spuggies and jackdaws and hedgehogs and frogs

What a difference a day makes (as I believe a popular musician was once heard to observe!)

Today in the New Forest it is still, warm (about 17 degrees) and sunny.  And suddenly there are brimstone butterflies (the vivid yellow ones) absolutely everywhere - dozens and dozens of them.  A great sight!

On 06/03/2024 at 15:46, Red Willow said:

We have put a camera in the bird box this year. It is really interesting watching the bluetit coming and going. Every night it returns to the box to sleep, there isn't a nest it just fluffs up and goes to sleep.

We have a lot of knocking on the bottom of the box. I assume this is to attract the mate. It brings in bits of nesting material then seems to throw a hissy fit and throws it all out again.

We have seen 2 birds in the box at the same time but only one sleeps over night, arriving shortly before sunset.

I've had the same bird box up for about 15 years and greattits have nested in it every year, I haven't seen them building yet but they are very active in and around the box.

On 14/03/2024 at 16:03, Padge said:

Are magpies taking over the world, we have four regularly in the front garden, used to see the odd one. Now noticed everywhere we go magpies are around.

Growing up in the 1970s, you never saw Wood Pigeons in town, you only saw Magpies, Crows and the odd Rook in town very early in the morning, when nobody was about, Nowadays, here in Fev, we have Wood Pigeons, Magpies and Crows in the garden all the time, although  I haven't seen a Rook locally for years.

19 hours ago, Padge said:

We have a pair of pigeons nesting in a tree at the front, they have done so for about the last four years. This time of year they start fixing up the nest for spring, as they are building it the magpies come along and nick bits of it.

A similar thing happens here, there's a Crows nest in a tree at the front of our house, they've nested there for years, every year they add to the nest but you regularly see the Crow fly in with a twig then fly off again only for the Magpie to fly in and steal it.

Retweeted by Reginald D. Hunter earlier today.

Spent a few days in The Lakes last week. Watching and listening to the skylarks told me spring was really here. A couple of sightings of kestrels hunting and a couple of buzzards in Bannerdale followed by a real treat to see 6 buzzards (4 + 2) circling the skies above Patterdale, matched by a herd of around 20 red deer on the slopes of the deer forest on The Nab

14 hours ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Spent a few days in The Lakes last week. Watching and listening to the skylarks told me spring was really here. A couple of sightings of kestrels hunting and a couple of buzzards in Bannerdale followed by a real treat to see 6 buzzards (4 + 2) circling the skies above Patterdale, matched by a herd of around 20 red deer on the slopes of the deer forest on The Nab

Talking about Buzzards, its not unusual to see them flying overhead from my garden in Fev, usually March/April and September/October, I've already had 3 sightings in the last few weeks, on one occasion last September I counted 9. Also in the last couple of years I've started seeing Red Kites, again usually March/April and September/October, you get a really good view as well, as they sometimes fly as low as the rooftops. 

1 minute ago, Sidi Fidi Gold said:

Talking about Buzzards, its not unusual to see them flying overhead from my garden in Fev, usually March/April and September/October, I've already had 3 sightings in the last few weeks, on one occasion last September I counted 9. Also in the last couple of years I've started seeing Red Kites, again usually March/April and September/October, you get a really good view as well, as they sometimes fly as low as the rooftops. 

I'm not too far away from you and we see a buzzard and kites fairly regularly too - they start over the fields nearby and slowly drift over the estate. We did have a frequent sparrowhawk visiter to the garden when we first moved in but haven't seen it, or its aftermath, for a couple of years now - possibly because the goldfinches seem to have disappeared round here; not seen many sparrows either for a while.

31 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

I'm not too far away from you and we see a buzzard and kites fairly regularly too - they start over the fields nearby and slowly drift over the estate. We did have a frequent sparrowhawk visiter to the garden when we first moved in but haven't seen it, or its aftermath, for a couple of years now - possibly because the goldfinches seem to have disappeared round here; not seen many sparrows either for a while.

I'm a member of BTO's garden bird watch where you record garden species throughout the year, this year I've recorded Sparrowhawks on 4 occasions and usually do throughout the year, we tend to get between 10-20 sparrows around the feeders but you're right about the Goldfinch's though, we tend to get 1 or 2, 4 at most where as 20 years ago we got loads, on one occasion I counted 30 and there was probably more than that.

