Seen today

[Wowbagger]

Not today but last week, on the Rhein & Mosel:

Lots of Black Kites

Quite a few black redstarts

Numerous fieldfares from close range: these threw me because they only visit Britain in the winter but are resident in Germany

Lots of a type of goose I couldn't identify positively but probably white-fronted geese

Two black-winged stilts.

We also heard loads of nightingales, one of which we saw.

[clarion]

Heron in Grove Park, Carshalton, posing beautifully at the top of an ornamental cascade.

[Adrian]

A partridge trying to hide from me in the grass by the road near Pyecombe.

[Fi]

Tit fledglings being fed by parent(s) on the feeders.  Three male blackbirds fighting over the ground food table, now taking it in turns to feed.

[Pingu]

A swallow in two pieces on the road, legs & feet missing 

[Wowbagger]

A couple of days ago, the very amusing sight of three male mallards attempting to mate with one female.

She seemed to be well up for it, but every time one of the males tried to mount her, another would jump on his back and peck him in the head. These two would then have a bit of a scrap whilst the female quacked loudly, along with the third male, who perhaps was more of a voyeur than a participant. This went on for quite some time until a fifth bird in the form of a carrion crow swooped down and had a go at one of the mallards, whereupon all four flew off.

[PaulR]

A rather belated report, delayed by some uncertainty about the identity of the birds in question.  On the ride from Oxford to Acton on Saturday morning, at about 4.00 at a guess, we were passing through the Colne Valley among the gravel pits when I spied a number of birds behaving in a very distinctively predatory fashion, hawking round the trees in the half light, as if hunting insects.  At the time I suggested they might be nightjars but I rather dismissed this, as I'd always thought of them as heathland birds.  However, advice from birdy colleagues and family members leaves me with little doubt that we'd seen nightjars.

I've also learnt that the way to attract nightjars is to place a white handkerchief on the ground and clap your hands.  This may also attract constables.

[Bledlow]

The blackbirds are bringing their offspring to my garden to feed.

[Auntie Helen]

A young chaffinch - in the hallway. I opened the back door for the dog an hour or so ago and the chaffinch must have flown in. We managed to waft it back towards the back door and I think it's gone out now. That's two birds this week I've had to rescue from indoors!

[pcolbeck]

A young badger running across the lane about half a mile from the village last night when I was coming home about 11:00pm.

[Pingu]

This in the garden today:

[Adrian]

A yellow wagtail and one chick on its nest which it had built right outside my sister-in-law's dining room window in a flower pot.

[Tewdric]

Dolphins playing just off the beach in Mwnt.

[CountrySickness]

Lots of birdies around the Welsh hills and valleys on an audax yesterday, highlights being 2 pairs of redstarts, a few tree pipits and a fat fairly freshly fledged dipper that was too full of river invert goodness to move as I slowly trundled/wheezed passed.

[kevinp]

Lots of wildlife seen yesterday, on the cotswold and thames i did.

Hairs seem to be getting more common again around my way as I saw at least half a dozen in the first couple of miles, along with a pair of monkjacks.  I also saw at least a dozen Kites flying over, I think it was Stadhampton all flying around together with one crow trying his best to scare them off.
In various other places I saw a kestrel swoop down in front of me and pick up a mouse or shrew, mother and young roe deer, baby roe deer sat on the side of the road.

And I got chased by three dogs at Sutton Benger, I was riding along the side of a big hedge and could hear this ticking sound, thinking that the rear mech was slightly out, when all of a sudden three dogs burst out of a drive way after me, the ticking was their claws on the tarmac ... that got the old heart working well though 

[CountrySickness]

And I got chased by three dogs at Sutton Benger, I was riding along the side of a big hedge and could hear this ticking sound, thinking that the rear mech was slightly out, when all of a sudden three dogs burst out of a drive way after me, the ticking was their claws on the tarmac ... that got the old heart working well though 
[/quote]

Dog sprints are very good training you know. There used to be a farm in Radnorshire with lots of collies that I used to pass going downhill, great fun watching them trying to keep up at 30MPH , I never made the mistake of cycling the other way though as I'm not sure even a chemically infused Pantani could have beaten a psychotic collie up a steep hill.

[Bledlow]

A half-tame juvenile blackbird, which keeps popping round. It seems a bit clueless, perhaps thrown out by its parents before quite ready, or maybe 'special needs', as Mrs B suggested. We're torn between making sure it's well fed & fear of it becoming dependent on us.

Mrs B had a close encounter with a kite in the back garden yesterday, while reading An Artist of the Floating World (her, not the kite). A shadow passed over, & she looked up to catch the eye of a very low-flying kite having a good look at her. It then glided away, presumably pissed off because she wasn't dead.

[JStone]

Dozens of tiny frogs by the edge of Mallards Pike lake in the Forest of Dean:



Sitting on a fingernail shows just how tiny they were:

[Mrs Pingu]

awwwh!

[Chris S]

A Sparrow Hawk on the back lawn, with a young Starling dinner.

[Tewdric]

A shrew.  In my bedroom.  Being stared at by two crap cats who couldn't catch a cold in the arctic.

[Mr Larrington]

A pair of marsh harriers getting some unwelcome attention from a crow.

Edit:  It's bird of prey city out there at the moment; the crow (or one of its mates) has just seen off the neighbourhood kestrel.

[pcolbeck]

Corvids really aren't keen on any kind of raptor.

[Tourist Tony]

Corvids really aren't keen on any kind of raptor.

Watching interactions between ravens and raptors is fun. Buzzards are attacked hard and fast, with furious flapping to gain height to stoop on the buzzard, who half rolls to present talons. On the other hand, goshawks....the ravens make a lot of noise, but do NOT dive in to make a physical attack.
Wonder why?

[Tim Hall]

30 Red Kites.

Can you guess which motorway I was on today?