Wildlife and Gardens Thread

[Jon the Hat]

At my mums in Surrey this weekend so popped into RHS Wisley today for the first time in I think 7 years.  Beautiful as ever but a great new layout and garden centre too.  Well worth a visit.

[FOXYTALK]

16 hours ago, Kopic said:

My garden has been obliterated by box caterpillars and I'm gutted. Only just found out about them today, thought the bushes had died from lack of water. Gone to have a close look and they're all covered in them. Ffs.

Stripped my tree last year. Every night I had to come and kill em by hand little blighters. 

[cambridgefox]

Overjoyed.

Heard 3 Turtle Doves  in separate places in a 4 mile radius.

1 is a regular,but the other 2 are new to the area.

[jgtuk]

1 hour ago, cambridgefox said:

Overjoyed.

Heard 3 Turtle Doves  in separate places in a 4 mile radius.

1 is a regular,but the other 2 are new to the area.

Fantastic. It’s been a while since I’ve heard one.
Sadly found a juvenile dead last year after flying into our window. Gave it to a taxidermist who was very grateful. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

10 hours ago, cambridgefox said:

Overjoyed.

Heard 3 Turtle Doves  in separate places in a 4 mile radius.

1 is a regular,but the other 2 are new to the area.

What about that partridge in the pear tree though?

[Trav Le Bleu]

8 hours ago, jgtuk said:

Fantastic. It’s been a while since I’ve heard one.
Sadly found a juvenile dead last year after flying into our window. Gave it to a taxidermist who was very grateful. 

Never heard nor seen one.

 

One of a few "British" birds I've got to tick off.

[jgtuk]

24 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Never heard nor seen one.

 

One of a few "British" birds I've got to tick off.

Good luck, this is one of those birds that has been decimated by loss of habitat and shooting when migrating through the Mediterranean. 
There are still strongholds so if willing to travel you can see them. 

[cambridgefox]

1 hour ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

What about that partridge in the pear tree though?

No luck,but one of my mates was one of the builders in the show.FACT.

[cambridgefox]

1 hour ago, jgtuk said:

Good luck, this is one of those birds that has been decimated by loss of habitat and shooting when migrating through the Mediterranean. 
There are still strongholds so if willing to travel you can see them. 

This is why I will never go to Malta

[cambridgefox]

I’m quite  Good with my birds.Except waders and gulls,but if anyone is interested.

there is a wonderful app that is fairly accurate at listening to them.

” Merlin” it’s free.

It’s surprising how after a while you learn what call is what without looking.

it highlights the bird singing as you are going along.

windy days it’s a bit ropey and it will throw in a random every now and then,I got a common crane with a skip lorry reversing once!

[jgtuk]

4 hours ago, cambridgefox said:

I’m quite  Good with my birds.Except waders and gulls,but if anyone is interested.

there is a wonderful app that is fairly accurate at listening to them.

” Merlin” it’s free.

It’s surprising how after a while you learn what call is what without looking.

it highlights the bird singing as you are going along.

windy days it’s a bit ropey and it will throw in a random every now and then,I got a common crane with a skip lorry reversing once!

Merlin is ok but not always accurate, also doesn’t pick up calls or song if in the distance. I’ve heard and identified several birds that Merlin has missed and also a few misidentifications. 
It’s a brilliant addition to other tools though and great for beginners. 

[jgtuk]

7 hours ago, cambridgefox said:

I’m quite  Good with my birds.Except waders and gulls,but if anyone is interested.

there is a wonderful app that is fairly accurate at listening to them.

” Merlin” it’s free.

It’s surprising how after a while you learn what call is what without looking.

it highlights the bird singing as you are going along.

windy days it’s a bit ropey and it will throw in a random every now and then,I got a common crane with a skip lorry reversing once!

Would have been brilliant had it been an actual crane on a lorry 😂😂

[cambridgefox]

2 hours ago, jgtuk said:

Merlin is ok but not always accurate, also doesn’t pick up calls or song if in the distance. I’ve heard and identified several birds that Merlin has missed and also a few misidentifications. 
It’s a brilliant addition to other tools though and great for beginners. 

Picks up high pitched birds better.

It can pick up a wren a mile off.

i tend to put it on if I hear something different.

There is a very noisy Cetti’s warbler near me.Was unsure put it on,and now unmistakable.

[Free Falling Foxes]

On 16/05/2025 at 20:32, Free Falling Foxes said:

I posted videos previously in this thread of our Blue Tits.

