Wildlife in the garden - Indian summer?

[SimonT]

A Rook with a back beak is

confused?
Sorry Max, couldn't resist it.
Simon

 

[oldravendale]

We live in the middle of farm land and the rooks never land in our garden even though we feed the birds from feeders and tables, maybe they don't like the look of the cats, but what I have noticed is that we do see more Jackdaws than Rooks and Crows, in fact the Jackdaws have nested in our neighbour's chimney.

Col.

The bu****s have nested in our chimney - twice this year! We had it cleared once and kept lighting fires but they kept coming back and the score at the moment is Brian: 0, Jackdaws: 1.

 

[Rn@B.]

I had the fright of the year so far on Tuesday afternoon moving some large cardboard box to go in the recycling. (I’d stored it down the side of the house on the log pile.) As I lifted it something took off straight past me down the narrow space in a bid for the safety of the back garden. A robin. There tucked away beneath and behind is a tiny nest with, I think, 7 eggs in it. I put everything back as best I could whilst being watched from various perches in the garden before Mrs. Robin flew off. No photos, sorry. I dared to have a glimpse later and can confirm that she has, thankfully, gone back to the nest. I hope they’re okay and will be giving the side passage a wide berth for the time being.

 

[simond]

We seem to have two robins. Given their territorial nature, I suspect the house forms the boundary between their domains. One is flying in and out of a yucca near the garage at the front, the other is high in a sycamore at the back. Photos will be difficult.

 

[Eastsidepilot]

The bu****s have nested in our chimney - twice this year! We had it cleared once and kept lighting fires but they kept coming back and the score at the moment is Brian: 0, Jackdaws: 1.

Brian,
You need to put a cowl on the pot mate

Col.

 

[oldravendale]

Brian,
You need to put a cowl on the pot mate

Col.

Agreed, Col. However our roof is clay peg tiles which break as soon as you look at them, so sending someone up there is a job to do once only. (We've had a specialist to check it over and his view was that it'll be a difficult task without cracking a few tiles). We're due to have a log burner installed later this year so will have it done then. We'll then watch the state of the roof and call in the specialists if tiles need replacement.

And Rn@B - I'm reminded of the time we were having an old summer house removed at our previous property. The builder came in to tell us that he'd found a great tit nest with chicks hidden in the woodwork. Unfortunately he couldn't stop work as the building was by then unsafe, so I moved the nest to a free nest box a few feet away - and then watched as the parents came back, listened for the cries of the chicks and immediately went to the new box.

That was the most fantastic feeling.

B

 

[Rn@B.]

I was naughty. I saw the robin out and about in the garden and dared to approach the nest from it’s blind side whilst mummy robin wasn’t looking. She’s clearly busy hunting for plenty of easy pickings and for good reason.

Feeling proud.

 

[oldravendale]

Buy a few fishing maggots. Robins love 'em. (so do tits, blue and great).

Brian

 

[Dog Star]

A surprise for My Good Lady when walking at about 8am on this morning. We live in a rural village which is surrounded by farmland... a fox on a verge "inside" the village, actually at the doctor's surgery. We have been here for more than 25 years and this sighting is a first for us.



regards, Graham

 

[Rob Pulham]

I get the feeling that they have all moved into urban areas. When we were in Wakefield we saw a couple in our cul de sac including a cub that was chasing a child's radio controlled car. Oddly without the child or her mother who was with her while they controlled the car being aware of it.

One of the things that we have noticed since moving to the Dales is that we haven't seen a fox (yet) on the plus side we have a seen a deer just up the line from the house.

 

[Ian@StEnochs]

We get deer on the hill just behind our house but Ken, who lives in the centre of the town, has had them in his garden.

 

[Osgood]

Edit: post moved - wrong flying things thread

 

[simond]

We get foxes in the garden. They leave a mess, which is not ideal with a robot lawnmower.

And if you shout at them, they look at you, and then treat you with contempt.

Maybe if I turbo the lawnmower...

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

Albeit taken last year. I heard a lot of squarking outside my kitchen window and it turned out to be a pair of juvenile blackbirds trying to chase off a magpie. After the latter had a meal of a blackbird chick.

 

[Rob Pulham]

We had a visitor sunning him/herself in the back garden this afternoon.

I bet it had a bit of a shock when it tried munching the lawn, because the back garden is north facing we fitted false grass because we doubted that real grass would grow.



And he/she obviously can't read:

 

[simond]

We have a 5m x 3m trapezoid of not-very-successful-lawn at the front, north facing but sheltered. If this year’s efforts don’t sort it, I’ll be getting the plastic stuff, I reckon.

 

[Rob Pulham]

We have a 5m x 3m trapezoid of not-very-successful-lawn at the front, north facing but sheltered. If this year’s efforts don’t sort it, I’ll be getting the plastic stuff, I reckon.

This is the second year it's been down, so far so good as they say.

 

[Eastsidepilot]

We believe this little character is living in our garden the second siting in three days



Col.

 

[Dog Star]

Good to see the Hedgehog ... funny thing is that Peter's Golden went outside in the early hours of today and found his pet called Fred. Actually we get hogs of different sizes so probably a family. We have had hogs visiting for more than five years and so we made sure that the new shed had sufficient head room between the base and the floor to encourage settlement.

Smudge - who has featured in the topics about building the new workshop (the last photo in this topic here) - picks up the hedgehog and pretends that the animal is a football.

Parting Smudge from Fred at 2am is not fun.

regards, Graham

 

[Brian Daniels]

I saw this Heron waiting for a fish so I stalked it for half hour but it was just playing statues! Then all of a sudden it struck out at this little mallard chick that floated by. Sad sight but nature in the raw as they say.