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What's buzzing or flying near you 2021?

Discussion in 'Wildlife Corner' started by Sheal, Jan 15, 2021.

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  1. Oakapple

    Oakapple Gardener

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    Thirty bumblebees!:wow:
    I have quite a way to go.
    Armandii, your garden sounds magnificent, will you post some pics of your roses in June?
    We live almost next to an old church, where rookeries abound in the tall trees, and they descend on us daily, raiding the nuts and seeds and pulling up aubretia and twigs from silver birches to make their nests.This doesn’t seem to deter the small birds overly though.
     
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    • Black Dog

      Black Dog Gardener of useful things

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      Well, now there is one less bee in our garden and our half-year-old cat started limping back inside.

      Guess it turned from a playful encounter to a valuable experience... :doh:
       
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      • ARMANDII

        ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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        @Oakapple

        To be honest, Oakapple, my garden is no more magnificent than yours or any other member of the GC Gang:dunno: , but we all love our little patch of Paradise:love30::wub2:
        Some of the Roses from last year by the Wildlife pond and the Arbour......
        The Sparrows, Tits, Robins, and other Birds just use them all as Hotels, but they don't pay
        any rent, except for their chatter and songs.
        upload_2021-3-10_15-32-0.png

        upload_2021-3-10_15-30-39.png

        upload_2021-3-10_15-30-8.png

        upload_2021-3-10_15-28-39.png
         
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        • shiney

          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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          I went out yesterday afternoon to post a letter and as I came home I saw a red kite flying round and round just above my roof. It's the first time I have had a good close look at one and it was magnificent with its lovely markings.

          When I got indoors (it ignored me approaching the house) I looked into the back garden and one of our pheasants was just coming out of the shrubs near the bird feeder - he picks up the dropped seed. He looked up, saw the kite and rushed under the stone bench near him. He stayed there until the kite had gone.

          Do kites go for something as large as a male pheasant?

          Until last year we had not had any kites around here but we are now seeing them more often.
           
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          • strongylodon

            strongylodon Old Member

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            @shiney, Kites are mainly carrion eaters, dead prey being preferable as they are not as swift as other raptors in chasing and catching birds. They have been known to take rabbits but rarely, a pheasant wold probably be too large to attack. They are still scarce in Dorset and maybe just one or two pairs have bred here in the North of the county.:smile:
             
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            • Jiffy

              Jiffy The Match is on Fire

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              In the 5th pic what is the bird with the blue tit please,
              vlcsnap-2021-03-14-15h11m23s148.jpg
              vlcsnap-2021-03-14-15h11m59s624.jpg
              vlcsnap-2021-03-14-15h13m12s465.jpg
              vlcsnap-2021-03-14-15h13m59s186.jpg
              vlcsnap-2021-03-14-15h15m17s741.jpg
              vlcsnap-2021-03-14-15h16m02s896.jpg
               
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              • strongylodon

                strongylodon Old Member

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                Greenfinch @Jiffy and a nice pair of Siskins.
                The pair I have visiting are not regular as they have been in previous years and not as tame.:smile:
                 
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                • Jiffy

                  Jiffy The Match is on Fire

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                  Thank you Strongylodon, tis nice to see the Greenfinch making a come back, the Siskins we have 3 pair's + 1 male floating around :):)
                   
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                  • Oakapple

                    Oakapple Gardener

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                    You are too modest Armandii:) your roses are lovely ( and I think you have 18 of them!) the yellow rose with the honeysuckle growing with it is so pretty.

                    Here in Oxfordshire we are inundated with red kites, circling over the house every day, usually in pairs.They mainly do eat carrion, it’s sparrowhawks that tackle larger prey like rabbits and pigeons.One killed two pigeons in the same attack in my garden a couple of years ago, leaving one pigeon dead but with no marks on it, and taking away the head of the other, leaving the headless corpse behind.Bizarre. In another pigeon attack, the sparrowhawk simply left all the feathers behind.
                     
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                    • ARMANDII

                      ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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                      @Oakapple

                      I have around 26 now, Oakapple, due to my impulse buying:dunno::wallbanging::heehee:. The "yellow" one is called R. Alchemist and I was searching for a climbing Rose for the side of the old Arbour and, on a for good memories sake, I visited Barnsdale in Rutland (the late great, Geof Hamilton's) place, I was walking under a Trellis entrance and saw R.Alchemist trailing down, and that was the Rose for me!! I normally only buy repeat flowering Roses but there was something about that Rose that made me forgive it for not being a repeat flowerer and it's been beautiful.:love30:

                      I love the Red Kites.:wub2::heehee: For the past 20 years my Life long friend and I have fished the Lakes and Rivers in Rutland, Peterborough, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire and see the increase of the Red Kites, we even had one that flew down to sit on a post about 20' from us. It chortled away to itself, completely ignoring us, for a good ten minutes and then took to the skies with that beautiful but strange. lonely. cry that it has.
                       
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                      • Oakapple

                        Oakapple Gardener

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                        R.Alchemist is indeed a beautiful rose and it obviously is doing well where you planted it.
                        Visiting friends in Rutland a few years ago we went past Barnsdale, but it wasn’t open.
                        I still have a Geoff Hamilton gardening book somewhere, he was a wonderful gardener and a very pleasant man by all accounts.
                        Yes, the red kite is a lovely bird, and it’s eerie call reminds you of lonely moors.
                         
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                        • strongylodon

                          strongylodon Old Member

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                          Siskin.
                          siskin.JPG

                          Coal Tit.
                          tit.jpg

                          One of two Tree Creepers out on a walk this morning very rarely see more than one on it's own.
                          tree creeper.JPG
                           
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                          • strongylodon

                            strongylodon Old Member

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                            Poole Harbour, still some wintering Sanderling around but will be gone soon. sands.JPG

                            Redshanks.
                            reds.JPG

                            Turnstones, they also will soon be going North to their breeding grounds.
                            turns.JPG
                             
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                            • Oakapple

                              Oakapple Gardener

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                              Good pics and impressive knowledge of birds on here!:)
                               
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                              • strongylodon

                                strongylodon Old Member

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                                A walk to Wareham Forest this morning and saw some Crossbills up in the Pines as well as an early Cuckoo which flew to fast for a pic.
                                cross 1.JPG

                                cross 5.JPG
                                 
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