Wildlife and Gardens Thread

[Parafox]

Walking in Charlecote Park today and came across this fella. About 3 metres away, he got up from his hiding place to check us out.

[Spudulike]

Load of commotion in the garden (magpies and crows doing their nut) and thought it was caused by a cat. Looked out and a Sparrow Hawk had a Wood Pigeon on the lawn. Had evidence of this before in the garden but first time I've witnessed it. Pretty gruesome with the Sparrow Hawk plucking and ripping the pigeon whilst still alive (flapping and legs going). Was there for ages and scoffed most of it. Feathers everywhere. Sad for the pigeon but incredible to see close up. 

[ozleicester]

 

Snapped this off today

[Countryfox]

This little chap was roosting on my wall yesterday ..  not an ideal place  ..  he should be at home with his mates ..  

 

 

[Webbo]

1 hour ago, Countryfox said:

This little chap was roosting on my wall yesterday ..  not an ideal place  ..  he should be at home with his mates ..  

 

 

Just don't eat him ffs. We don't need covid 20.

[The Fox Covert]

2 hours ago, Countryfox said:

This little chap was roosting on my wall yesterday ..  not an ideal place  ..  he should be at home with his mates ..  

 

 

Love it. I have bats in my side entry. When I had a cat she used to lie down on the wall around the patio on summer evenings and watch longingly at what she supposed to be flying mice. Although she was a proficient mouser and regularly caught birds as well I never saw her catch a bat.

[Countryfox]

1 hour ago, The Fox Covert said:

Love it. I have bats in my side entry. When I had a cat she used to lie down on the wall around the patio on summer evenings and watch longingly at what she supposed to be flying mice. Although she was a proficient mouser and regularly caught birds as well I never saw her catch a bat.

They are cute little things ...   I’ve put up a couple of bat boxes and both are used ..  you can see the marks where they crawl in and the droppings below. The box is the size of a shoe box and can get well over 100 inside ...  the pipistrelle is our smallest bat and only about 4cms long. 

[notnow john]

There are usually a dozen or more small birds on my “feeding station”at any one time,with many more in

the hedge waiting their turn.

In the last three months there has been a massive drop off,normally I refill the feeders twice a week but 

 It seems ages since they were last empty,

Any ideas what could be happening? The feeders have been in the same place for about five years.

 

[Bilsthorpe Blue]

6 minutes ago, notnow john said:

There are usually a dozen or more small birds on my “feeding station”at any one time,with many more in

the hedge waiting their turn.

In the last three months there has been a massive drop off,normally I refill the feeders twice a week but 

 It seems ages since they were last empty,

Any ideas what could be happening? The feeders have been in the same place for about five years.

 

What have you got in your feeders? The birds around ours aren't touching the seeds now but devouring peanuts and suet balls

[notnow john]

13 minutes ago, Bilsthorpe Blue said:

What have you got in your feeders? The birds around ours aren't touching the seeds now but devouring peanuts and suet balls

Sunflower hearts,Niger seeds and a suet logs.

I’ll try some peanuts.

cheers

[Parafox]

4 hours ago, notnow john said:

There are usually a dozen or more small birds on my “feeding station”at any one time,with many more in

the hedge waiting their turn.

In the last three months there has been a massive drop off,normally I refill the feeders twice a week but 

 It seems ages since they were last empty,

Any ideas what could be happening? The feeders have been in the same place for about five years.

 

I wish we could get birds back in our garden. Until last year we had nesting blackbirds in our weeping willow. Sadly they have moved on. Now it's the damned pigeons and starlings and they seem to dominate. We have bird feeders and water troughs for wild birds. 

[TeamRocket]

Does anyone know what is the best way to grow chilli plants? And maybe when? I am trying to grow reapers and some other hot chillis everywhere I look it says start them early cos chilli plants need them but then on the packet it says Feb/March. 

I am also trying to grow them indoor as I don't have a garden if that makes any difference.

 

Thanks in advance 

[Spudulike]

If you have a garden then plant a tree. There are suitable varieties for even the smallest plot. 

 

I like this initiative. Hopefully we'll do the same in Leicester. 

 

BBC News - National Trust to plant blossom trees around UK
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56196275

 

[Ashley]

Anyone done their first cut of the year yet? Wanting to do mine next week if we continue to have dry weather. 

[oxford blue]

1 hour ago, Ashley said:

Anyone done their first cut of the year yet? Wanting to do mine next week if we continue to have dry weather. 

Yes, last weekend when it was bright and sunny. Considering the rainfall over the winter, I will soon be wanting some more rain; ground drying up very quickly and as March arrives, that's very early.

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, Ashley said:

Anyone done their first cut of the year yet? Wanting to do mine next week if we continue to have dry weather. 

