Naturewatch - today I saw....

[suffolk]

Same here Hicky ... and Dd who lives right in the centre of Ipswich, is being eaten out of house and home by the goldfinches and bluetits.

[Herbidacious]

Great tits and starlings, yes. A large seed feeder goes in a morning. Blue tits less so, although I think they are nesting in our wall again. Which is a nice but a worry with the cats, especially as there are a new young couple of cats one of which discovered our garden. She was sitting a couple of feet up in a bush watching them on Tuesday:

A pair couple of long tailed tits have been coming a lot and always a robin. Pigeons are the main culprits alas.

Not sure wwhat the parakeets are up to at this time of year.

[suffolk]

Get a water pistol Herbi

[PatsyMFagan]

This morning Daughter caught (on her phone) a sparrowhawk swooping in to the garden to take a robin

[Herbidacious]

Aw no I couldn't do that! Basil sort of chased her off in the end.

Oh no! Poor robin!

On my way to the station there was a little brown bird singing it's heart out. Not sure what it could have been, a it was too high up and silhouetted against the white sky. I didn't have time to record it. Dunnock, I think, though, having just listend to some dunnock song online. There was a replying bird on the other side of the road. Lookign at it makes me wonder if some of the sparrows we've had in our garden have actually been dunnocks. Will look closer next time I see one. We don't get them often.

[suffolk]

If they’re ‘ small brown jobs’ with slatey grey chests, pottering around on the ground amongst the undergrowth they’re usually dunnocks

[Herbidacious]

Not in trees then?! It wasn't a sparrow. It had a proper song.

[suffolk]

They’ll sing from bushes and shrubs ... not usually (IME) from tall trees.

[Herbidacious]

short tree

[suffolk]

[PatsyMFagan]

[suffolk]

[Rainbow]

[PatsyMFagan]

[cyprusmoira]

[Grasshopper]

We had a visitor to the back garden early Wednesday evening, while it was still light.
A hedgehog! Awake and looking for food.
We put some dried mealworms and a bit of cat-food down, which was duly scoffed, before Prickles went back to bed with a full belly.

Grasshopper

[suffolk]

How lovely Grassy.

We find chicken flavour Purina kitten biscuits are the most popular and fit the bill health-wise for hedgehogs. They like dried mealworms but more than a few can cause health problems.

An easily accessible shallow dish of fresh water can save hedgehog lives as they get very thirsty and may fall into ponds and pools and drown if they can’t find an easy source of water. ‘Our’ hedgehogs empty their water dish most nights even if they don’t eat all their food.

[scullion]

we have had a couple of very young male pheasants wandering around our area for the last week.
they were mooching around in the lane as i came home the other day and we've heard them shouting in our garden a few times. they were absolutely beautiful, bright red and green heads with very pale buff coloured bodies. i can't find an image anything like them.
my partner says he's going to head out with a camera the next time we hear them.

[Herbidacious]

Oh we saw a beautiful pheasant on the way back from a garden centre. Such beautiful colours.
Had a wren in my garden last Friday. It's probably always there, but quite camouflaged at this time of year, and I am not usually around to bird watch.

[suffolk]

Good morning all

There's a wide variation in colour amongst pheasants ... some are dark, almost melanistic, and some are very blond ... it shows up more in the males ... they are beautiful.

I am determined to do some h***w**k today ...........

Have a good day everyone

[scullion]

yes, i've seen a melanistic one, crossing the road near truro a few years back - beautiful, shining green in the sunlight.

[Grasshopper]

Suffs - there's a couple of shallow objects in the back garden, which easily fill when it rains.

Herbi - Wrens are VERY loud, considering how tiny they are. I suppose a loud voice is a help for such a small bird.


Grasshopper

[Herbidacious]

I didn't hear it, grasshopper. Will have to google what they sound like.

[Herbidacious]

Can anyone identify this for me? (Rainham Marshes, Saturday.) It's clearer if you click on it.

[Seatallan]

Lapwing

[Herbidacious]

Thanks!