Today's Wildlife Encounter

[The Navigator]

A huge tick, well embedded in my belly!!
Failed to remove it cleanly, so it was out with the scalpel blade to dig out the rest

[Derby Tup]

Saw a swallow today. Hope he gets home okay!

[wharfeego]

Saw a swallow today. Hope he gets home okay!

Still plenty of House Martins about DT. The odd stray Swallow will 'ave company on their mammoth flight back to Africa.

[Derby Tup]

Still plenty of House Martins about DT. The odd stray Swallow will 'ave company on their mammoth flight back to Africa.

I was gutted when we had some horrible wet weather in mid-late July and I missed the Swifts having a last burn up before they nipped off. Good spot outside the Fleece normally to see and hear them screaming about

[Hes]

I was pretty gutted to miss the swifts leaving too. After coming back from Scotland, I was just aware of their absence...saw a swallow at Christmas last year in Penzance!

Today's wildlife encounter: hundreds and hundreds of mallards on a small fishpond. It was really odd but all was revealed when a bunch of tweedy types with guns came off the hills with trailers full of dead pheasants. I guess the mallards were hiding out of their way.

[Derby Tup]

New series of Autumwatch starting later this evening, BBC2

[wharfeego]

New series of Autumwatch starting later this evening, BBC2

Thanks fo' remindin' DT...9pm BBC2

[Grouse]

Don't swallows live here? Africa's just the holiday home?

[IanDarkpeak]

a peregrine i think, very early this morning 7.30am. very low to ground as it was so windy today but half a big again as a kestrel and a bit paler with more swept back wings. This would be good news but a peregrine was found dead last week on Howden edge. Poisoned??

[Derby Tup]

Don't swallows live here? Africa's just the holiday home?

Intetesting point. I tend to think of the swallows as 'our's' and that they just go away to miss the winter, whereas swifts are visitors who come for our summer. Sadly swifts don't arrive until May and are usually gone by early August