Your day's wildlife

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

We have whiskered bats here in the roof with us. Our landlady now has to get a licence !

 

[summerdays]

We have whiskered bats here in the roof with us. Our landlady now has to get a licence !

How do you know which ones?

 

[coffeejo]

How do you know which ones?

The whiskered ones are the hipsters who only hang out in the cool roosts and eat the more unusual insects that most of the other bats haven't heard of.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

How do you know which ones?

She was hoping to build another host to let at the back of the one we are in, but because of the location and the fact that our place is an old stable block she had to get a bat survey done professional, especially as we all knew there were bats in the immediate area just not where they roosted. They were always here, every night feeding in the courtyard over the pond and under the tunnel except for their hibernation over winter. Ironically they are entering and exiting the roof space from where I removed the Virginia creeper that was growing into that space and then eventually into the upstairs of the house. It would appear that clearing that opening allowed more than just the birds into the roof!

Anyhow, The pros were around during the week, one dusk, one dawn survey and identified them. All I knew was that they were not pipestral bats because I know those very well (used to live in our last place in the roof) or that they were not horseshoe bars because I have rescued and thus held one with several attempts at it's release until it ended up at the local (rather famous in Surrey) wildlife centre for a few days recovery.

 

[coffeejo]

I explored some new-to-me footpaths with the dog yesterday and was delighted to meet a young fox coming in the opposite direction. I started to wonder if it was a big ginger cat rather than a fox as it kept coming, even after it had spotted us, but the dog's reaction suggested Wild Animal rather than Ginger Moggy. Unfortunately, her nerve failed just as I was getting the camera ready and it vanished into the undergrowth as she started barking. Such a shame but a treat nonetheless. (I guess she thought she was protecting me to make up for hiding behind my legs when we were charged by a particularly grumpy her of cows earlier on the walk!)

 

[Illaveago]

I don't think there is any doubt as to what this bird is.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I was out for a run earlier and encountered this pair

 

[Dave 123]

Just hatched this morning in work
View attachment 128051

Taken by Tim (no credit to me)

The footage has appeared via the Cambridge news. The film is drawn out, shows that the students don't need much of an excuse to down tools, and the ending is crap!

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Duc...rt-Cambridge/story-29279217-detail/story.html

 

[Cavalol]

Plover, seen at work today. The last couple of years there was a breeding pair right next to the office I'm in. This one was a lot further away. We have stacks of fascinating birds on/near the site

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Counted nine cygnets with this pair

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I didn't count all the goslings, bloody loads of them.

 

[slowwww]

We have 2 bird boxes in our garden. One situated well up a tree with a hawthorn bush at the bottom to deter the cats, and with clear access for the birds to fly in.

Upon the insistence of my daughters, the second one in an ridiculous location on the fence at the bottom of the garden, facing north, right next to their swings and trampoline, and with a laurel bush obscuring the access to this.

And guess which one has the Blue Tits in there?!! Bless them, they are so brazen, completely ignoring the girls only a few feet away as they fly too and fro feeding their young.

 

[gbb]

I heard a lot of Starlings hurling abusive language at a Sparrowhawk that flew low across my garden yesterday. In the afternoon the estate was terrorised by a fast flying raptor darting in and out of the houses. I thought it was a Hobby at first but looking at the small images on my camera it looks as though it was a Kestrel. If it was a Kestrel I have never seen one hunting like that before.
I had the wrong lens on at the time.

Typical Sparrowhawk tactics, high speed runs, darting around obstacles and surprising their prey. Kestrels don't tend to associate with housing / urban sprawl, they tend to hover and pounce...

 

[gbb]

For me, a surprise Jay. Flying low on the edge of the fens, not many trees around, just a flash of blue and black and white feathers.
Later, a buzzard, whirling slowly round above fen fields.

 

[snorri]

Digesting a recent meal on the slipway.