Seen today

[Salvatore]

A pine marten in the middle of the day 

You lucky lucky b thingy. I have never seen one of those at any time of the day.

The only pine marten I've seen was at about 4:45 am in broad daylight on the Daylight 600 just before the Benderloch control (i.e. not far from Oban). I had no idea what it was, and my thoughts as I got near it were something like "Oo, a cat. No, that isn't a cat, it's a fox. Bloody odd looking fox. What the hell is it?". I described it to Duncan Peet at the control who told me what it was (and also told me he'd never seen one and I was a lucky bastard).

I have also seen  a (live) badger in the middle of the day. Midsummer, northern Sweden. I could see it poking its snout out of the forest undergrowth watching me pedal past before it retreated. I could hear it crashing through the forest and it re-emerged further up the road to watch me go past again. It then occurred to me that at that latitude at that time of year even a nocturnal animal has no choice but to come out and do its thing in broad daylight.

[pcolbeck]

I've only ever seen one (live) badger and that was the back end of it disappearing into the hedgerow. This despite living in a very small village surrounded by badger sets and the buggers even came and dug up our lawn once particularly dry summer. I think they have an early warning system and hide from me, much like the woodpecker that visits our nuts in the garden regularly but only when its just Mrs Pcolbeck watching.

[Nuncio]

This,year the kites are beginning to occupy air space over the town itself, much to the annoyance of the jackdaws.
Today I watched one solo jackdaw mobbing a kite. Surprisingly successfully. The kite eventually got fed up and returned to her side of the river.

Yes I know 'mobbing' is not the correct word for a solo effort,  but that is what was happening.

Same here a bit further east. I'm usually guaranteed of seeing a kite if I travel 5 miles away, but very rarely over the village until this year.

Also I had a woodpecker at my feeder earlier today for the first time - lesser spotted, I think. My friend up the road reports the same, as does another friend in Chester. Anyone else on here?

[SteveC]

Also I had a woodpecker at my feeder earlier today for the first time - lesser spotted, I think. My friend up the road reports the same, as does another friend in Chester. Anyone else on here?

Almost certainly greater spotted. They're not that big. The lesser spotteds are rare, about the size of a sparrow and tend to be at the top of trees. The leader of our local RSPB group, who basically lives for birding, has never seen one in this country.
Greater spotteds are lovely birds, though. Always enjoy seeing one on our feeder.

[Basil]

Also I had a woodpecker at my feeder earlier today for the first time - lesser spotted, I think. My friend up the road reports the same, as does another friend in Chester. Anyone else on here?

Almost certainly greater spotted. They're not that big. The lesser spotteds are rare, about the size of a sparrow and tend to be at the top of trees. The leader of our local RSPB group, who basically lives for birding, has never seen one in this country.
Greater spotteds are lovely birds, though. Always enjoy seeing one on our feeder.

I've never seen a lesser, or even a green woodpecker, but Great Spotted were pretty common visitors to our feeder in our far more rural residence 5 miles from here.

[Salvatore]

The hedgehog turned up again this evening and consumed a saucer of hedgehog food and a drink of water. It seems to arrive shortly after 10.30. This evening it was perfectly happy to eat and drink immediately by the patio doors, with the light blazing through them.

The owner of my local hedgehog rescue facility advised strongly against the stuff marketed as hedgehog food. I give them crunchy kibble (usually supplied by my neighbour, a successful dog breeder).

Dog food is good nourishment and safe for hedgehogs, but the so-called 'hedgehog food' with the banana in is a rip off - harmful ingredients and absolutely worthless to hedgehogs.

If that's unreadable, this is her website page on feeding: https://hedgehogcabin.info/feeding

[pcolbeck]

That really helpful, thanks. We have been buying hedgehog food and will now change to kitten food as suggested.

[Canardly]

Oh blimey, have been feeding our hedgehog sunflower hearts and wet cat food. Better put a stop to the seeds. Will get the dry kitten stuff in due course.

[T42]

Dead badger at the roadside.

[pcolbeck]

One of the blackbirds in our garden is a right character. If I stand outside with a coffee it will perch on a chair back near me and and jabber at me then fly to the bird table and back and repeat until I put some seed on the bird table. It seems to know I only do this once a day as it never repeats this on an afternoon, just on a morning.

[cycleman]

About 2.30am this morning a hedge pig . I will keep my eye out for it tonight as tend to use the same route quite often   

[ElyDave]

I never see hedgehogs aroudn here, apart from the one time in daylight when out for a walk.  I've never seen one in the garden - what does their pooh look like?

