Author Topic: Seen today  (Read 999766 times)

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1525 on: 17 November, 2010, 10:44:11 pm »
Seen on Monday - is this possible?

We were out walking at High Woods Country Park in Colchester through a woody bit with both dogs off the lead. Young cockapoo Poppy was running ahead and we saw an animal run out of the woods on our right, cross the path and dive into undergrowth on our left. Poppy stopped and, amazingly, returned to me when I called her.

This is because it looked rather like a small wild boar. Or possibly (the back end at least) like a deer. But the front really did look like a boar - James said the same. We have form for wild boar spotting - were in the local newspaper in Tonbridge several years ago when our Weimaraner cornered a Wild Boar.

So, is it possible it was a wild boar, or was it a deer that looked like a boar?

And we're still amazed Poppy came back when called!

Wild Boar in Britain

I've never seen one but it seems possible.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Seen today
« Reply #1526 on: 18 November, 2010, 12:48:25 pm »
Seen on Monday - is this possible?

We were out walking at High Woods Country Park in Colchester through a woody bit with both dogs off the lead. Young cockapoo Poppy was running ahead and we saw an animal run out of the woods on our right, cross the path and dive into undergrowth on our left. Poppy stopped and, amazingly, returned to me when I called her.

This is because it looked rather like a small wild boar. Or possibly (the back end at least) like a deer. But the front really did look like a boar - James said the same. We have form for wild boar spotting - were in the local newspaper in Tonbridge several years ago when our Weimaraner cornered a Wild Boar.

So, is it possible it was a wild boar, or was it a deer that looked like a boar?

And we're still amazed Poppy came back when called!
It'll be a muntjac The males have tusks.

border-rider

Re: Seen today
« Reply #1527 on: 18 November, 2010, 02:28:04 pm »

Wild Boar in Britain

I've never seen one but it seems possible.

They're quite numerous in the Forest of Dean now; some of the verges in the Forest have been rotavated by them.  They've crossed the Wye and are heading this way !

Re: Seen today
« Reply #1528 on: 19 November, 2010, 07:30:28 pm »
At Musselburgh, a snow bunting.  And a sparrowhawk.  I do hope that the former doesn't end up as dinner for the latter.

How lovely, I've never seen a snow bunting but would love to!

Re: Seen today
« Reply #1529 on: 19 November, 2010, 11:24:44 pm »
They're quite numerous in the Forest of Dean now; some of the verges in the Forest have been rotavated by them.  They've crossed the Wye and are heading this way !
They are trying to halve the FoD boar population, but not succeeding

Rig of Jarkness

  • An Englishman abroad
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1530 on: 20 November, 2010, 08:02:25 pm »
A quick spin in West Lothian this morning - 2 goosander, 1 dabchick + chick (albeit quite well grown), 1 tree sparrow, loads of fieldfares and hundreds of pink footed geese.
Aero but not dynamic

Re: Seen today
« Reply #1531 on: 20 November, 2010, 08:38:56 pm »
They're quite numerous in the Forest of Dean now; some of the verges in the Forest have been rotavated by them.  They've crossed the Wye and are heading this way !
They are trying to halve the FoD boar population, but not succeeding

They are hard to control. Germany is having a real problem with wild boar and a hell of a lot more people shoot them than do here. They can be very destructive.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: Seen today
« Reply #1532 on: 20 November, 2010, 09:13:12 pm »
They're quite numerous in the Forest of Dean now; some of the verges in the Forest have been rotavated by them.  They've crossed the Wye and are heading this way !
They are trying to halve the FoD boar population, but not succeeding

They are hard to control. Germany is having a real problem with wild boar and a hell of a lot more people shoot them than do here. They can be very destructive.

At work we are part of a consortium funding a bounty for any shot.
They spread disease. We spend millions on biosecurity and some fool lets a couple of 'pet' boars loose to spread pneumonia, salmonella, foot and mouth, whatever. They're no longer welcome in East Anglia, we have too many pig farms for it to be safe.

a lower gear

  • Carmarthenshire - "Not ALWAYS raining!"
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1533 on: 23 November, 2010, 08:40:47 pm »
Seen from breakfast table this morning with the two smaller gears: magpie teasing a young fox: first the magpie sat on a wall and the fox vainly jumped, then the magpie moved to the runner bean post and the fox vainly jumped, then to the greenhouse and the fox vainly jumped, then a repeat of all three before the magpie grew bored and flew off, leaving the fox to saunter onto the bottom lawn where, out of sight of the house it undoubtedly dug holes in persuit of slugs and left a disgusting cr*p. The larger of the smaller gears was chuffed to have seen a fox's face for the first time - he often glimpses a body or a tail but could not remember having seen a face. So cute but argh! the cra*p! and argh! the holes!

border-rider

Re: Seen today
« Reply #1534 on: 29 November, 2010, 10:48:38 am »
A lesser spotted woodpecker, I think

Rubbish photo, grabbed rapidly from inside the house using my phone.  It's the bird on the left; too small I think to be a Greater Spotted (the other bird is a Finch of some sort, for scale) though it had the correct black/white/red uniform.  Plus it's eating from a ground feeder (on a wall pillar) and I've only ever seen the Greaters on the peanut feeders.



