Wildlife and Gardens Thread

[HybridFox]

Had been away for a little while but came back to see the parents had the conifers cut down in the garden to get some more light in

 

I just feel this low sadness though. They have been there for as long as I remember and seeing various birds over the years. What a shame

[Spudulike]

21 minutes ago, HybridFox said:

Had been away for a little while but came back to see the parents had the conifers cut down in the garden to get some more light in

 

I just feel this low sadness though. They have been there for as long as I remember and seeing various birds over the years. What a shame

I don't think that conifers, especially Lylandii types, are much use for wildlife. Hopefully they'll replace them with some smaller flowering/fruiting deciduous trees 🌳 

 

I had a massive Norway Spruce (Christmas tree) felled in my garden a few years ago and replaced with two ornamental pears. Blossom in early spring, great autumn colours and hold leaves well into winter. They haven't fruited yet but apparently birds love them.

[Milo]

Just taken delivery of a new toy. Anyone with any experience?
Happy to hear of what to do/not to do..!

 

(Apart from not to use it in the kitchen floor, obviously).
 

 

 

[kenny]

12 hours ago, Spudulike said:

I don't think that conifers, especially Lylandii types, are much use for wildlife. Hopefully they'll replace them with some smaller flowering/fruiting deciduous trees 🌳 

 

I had a massive Norway Spruce (Christmas tree) felled in my garden a few years ago and replaced with two ornamental pears. Blossom in early spring, great autumn colours and hold leaves well into winter. They haven't fruited yet but apparently birds love them.

Good for nesting birds.

 

We cut ours down and no longer get bats in the garden. Truly shit trees, but nature finds ways of using what is available. If new trees are being planted then you can do better but we do miss the bats.

[Bellend Sebastian]

Those that know me well will be well aware that I've a lot of affection for massive moths so I was absolutely delighted when my wife told me she was being bothered by this absolute lad:

 

https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/catocala-fraxini/

 

95 mm across! Ours is at least that big, almost big enough to cuddle.

 

My second rare moth encounter in my garden this year. Crap year for wasps, great year for moths

 

[Zear0]

On 05/07/2024 at 22:17, Milo said:

Just taken delivery of a new toy. Anyone with any experience?
Happy to hear of what to do/not to do..!

 

(Apart from not to use it in the kitchen floor, obviously).
 

 

 

How did you get on, and does it detect unseen feces?

[jgtuk]

6 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Those that know me well will be well aware that I've a lot of affection for massive moths so I was absolutely delighted when my wife told me she was being bothered by this absolute lad:

 

https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/catocala-fraxini/

 

95 mm across! Ours is at least that big, almost big enough to cuddle.

 

My second rare moth encounter in my garden this year. Crap year for wasps, great year for moths

 

Fantastic find… I’ve never seen one alive, only in collections. you should let your local recorder know.
Do you trap? 
 

[Grebfromgrebland]

12 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Those that know me well will be well aware that I've a lot of affection for massive moths so I was absolutely delighted when my wife told me she was being bothered by this absolute lad:

 

https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/catocala-fraxini/

 

95 mm across! Ours is at least that big, almost big enough to cuddle.

 

My second rare moth encounter in my garden this year. Crap year for wasps, great year for moths

 

If you like moths I saw this a couple of days ago

 

 

[Bellend Sebastian]

Just now, jgtuk said:

Fantastic find… I’ve never seen one alive, only in collections. you should let your local recorder know.
Do you trap? 
 

I don't, but I took a terrible photo of it.

 

There are moth recorders! That's pretty much my dream job in many ways and I'm very sad to learn it's a voluntary position. 

 

I will pass details of this sighting on

[jgtuk]

1 minute ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

If you like moths I saw this a couple of days ago

 

 

I think it’s a good year for these, I’ve had quite a few in my garden 

[Bellend Sebastian]

2 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

If you like moths I saw this a couple of days ago

 

 

Impressive. Have you identified it?

[jgtuk]

1 minute ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

I don't, but I took a terrible photo of it.

 

There are moth recorders! That's pretty much my dream job in many ways and I'm very sad to learn it's a voluntary position. 

 

I will pass details of this sighting on

Try trapping, if you like moths you’ll love it. 
I have 3 light traps on throughout the summer. 

[jgtuk]

2 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Impressive. Have you identified it?

Elephant hawk moth

[Bellend Sebastian]

25 minutes ago, jgtuk said:

Try trapping, if you like moths you’ll love it. 
I have 3 light traps on throughout the summer. 

Not sure my family would like me to be encouraging them. 

 

Saw a Scarlet Tiger earlier this year, that was ace too 

[Bellend Sebastian]

Saw a rat in the garden today, big enough to explain why two rat traps have simply disappeared.  Took them away to give his mates a laugh, presumably.

 

I will kill him

[Greg2607]

15 hours ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Saw a rat in the garden today, big enough to explain why two rat traps have simply disappeared.  Took them away to give his mates a laugh, presumably.

 

I will kill him

We had a rat nesting in our garden over winter.  We have a retaining wall and it had built a nest behind there.....   We have a very nature friendly garden anyway, so we sort of let it be for a while... until our cat decided he'd like to play with it and bring it in to the house as a treat... i'm not joking, it was the biggest rat i'd ever seen.   The cat had decapitated it and left it in the hall, but the rats body alone (not including tail) was the length of my forearm. 

 

I'm not normally freaked out by these things, but I couldn't sleep for about three nights, as the reality is, if he hadn't killed it, it's first port of call up the stairs would have been my bedroom. 

 

[SpacedX]

On 11/09/2024 at 22:23, Grebfromgrebland said:

If you like moths I saw this a couple of days ago

 

 

 

Found this in August 2019. A Privet Hawk-moth?

[jgtuk]

10 minutes ago, SpacedX said:

 

Found this in August 2019. A Privet Hawk-moth?

Yes, good spot 👍

[Grebfromgrebland]

35 minutes ago, SpacedX said:

 

Found this in August 2019. A Privet Hawk-moth?

That's a good find!

[Parafox]

On 08/10/2024 at 19:25, Bellend Sebastian said:

Saw a rat in the garden today, big enough to explain why two rat traps have simply disappeared.  Took them away to give his mates a laugh, presumably.

 

I will kill him

 

8 hours ago, Greg2607 said:

We had a rat nesting in our garden over winter.  

 

 

 

 

 

What am I gonna do?

Edited 9 October 2024 by Parafox

[Bellend Sebastian]

33 minutes ago, Parafox said:

 

 

 

What am I gonna do?

Twat it with a spade, hopefully.

 

That's what UB40 advised, isn't it?

[Parafox]

8 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Twat it with a spade, hopefully.

 

That's what UB40 advised, isn't it?

 

I need to research the lyrics. 

[Bellend Sebastian]

I'm being trolled by the wildlife. 

 

Squirrels trigger the rat traps without getting caught by them, seemingly just for a laugh, the rats ignore them (apparently they suffer from neophobia, a fear of new things), dumb mice that I don't actually want to catch get caught in the traps and then a cat or fox carries it away, dead rodent AND trap, into another garden. 

 

Absolutely f*** these guys

 

[jgtuk]

Got any snow lads?

[jgtuk]

3 hours ago, jgtuk said:

Got any snow lads?