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Saw Swift, Swallow and house Martin! All at once, in the same field of vision! outside my house!! Well pleased! Also had a bee-mimic fly of some sort, and a couple of bee/wasps in the wall. One had its wings stuck down with 'scaley' stuff, I wondered wether it had just 'hatched' or whatever it is they do. It appeared out of the wall.
Our tortoise (Queenie) laid her eggs yesterday evening - not sure if this comes under 'wildlife' or 'petlife' - and the orchids are flowering at the top of the wood.
cuckoo chirping away in the woods near to where I did my hill reps this morning. no sightings.
I think it's stitchwort.Quote:
Originally Posted by cyclops
Saw my first butterwort of the year when I was racing (Blackstone Edge) few weeks ago.
A family party of red grouse on my run over Clougha this afternoon. Very impressive broken wing display from the adult male to lure me away from the young.
Also the usual lapwing and curlew, a cuckoo (heard) and a stoat zooming across the grass at break-neck speed.
various stuff in Scotland but the biggest shock was leaving the road to start a munro from Arnisdale, I walked 5 meters up the track and came out to the rear of some one garden to find 2 stags!! less that 15ft from away. they were still there on my return 2 hours later.
I thought I had had my wildlife encounters for the day after seeing a couple of Basking sharks and a pod of Porpoise/Dolphin. But, when I turned up the gully away from the coast and up the hill, a bird swooped at me out of the sun, I thought "bloody seagulls" and carried on. When it came at me from the otherside I realised it was a Peregrine! 10-12 high speed swoops, coming within 2 feet! Always when the camera is left at home. They usually nest much further round the hill on the cliffs. Looks like i'll have to change my route for a few weeks.
one of the twoQuote:
Originally Posted by IanDarkpeak
Attachment 7038
That's ace! He's got his eye on you!Quote:
Originally Posted by IanDarkpeak
Curlews, Lapwings and Red Grouse chicks out on the fells this evening.
Lots of swifts and house martins over various sections of Bolton-Bury canal yesterday lunchtime.
Great week in Wales near Dolgelleau. stayed at a cottage there. Saw allsorts just in, and around the garden!! saw first Pied Flycatchers :)
Also Grey Wagtail, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackcap, Dippers, Bullfinch, Willow Warbler, Chif-chaff(...first time we IDed them!) and Bank Voles just out of our bedroom window!! All that and walking, running and cycling too!! Ace!
a little help please, identifying the fungi in the photos on my latest blog: http://runningdelights.blogspot.co.u...hill-reps.html
I've made a guess but wouldn't trust my fungi identification skills in the slightest. if it is what I think, has anyone cooked with it? what's it like?
We visited the excellent Rodley Nature Reserve over the weekend.
Sedge warbler and reed bunting (we were told by a local who seemed to know what he was talking about).
My eldest also found a broken egg, which the very helpful man in the centre identified as a tufted duck egg (possibly).
Worth a visit, if you like that sort of thing: http://www.rodleynaturereserve.org/
Chicken of the woods?Quote:
Originally Posted by cyclops
Apparently it tastes like chicken :DQuote:
Originally Posted by cyclops
Pretty sure it is: it should be bright yellow, which isn't that clear from the photos. I've eaten it a couple of times, although I got indigestion afterwards the 2nd time, not sure why. It's good though.Quote:
Originally Posted by wharfeego
I'd say Chicken-of-the Woods too. Lots of it about at the moment, but I wouldn't eat anything identified from a photo posted on an internet forum by people I don't know! You don't get many chances with fungi, and there have been some deaths and cases of serious permanent organ damage lately even to people who consider themselves fungus experts. (I'm a Countryside Ranger in an ancient woodland btw, but wouldn't consider myself expert enough at fungi ID to eat much of it - maybe that should be 'any of it'?)
that was my thoughtQuote:
Originally Posted by wharfeego
ha ha! don't all things not on the 'normal' consumption list?!Quote:
Originally Posted by Alf
it was bright yellow. wouldn't have picked the 2 bits I saw...it's a common dog walking spot and they're at the right height to be...'watered'.Quote:
Originally Posted by Splatcher
thanks BofB; I'd never risk eating any fungi unless a known-to-me-and/or-trusted person said it was safe. and never via the internet. I'd need the person doing the identifying to be stood there with me...and try some themselves probably :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartholomew of Basildon
I'd love to learn more about foraging but it takes years to gather the knowledge, and good people to go out with. too many things could be mis-identified and its just not worth it. until I know more I'll stick with wild garlic, blackberries and bilberries.
