to the relevant areas on this holiday. Here's a distant shot of a female Kestrel around the grounds of the hotel complex.

Followed by a bird which is probably a first for this thread, a Berthelot's Pipit (endemic to Macaronesia)

and finally, a sunbathing crab of some kind

Happy New Year everyone!

 

[Salar]

I found this little character wandering around in my office, think I've woken her up.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I saw a fox this morning near the space centre. First one I have seen for a long long time.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I saw a fox this morning near the space centre. First one I have seen for a long long time.

We get foxes all the time, night or day. But I did manage to see a kingfisher and a fox at the same time in pretty much the same place. I'm going back at low tide tomorrow for the kingfisher.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

We get foxes all the time, night or day. But I did manage to see a kingfisher and a fox at the same time in pretty much the same place. I'm going back at low tide tomorrow for the kingfisher.

We used to see them pretty much every day, but for whatever reason a couple of years ago they all seemed to disappear.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Deptford at low tide. I saw this one yesterday but didn't have a camera with me so I returned today.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

[QUOTE 5500300, member: 9609"]its always a joy to see a Kingfisher, for the first time in my life I seen one catch a fish a few weeks ago - i was watch it sat on a branch like yours, then it suddenly dived into the water then reappeared back on the branch with a little fish, she twizzled it about in her beak then swallowed it head first.

What sort of environment did you see yours in ? I so often see them in the most unlikely places like little streams under busy road bridges - yiy certainly don't have to be in remote tranquil places[/QUOTE]
You're right about the environment - it's in Deptford, only a few hundred miles from the A2, in a narrow park that's sandwiched between the Docklands Light Railway and an A road. I have seen them right down by the mouth of the river Thames but over the last couple of days I've not seen it go that far - it's gone to the downstream end of the park, then returned to the same perch before flying back upstream. To see them in what counts as inner city London adds to the pleasure because it seems such an unlikely place, and the river has a few fairly long tunnel stretches that they must have learned to navigate.

 

[booze and cake]

@deptfordmarmoset wow the kingfisher spot is a surprise, I've never seen one in London, well not a real one, only street art ones

I got the same sense of shock and delight when I saw a seal sunbathing on the banks of the Thames last year, I did not expect to see a seal in central London when I set of for a bike ride that day, seeing things where you least expect makes it extra special.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

@deptfordmarmoset wow the kingfisher spot is a surprise, I've never seen one in London, well not a real one, only street art ones

I got the same sense of shock and delight when I saw a seal sunbathing on the banks of the Thames last year, I did not expect to see a seal in central London when I set of for a bike ride that day, seeing things where you least expect makes it extra special.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I've been there 3 times since last Friday, around late morning/midday and each time I've seen it. I only wish I had a proper camera because it's at the limit of my compact's range. If there's anyone local with a decent camera lens, I'd be happy to show them its favourite perch in the park.

 

[philk56]

I'm back in Perth for a few weeks and there is a colony of Rainbow Bee-eaters that migrate down here for the summer to breed. They nest in tunnels in the ground and return to the same spots every year. The area is well signposted to avoid the nests but apart from that is busy with families and dog walkers but the bee-eaters don't seem at all bothered - they just go about their normal business.

 

[Illaveago]

A regular sighting almost daily now alongside the A1M as I drive home, Buzzard.
As I join from the A14 theres a wide section of grass and I will often see one on the grass, searching for worms, small mammals, roadkill perhaps. Then the same a few miles further north near Peterborough.
At each location, you'll often see one sat on a fence post, light crescent patch clearly visible on their chests.

No biggie really but go back 20 years, you NEVER saw buzzards round here.

Around here they seem to like sitting in Oak trees and can be easily spotted perched on the end of a branch.

 

[Illaveago]

I saw two Robins having a bit of a tiff on my garage roof this morning.