A Pine Marten, fantastic. That certainly trumps my Buzzard/Sparrowhawk encounter.Quote:
Originally Posted by molehill
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A Pine Marten, fantastic. That certainly trumps my Buzzard/Sparrowhawk encounter.Quote:
Originally Posted by molehill
Saw one in a wood near Penrith about 10 years back. My mate who I was with grabbed my arm and said “look Harv, a monkey!”
Saw 3 deer in Skelghyll Woods yesterday - a very quiet noise like a falling leaf, but it continued - and there they were, making their way through the undergrowth. Lovely to see.
Driving home from my run this evening, along an empty country road through the Berkshire Downs in the dusk, with wire fences on either side of the road. I suddenly became aware of a large shape in my left side vision looming out of the gloom and got ready to brake. A large stag, with what looked to me to be pretty impressive antlers, leaped over the fence, trotted across the road a couple of metres in front of me without, apparently, a care in the world (and with no consideration at all for causing me to slam my brakes on) and, without breaking step, hurdled the fence on the right of the road and disappeared on to wherever it was going. I was glad the snow hadn't really been sticking much.
Most mornings for the last couple of weeks, I've spotted a stoat, bold as brass, through the kitchen windows, either carrying its catch back to the byre or heading out to forage again. It seems to drop the catch off and then, a few minutes later, head back out along the same track into the field. Presumably stashing the catches for later. Looks magnificent against the snow and doing a great job of reducing the local rodent population.
Big fluffy polecat this morning.
We have a weasel living in the wood store somewhere, spotted it dragging a near fully fledged pigeon off a while back 💪.
Many squirrels visit our garden regularly. They are super cute and we'd like to buy a camera with motion sensor to take films.
Any recommendation?
Mrs Noel bought me one for Christmas. I'll ask her and get back to you.
From your forum name, don't you also have a birthday around Christmas?
Strangely no. I was born in May. My parents wanted a name that was individual and couldn't be shortened. This after my mum was named Juliet (which she likes), but was then referred to as Julie (which she's less keen on) by everyone in her family and consequently then by my dad.
Being called Noel means I get more Christmas cards. :)
It's a Victure HC100. I think Mrs Noel researched it quite a bit, and it's well regarded by lots of people on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Victure-Wil.../dp/B07L9NRKP6Quote:
Originally Posted by Gambatte
I can confirm it's good for birds on a feeder, and works in the dark too - a few mice have been videoed so far.
Being the first?Quote:
Originally Posted by noel
Indeed :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Graham Breeze
Thanks Noel. Now you can shows videos of wildlife in you garden!;)Quote:
Originally Posted by noel
Your camera is one of the less expensive, 42£. There are many at over 200£. I'd like to understand at what price I start paying for one that I can no longer justify. Like car, or smartphone, or anything...
You know the difference between a cheap one and an expensive one?
Good question. No, I don't - sorry. I suspect the more expensive ones will have more functions available. I haven't felt the need to explore the various function on mine yet - it was reasonably plug-and-play.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gambatte
Perhaps this explains my close encounter with a stag a week or so ago. They're so overcrowded that they need to roam further afield to try to get a bit of solitude.
https://www.theguardian.com/environm...demand-plunges
Unmanaged wild deer herds could soon pose a threat to woodlands and important wildlife habitats in Britain because the commercial market for venison has collapsed during the pandemic.
Many in the game industry as well as conservationists fear too few deer are being culled to keep the estimated two-million-strong wild herd, the largest for 1,000 years, at a sustainable size.
[...]
Gareth Fisher, an RSPB ecologist, said excessive deer populations had a detrimental impact on the habitats of many birds, including nightingales, warblers and willow tits. “If you’ve got lots and lots of deer then you tend to get more uniform habitats where there are fewer niches for the other species,” he said. “That’s the big issue.”
