Seen today

[The French Tandem]

A magpie. Not in itself unusual, we do get them in our small (narrow) garden, but up to now always on the grass area about 15m from the back door, and only when we put meat scraps out. But yesterday, for the first time, one was on the patio about 3m from the back door, picking up spilt sunflower seed hearts from under the feeders.

Magpies are really fond of catfood. We always leave a bowl right before the back door for our cat. The cat always leave some bits in the bottom of the bowl, don't ask me why! It never takes long before the magpies come to finish the last bits.

A

[hellymedic]

A magpie. Not in itself unusual, we do get them in our small (narrow) garden, but up to now always on the grass area about 15m from the back door, and only when we put meat scraps out. But yesterday, for the first time, one was on the patio about 3m from the back door, picking up spilt sunflower seed hearts from under the feeders.

Magpies are really fond of catfood. We always leave a bowl right before the back door for our cat. The cat always leave some bits in the bottom of the bowl, don't ask me why! It never takes long before the magpies come to finish the last bits.
A

Next in the pecking order for cat food hereabouts are the foxes...

[rafletcher]

Around 10am we spotted a Japanese Water deer strolling across the field at the end of our neighbours garden. And just now, a buzzard and a red kite quartering the shy together, the kite slightly higher than the buzzard. It’s great to see increasing numbers of buzzards, something we’ve only spotted for the last couple of years, in the 20 we’ve lived here. And yesterday our first pair of swift’s.

[Pingu]

A tern flew over the garden this arvo.



Waits...

[Wowbagger]

A magpie. Not in itself unusual, we do get them in our small (narrow) garden, but up to now always on the grass area about 15m from the back door, and only when we put meat scraps out. But yesterday, for the first time, one was on the patio about 3m from the back door, picking up spilt sunflower seed hearts from under the feeders.

Magpies are really fond of catfood. We always leave a bowl right before the back door for our cat. The cat always leave some bits in the bottom of the bowl, don't ask me why! It never takes long before the magpies come to finish the last bits.
A

Next in the pecking order for cat food hereabouts are the foxes...

A few years ago, Jan and I were cycling through Den Haag, on the way to our nephew's wedding. It was about 9am as we had only recently alighted from the overnight ferry from Harwich.

A woman in a sari appeared and emptied a container full of surplus curry on the pavement beside the canal. Immediately a flock of herring gulls descended to eat the curry.

For a few seconds.

Then two herons appeared. The gulls left as rapidly as they had arrived.

[pcolbeck]

Yesterday through the kitchen window a little mouse helping itself from the bird feeder on the drystone wall. Its a camera phone shot blown up so not brilliant quality.

[Jaded]

A black legged lamb.

[Wowbagger]

Scab!

[Jaded]

Here's a better shot

[pcolbeck]

Jackdaw fledgling on the lawn this morning. Hilariously leggy and bumbling. Had it together enough to fly back into next doors big yew tree when our dog came sniffing around and its parents alarm called.

[Bledlow]

Not unusually a raptor - in this case I think a young buzzard - getting mobbed. Unusually it was by a gang of swallows.

Crows seem to be the usual mobbers. I've also seen jackdaws doing it - most often, in my experience, to kites.

[nobby]

Not unusually a raptor - in this case I think a young buzzard - getting mobbed. Unusually it was by a gang of swallows.

Crows seem to be the usual mobbers. I've also seen jackdaws doing it - most often, in my experience, to kites.

Rooks and lone Buzzards around these parts.
Are you sure about the crows? They do not usually appear in groups - 'crows don't crowd' - unlike rooks and jackdaws.

[woollypigs]

10 years ago I moved out of that there London, where I at times saw a fox daily. Cause we had a family the the bushes right across from the front door for most of that time down there.

Since then while living in these rural bits outside M25 I haven't seen one. And I have been where the wild things are both hiking, camping and cycling.

Until the weekend just gone. While walking across the moor I saw one legging it across the moor away from us, sadly way to fast in the high heather to be able to get a snap of it.

[Wowbagger]

I was awoken in the night by the loud sounds associated with young foxes. i didn't get out of bed to check, but I think they were in the road immediately outside.

[Canardly]

Isolated crows chasing magpies all over the place and even under a parked car.

[Wowbagger]

Yesterday whilst strolling around the park, I noticed something a bit splashy happening in the water. It turned out to be copulating tench. Actually, copulating involves a couple. This was definitely an orgy with about half a dozen fish involved by my estimate. I did video the event but you are all too young.

In other news, I have seen 4 dead eels in the park lake this week. That is most unusual. Other fish seem to be OK.

[pcolbeck]

10 years ago I moved out of that there London, where I at times saw a fox daily. Cause we had a family the the bushes right across from the front door for most of that time down there.

Since then while living in these rural bits outside M25 I haven't seen one. And I have been where the wild things are both hiking, camping and cycling.

Country foxes are mush more wary of humans than urban foxes. Probably something to do with shotguns and hounds. I've lived here 25 years and never seen a fox in or near the village though when we kept chickens I would find fox prints round the run in the morning if it had snowed. Very occasionally on a night I might pick up one in the headlights crossing the road but that's it. We hear them in the mating season though.
On the other hand outside our datacentre in the middle of Birmingham I have watched several foxes on a night when I was having a break and once at a motorway services one followed me across the car park and tried to steal my burger (kept jumping and snapping at the bag).

[Basil]

Beautiful sunny morning, but I spotted a Storm Cock in the park.  Bugger.

On foxes. I've had the same experience moving from Brum to West Wales. It went from several a week to maybe one a year.

[Mrs Pingu]

On Sunday, a stoat. First for a few years.

[pcolbeck]

A greenfinch on the bird feeder. A rarity these days.

[Jaded]

A damselfly?

[nobby]

Agrion Splendens - male, I think.
Alastair Humphreys mentioned these on his blog a couple of days ago 

[Bledlow]

Not unusually a raptor - in this case I think a young buzzard - getting mobbed. Unusually it was by a gang of swallows.

Crows seem to be the usual mobbers. I've also seen jackdaws doing it - most often, in my experience, to kites.

Rooks and lone Buzzards around these parts.
Are you sure about the crows? They do not usually appear in groups - 'crows don't crowd' - unlike rooks and jackdaws.

Crows are the usual harrassers, but yes, not in gangs. Mostly alone, sometimes in pairs.

[Bledlow]

Green woodpecker digging holes with its beak in & pecking at a lawn outside Microsoft's offices in Reading. I presume it had found an ants nest.

Several young rabbits, one fairly freshly dead, with no obvious sign of illness or injury. Maybe caught by a pet dog. A fox would have carted it away for dinner.

[andrew_s]

A damselfly?

(click to show/hide)

A red-eyed damselfly (Erythromma najas)
https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/species/red-eyed-damselfly/