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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45615
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 24 9:31 am Post subject:
hand feeding is nice, pity about the lack of numbers and species diversity

gz

Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8647
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 24 11:27 am Post subject:
Yesterday the great tits were out in force..now the wind is back up and blustery and the sparrows of all varieties are there mob handed

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45615
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 24 1:33 am Post subject:

"Young male barn owl, own rodenticide business, seeks young female barn owl with a view to a long term relationship"

i only understand a bit of owl, that was very clear

nice, tis a great place if you have a decent nest site, lots of food, quite a few nest sites i know of that have been used, and he probably knows better ones

they are a bit big to bother the sammisons in tight spaces, the little owl is their nemesis now and again

owls are fun, if a bit scary and surprising heavy if "large", the big white thing collecting funds in a pub was like hoisting a turkey and the huge thing that showed up in the night sight was a pterosaur, it could have had a lamb or terrier, eagle owl on a jolly was my best guess for that thing
going by the distance and how much of the image it filled, it had a 1.8 to 2m wingspan, a bit smaller than a golden eagle and definitely an unusual owl for Yorkshire

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15642

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 24 7:55 am Post subject:

We get tawny owls in the woods. We very rarely see them; in fact the best sight we had was last year when one was sitting on a post and flew away. Plenty of nest holes for them on the woods. Often hear them from afternoon on. Not seen any other species though.

Your barn owl sounds nice and in spite of what people say about eagle owls being 'non native', if smaller birds can visit from across the North Sea, it shouldn't be a problem at all for a bird that size.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45615
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 24 4:03 pm Post subject:

there is a tweed line one that pops round, i have heard sparrow chat but only some of them

losing a very good colony site when that wall fell down has displaced them big style
im not sure where the survivors are or even how many by now, 2 major habitat hits and an extreme weather event has apparently done for them as a local community

there are a few other species pottering about

grin pops round now and again, the last eyeball was about 80mph along the alley line to see if anything took panic flight while the other took the high ground

the jackdaws seem to be thriving, the colony is about 50 individuals, up from about 30 a couple of years ago

mr blackbird has a huge patch but so far has not found a mrs blackbird although there are a few to choose from within a couple of hundred acres of suburban and park/wildish

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45615
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 24 4:40 pm Post subject:
2 sparrows, and flash i did tell him to go and collect sparrows to shake seeds for him male blackbird is about the daws are thriving and have a home territory of several square miles from the river, to town and to north and east the only shared land i know of is the patch between here and the down river ones, which is where both meet in the city centre at times, but none seem to claim it

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45615
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 24 9:04 am Post subject:
flash arrived with 7 sparrows and there were at least another ten doing choral singing nearby coincidence probably, but i was trained by a saluki

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15642

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 24 9:08 am Post subject:

Surprised at that, but perhaps there is enough for both groups.

We were out and about yesterday and saw that the mirabelle plum was out along a lot of the roads. Plenty of snowdrops and the pale mauve crocus, but no other colours. Lots of rivers either well up or flooding the fields. One of the cross country major roads not too far from us was closed a few weeks back and saw the reason; as usual the sandy soil had migrated across the road. Two great heaps in the field and recently dug deep ditches between the road and field. It must have been sown after the event though as the crop seems to be coming through all right.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45615
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 24 12:05 pm Post subject:
flash wanted me to feed him more than i will do, i told him he needed sparrows shaking the feeders to restore his dishpig job to him

gz

Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8647
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 24 3:11 pm Post subject:
We have just had a walk to see our local frogspawn pond. Nothing to see, but sparrows, dunnocks, great tits, blue tits and a few other LBJs going down the Big Hedge. Dippers in the river, no sight of the kingfishers, mallards splashing about in pairs. Buds budding on the apples, pears, hawthorn, sloe and horse chestnut

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15642

Posted: Mon Feb 12, 24 8:43 am Post subject:
We have seen more small birds lately. The robin pops out of the hedge to inspect us when we go out, and seen medium flocks of assorted LBJs in odd places too.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15642

Posted: Sat Feb 17, 24 9:14 am Post subject:
We were up in the woods at dusk yesterday and the birds were really going for it. Heard thrush, blackbird briefly, robin, tit (think great tit), tawny owl and a woodpecker tapping for food. Haven't looked at the hawthorn, but no other leaves yet. Was working to get the birch under cover before any leaves started. Now got a good pile and hoping for the best as usual.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45615
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Feb 19, 24 1:36 pm Post subject:

collapsed not collapsing

other habitats and interdependent ecosystems will have as well

when one with migratory species collapses, many at the other end of the journey will, regardless of their local conditions

eg most salmon or eels that head out to sea to get fat and come home to breed or go to sea to breed and come home tiny are dinner for things on the journey, including me

ditto birds(but most fowl are foul)

any part of the destinations or journey gets messed up=collapse for all

re any uk lake/loch/ centred collapse, i wonder how much the EC has gone up? my first thought would be eutrophication, much like other uk freshwater lakes, between people and the sea has a high nutrient challenge compared to the requirements of a low nutrient levels based ecosystem

in rivers it is usually a combo of high BOD, eutrophication and toxins, lakes and lochs are a bit bigger although slower moving so eutrophication tends to be top challenge

it isnt easy being a critter

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45615
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Feb 19, 24 2:23 pm Post subject:

a rather odd musing but, fluffy and the stripey shellfish might be very happy together

umm, some of the more robust from the "exotic" examples of creatures from the black/blue lagoon could fit in a treat, the little ones "might" eat the algae, ahh sweet, the sort jeremy wade hunts might be interesting

if a dramatically altered ecosystem is "available" no matter how unappetizing to me or the previous occupants of the area, it will be colonized

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15642

Posted: Tue Feb 20, 24 8:02 am Post subject:

Up in the woods yesterday it seemed to be a day for covids. We saw and heard a pair of ravens and heard lots of rooks. Think we may also have seen one displaying over the field next door on the way home, as it seemed to be flying in a very odd way. The birds seem to think it is time to pair up anyway.

Someone else who works in the main wood told us that his spaniel found a dormouse yesterday. It was playing dead, but was certainly alive both before and after the encounter with the dog. Spaniels have the most amazing sense of smell, which is why they are used as sniffer dogs of course. Dormice are supposed to be virtually scentless, but for some reason this one didn't seem to be in hibernation yesterday, so may have had some scent.

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