Easy to deal with this problem: lynx; wolves.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flem
I'm hoping there'll be lots of cheap venison in the local shops. (Although, apart from one supermarket trip per week, I'm not visiting the local shops so I suppose it won't matter.)Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonykay
I thought I saw a Yellow Wagtail. I see plenty of Pied Wagtails but can't recall ever seeing a Yellow one. Checked it out and I probably saw a Grey Wagtail, which is also quite yellow, but doesn't migrate.
Still it was a cute, eyecatching little thing bobbing around the brook that feeds in to the Roddlesworth Reservoir system.
Three red deer yesterday in the mist near Knotbury on my run/snowy stagger with Mrs Noel.
Correct WP. It would almost certainly have been a Grey Wagtail if seen around water. We have some locally and I think they are one of those birds that one could watch for hours.Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
I saw a Grey Wagtail yesterday on the River Wharfe at Otley. I was watching a Kingfisher perched and it flew by and landed on some stones. Watched the KF for over 10 minutes,Quote:
Originally Posted by Witton Park
Saw my first Yellow Wagtail this summer also locally in a wet field. They are very yellow!
Not been on the forum for a while, but I thought it was worth mentioning that we saw a pair of Snow Bunting on Kinder Low a few days before Christmas. Apparently they're considered a rare bird in Derbyshire, so the local Ornithological Society got quiet excited about them!
Exciting indeed. I've never seen them in the UK.
My latest exploits with my wildlife camera have yielded mixed results. First we had a hare loping through the garden at night. Then I set up a pole with the camera pointing at the top. I was hoping to get some birds of prey, but I only caught some video of hail. I guess it shows the motion detector is working.
I saw a deer in the forest near home where I went for a walk at lunchtime.
Midmorning I saw "Aranci", the orange squirrel we kind of adopted, as usual he visited our garden for the seeds/nuts we prepared for him. Now he's a regular. I wonder if he knows it's us preparing his food.
Saturday: we saw four red deer just near to old Flash road.
Just now: juvenile sparrowhawk in the garden trying (badly) to catch small bird while it was sitting in a quince bush. On a hiding to nothing there I think.
I saw a ladybird on a stile yesterday... i assume that is an early sign of spring?
I just ordered a wildlife camera, Campark T80 56EUR eBay, to capture animals visiting our gardens. Especially "aranci" and "blacky", the two squirrels we kind of adopted, we feed them regularly. At the previous address 10km off we even got a young deer into our garden.
I will post on youtube.
On a miserable day I was very pleased to see two Blackcaps this morning. Came in for seeds I had put out.
Two jays crawking on today's run. And a large swollen toad sitting by the side of the road. Maybe a very early sign of spring. Or maybe it had been washed out by the recent heavy rains.
Toad of Toad Hall - or Toad of Crag Hall, in your part of the world?Quote:
Originally Posted by noel
Toot, toot!
Lol. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by anthonykay
Yes, a few hundred yards from Crag Hall in fact. It all makes sense now...
Crikey! Thanks for reminding me that I have a netful of bulbs that I have forgotten to plant!Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
I'd like to post pic here of the squirrel in our garden. Cute guy.
How do I add pics to a post?
There's a little button that says insert image. So you can either actually upload it (in which case it needs to be teeny weeny) or you can link it from elsewhere in which case it can be bigger, but you need to have somewhere to put it (eg, photosharing site).Quote:
Originally Posted by Gambatte
I'll ask others who do this more than I do: is that right?
Thanks Noel. Didn't see the thingy before from my smartphone.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RyvgH5Q2wi7FMXfp7
Lovely, that's a proper squirrel.
Alway worth going out - even in the pissing rain and floods. Buzzard, Mistle thrush and Kingfisher this afternoon.
I couldn't see it at first... i was looking at the orange one above it thinking it looked a bit striking!!Quote:
Originally Posted by molehill
More of our guy:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ktLYhWa7VgCkuXk3A
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ciwEQAnFsNi3MeSm8
And here "the other guy", the bird stealing the food of the squirrel. Mind you, that is food the squirrel steals from the birds....
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ABLn5NWktiYNGZ9q8