I seem to have jackdaws nest building outside my bedroom window . To say they were loud this morning is an understatement and there’s twigs and all kinds underneath on the lawn . They must  have kicked the starlings out 

In many years, I will see no reptiles at all, but sometimes one pops up, usually when Mrs WWD and I are walking the dog in the New Forest.

Today, as we were driving along the short track to the car park at Turf Hill, an adder slithered across the track in front of us.  Fortunately, I realised what it was and slowed down so as not to run over it.

I know snakes, especially venomous ones, are not everybody's idea of lovable wildlife, but it lives in the forest, whereas I am just a visitor.  I was pleased to see it.  The fact it was active is a sure sign that warmer weather is coming; it is about 16 centigrade with us today.

Walking through Purston Park today, I got to the lake, there was a couple and their child feeding the ducks, they were surrounded by Mallards and a couple of Canada Geese, also there was a duck that I've never seen before, it was strange looking, black with a thick red rim around its eye, I assumed it was some kind of escapee, when I got home I googled " black duck with red eyes" , it came up with Muscovy Duck, apparently they're native to North and South America and in the wild they are very shy and can be aggressive when defending their young so this was probably some kind of escapee turned wild. I was just wandering how common they are in the wild and do they have some kind of breeding population, anybody seen any?

4 hours ago, Sidi Fidi Gold said:

Walking through Purston Park today, I got to the lake, there was a couple and their child feeding the ducks, they were surrounded by Mallards and a couple of Canada Geese, also there was a duck that I've never seen before, it was strange looking, black with a thick red rim around its eye, I assumed it was some kind of escapee, when I got home I googled " black duck with red eyes" , it came up with Muscovy Duck, apparently they're native to North and South America and in the wild they are very shy and can be aggressive when defending their young so this was probably some kind of escapee turned wild. I was just wandering how common they are in the wild and do they have some kind of breeding population, anybody seen any?

When I was young, we kept Muscovy ducks as well as chickens. They're an odd-looking breed, but can survive perfectly well in the UK.

4 hours ago, Futtocks said:

When I was young, we kept Muscovy ducks as well as chickens. They're an odd-looking breed, but can survive perfectly well in the UK.

It was definitely weird looking, normally when I see a bird I don't recognise I try and make a mental note of all its features but as there were people stood next to it I didn't stop to get a good look, I just noted that it was black and had a red eye ring, it looked that weird that as I was walking away I doubted to my self that it was a duck, I thought it could be some type of Guinea Fowl. Once I got home and saw its picture I realised it was a Muscovy Duck,

A ban on trawlers fishing for sandeels in the North Sea has come into force today and it is hoped this will boost bird numbers on the east coast, particularly puffin and kittiwake populations. This can only be a positive! 

There's a webcam for this nest too

https://www.wildlifekate.co.uk/gwyllthollowsittingroomnestbox

Edit: all her webcams

https://www.wildlifekate.co.uk/livecameras

We have a nestcam and it's been so interesting watching the bird build a nest. It seemed to spend a lot of time bringing in stuff only to remove it all later.

She is now laying eggs at the rate of 1 per morning, it seems they don't incubate until the last egg is about to be laid.

2 eggs so far.

Last evening saw my lawn witnessing ( being messed up by ) nature in the raw with a sparrow hawk plucking and devouring a pigeon over hours 

2 hours ago, DavidM said:

Last evening saw my lawn witnessing ( being messed up by ) nature in the raw with a sparrow hawk plucking and devouring a pigeon over hours 

Messy blighters aren't they?

On 20/03/2024 at 15:38, Sidi Fidi Gold said:

A similar thing happens here, there's a Crows nest in a tree at the front of our house, they've nested there for years, every year they add to the nest but you regularly see the Crow fly in with a twig then fly off again only for the Magpie to fly in and steal it.

The pigeons have given up, the magpies have now nicked the entire nest.

While dog-walking in the New Forest this morning, I heard my first cuckoo of the year...cue Frederick Delius!