Seen today

[fuzzy]

Whereas my crow spot yesterday was having a bath in a puddle

[hellymedic]

And my crow spot today was inspecting the strawberry patch from our lawn....

[Pingu]

Mine was a baby crow demanding food from parents.

[Cudzoziemiec]

And my crow on Saturday was chasing a buzzard just a couple of yards in front of me.

[Legs]

Not today, but on Sunday.

My inlaws were staying for the weekend, ad at about lunchtime, Pops and I inspected my beehives.  Pops lost all of his colonies to nosema over the winter and is looking to restock - we'd thought that if one of my colonies needed artifically swarming, I could send him home with half of one of my colonies...

Of course, none of my colonies was in a suitable condition for doing an AS; about an hour after my inlaws left to head back to Hull, I found a natural swarm (I suspect from one of my colonies) in one of my trees.  Subsequently hived in a nucleus box, ready to go to Hull next time we visit... 

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

About 15 minutes ago in my rockery.

I'm thinking it is an adder, although the markings seem a bit different.

Fortunately it nowhere near where I released the newt

[Cudzoziemiec]

Might be a grass snake.
http://www.arkive.org/grass-snake/natrix-natrix/image-A21772.html

[jamesld8]

A buzzard right in front of me landed in road and `mantled` its wings over its catch--on seeing me it flew off empty handed and away ran a rather surprised shrew, a lucky escape 

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Might be a grass snake.
http://www.arkive.org/grass-snake/natrix-natrix/image-A21772.html

I'd like to think so.  We get snakes in the garden that clearly are adders which is what gives me doubts over this one.  My plan is to leave it alone which is good because I hate weeding the rockery.

[Wowbagger]

About 15 minutes ago in my rockery.

I'm thinking it is an adder, although the markings seem a bit different.

Fortunately it nowhere near where I released the newt

Where was this?

I have seen, and handled, plenty of grass snakes and adders in my time (I have handled far more grass snakes than adders, although I did have an adder slither over my wrist once). That looks significantly different from either. Its flat head makes me think "adder" but the markings are far blander than any adder I have ever seen.

Adders can be variable in colour, but typically the background colour differs in males and females. Males tend towards a grey, whitish, occasionally yellowish colour. The contrast with the black markings can make them appear almost silver. The females tend to be brownish with considerable variation of shade and occasional hints of red or yellow – although in the latter case always a much darker shade than the males.

Both sexes are similarly marked. Typically these markings are very pronounced and extremely easy to identify, consisting of a heavy dark zigzag pattern down the back with dark spots in rows on the flanks. At the back of the head there is a heavy “V” or “X” shaped marking and a dark band running from behind each eye. The young are coloured and marked much like adult females.

Grass snakes normally have a very distinctive yellow collar.

[Cudzoziemiec]

In the absence of a yellow collar, how about a smooth snake?
http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/smooth_snake.htm

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Where was this?

I have seen, and handled, plenty of grass snakes and adders in my time (I have handled far more grass snakes than adders, although I did have an adder slither over my wrist once). That looks significantly different from either. Its flat head makes me think "adder" but the markings are far blander than any adder I have ever seen.

The Limousin. It's a little way south of Limoges.  Adders are common here but their markings are indeed much stronger and thicker black zig zags and they tend to have an orange tint not greenish.   It's also unusual for an adder to hang around here when there are noises and people - if we see one once it's off but this snake has stuck around despite me mowing the lawn around it a few times.

Last year we had a plague of mice, possibly living off my neighbours chicken food (they overfeed and it's always lying around).  This year despite a mild winter I haven't seen any mice so maybe our neighbours are feeding the snake, indirectly.

 

[Wowbagger]

Ah! In that case I'd tentatively go for one of these:

http://www.planetepassion.eu/snakes-in-france/Viperine-snake-France.html

The only snakes I have experience of are adders and grass snakes. It seems that you have quite a few exotic snakes in your neck of the woods!

[Torslanda]

Actually on Monday. A mink. Saw something running along the high wall behind the shop and thought Shit, that's a big rat!. Except it wasn't...

Too big for a stoat, woozle or a fert. Uniformly dark in colour, with th sharpest eyes...

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Ah! In that case I'd tentatively go for one of these:

http://www.planetepassion.eu/snakes-in-france/Viperine-snake-France.html

The only snakes I have experience of are adders and grass snakes. It seems that you have quite a few exotic snakes in your neck of the woods!

Just had another look, he/she is still around and I think that fits the bill.  Even though there is no water very close.  It is a lot less timid than adders I have encountered.

There is a huge variety of wildlife here.  Just in the garden have seen 3 types of woodpecker, jays, magpies, cuckoos, frogs, toads, a newt, slow worms, hedgehogs, red squirrels, foxes many type of butterfly, hornets.

It's a flipping jungle out there...

[Cudzoziemiec]

A heron flew overhead last night as we were riding round Avonmouth. Which reminds me, on Saturday along the canal we rode past a heron which stood stock still at the side of the water not paying any attention whatsoever as fifteen or so noisy cyclists passed a couple of feet from it.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

not paying any attention whatsoever as fifteen or so noisy cyclists passed a couple of feet from it.

It didn't look a bit like this did it?

[Basil]

not paying any attention whatsoever as fifteen or so noisy cyclists passed a couple of feet from it.

It didn't look a bit like this did it?

There's one of those by the river near us.  Probably put there by the llandysul fishing club.
Whenever we pass that way with a first time visitor, they generally come an abrupt halt with an arm out to stop us and whisper 'Heron'.   At that point I may have once then buzzed a brick at it, to chum's absolute horror.

[Cudzoziemiec]

  I've seen another heron (or maybe it was the same one?) quite a bit further east on the same canal, which was similarly habituated to humans. That was last summer though.

[Wowbagger]

Herons can be quite tolerant of humans. I was cycling through The Hague a few years back and a lady dumped the remains of last night's curry beside the canal. It was immediately descended upon by herring gulls, but as soon as a pair of herons appeared to enjoy the feast, the herring gulls didn't hang around. I would imagine that a heron's beak could make quite a significant hole in a herring gull's skull.

[Kim]

Herons all look like plastic herons.  I'm surprised they manage to reproduce.

[Peter]

I don't know - traffic clones manage it.

[David Martin]

Set up the Raspberry Pi with NoIR camera and an infrared flood as a test in the Ranger station. Expected to get nothing so was pleasantly suprised to get this Brown Long Eared bat flitting about. A proper installation will happen in the next week or so for a week, along with sound recording.
https://youtu.be/rrj0Sq7re8A

[rafletcher]

Swifts, swallows, kites (red), buzzards. Fantastic.

[rafletcher]

And today, Meadow Browns, a Marbled White, and a couple of purple orchids.