ED Nature Watch

[first mate]

I have had a jay ( garrulus glandalius) visiting - what a stunning creature.

[malumbu]

Yes beautiful creatures. We have the occasional visitor to the garden. The Crows and Magpies were kicking off the other day, crows asserting their dominance and then a jay joined in. A right corvid rumble.

[first mate]

And then the parakeets arrived! And they seem to be, literally, top of the tree.

[malumbu]

There is a squawk off every evening in Nunhead cemetery, one parts crows roosting the other part green squawaky things

[seenbeen]

malumbu Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> No strange overnight events, no poking squirrel

> with sticks, but very excited to see about 20

> swifts over the Horniman this morning. Only had

> swifts pointed out to me last year and tend to see

> the odd two or three. Oh and the Great spotted

> woodpecker having a drink from the pigeons toilet

> aka the bird bath.

The swift is in trouble apparently

https://www.rspb.org.uk/join-and-donate/donate/appeals/swiftly-vanishing/

[alice]

A noisy woodpecker in Peckham park. Is that unusual?

[seenbeen]

There are a few to be heard in Dulwich Woods, and at least one in Ruskin park - so probably not unusual

[malumbu]

Have two woodpeckers that call to the garden.

Interesting about the swifts. Why are we not making nest boxes? I have six spectacularly unsuccessful ones for blue and great tits - great in the first summer but since then.... Something has happened in our area, not sure if the neon lit house puts them off. Worryingly where have all the blue tits gone? - although perhaps they only do invertebrates at this time of the year and aren't hanging around gardens

Swift nest box project for next year https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalassets/downloads/activities-pdfs/swift-nestbox-plan.pdf

[yeknomyeknom]

We saw a woodpecker in horniman gardens and 3 jays together in peckham rye park.

[Siduhe]

We regularly get woodpeckers, collared doves and jays in our and our neighbour's back gardens - Underhill/Melford/Wood Vale. I think it's quite regional even within ED.

[IlonaM]

I have a pair of greater spotted woodpeckers who regularly come into the garden. One of them was refusing to be intimidated by the parakeets this afternoon and would not give up his spot on a bird feeder!! Very absorbing to watch.

[Lynne]

The male great tit from our nesting box was attacking the sparrows on the bird table yesterday. I would have liked to explain there was plenty for all but I don't suppose the voice of reason would have worked.

[slarti b]

A bit late to post but we saw a female stag beetle 10 days ago, the last of the hot weather evenings. Any others been spotted?

[Sue]

Stag beetles have been seen on my allotment site (next to Camber tennis club opposite the old Harvester on the South Circular).

[Nigello]

Re ultra-regional variants - I had jays visit when I put out nuts and bacon rind, steak fat, etc. Other food does not attract them. I have never had a finch visit for more than a few seconds but get loads of blue and great tits, both types of pigeons and both kinds of sparrows. Long tailed tits came for a while in groups. I have seen a dunnock, or maybe it was a wren, and have robins and crows as frequent visitors. Never had a frog but had a toad once. Lots of bumblebees and honeybees, wasps, various butterflies (blue, white, Vanessa, peacock) and small red damselflies out front and lots of types of wasps/hover flies. (Goodrich near school)

[Sue]

My tadpoles are now froglets, and some of them have begun leaping from the sink into the garden!

I have provided a ramp, but they seem to prefer just jumping ...

Weirdly, some of the leapers still have quite long tails 😮

Also - for the first time in thirty years I saw a bat swooping around the garden (a couple of nights ago, around 11pm).

Ulverscroft Road.

Hope they don't eat froglets 😮

The sad reason for my being in the garden was that I heard what seemed to be a blackbird alarm call plus some bird commotion, which was strange at that time of night

I thought a cat was probably involved, plus probably young birds, but sadly it turned out the noise wasn't close enough for me to shoo away the cat.

I had to close my bedroom window, because the alarm call went on for ages and it was quite distressing 😢

[Zig-Zag]

Oh I I totally understand your distress at the blackbirds alarm call. It is a sound which which seems to pierce the heart! It may not have been as bad as you think because I've noticed the blackbirds make this terrible calling when they see a cat even if the cat is no threat to them. I I have four cats so have quite a lot of experience of this unfortunately

[Sue]

Thanks Zig-Zag, that's reassuring.

Especially as the last time I heard mega bird commotion it was on my allotment, and followed by a fox trotting away with a pigeon in its mouth 😮

[johnrich]

Any local recommendations for public places where frogs have been spotted recently ? A young frog fan is very interested !

[Annie5]

Have seen red squirrels in Scotland but nowhere in England

[Chocky]

As we exit lock-down, I wanted to say what a life-saver Peckham Rye Park wildlife has been for me & my kids. Watching the wild-fowl families grow on the lake and the Japanese Garden pond has been enthralling. We?ve watched the mallard ducklings, Canada goslings, cootlings & moorhen chicks grow up. We?ve watched the tufted ducklings dive like pros. All surviving the heron and cormorant.

Yesterday we saw a female mandarin duck with 3 chicks. (Thank you to the dog walker who took his dog the other way as the ducklings were foraging on the path.) This morning we heard the female Egyptian goose call, the male dashed over and we saw a single gosling, we hope to see more. They lost their first clutch in early May.

We?ve also seen young robins, young crows in the picnic area, nuthatches and 4 sightings of female stag beetles - no males yet.

Hoping that owners will keep dogs out of the dog-free zones & on short leads in the gardens to help the wildlife flourish.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

johnrich: not open at the moment, but the Wildlife Centre in Marsden Road is a good place to see tadpoles/frogs. Keep an eye on their website for when they reopen.

Annie5: I believe Hampshire still have red squirrels.

Chocky: what a lovely sentiment.

[Zig-Zag]

The Isle of Wight has red squirrels and as far as I know it's legal offence to bring a grey squirrel to the Island. Also Brownsea

Island in Poole harbour has red squirrels only

[alex_b]

Does anyone know what time and where is best for trying to spot bats. Our son was very excited by the bat boxes in Dulwich Woods and now wants to go back to see the bats!

[Asset]

dusk, there are bat boxes in Belair park so maybe around the lake in the evening would be a good time and place.