Your day's wildlife

[Maverick Goose]

We have lots of buzzards, and some red kites. Squirrels are a bit of a nuisance at the moment, and we have more rabbits this year than I have seen in the whole of the previous 4 years. Disease keeps wiping them out usually.

A rabbit would just be like a canape for a hungry dragon...

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Yesterday morning, a dipper as I walked to the supermarket.
Yesterday afternoon, 4 red legged partridge hurrying up the road in front of me as I rode uphill.

 

[Maverick Goose]

An Egret today in a rainswept field near Abbotsbury.

 

[gbb]

Red Kite, a rather large one this morning over the industrial estate nearby,

 

[nickyboy]

..or guesswork?

I have a lot of trouble spotting hobbies and merlins.

Where you live Winter = merlin Summer = hobby. Should be very little overlap

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Saw two buzzards circling, looking for food, neither of them calling.
Then I saw a bird, obviously one of prey which was black on top virtually all over and brown underneath. Smaller than a buzzard. It flew low over a field, with a Vulcan bomber wing shape and landed on a tree and then pounced on something but I didn't see it fly off.

Any ideas what it could be?

 

[nickyboy]

Saw two buzzards circling, looking for food, neither of them calling.
Then I saw a bird, obviously one of prey which was black on top virtually all over and brown underneath. Smaller than a buzzard. It flew low over a field, with a Vulcan bomber wing shape and landed on a tree and then pounced on something but I didn't see it fly off.

Any ideas what it could be?

Assuming it is a bird of prey, behaviour and description would suggest kestrel (their upper parts can appear surprisingly dark. Alternative would be peregrine which is considerably rarer, behaviour doesn't really fit very well but have very dark upper parts in certain light. Kestrel is about wood pigeon size, peregrine considerably bigger, but still smaller than a buzzard

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Thanks @nickyboy. I thought about kestrel but as you say the behaviour didn't really fit, that and the bird being very dark, but I'll go with kestrel, it's the likeliest I guess.

 

[Chromatic]

Saw a Stonechat Saturday morning.

 

[Fnaar]

Pair of cormorants, taken this morning, from a distance, on my mobile.

 

[ScotiaLass]

Not quite wildlife either but this last week....

 

[Tommy2]

Yesterday saw a kestrel, a heron, nearly drove over a partridge and followed 2 grouse that popped out of a hedge and flew about 6 feet in front of my bonnet for about 30 metres.
obviously couldn't take any pics as I was driving.

 

[Mireystock]

A muntjac on my ride about 90 minutes ago.

 

[Deleted member 23692]

Loads of Mallards by the River Eden in Kirkby Stephen
A Buzzard (with 2 crows in attendance) ripping something apart in a field just outside Penrith

 

[Maverick Goose]

A herd of Jobcentre staff .