Of the 8 eggs laid, 5 hatched. 1 chick died after a week and we've lost 2 more this week. They all seemed to be progressing well too

The two remaining ones are quite mobile and I think they'll be off tomorrow.

 

Well, I was a little out. The two chick's fledged this afternoon.

We witnessed one leaving. On camera, he/she was quite mobile inside the box and then poked their head out from the hole. We then watched from the garden as it made its first foray into the outside world.

I was amazed at its first flight. The bird took off from the birdbox hole, did an immediate sharp left turn and landed expertly in our tree, which is approx 7 metres away. Almost instantly, one of the parents joined them.

Despite checking regularly,  the second one fledged whilst we weren't looking.

[Trav Le Bleu]

47 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

 

We witnessed one leaving. On camera, he/she was quite mobile inside the box and then poked their head out from the hole. 

 

How do you know it was transexual?

[Trav Le Bleu]

10 hours ago, cambridgefox said:

I’m quite  Good with my birds.Except waders and gulls,but if anyone is interested.

there is a wonderful app that is fairly accurate at listening to them.

” Merlin” it’s free.

It’s surprising how after a while you learn what call is what without looking.

it highlights the bird singing as you are going along.

windy days it’s a bit ropey and it will throw in a random every now and then,I got a common crane with a skip lorry reversing once!

Always wanted to be better at birdsong ID. I similarly struggle with gulls, they all look very similar, but also warblers. It's amazing how many dull, brown sparrow-sized songbirds there are.

[cambridgefox]

9 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Always wanted to be better at birdsong ID. I similarly struggle with gulls, they all look very similar, but also warblers. It's amazing how many dull, brown sparrow-sized songbirds there are.

It’s a good app for learning tbh

[jgtuk]

44 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Always wanted to be better at birdsong ID. I similarly struggle with gulls, they all look very similar, but also warblers. It's amazing how many dull, brown sparrow-sized songbirds there are.

Practice… There are a couple of tricky warblers that share habitat but the calls/song are quite different. 
Separation by habitat, call or plumage differences are the key. 
 

[Trav Le Bleu]

10 hours ago, jgtuk said:

Practice… There are a couple of tricky warblers that share habitat but the calls/song are quite different. 
Separation by habitat, call or plumage differences are the key. 
 

You say that, but the pesky sedge warblers in the willow tree, and the marsh tit in the coal bunker ...

[jgtuk]

Marsh and Willow Tit are tricky… 

[RobHawk]

Had a gold ringed dragonfly in the garden this afternoon. Flew in the garden and landed on a hanging basket. Was still there this evening and was clearly struggling, it ended up falling off the basket in to some plants and couldn't fly at all.

 

I managed to spoon feed it some surgery water. Within 5 minutes it had the strength to fly off. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/21/cat-repellent-garden-chelsea-flower-show-songbirds-survival/

 

Caused uproar amongst cat lovers.

 

So basically cats should be allowed into other people's gardens to wreck havoc?

 

People say, "but there's a dig-friendly garden!" The important difference is, it's not someone else's dog in the garden.

Edited 24 May 2025 by Trav Le Bleu

[RobHawk]

22 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/21/cat-repellent-garden-chelsea-flower-show-songbirds-survival/

 

Caused uproar amongst cat lovers.

 

So basically cats should be allowed into other people's gardens to wreck havoc?

 

People say, "but there's a dig-friendly garden!" The important difference is, it's not someone else's dog in the garden.

Screw cats! I like cats but other people's cats can keep out of my garden, they shit everywhere and attack the wildlife. By all means do that in there own garden, but not mine

[Spudulike]

On 24/05/2025 at 10:37, Trav Le Bleu said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/21/cat-repellent-garden-chelsea-flower-show-songbirds-survival/

 

Caused uproar amongst cat lovers.

 

So basically cats should be allowed into other people's gardens to wreck havoc?

 

People say, "but there's a dig-friendly garden!" The important difference is, it's not someone else's dog in the garden.

Mental injury!?  

 

'However, we urge people to consider the impact of spaces that might harm cats, either through physical injury from spikes, or through mental injury, such as from sound deterrents'.

[leicsmac]

3 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Mental injury!?  

 

'However, we urge people to consider the impact of spaces that might harm cats, either through physical injury from spikes, or through mental injury, such as from sound deterrents'.

It stands to reason that a sentient species capable of cruelty (such as cats) are also capable of suffering from psychological trauma.

 

That being said, fvck them on this one - the more other wildlife is offered protection from them, the better.