Semi-residents buzzard is about again, normally hovering over me when I'm finishing a punishing effort on the bike. I didn't think I looked that bad!

And last two rides I've done, an Oystercatcher, in the middle of the blooming Fens.  Next time I'll stop and ask if he needs directions

[Wowbagger]

I have set up a FB page entitled "The Hedgehogs of East Street".

https://www.facebook.com/The-Hedgehogs-of-East-Street-101094484988904/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Facebook is a very unsatisfactory medium and it's making me very sweary when it doesn't do what I want it to. I think I might be going off to Wordpress at some point, or Youtube.

https://www.facebook.com/101094484988904/videos/185949236176937/

https://www.facebook.com/101094484988904/videos/877895186065169/

The exciting part about those two videos, taken last night, is that they were 2 minutes apart. Either the first hedgehog did a very quick lap of honour and entered stage left both times, or we have 2 hedgehogs. To the left of the camera is a significant pile of twigs and vegetable matter which I was going to chuck in teh garden waste bin, but have left there since I realised we had hedgehogs. It's a perfect place for them to hide away.

[Wowbagger]

Regarding hedgehog food, https://www.facebook.com/101094484988904/videos/724208995022423/

That cat didn't seem to like it. I can't imagine that cat food would have lasted very long.

[pcolbeck]

Four thrushes in the garden together this morning. There is always one about somewhere but that's the first time I have seen a group of them.

[Wowbagger]

A pine marten in the middle of the day 

You lucky lucky b thingy. I have never seen one of those at any time of the day.

The only pine marten I've seen was at about 4:45 am in broad daylight on the Daylight 600 just before the Benderloch control (i.e. not far from Oban). I had no idea what it was, and my thoughts as I got near it were something like "Oo, a cat. No, that isn't a cat, it's a fox. Bloody odd looking fox. What the hell is it?". I described it to Duncan Peet at the control who told me what it was (and also told me he'd never seen one and I was a lucky bastard).

I have also seen  a (live) badger in the middle of the day. Midsummer, northern Sweden. I could see it poking its snout out of the forest undergrowth watching me pedal past before it retreated. I could hear it crashing through the forest and it re-emerged further up the road to watch me go past again. It then occurred to me that at that latitude at that time of year even a nocturnal animal has no choice but to come out and do its thing in broad daylight.

My only pine marten sighting was near the Temple House Lake, Co. Sligo, some 18 or 19 years ago.

When the "Famous 5" did our Lowestoft to Ardnamurchan trip, we cycled from Kilmartin to Oban for the Mull ferry. Our 3 pals were well ahead of us (normal) and they saw a pine marten on that stretch. It was making off with a blackbird that it had killed.

[Wowbagger]

Re hedgehog food:

https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/feeding/

[Sergeant Pluck]

I have set up a FB page entitled "The Hedgehogs of East Street".

https://www.facebook.com/The-Hedgehogs-of-East-Street-101094484988904/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Good results so far!

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

We have seen traces of hedgehog recently (scat on the lawn) but not the actual creatures.  We have a pond with a pump and waterfall, which gives them running water to drink.  Which reminds me to relate the strangest hedgehog tale.  We woke up one night to some strange sounds in the garden.  A hedgehog and a young starling were having an all-out battle, which the hedgehog won.  It wasn't a dream as there was a half-eaten starling on the patio in the morning. 

[T42]

Just helped a female black redstart out of the landing window.  She must have come in through my office window and through our bedroom to get there. Lovely wee bird.

[pcolbeck]

A small field mouse bold as brass on the patio eating seed dropped from the feeders by the birds. Usually they are nocturnal but this was 9:00am this morning.
You can tell our moggy is an old lady now.

[pcolbeck]

He came back !

[cycleman]

A green woodpecker near stoke poges 

[T42]

On yesterday's ride:

- another dead badger by the roadside. That makes two in two rides, in areas 20-30 km apart.
- an urban lizard (real one, not the lounge-suit variety)
- a small hawk, kestrel or merlin, being harried by an angry mama bird about the size of a wagtail
- a farmer finishing off mowing a field, and a stork patrolling the outskirts of the diminishing stand of tall grass left in the middle to pick off escapees.

[matthew]

Whilst walking across site at 11 this morning I looked up and counted 20 red kites soaring overhead.