Yesterday I was driving to Easingwold the back way via the toll bridge and saw a mole running over a bridge so my friend and I stopped to catch it and put is safely in the grass (it tried to bite her!) and then we drove on and two minutes later saw a lovely roe deer leaping across the road in front of us and a flock of goldfinches. :)
Quite... the fungi experts I know say they don't eat anything that's not from Tesco's! Regarding foraging, I could probably knock up a small salad from the woods, but I'm not sure its really worth the effort, beyond the smug feeling of not having paid for it. Most wild food recipes seem to say 'makes a nice sauce with meat x', and being a veggie that doesn't really help much. With fungi the risk/reward ratio is even less appealing:thunbdown:
Nice pic of CotW I found on TuesdayAttachment 7057
Curlews in three different locations in the vicinity of Winter Hill/Anglezarke. Anyone know if there's always been lots around here. I've never noticed them before but I'm not always that observant. Plenty of peewits and twites too. And a hare shot out of the tussocks near Henshaws almost under my feet.
curlew.
there was quite a few of us glossopdale harriers and pennine runners out tonight (summer solstice run, not that the weather too notice) heading up to Edale Cross...we'd clearly annoyed the poor curlew who was buzzing and screeching at us! sorry bird!
A virtually fully grown young oystercatcher being shown how to dig (and being given) worms by a parent bird. Sad thing is they'll be off to Morecambe bay or somewhere similar soon
Back from quangoing near Newbury. Saw a Corn Bunting, Peregrine, Buzzards, a Green Woodpecker, Grey Partridge, Kestrel and tiny frog. Also ate some flowers, nice.
we had a shrew in our back garden yesterday...only saw it because the neighbours cat was trying to catch it. luckily we caught it first and released it away from the cat's territory. hope it survives.
had a curlew keeping me company all the way across Crooked Clough today. saw 2 mountain hares as well.
Did I see a Little Owl as I drove home this morning!? It was certainly small, just stood on the road. It nearly got knocked down! Really handsome little bird. Check RSPB and it looks like they stay further south. Thing is I'm sure I.ve seen them at work too which is just over the border!
I've seen them in County Durham (near Hamsterley Forest), so you could well have them there too.Quote:
Originally Posted by that_fjell_guy
Ah! Cheers Splatcher!!
We get little owls around here (Masham) Fjell-guy. They have a habit of sitting in the road too!
We had the good fortune to see a family of two adults and three recently fledged young last year not a million miles from Bolton Abbey. A big favourite of mine and it does exactly what it says on the tin: it's little and it's an owl :w00t:Quote:
Originally Posted by Hes
:thumbup: Aww, brilliant! It's been such a good year for seeing wildlife or maybe I just appreciate it more as I get older :D Found a couple tawny owl feathers on my walk today. off for a run now and am hoping I've timed it right for roe deer. :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
Cheers! For that too Hes! I think I've seen one where I work once, sat on a fence post. But I'm just over the border and wasn't convinced. But the one near our house, on the opposite side of the Solway, was pretty clear. Its nice to get some confirmation off people.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hes
That reminds me. I saw one of these this morning. And yes, I've seen it sitting in the road before.Quote:
Originally Posted by that_fjell_guy
Only time I've seen a little owl was Masham! Must be a popular area for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hes
Spot the Little Owl...and the Wheatear mobbing it!
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6057/5...b6cf7d7e_o.jpg
Spot The Birds! by Andy Holden, on Flickr
Thats him!!!...or her!! Great picture Andy!!Quote:
Originally Posted by wharfeego
It's an owl hotspot :wink: I've seen barn owls, little owls and tawnys regularly. I even saw an eagle owl but that was in Pateley Bridge. Flipping massive thing perched on the chimney of the workhouse. It was in all the newspapers and believed to be one of a mating pair living in the area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brummievet
sheep
horns caught in wire fence (that 6" square stuff)
thrashing about wildly
calmed right down as I approached
worried about losing a finger if it suddenly started flailing about again...
managed to prise the most curly horn loose
after a few more jumps it freed the other one
happy ending :thumbup: