A random thread for the wildlife stuff - you know the drill

[Pingu]

Scottish grouse moors to be licensed in attempt to protect birds of prey
MSPs vote for controls as it emerges another hen harrier has vanished in area ‘notorious’ for persecution

[Flite]

Good News/Bad News.
The shooting estates have had decades of warning to clean up their industry with little effect.
The sooner the law is enforced and estates start fearing for their licenses the better.
Faint hope of it happening in England.

What is never mentioned about heather burning is the devastation it causes to overwintering reptiles - all on the protected list.
It is illegal to disturb an adder's hibernaculum, but apparently not to incinerate them.

[Wowbagger]

My Good Pal Penelope has a squirrel that occasionally visits her garden. Being Not Of Sound Mind, she feeds the little fecker, but it isn't always that receptive and on occasions buggers off when she puts some peanuts out.

The other day she noticed that after the squirrel had gone, leaving quite a few nuts behind, some magpies turned up and took the peanuts and buried them around her lawn.

After the magpies had gone, some crows turned up, unearthed the nuts and ate them.

[Steph]

Hedgepig in the garden in Monday morning as I went out for an early shift, and red kite overhead as I caught the bus today. Local biodiversity is looking up!

[Mrs Pingu]

Awful photos, but I was about to remove last year's barley straw from the pond when I found this dragonfly nymph on it, so I put it back sharpish. *dances vigorously*

PXL_20240426_124848623 by The Pingus, on Flickr

PXL_20240426_124858854 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[PaulR]

My spotting of a freshwater shrimp in the road yesterday led me to a website where you can buy a multipack of dragonfly nymphs, 5 per pack, mixed species, for just over £20.  I wonder how that fits in with conservation.
https://blades-bio.co.uk/shop/living-organisms/pond-life/dragonfly-nymphs/

[Mrs Pingu]

That seems fairly pointless. I could get a mix of 5 species that don't exist in Furrybootoon! Also a bit disturbed by the comment 'taken from natural ponds'.

[Mrs Pingu]

After the last couple of springs where we've got excited we might get lodgers in our nest boxes which came to nowt, this year it looked like it might actually happen, although it's been a bit quiet the last few days round the box.
Until this morning when I came home from my morning walk and saw the next box was no longer on the fence post. It had fallen off, and when I lifted the lid for a look there was indeed a lovely nest in there with 4 eggs in it.

Don't know how long it had been on the ground for but I quickly cable tied it back up again. I don't hold out much hope but I've done what I can.
Need a better mounting solution for the long term.