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Posts: 721
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Post by fb on Jun 23, 2023 17:39:28 GMT
All the birds are too canny to be out and about tonight as the rain falls. However, it is quite nice cooling down in the garden with the requisite cannage after a hot, muggy, heavy week at work! Spoke too soon, now several dozen swifts over Fb Towers. Must be good insectage overhead tonight. Not seen a single Swallow or Martin this year though.
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Post by malc on Jun 23, 2023 19:00:39 GMT
Coming back to my neck of the woods again, 200 metres in front of our house there is a river. Up until May last year we'd never seen a drop of water in it. We're about 60 miles from where the river rises and about 20 miles from where it would flow into the sea if it wasn't dammed 10 miles or so downstream. Last May however, we had biblical rain falls and the river became a torrent again. You know when you watch those Attenborough wildlife documentaries about animals eggs lying dormant for years just waiting for the rains? Well, the same thing happened in the river and it fairly quickly became full of fish. What happens when you get fish stocked rivers? You get fishing birds and it wasn't long until a few families of egrets moved in to share in the feast. This year, the river never completely stopped flowing but it did become a trickle again. Then the May rains came again and lo and behold, the egrets are back and raising chicks. It's wonderful watching and listening to their warning cries when we walk our dogs close to the river. Isn't Mother Nature an amazing thing?
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Post by vicar on Jun 23, 2023 19:18:41 GMT
Coming back to my neck of the woods again, 200 metres in front of our house there is a river. Up until May last year we'd never seen a drop of water in it. We're about 60 miles from where the river rises and about 20 miles from where it would flow into the sea if it wasn't dammed 10 miles or so downstream. Last May however, we had biblical rain falls and the river became a torrent again. You know when you watch those Attenborough wildlife documentaries about animals eggs lying dormant for years just waiting for the rains? Well, the same thing happened in the river and it fairly quickly became full of fish. What happens when you get fish stocked rivers? You get fishing birds and it wasn't long until a few families of egrets moved in to share in the feast. This year, the river never completely stopped flowing but it did become a trickle again. Then the May rains came again and lo and behold, the egrets are back and raising chicks. It's wonderful watching and listening to their warning cries when we walk our dogs close to the river. Isn't Mother Nature an amazing thing? Any parrots near you malc? We were down at La Zenia last weekend to see some friends and there's a massive colony of Monk Parakeets around there, they're not indigenous to Spain but apparently there are colonies all over Spain, it's the first time I've seen them and they're pretty impressive.
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Post by malc on Jun 23, 2023 19:46:57 GMT
Coming back to my neck of the woods again, 200 metres in front of our house there is a river. Up until May last year we'd never seen a drop of water in it. We're about 60 miles from where the river rises and about 20 miles from where it would flow into the sea if it wasn't dammed 10 miles or so downstream. Last May however, we had biblical rain falls and the river became a torrent again. You know when you watch those Attenborough wildlife documentaries about animals eggs lying dormant for years just waiting for the rains? Well, the same thing happened in the river and it fairly quickly became full of fish. What happens when you get fish stocked rivers? You get fishing birds and it wasn't long until a few families of egrets moved in to share in the feast. This year, the river never completely stopped flowing but it did become a trickle again. Then the May rains came again and lo and behold, the egrets are back and raising chicks. It's wonderful watching and listening to their warning cries when we walk our dogs close to the river. Isn't Mother Nature an amazing thing? Any parrots near you malc? We were down at La Zenia last weekend to see some friends and there's a massive colony of Monk Parakeets around there, they're not indigenous to Spain but apparently there are colonies all over Spain, it's the first time I've seen them and they're pretty impressive. We saw a few when we lived in Vera near the beach but we've never seen any out here in the sticks. I suspect it's because there are too many birds of prey around here.
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Post by HTC on Jul 1, 2023 9:21:24 GMT
11 goosanders on the river by Burnage rugby this morning. First time I’ve seen more than 2 or 3 together round there.
