This afternoon, in the very welcome sunshine, I saw three swallows swooping over the canal near Lancaster :D
Printable View
This afternoon, in the very welcome sunshine, I saw three swallows swooping over the canal near Lancaster :D
Jusy back from a short walk. saw a very large flock of Pied Wagtails 50+. It seems to occur occasionally on site for some reason. Plus a Hedgehog mooching about under the rookery. just hope the Rooks dont pounce!
Seen my first Swallow now!! Also went to Saltholme Marsh and had a nice morning 'spotting'!! Bit disorganised as usual so forgot bird book and scope! Luckily had bino's though! Saw, amongst other stuff, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Black Tailed Godwit, a lovely looking Gadwall, Common Tern, Sand Martin, Reed Bunting and Spotted Redshank!! There was a pair of Blacknecked Grebe apparently but we missed them. Oh! and a pair of Little Grebe. :thumbup:
My first Ring Ouzels of the year on the Coniston Fells last night - one on Prison Band and two at the bottom of the quarries track on The Old Man. And a fox by the A6 on the way home.
Saw the 2 younger deer again in the park this morning but didn't have my camera. :thunbdown:
Looks like mum has left them to themselves as she was nowhere in sight and they seemed to hang around a little longer before running away.
On our pack run the other night I saw a couple of the Noonstone killers, aka The Pennine Finch/ Twite. Lots of other birds around but I don't know any of them, got a bird book the other day so will start to take photos and cross reference.
Dan
Oyster catchers and sanderlings on Sunderland beach this afternoon, but what was the third? Not too different from the sanderlings but bigger. Best I can guess from the book is grey phalarope (still in winter plummage) but the book also says they normally stay well out to sea.
Knott or Dunlin most likely. Grey Plover?Quote:
Originally Posted by Latege
Coniston fells are good for ring ouzel. We had one singing under Dow Crag this week and another in the hanging valley up and above Seathwaite tarnQuote:
Originally Posted by The Navigator
Too big for a Dunlin I think, but possible a Knott. Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Navigator
On a walk yesterday, the first pied flycatcher and I may have heard a cuckoo. Only one "cuckoo" and a car was going past at the time, so not sure and didn't hear it repeated.
A car???......in Rhandirmwyn????? What ever is the world coming to!Quote:
Originally Posted by molehill
Working at home today and I've just heard a curlew bubbling away across the road
:) I've just been cleaning my car and had to stop and listen as a curlew was calling at the back of my house...such a magical sound.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
Got the runaround from those pesky deer this morning, interestingly I was catching them along the path running but they just disappeared uphill and I couldn't even see which way they went.
Spent a good ten minutes removing toads from the road that leads to my friend's house so that I could drive home without squashing them. One got a bit over excited and started trying to shag my hand...I had to untangle him and was surprised at how strong horny toads are!:w00t:
Pheasant and Red Grouse all over the place!
While cycling back from work along the canal in Macclefield, I passed a heron. I was on the tow path, it was on the canal side, on the same side of the canal as me. I must have been 4 feet from it when I cycled past it.
It sort of bobbed down, like it was getting ready to take off if it needed to, but it just stayed there. It was one of those moments where you think to yourself "did that really just happen"?
I often wonder if animals watch your eyes to see if you've seen them. In this instance, this may have been the case, as I was intently watching the path until I was about level with it.
I've had exactly the same thing happen a number of times on the tow-path between New Mills and Marple. I wonder if they simply don't recognise a human on a bike as being a human, and therefore not a threat. However, we've often been 'escorted' by a heron when we've been on a narrowboat. They tend to wait for the boat to draw level then fly about 50m ahead, wait for you to draw level again and continue doing this until you've reached the end of their territory (presumably). Then they fly all the way back to where they came from.Quote:
Originally Posted by noel
A pair of buzzards tumbling around in the sky above Teggs Nose in what I can only assume was some sort of courtship ritual.... Spectacular.
Great crested grebes with chicks on the Weaver this morning. One chick swimming & at least one on its mother's back.
I thought I'd put this on already but it's not there??
On Monday I nearly stood on a peregrin. It was happily munching on a grouse. the wind was towards me and it was in small clearing in the deep heather as I came over a rise. I'm not sure who was the most shocked....
...probably the poor grouse :closed:Quote:
Originally Posted by IanDarkpeak
Grouse was probably the most shocked about this life-changing encounter:w00t:Quote:
Originally Posted by IanDarkpeak
I don't think it has much to do with being on a bike. A month or so back I passed within two feet of one while walking along the tow-path of the Bolton-Bury canal. It took that same hunched position as if about to fly off but never did. I could almost have reached out and touched it; amazing. I wonder if those that live in places where lots of people pass are simply getting used to humans and as long as you don't do anything to make them think you're going for them, they just stand still - warily.Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffB
A weasel on Leg 4 of the CWR when I was out on a recce this morning. Respect due, Leg 4 is a tough one to take on for a weasel :cool:
A weasel has got four legs so it is half as tough!Quote:
Originally Posted by Alf
A hat trick of Red Squirrels
Pair of Buzzards, looked like one was trying to chat up the other with a fancy dance. The non dancing one didn't seem that bothered. Quite close really, within 20m from me at times.
Many Roe Deer
And a Hare
Pied flycatcher (male and female) plus redstart (male) seen this evening in the Strid Woods. No sign of wood warbler yet :closed:
I do believe I saw....and heard my first stonechat today.
Ring Ouzel half way up Pen Yr Ole Wen on Saturday, Snow Bunting on the summit of Carnedd Llewelyn and Wheatears pretty much everywhere from Ogwen to Capel Curig - they must all have been recceing the Paddy Buckley.
:thumbup:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alf
Swift spotted closed to Silsden reservoir. Quite possibly by favourite bird and back for the summer :thumbup:
A Peregrine taking a Crow out of the air, Red Grouse and Pheasant all over the place, about thirty French people walking up my hill and Lloyd Taggart. Quite a busy run out, that one!
Now that's proper pest control!Quote:
Originally Posted by skennaugh
You got a cold DT? ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
Tonight I saw a really big, shiny black beetle giving another one a piggy back.
really sad sight of 2 dead badgers on rail line between summit and littleborough
That could be down to badger baiting. Quite often they just dump the carcasses on the tracks to make it look like an accident.Quote:
Originally Posted by dylan
Pair of blackbirds are nest building in my new woodshed, 'speedbuilding' they are! Unfortunately the nest is on logs not that far in, I hope it isn't a cold summer because I need my logs - they may find their house foundations wobble a bit.
When I said you should contribute to this thread, I was joking. Nice opening gambit though. Let's see who bites...Quote:
Originally Posted by Yelsew
Or they could of been having a bit of Beetle jiggy jiggy!!Quote:
Originally Posted by skennaugh