Today's Wildlife Encounter

[Derby Tup]

Nice! I saw a dipper along the river at Horton this morning and yesterday we watched swallows catching insects, a grey wagtail and a wren singing its heart out. Who would have believed such a tiny bird could make such a big sound.

I also saw two little wading birds which looked like sandpipers but my bird id skills aren't that great. They were pottering about on the pebbles at the edge of a stream running into the Ribble.

Common sandpiper Hes. We saw some at Bolton Abbey last night. Look out for their "white braces"

[GeoffB]

Nice. Any swifts around in Peakland yet Geoff?

Not seen (or heard) any swifts around our way yet. I'd certainly expect them within the next couple of weeks (16th May last year).

[Splatcher]

My first woodpecker of the year is usually 1 Jan in the garden. They visit every day, as long as there's food out, & have done for years. Our local raven & peregrine nets have both been robbed (again). On the other hand, the reed warblers and sedge warblers are back along the Weaver, giving a great soundtrack to walking the dog. And we had a couple of redpolls in the garden the other day - they've only visited the garden in serious winter conditions in the past: no idea why they took a fancy to niger seeds in such good weather.

[Hes]

Cheers DT, they're sweet little things aren't they? looking forward to seeing golden plover, curlew and lapwing chicks soon. Usually see them on one of the moors I frequent.

Common sandpiper Hes. We saw some at Bolton Abbey last night. Look out for their "white braces"

[Derby Tup]

Not seen (or heard) any swifts around our way yet. I'd certainly expect them within the next couple of weeks (16th May last year).

One reported last week in Keighley area but none in our village. Hoping to maybe see one over weekend

[GeoffB]

... And we had a couple of redpolls in the garden the other day - they've only visited the garden in serious winter conditions in the past: no idea why they took a fancy to niger seeds in such good weather.

I started putting nyger seeds out a couple of years ago, hoping to attract goldfinches, but they've always been more popular with redpolls (sometimes 4 or 5 at a time), whereas the goldfinches seem to prefer the sunflower hearts.

[wharfeego]

Not seen (or heard) any swifts around our way yet. I'd certainly expect them within the next couple of weeks (16th May last year).

From my experience Swifts don't normally turn up in decent numbers until well into May.
It could be that many Swifts will not turn up at all.
And that could be due to the hunting situation in Malta which I believe MUST be stopped if we want to keep our wildlife heritage.
Quite possibly we will see a much steeper decline (than has already been happening over many years) in many of our migrant birds in the future if illegal hunting continues.



Go to Chris Packham's website to find out how we can all play our part in stopping the massacre of migrating birds
http://www.chrispackham.co.uk

[Splatcher]

I started putting nyger seeds out a couple of years ago, hoping to attract goldfinches, but they've always been more popular with redpolls (sometimes 4 or 5 at a time), whereas the goldfinches seem to prefer the sunflower hearts.

It's goldfinches that usually get most of my niger seeds, & that's generally all they'll go for. There's some sunflower hearts in the birdtable mix I use, but the goldfinches rarely bother with it. The only other birds that go for the niger are redpolls, siskins and moorhens. Actually I rearranged the feeders on the stand to stop the moorhens getting at the niger in the end. They've got nothing to stand on now, so they have to put up with what's on the bird table.

[GeoffB]

I had my weekly run in the White Peak last night, from Taddington. The wild flowers were quite spectacular, especially the Orchids, Cowslips, Wood Anemones and Mountain Pansies. Also Bluebells, Stitchwort, Meadow Saxifrage and plenty of others looking good.

Still no Swifts though.

[Alf]

It's goldfinches that usually get most of my niger seeds, & that's generally all they'll go for. There's some sunflower hearts in the birdtable mix I use, but the goldfinches rarely bother with it. The only other birds that go for the niger are redpolls, siskins and moorhens. Actually I rearranged the feeders on the stand to stop the moorhens getting at the niger in the end. They've got nothing to stand on now, so they have to put up with what's on the bird table.

There were some Goldfinches in the lane today as I was returning from my run. Not seen any for a while so they were a welcome sight.