Seen today

[The Family Cyclist]

Whereabouts was that? You are Essex-based, aren't you?

I saw in the local rag that some pest control/beekeeper type removed an enormous Asian hornet's nest from a sycamore tree in Rayleigh last week. Probably too late in the season to have stopped next year's queens all buggering off and finding somewhere to hibernate though.

Colchester, near the A12/A120 junction

[andrew_s]

A hornet, no idea if Asian or not was driving a customers van back to them and it flew in so I managed to open window a bit more and off it popped. Bloody huge thing

A normal british hornet, in the pub .

The Asian hornets are black with a single yellow segment, and yellow legs

[mrcharly-YHT]

An Anemone.

First time I've seen one. Growing on the leaf of some seaweed. Gorgeous green and purple colours.

[Snakehips]

A song thrush has visited my garden on several occasions today. It must be at least a decade since I last saw one.

[PaulR]

Not today, but I have only just returned from Holkham, where we chanced upon some shore larks.  We were told there were currently 12 in the UK and we watched at least four of them from a distance. 

[Wowbagger]

A fleeting glimpse of a grey wagtail in Priory Park.

[Steph]

I went out today despite the occasionally shite weather, and dropped in at Barnes, the WWT wetlands centre in London. Mix of ducks, a couple of siskins, and... the best views I have ever had of a bittern.

He came out to the edge of the reeds, and posed, turning round occasionally, for around twenty minutes. Drooped a wing every so often, struck an odd pose with wings spread and neck fully extended with all the feathers fluffed out, then flew to another reed patch. His plumage was absolutely fresh and pristine, and he was utterly gorgeous. I felt blessed.

I still laughed when he landed, as he had clearly misjudged the depth of the water and had to scrabble to get back up onto drier reedery, before disappearing into the foliage.

[Snakehips]

A pair of Egyptian Geese in my neck of the woods have a new family. I saw at least two chicks as I cycled along the by the side of the Thames. Wrong time of year for that sort of thing surely.

[T42]

This, halfway through a forest on Monday:



Not your usual woody denizen. Looks like someone dumped their garden waste and it took.

[nicknack]

When we came home the other day from a week on the Isle of Wight we found a mouse, deceased, in the middle of the rug in front of the fireplace. Since we don't have a cat and the house had been locked up for a week it must have just wandered on to the rug and expired. Still, at least it was in plain view - unlike the one that shuffled of its mortal coil under the fridge. We eventually located that one by the smell.

[Basil]

A Painted Lady flitting around the garden.  Seems unusual for mid November.

[rafletcher]

Having put the feeders up last weekend, we’ve had the usual blue tits, great tits, chaffinches, goldfinches and sparrows. Plus a couple of collared doves, a few starlings (which are unusual since their roost of the 30m leylandii in our neighbours garden was removed 10 years ago) and today a greater spotted woodpecker on our (wooden) pergola next to the peanut feeder. Plus (it being some 15C today) a couple of solitary bumblebees.

Hopefully the colder weather due in a weeks time will kill off the remaining wasps under our neighbours soffit, we’ve had a couple of dopey ones crawling on the bathroom floor in the night…..

[Mrs Pingu]

We saw a goldcrest near our manor yesterday, which was nice.

[rafletcher]

We saw a goldcrest near our manor yesterday, which was nice.

We supposedly have lots of them, and a pub of the same name, nearby. But as they inhabit the canopy of Wendover Woods, and said canopy is around 30m high, casual sightings are unlikely.

[djmc]

Yesterday while walking my dog down the Odet from Quimper (I live 100 metres from the estuary), I met a group of birdwatchers on the towpath I use. They were looking at a pair of spoonbills (spatules), and a group of cattle egrettes (aigrettes garde boeufs). There were also cormorants and little egrets (aigrettes sarcelles) around and these are normal, as are herons. I have seen all of these nearer the coast, but not the spoonbills or cattle egrets within a dog's walk from the house.

[Pingu]

Female blackcap on the feeders.

[T42]

Yesterday while walking my dog down the Odet from Quimper (I live 100 metres from the estuary), I met a group of birdwatchers on the towpath I use. They were looking at a pair of spoonbills (spatules), and a group of cattle egrettes (aigrettes garde boeufs). There were also cormorants and little egrets (aigrettes sarcelles) around and these are normal, as are herons. I have seen all of these nearer the coast, but not the spoonbills or cattle egrets within a dog's walk from the house.

That's nifty. I've only once seen little egrets over this side, but then it was a whole flock. OTOH I have seen Sarcelles. Bleh.

[Wowbagger]

Jan and I were walking in the park this morning. A flock of small birds descended into a nearby cherry tree, which was still mostly with leaves, albeit yellowing ones. I could hear them and felt pretty sure that the majority were blue and long-tailed tits.

However.

I looked up and saw two goldcrests amongst the foliage. I desperately tried to get my phone camera to snap them, to no avail. Then, within a couple of yards of us, these two tiny slivers of avian life went at each other, hammer and tongs, and gently spiralled towards the ground whilst continuing to attack one another. When they reached the ground they separated and then flitted back up into the tree.

And I, of course, totally failed to get my phone camera working in time to capture it.

[T42]

One green woodpecker, one heron, one egret.  The heron & the egret were sharing a fallen tree in the middle of a lake by the road. I circled back to try & get a pic but Sod's Law of Impromptu Bird Photography applied, viz: you'll be lucky, mate: first the heron then the egret buggered off.  T42's Law of etc.: get the wretched camera out before you look for a place to shoot from.

[sg37409]

A large and not shy rat on the canal path.

[rafletcher]

2 baby newts, one on the back step, one on the patio.

[T42]

Flock of Canada geese down in a field, milling about as if it was Villaines-La-Juhel and they were looking for the bloke to stamp their cards.

[The Family Cyclist]

Some sparrows on our bird feeder, which probably means food may be starting to get scarce for them as haven't had any for ages. Did strip and clean the feeder a few weeks back just to be safe with bird flu

[rafletcher]

A couple of unusual things, at least for us. Two red kites mobbing a kestrel over the field opposite. Usually it’s crows mobbing the kites. And, on the ground beneath our feeders, a pied wagtail.

Our local chaffinches seem to have an outbreak of papilloma virus, but since they can’t get onto the feeders - ineptitude on their part - it shouldn’t spread to other species.

[Pingu]

Finally managed to get a (not very good) pic of a goldcrest today.


Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) by The Pingus, on Flickr