I try and put off the first cut as long as possible because once it's done, you have to do it probably, once a week and I can't be arsed yet. Also one of our 2 cats seem to think it's ok to shit on the grass after it's been cut. In fact, cats seem to take a dump in some bizarre places, such as the pea gravel border at the side of our house.

[Countryfox]

He does look pretty mad ! ..  

 

 

[Webbo]

I had dozens of daffodils last year, this year only 1 has come up. the wife reckons the squirrels have ate the bulbs.

[Kopfkino]

30 minutes ago, Webbo said:

I had dozens of daffodils last year, this year only 1 has come up. the wife reckons the squirrels have ate the bulbs.

Unlikely, I’m pretty sure daffodils are a bulb squirrels won’t eat unlike crocuses or tulips. For them to not come up at all, it suggests they’ve got too wet and rotted or been attacked by disease/pest.

[Countryfox]

1 minute ago, Kopfkino said:

Unlikely, I’m pretty sure daffodils are a bulb squirrels won’t eat unlike crocuses or tulips. For them to not come up at all, it suggests they’ve got too wet and rotted or been attacked by disease/pest.

Blimey was half way through typing the same thing ...  spot on Kop !

[Countryfox]

43 minutes ago, Webbo said:

I had dozens of daffodils last year, this year only 1 has come up. the wife reckons the squirrels have ate the bulbs.

We’ve lost loads too ...   defo not squirrels cus I shoot the little buggers ...

[Parafox]

11 minutes ago, Kopfkino said:

Unlikely, I’m pretty sure daffodils are a bulb squirrels won’t eat unlike crocuses or tulips. For them to not come up at all, it suggests they’ve got too wet and rotted or been attacked by disease/pest.

 

8 minutes ago, Countryfox said:

Blimey was half way through typing the same thing ...  spot on Kop !

Is it advisable therefore, to dig up the bulbs after successful flowering and store them for next year?

Also a Q for those that know about gardens... We transplanted an acer last week from a large pot to the ground. Our garden has a lot of undersoil rubble and is quite hard to dig through so we struggled to make a hole large enough to take the whole root ball so we decided to remove enough to enable it to fit. This involve chopping through the thin outer roots. Is this likely to have done any damage? We stomped a load of soil around the base and watered it well now were hoping it's going to be OK as we inherited the tree from my late mum's garden.

[Kopfkino]

27 minutes ago, Parafox said:

 

Is it advisable therefore, to dig up the bulbs after successful flowering and store them for next year?

Also a Q for those that know about gardens... We transplanted an acer last week from a large pot to the ground. Our garden has a lot of undersoil rubble and is quite hard to dig through so we struggled to make a hole large enough to take the whole root ball so we decided to remove enough to enable it to fit. This involve chopping through the thin outer roots. Is this likely to have done any damage? We stomped a load of soil around the base and watered it well now were hoping it's going to be OK as we inherited the tree from my late mum's garden.

I don’t think it’s worth it really, best place for them is in the ground. It’ll protect them from summer pests sure but if you don’t store them well then you’ll lose some and the most likely problem is them getting too wet which is a winter problem when they need to be in the ground to flower in the coming spring. Only dig them up when you’ve got too many in an area imo.

 

 Idk about acer’s specifically and what soils they like/if they like rubble, but, in general, plants will tolerate hacking away at the root ball well. As long as you haven’t hacked away the main roots and haven’t gone too far, it should be fine. In fact, it can do them a favour and in this case it should have opened up the root ball which will encourage it to put down a much better root system for the spot it’s in.
 

Actually, it’s a mistake not to open up the roots. Just moving things about without doing much with the roots. Just as you prune the top, you can prune the bottom. When people repot things, often they don’t need a bigger pot, just hack away half of the root ball and stick it back in the same pot with fresh soil.

Edited 17 March 2021 by Kopfkino

[Spudulike]

My house stands on the grounds of an old demolished Victoria Manor house. When I bought the place I decided to plant a beech hedge down at the bottom of the garden for security/privacy. I bought the plants bare rooted and stuck a spade in the ground and clunk. Less than a couple of foot down is a road which I later discovered was an access road to the back of the Manor. At this point I decided I could either abandon the planting or just stick in the saplings in anyway hoping for the best. Well, 20 odd years later the hedge is thriving and needs cutting back every year. 

 

I'd forgotten about the underground road until last December when I dug a hole for a new ornamental pear tree and again, clunk. Given the success of the beech I went ahead and planted anyway. Only time will tell if it survives but I wouldn't worry too much about the acer in rubble. I reckon it'll be fine. 

[Ashley]

Got the first cut in on Thursday. 

 

Today the lawn got fertilised and selective weed killer applied. 

 

Will post some pictures up soon 😎