May Wildlife Challenge 2016

[Grandad]

Mayday, so I thought I would open a new wildlife thread. Very quiet in April so let's hope with all the new births around the wildlife (or domestic animal) world we will find some great subjects....

Here are a few to kick off from sitting with a cup of tea on the bench this afternoon.

Not wildlife but the small oak tree is covered in new spring green.


The Magpies are fatter than ever this year and this one had just stolen a squirrels peanut


But there were still some left


Mrs Bluetit: 'Is that someone at the door dear?'


And Tilly arrived at just after 5pm for her supper


Happy snapping and don't forget, domestic animals count in this thread.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Here is hoping we get a good wildlife spread for May!

[Kiya]

Lovely photos Grandad ...........If only the weather was warmer for going out & about I might just catch something

[Grandad]

Had a swallow come and cling to the brickwork this morning but no time to get a sanp. A good sign though, means they are back from Africa.

[Jayway]

No. 3 is lovely Grandad, should be in a frame on the wall. Were you standing up when you took the photo of Tilly ??? very close? or did she hear the shutter?

[Grandad]

Jay, Tilly was sitting on a bank, I was sitting on a bench so she was at eye level. only 2 or 3 metres away though. No shutter sound, I have turned off any camera sounds or beeps. I was using a digital bridge camera so none of the shutter sounds that you would get with a DSLR.

The squirrels are pests to some people but we like them, they don't cause any problems but that may be different in very old houses.

[Grandad]

I had just filled all the feeders and this guy must have been watching. He came straight down. Great Spotted Woodpecker feeding on fat balls.

[LovelyLadyLux]

WOW! Your spotted woodpecker is fabulous!

I've got my post cemented into the backyard now which is also adjacent to the marsh so am SURE it will attract many birds to it. This Saturday I'm going to the old fellow here who made the last bird house/feeder thing I used to have and see if he has anymore for sale. That will go on top of the post and then I've got 2 hangers to put on the sides where I will hang feeders. I've just GOT to get ONE bird to come after all that!

The birds are definitely not interested in the feeder out front. The seed is down to half full but if you look at the bottom of it and the ground underneath it it doesn't take much to see that half a feeder worth of seed is down there.

My only other thought on the bird feeder is - can see go bad? I've been wondering if the seeds that I have are not good. Does bird see go bad or can it be such that it doesn't attract birds?

I mean the crows being opportunistic would land on the suet feeder and demolish it however they're not even TRYING or showing any interest in this feeder. Nor are any of the sparrows or others. Can bird seed be bad?

[Grandad]

Sounds as if you will have a great set up there LLL. And once they find it from the marsh you will have lots of visitors

The seed in my seed feeder is not there long enough to go bad. They empty it in 2 or 3 days. With the peanut feeder that never gets actually emptied, the nuts at the bottom do go mildew so I strip it out and clean it when some mould begins to appear right at the bottom. I just throw everything from the feeder on the bank and let the squirrels decide if they want to eat it all.....and they do.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I've had the seed I put into the feeder for probably close to 2 yrs. I had it from the other house and I've been in this house about a year and a half and who knows how old it was before I bought it. It has been kept dry so ?

Will see if they take it out back once I get the feeder there. If they do then I'll deduce that it is just the location of this feeder out front. I've moved 2 other plants in planters by it so as to give a bit more cover. I actually think there is sufficient food out back so they don't need to come up front however the crows are puzzling me. They should be trying to get it but they're not. Ahh well - will see.

I'm definitely hoping to get some birds. I've planted 10 sun flowers and am hoping they'll grow so I'll have flower heads to put out over the winter

[Kiya]

Lovely photo of the Woodpecker

[LovelyLadyLux]

Since my front yard bird feeder was down to half full I filled it back up this morning. I saw hardly anybody ever at it but the food did slowly go down so presumably somebody did arrive.

I'm now thinking the one sparrow I saw at the feeder is probably as big as a chicken (since there seemed to be only even one there!)

Since I filled it ONE lone crow hopped along the top of the fence and looked at it but then flew off. Can't even attract a CROW! AGHH!!

[Grandad]

Well, May is nearly out, it is supposed to be springtime, and we have had nothing to post in this thread for nearly 3 weeks.
For my own part, the bluetits are busy feeding the chicks in the one birdbox that attracted residents this year. I must keep an eye on that because they could fledge very soon. I would hope to get some pics of the chicks taking their first flight but as yet I have not seen any little heads peeping out at the big wide world. A good sign that they are nearly ready to leave the box.
The foxes are behaving in an unusual manner. We regularly see 2 or maybe even 3 dog foxes taking food away so there are cubs hidden not far away. But in the past the vixens have been out collecting food by this time so I am a little concerned that something nasty may have occurred in the local skulk.
I took this snap yesterday of this female blackbird collecting daisy petals. This seemed strange but a quick Google confirmed that birds DO eat flower petals and buds and there is a belief that petals are more nutritious than buds.....so there

[Jayway]

Thats funny, I have never seen that. My hens do eat some of my plants, but not the petals. Sometimes I boil up spagetti for them, just to laugh when two get the same piece and try to out swallow each other - - -

[LovelyLadyLux]

Went down to the water today and since Grandad found a bird with a full mouth I did too!

Granted it isn't terribly difficult to find a seagull with a full mouth but this guy posed



The next two looked like they were talking up a storm and the next two I came across were just going into the water for a swim

[Grandad]

Jay I would love to see that, why you should always have a camera to hand.
What is that LLL? Nest building material? And the second one, I can hear the noise from here

[LovelyLadyLux]

@Grandad - it looked to me like it had a mussel or something in its mouth that had kelp going on it. It was eating along the shore.

Was hoping to get a photo of a heron or eagle but only seagulls were around. Very lovely day though. Sun was out and the temperatures were balmy.

[Grandad]

We are still only seeing dog foxes taking food so there are some cubs hidden nearby.

LLL, I know you have bears to contend with, well these fellers are the nearest thing to pass as a bear for me I wish Robbo was still looking in because I would like her opinion about what these two guys are. My guess is French Briard or Labradoodle. Whatever they are, there owner was out walking them early at 7.06 am this morning...

phpBB [video]

[LovelyLadyLux]

The fox definitely looked real healthy with a lovely coat.

Those dogs do look like big labradoodles but I'm not sure. They do have that wavy long coat though.