Seen today

[Tim Hall]

Red Kites on Saturday, over Brockham.  Not seen them down that way before.

[Crumbling Nick]

Blimey!
All my life I've seen thrushes in the garden(s) and I assumed that that was it.
Just now, I looked out of my kitchen window and saw two thrush like birds the size of small chickens on the lawn. (OK, bit of an exaggeration).
I was amazed and called to Mrs. B to look out of the window.
"Oh yeah", she said, "Mistle Thrushes"

Gosh, aren't they big?  And how come I've never seen one before?

We've had a storm cock singing from the top of the highest tree in central Solihull for a couple of years (shared use path on the NW edge of Solihull School grounds FWIW), though not this year AFAIK. I don't think I've seen one at ground level in the couple of decades that we've lived hereabouts.

[Auntie Helen]

Dead shrew - it was tiny!

[Crumbling Nick]

Blackbirds are nesting in the shrubby cover on neighbour's side of the fence. Neighbours are extending house & the area is a building site. The fence has been demolished up to a metre or 2 from the nest. But Mrs blackbird was still sitting on the nest this afternoon, presumably brooding eggs, despite the disturbances from the building work. A minor disruption to things on our side of the boundary (I'll skip the details, but good neighbours is a shared value) had led to the first time I've ever seen a bird sitting on its nest at close range, albeit with such good cover that it took several minutes to see her.

This morning I had seen a cock blackbird fly into the area of the nest through the gap that used to be fenced. After a minute or 2 he emerged, and was promptly chased off by another cock bird which I presume is the owner of the territory & nest.

Looks as though the hen is keen on a bit of genetic diversity in her second brood .

[Wobbly John]

Red Kites on Saturday, over Brockham.  Not seen them down that way before.

...and a red kite here in the fens on Sunday. It was raiding a nest/fledglings in a field of wheat - the hen pheasant was trying to defend her brood/eggs. (I couldn't see exactly what was going on at ground level in the 18" high wheat)

[David Martin]

Bought the cheap £7.50 Argos bat detector and took it for a walk..https://soundcloud.com/david-martin-113/bats-at-observatory recording is via the phone so a bit ropey. Seems to work well and possibly a few species there.

[Auntie Helen]

Another hare, this one very close. He peered at me and Poppy as we wandered past.

[Cudzoziemiec]

And the sound.. https://soundcloud.com/david-martin-113/soprano-pipistrelles?fb_action_ids=10152559270045039&fb_action_types=soundcloud%3Apublish

Thank you, we enjoyed listening to that. What are the noises that sound like something splashing into water?

[slowfen]

hummingbird hawk-moth, normally don't see them until september

[microphonie]

A Ruby-tailed wasp crawling around on the shed. Never seen one before - they're amazingly brightly coloured, almost tropical!

More images: here

[Bledlow]

Two toads on the allotment, under a plant pot which hadn't been moved for a while.

One was a diddy little thing, absolutely tiny. The other one was small, but possible adult.

I carefully replaced the pot, after Mrs B had had a look.

That makes at least four resident amphibians. The two frogs are always in or near the pond when spotted. There may be a third toad. Opinions differ. Is the very small toad seen a few times by the pond the same as the one spotted today at the other end of the plot, or not?

[Feanor]

On Saturday: A brand new foal, could only have been a few minutes old.
Still all wet, laying on the ground trying to work out how to work it's legs.
Mother horse prodding it with her nose and licking it.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Some disagreement in the office today about whether the kestrel is a red kite or a kestrel. I think it's too small to be a red kite, it's the wrong colour, and I'm not sure they live in Niddrie.

[Bledlow]

Size, shape of tail, flight patterns, wing shape - all visibly different.

Kite = forked tail
Kestrel = fan shaped tail (when spread)

Kite


Kestrel hovering (which kites can't do)


Kestrel

[Pingu]

Dolphins just outside the harbour this morning.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

If kites definitely can't hover, it's a kestrel, or a kite fitted with hovering equipment.

[Bledlow]

A kestrel hovering is unmistakable. The head stays still, steady as a rock, while the wings flap away like mad & the tail constantly twitches. No other bird does anything like it, AFAIK.

Kites can hang in the air, given the right conditions, but they're not really hovering. They're gliding at the same speed as the wind, but in the opposite direction. Like a glider hanging in an updraught - indeed, kites do exactly the same. Almost still in the air, just little flicks & twists of wings & tail to maintain position. A kestrel hovering looks positively manic in comparison.

There's a video of a kestrel hovering here -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Common_Kestrel#p010v3zt

[Snakehips]

Two larks ascending , in Bushy Park.

[Cudzoziemiec]

A kestrel hovering is unmistakable. The head stays still, steady as a rock, while the wings flap away like mad & the tail constantly twitches. No other bird does anything like it, AFAIK.

Hence their occasional alternative name of windjammer.

[Wowbagger]

Two larks ascending , in Bushy Park.

Vaughan-Vaughan-Williams-Williams?

There were many large carp near the surface of the lake in Priory Park this morning. Two people I spoke to, both from the angling fraternity, thought they were preparing to spawn. I think it was last year that Mrs. Wow and I witnessed this spectacle - and spectacular it was! I thought it was a bit earlier in the year than this, and of course the season opens on Sunday so the place will be crawling with anglers.

[Tim Hall]

Out on a mission of mercy this evening in the car, I spied an owl (largish) pop up from the verge and fly off.

A couple of miles later another owl (smallish) popped up from another verge and hid round the back of a telegraph pole.

On my return 10 minutes later I spied what I guess was the same smallish owl on a different telegraph pole, a bit further along the same road.

Then a few hundred yards after that a deer skittered out of the undergrowth in front of me.

It's a jungle out there.

[Bledlow]

Strictly speaking, the evening of the day before yesterday.

Tiny froglets crossing the road by the university lake. We stopped & helped some reach the nice damp hedge bottom on the other side, next to our allotment site. There were quite a few tiny froglet-sized & shaped smears on the road. 

[Vince]

An urban hedgehog on Saturday evening. Quite amusing to watch it run in a sort of unguided manner.

[Vince]

I was accosted by this little critter on the cycle path this morning.



He was quite aggressive, clicking his pincers at me.

[Pingu]

Brown hare.