Author Topic: Seen today (Read 1012817 times)

Adrian · « **Reply #650 on:** 24 June, 2009, 07:26:35 pm »

Quote from: toekneep on 24 June, 2009, 12:22:34 pm

A fly/beetle. The front half was vivid green and the back half iridescent ruby red. Quite spectacular. It was about a centimetre long. Any ideas what it was?

At a guess we are all doomed

Wowbagger · « **Reply #651 on:** 24 June, 2009, 08:41:49 pm »

Yesterday: a pair of sparrowhawks wheeling above our outdoor tai chi cavortings.

toekneep · « **Reply #652 on:** 24 June, 2009, 08:54:07 pm »

Quote from: wowbagger on 24 June, 2009, 08:41:49 pm

Yesterday: a pair of sparrowhawks wheeling above our outdoor tai chi cavortings.

Chinese take-away?

Butterfly · « **Reply #653 on:** 24 June, 2009, 11:16:04 pm »

A man out walking a rather pretty ferret

. Lots of butterflies and dear in Richmond Park.

Chris N · « **Reply #654 on:** 24 June, 2009, 11:17:22 pm »

My first Leopard slug tonight, in the compost bin. Bloody huge, it was.

Tim Hall · « **Reply #655 on:** 24 June, 2009, 11:43:51 pm »

A pair of buzzards twirling above the M23 near Outwood. I've seen a solo one that way before, so I guess they must live round there.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #656 on:** 25 June, 2009, 07:48:36 am »

Quote from: Butterfly on 24 June, 2009, 11:16:04 pm

A man out walking a rather pretty ferret . Lots of butterflies and dear in Richmond Park.

You had him out in his bathchair, then?

border-rider · « **Reply #657 on:** 25 June, 2009, 05:18:25 pm »

A cormorant, stretching its wings and basking in the sun on a mud bank beneath Monnow Bridge.

Tim Hall · « **Reply #658 on:** 27 June, 2009, 12:04:50 pm »

A green woodpecker, again near Outwood.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #659 on:** 27 June, 2009, 03:07:25 pm »

Yesterday, whilst we were out walking the dog, I noticed that a lot of large carp could be seen close to the surface of the park lakes. There are usually one or two, but then I noticed that I could see the shoals of rudd near the surface as well. Then, the clincher form me: there was a sizeable tench close to the surface, gulping in water from the very top. Tench are bottom-feeders and rarely come close to the surface. I was sure that the lakes were dangerously deoxygenated so I phoned the council to tell them so.

This morning, Mrs. Wow took the dog out. There were two pumps spraying the water into the air and a notice "No fishing on 27th & 28th June due to low oxygen levels."

Smug mode!

Adrian · « **Reply #660 on:** 27 June, 2009, 04:24:56 pm »

Well done that man

FatBloke · « **Reply #661 on:** 27 June, 2009, 05:38:46 pm »

Indeed! Well done!

Tim Hall · « **Reply #662 on:** 27 June, 2009, 11:03:59 pm »

A female sparrowhawk zooming over the crowd, pointed out by Tourist Tony,as we watched "Touchstone" at Crawley Folk Festival.

Auntie Helen · « **Reply #663 on:** 01 July, 2009, 08:48:20 pm »

A stoat, which ran three quarters of the way across the road, then turned and ran back again.

It was so quick that I couldn't see it turn, it was facing right one moment, then left a millisecond later. It almost looked like a computer arcade animation, it changed direction so quickly.

I see a lot of weasels at home but this is the first stoat this year, and was in Norfolk.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #664 on:** 01 July, 2009, 11:30:43 pm »

Not seen: a black cap.

The bloody thing was singing in a tree right in front of me, but in spite of searching with binoculars, I'm damned if I could see it.

I walked quietly round the other side of the tree in order to get a different view, and when I got there the git flew into a tree which was closer to where I had been standing originally, but I didn't see it go. Its song just came from a different place.

border-rider · « **Reply #665 on:** 01 July, 2009, 11:34:45 pm »

f'in loads of horse flies

My usual run has a stretch though a field with, erm, some horses and I get bitten to death whilst fumbling with the decrepit old gate.

Ow.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #666 on:** 03 July, 2009, 02:22:16 pm »

Ripe mulberries in our local park. I ate them!

Tom M · « **Reply #667 on:** 09 July, 2009, 10:49:21 am »

Saw a badger at about 9-45 in the dusk last night on way home from the track league.

Heading along a country lane and spy something at the side of the road, which I though might have been a cat initially. As I got closer I realised what it was and stopped.

It just sat there for about 20 seconds looking at me in a rather curious fashion, then decided he'd run up the road for about 30m, and dive off into a hedge.

Not sufficient time to extract my phone (for camera) from my bag though.

TimO · « **Reply #668 on:** 09 July, 2009, 11:10:58 am »

You're just lucky that it wasn't one of the Ninja Badgers that went for Wow.

Moloko · « **Reply #669 on:** 09 July, 2009, 11:17:28 am »

Quote from: wowbagger on 27 June, 2009, 03:07:25 pm

Yesterday, whilst we were out walking the dog, I noticed that a lot of large carp could be seen close to the surface of the park lakes. There are usually one or two, but then I noticed that I could see the shoals of rudd near the surface as well. Then, the clincher form me: there was a sizeable tench close to the surface, gulping in water from the very top. Tench are bottom-feeders and rarely come close to the surface. I was sure that the lakes were dangerously deoxygenated so I phoned the council to tell them so.

This morning, Mrs. Wow took the dog out. There were two pumps spraying the water into the air and a notice "No fishing on 27th & 28th June due to low oxygen levels."

Smug mode!

Well done that man, and well done to the council too for acting on it.

Butterfly · « **Reply #670 on:** 09 July, 2009, 09:39:45 pm »

A small flock of long tailed tits on Mitcham Common and a HUGE flock of seagulls near Hackbridge, probably 1000 birds.

Snakehips · « **Reply #671 on:** 09 July, 2009, 09:59:40 pm »

I saw a Cormorant on the Thames , not unusual in itself , feasting on a great shoal of very small fish. After I had taken a few photos it hopped out of the water and posed in front of me for some close-ups. I was struck by how similar it looked to the Booby of the Galapagos.

Bledlow · « **Reply #672 on:** 12 July, 2009, 02:12:09 pm »

A Large White butterfly being eaten alive by ants. Not sure what species: I'm useless on ants. Deep reddish-brown, vicious things that bite people at the drop of a hat, & therefore a bit of a nuisance in the garden. They'd bitten off parts of its wings & the end of its abdomen when spotted. It was struggling weakly.

A blackbird sunbathing on a neighbours shed roof. It was spreading its wings & tail in the sunshine. After a while, it preened its feathers back into shape, & flew off.

hellymedic · « **Reply #673 on:** 12 July, 2009, 02:53:26 pm »

Cabbage White? Possibly no great loss.

Bledlow · « **Reply #674 on:** 12 July, 2009, 04:39:19 pm »

Quote from: hellymedic on 12 July, 2009, 02:53:26 pm

Cabbage White?

Yep. That's what a Large White is. But I spent years being told that Cabbage White (what I always called it as a child) was a local name, not necessarily understood in other parts of the country, & rather got out of the habit.

Author Topic: Seen today (Read 1012817 times)

Chris N

border-rider

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