They're quite rare here.  I've heard a woodpecker in our Yew tree.  Hopefully it was this chap :)

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1535 on: 29 November, 2010, 10:50:28 am »
I think lesser spotteds are pretty rare all over the country. I've never seen one but I've heard that they are present in some local woodland.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1536 on: 29 November, 2010, 11:11:47 am »
I was up on one of the downs South of Croydon, and was talking to someone as we stood in clump of trees.

Above our head, and very close to us, a robin flitted around.  Beautifully fitting to the frosty scene across the down.
Getting there...

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1537 on: 29 November, 2010, 11:17:40 am »
There's a snowdrop attempting to flower in Priory Park.

I first noticed them flowering there in early December the year my mum died (2004) and they appear every year, but I've deliberately looked for them this year.

It must be a very early variety because elsewhere I've never seen snowdrops in flower until January.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

CountrySickness

  • mostly puzzled
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1538 on: 29 November, 2010, 07:41:17 pm »
A lesser spotted woodpecker, I think

They're quite rare here.  I've heard a woodpecker in our Yew tree.  Hopefully it was this chap :)

If that's a finch on the right that's a gtr spot woodpecker, sorry to bring you the bad news, although they've only just arrived at our feeders and we regard it as good news, the local nuthatches are yet to be tempted by our food though, a matter of time hopefully ???

border-rider

Re: Seen today
« Reply #1539 on: 29 November, 2010, 09:18:01 pm »
mmm

Mrs MV said the same.  Very small fella though.

RJ

  • Droll rat
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1540 on: 30 November, 2010, 05:05:41 pm »
mmm

Mrs MV said the same.  Very small fella though.

They're surprisingly small.  Loud, though ...

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1541 on: 30 November, 2010, 05:08:32 pm »
I always regard dunnocks as having a very quiet, understated song.

It's wrens who are the noisy buggers.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

a lower gear

  • Carmarthenshire - "Not ALWAYS raining!"
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1542 on: 30 November, 2010, 10:12:52 pm »
Whilst scraping the ice off the car windows at about 8.30am on our suburban Welsh street, a fox trotted unconcernedly past me barely giving a glance, moseyed along the pavement, inspected a few front gardens and ambled off into the distance. I really had to double check that it wasn't a dog or a cat.

Re: Seen today
« Reply #1543 on: 01 December, 2010, 11:20:43 am »
Whilst scraping the ice off the car windows at about 8.30am on our suburban Welsh street, a fox trotted unconcernedly past me barely giving a glance, moseyed along the pavement, inspected a few front gardens and ambled off into the distance. I really had to double check that it wasn't a dog or a cat.

A lot of urban foxes are quite unconcerned about humans.  Earlier this year whilst I was cycling slowlyish up a bit of hill on my way to Greenwich to meet up some people for a ride, one actually started walking towards me.  I assume it had been fed by some humans, so wasn't so much unconcerned as positively friendly!

I've had plenty of other wander out of gardens, look at me, and then just wander at the same speed into the next door garden, presumably just doing a regular check of gardens and bins for anything edible that had been left out.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

Snakehips

  • Twixt London and leafy Surrey
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1544 on: 02 December, 2010, 09:29:46 pm »
We've all seen them , but you can't resist taking a photo when one sits in front of you like this ...................



Snake
An nescis, mi fili, quantilla prudentia mundus regatur?

a lower gear

  • Carmarthenshire - "Not ALWAYS raining!"
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1545 on: 05 December, 2010, 08:09:01 pm »
Was watching a robin in the garden this afternoon: squirrels have repeatedly knocked the wire-mesh tube bird seed feeder from the tree it usually hangs, so I'd rehung it from the top clothes line. Various finch-types were zooming back and forth to it. A robin was sitting on a bush enviously watching them feed (I'd also thrown some seed on the lawn beneath the feeder's new position but the birds hadn't yet found it). The robin eventually tried - repeatedly - to land on the feeder but kept changing its mind on the final approach: much mid-air undignified flutters with feathers sticking up in stange directions. 

chris

  • (aka chris)
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1546 on: 05 December, 2010, 08:42:58 pm »
A pair of pheasants have taken up residence behind our shed -



I wonder what we'll be having for Chrismas dinner ;D

Salvatore

  • Джон Спунър
    • Pics
Re: Seen today
« Reply #1547 on: 06 December, 2010, 10:55:03 am »
By pure coincidence ...

This is one of at least two pheasants who are regular visitors to my mother's garden. I didn't realise there were two until they both appeared together. Snapped through a gap in the curtain. He appears to have spotted me but it didn't phase him - he just carried on pecking at the seeds.


Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Re: Seen today
« Reply #1548 on: 06 December, 2010, 01:37:03 pm »

Re: Seen today
« Reply #1549 on: 06 December, 2010, 07:57:07 pm »
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