Wildlife and Gardens Thread

[RoboFox]

10 minutes ago, brookfox said:

 

This just landed in my garden, peregrine falcon if I’m not mistaken?

Think it's a Sparrowhawk. 

[Free Falling Foxes]

2 hours ago, Spudulike said:

I shared this further up the thread. Do you have a dog and use flea treatments?

 

https://www.pan-uk.org/garden-birds-are-being-poisoned-by-pet-flea-treatments/

Well, that's depressing.

No dogs here and I'm only aware of one on the entire street, though adjacent streets no doubt will boost that number.

What we do have unfortunately,  is a cat lover living opposite. At the last count she had 8 (eight! ) of the bloody things.

 

Our Blue Tit was on the nest again overnight and most of this morning but still no signs of any hatching.

[Spudulike]

2 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

Well, that's depressing.

No dogs here and I'm only aware of one on the entire street, though adjacent streets no doubt will boost that number.

What we do have unfortunately,  is a cat lover living opposite. At the last count she had 8 (eight! ) of the bloody things.

 

Our Blue Tit was on the nest again overnight and most of this morning but still no signs of any hatching.

We've had to put up with a neighbours (3 houses away) killer cat for the past couple of years, constantly stalking and climbing the oak tree in our garden. They sold up and moved in January and within a few weeks the Robins, Blackbirds, Dunnocks etc came back, nervously. We've been cat free for months until I noticed a new one a couple of weeks ago. The small birds have again disappeared from the feeders. Blue Tit's are still active in the box and I'm now on sentry watch. 

 

Domestic cats are bastards. I really do hate the furry fuchers. It should be an offence to allow them free roam.

[Grebfromgrebland]

Maybe your bird feeders are poorly located. We have several cats that frequent our garden and loads of birds come to our garden.

 

Save in the last place we lived.

[jgtuk]

53 minutes ago, brookfox said:

 

This just landed in my garden, peregrine falcon if I’m not mistaken?

Definitely a Sprawk 

[Dahnsouff]

1 minute ago, jgtuk said:

Definitely a Sprawk 

Thought the Cuckoo was the only onomatopoeic bird….

[Spudulike]

4 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Maybe your bird feeders are poorly located. We have several cats that frequent our garden and loads of birds come to our garden.

 

Save in the last place we lived.

The feeders are close by a tree and 9 foot tall hedge to allow them a quick escape route when they sense danger. This latest cat sits right beneath one of the feeders waiting for an opportunity. The arrival and disappearance of small birds has coincided with the presence of the neighbours play thing.

[jgtuk]

11 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

We've had to put up with a neighbours (3 houses away) killer cat for the past couple of years, constantly stalking and climbing the oak tree in our garden. They sold up and moved in January and within a few weeks the Robins, Blackbirds, Dunnocks etc came back, nervously. We've been cat free for months until I noticed a new one a couple of weeks ago. The small birds have again disappeared from the feeders. Blue Tit's are still active in the box and I'm now on sentry watch. 

 

Domestic cats are bastards. I really do hate the furry fuchers. It should be an offence to allow them free roam.

Far too many cats and irresponsible owners around. 
I won’t bore with the figures but cats are responsible for the demise of millions of wild birds every year in the UK alone. 
PS. I love cats in the right environment 

Edited Tuesday at 11:35 by jgtuk
Addition

[Trav Le Bleu]

Seen several swallows in Kilby over the last week.

 

No swifts yet though.

[jgtuk]

16 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Seen several swallows in Kilby over the last week.

 

No swifts yet though.

Swallows been back for a month, currently 4-5 pairs building nests in barns. 
I’ve got native birds with fledglings, others with eggs and new arrivals building nests. 
Rooks in two nests have fledged and are clumsily flapping in the crown of their tree. 

[Spudulike]

23 hours ago, jgtuk said:

Well, 11 nests in the garden have been predated so far. 
Heard the first Garden and Willow Warbler to arrive this week, saw Spotted Flycatcher and found a Great Spotted Woodpecker nest. 
The Swifts are back too, quite early for this area. It was the third week in May last year. 
I expect it’s the unseasonably warm weather we’ve had, bringing lots of insects out. 
If you’re doing any major building work, stick a Swift box or two up in the eaves, Swifts are struggling to find suitable nest sites due to modern building techniques and their numbers are dwindling. 
Probably my favourite bird and so evocative of summer in towns and villages. 
 

Which nests have been predated? Have the Pheasants been successful? 

[Spiritwalker]

20 hours ago, jgtuk said:

Far too many cats and irresponsible owners around. 
I won’t bore with the figures but cats are responsible for the demise of millions of wild birds every year in the UK alone. 
PS. I love cats in the right environment 

A couple of years ago I had robins nesting in an old shed, when the chicks hatched I popped in there

every day to see how they were doing, one day I went in and it was like a scene out of a horror movie.

[Trav Le Bleu]

33 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Which nests have been predated? Have the Pheasants been successful? 

Throughout history pheasants are used to being oppressed.

[Trav Le Bleu]

16 minutes ago, Spiritwalker said:

A couple of years ago I had robins nesting in an old shed, when the chicks hatched I popped in there

every day to see how they were doing, one day I went in and it was like a scene out of a horror movie.

The beheaded corpse of a cat impaled on a bike handlebar whilst robins were triumphantly twittering around the cats head on a fork?

[Electric Yetis]

Pleased to see the Newts are back in my small pond.

 

 

[Spiritwalker]

2 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

The beheaded corpse of a cat impaled on a bike handlebar whilst robins were triumphantly twittering around the cats head on a fork?

Unfortunately no.

[jgtuk]

3 hours ago, Spudulike said:

Which nests have been predated? Have the Pheasants been successful? 

Sadly, the Pheasant nest went (and another Pheasant with 5 eggs), two blackbirds, a Song Thrush, two Dunnock, a Greenfinch, a Goldcrest, two Wood Pigeon and, funnily enough, a Magpie too. Also an abandoned box with 7 Blue Tit eggs - a Sparrow Hawk attack I believe. 
More nests being built as we speak though 👍

[jgtuk]

3 hours ago, Electric Yetis said:

Pleased to see the Newts are back in my small pond.

 

 

We have Great Crested Newts in our pond, watched a Blackbird take one from the patio last year 

[FoyleFox]

We have activity in bird box 1. Yesterday I heard rustling and tapping from within, now the parents are clearly making regular trips out for food.

 

I haven't seen anyone near box 2 for days, though.

[Free Falling Foxes]

On 28/04/2025 at 18:00, Free Falling Foxes said:

Blue Tits have nested in our birdbox and laid 8 eggs. Slightly worried though as the incubation period is usually 14/15 days and we are now on day 17.

We have a camera in the box and it appears even the female is concerned. Although she has been dutifully sitting on the nest, now she often fidgets and keeps looking at the eggs and nudging them slightly.

Mrs. FFF says I'm like a nervous expectant father, pacing up and down the maternity ward corridor.

Somethings wrong though, I can feel it.....

Panic over.

Five of eight eggs hatched overnight.