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Post by herbiedumplings on Jul 1, 2023 12:48:04 GMT
Any parrots near you malc? We were down at La Zenia last weekend to see some friends and there's a massive colony of Monk Parakeets around there, they're not indigenous to Spain but apparently there are colonies all over Spain, it's the first time I've seen them and they're pretty impressive. We saw a few when we lived in Vera near the beach but we've never seen any out here in the sticks. I suspect it's because there are too many birds of prey around here. Parakeets Schmarakeets! Can’t move for the flaming things down Poise Brook woods!
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Post by scfc73 on Jul 1, 2023 12:56:19 GMT
Saw a grey wag tail down by the Goyt mill the other day, lovely yellow breast. I had no idea what it was if I'm being honest but noticed it's tail wagging & the word wag tail sprang to mind! thought it was a yellow wag tail due to the vibrant colour of it's breast but on research it was a grey one.
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Post by herbiedumplings on Jul 1, 2023 13:07:47 GMT
Saw a grey wag tail down by the Goyt mill the other day, lovely yellow breast. I had no idea what it was if I'm being honest but noticed its tail wagging & the word wag tail sprang to mind! thought it was a yellow wag tail due to the vibrant colour of it's breast but on research it was a grey one. <adenoids>The grey wagtail has a yellow breast and a grey back, and is called that to distinguish it from the yellow wagtail which has a yellow breast and a green back. Clear? Good.</adenoids>
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Post by chadders on Jul 2, 2023 7:52:29 GMT
Loads of herons about on the Peak Forest canal this morning. Regardless of how much I see them, they’re always a magnificent sight. Proper prehistoric vibes.
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Post by vicar on Jul 2, 2023 8:07:13 GMT
We saw a few when we lived in Vera near the beach but we've never seen any out here in the sticks. I suspect it's because there are too many birds of prey around here. Parakeets Schmarakeets! Can’t move for the flaming things down Poise Brook woods! I've seen a few around Didsbury but didn't know we had them locally.
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Post by vicar on Jul 2, 2023 8:09:11 GMT
Loads of herons about on the Peak Forest canal this morning. Regardless of how much I see them, they’re always a magnificent sight. Proper prehistoric vibes. I get my steps in along the Macc canal and see them all the time, they're still impressive even when seeing them daily.
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Post by herbiedumplings on Jul 2, 2023 8:24:36 GMT
Loads of herons about on the Peak Forest canal this morning. Regardless of how much I see them, they’re always a magnificent sight. Proper prehistoric vibes. Saw a grey heron trying to fly in yesterday’s gusty winds. You’d think after 65 million years, they would have got the hang of it a bit more?!
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Post by timberwolf on Jul 2, 2023 8:43:59 GMT
Loads of herons about on the Peak Forest canal this morning. Regardless of how much I see them, they’re always a magnificent sight. Proper prehistoric vibes. Saw a grey heron trying to fly in yesterday’s gusty winds. You’d think after 65 million years, they would have got the hang of it a bit more?! We have one regularly sitting on a stone in the nearby river looking like a statue. Seems to know us it doesn,t fly off like it used to do. We even have a nickname for him, wings. Goe.s missing for a couple of months a year at breeding season and been told there is a nesting spot further up the river closer to haworth.
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Post by herbiedumplings on Jul 13, 2023 16:09:08 GMT
Dammit! I’m going to have to clean that mess up off the lawn now! Bloody nature! Attachment Deleted
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fb
Contributor
Posts: 721
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Post by fb on Jul 13, 2023 17:57:11 GMT
It was a duck and flutterby early evening, after work, in the garden tonight. Several billed-buggers steaming over at break-neck speed (Not mallards) and more butterflies than I have seen in a long time. Could only identify the Cabbage Whites and Large Whites, but a few big brown and red ones and a very large black one with spots on it's wings. Last but not least, the frogs are back in the furthest reaches of the back garden and that is good to see!
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