ED Nature Watch

[Waseley]

Built a swift nest box. I can often see a few overhead but wonder if any will use it. Hopefully another species will. So much building noise I'm surprised any bird does nest round here.

I understand many issues with migratory birds are also from countries where they spend winter, stopping off points with loss of habitat. Also more extreme weather due to climate change.

[sspringer]

Baad Kitty!

https://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/bad-kitty-german-town-grounds-cats-save-rare-84800546

[Nigello]

Jersey tiger moth already? I saw one in early July - probably the 6th or 7th. Is this a record?

[malumbu]

Nice to see a large flock of noisy long talked tits. Also saw a house sparrow in the garden.

Run out of water from our three butts and a large reserve tank that I top up in winter. Only been using it for topping up pond. Grey water generally on the garden.

Haven't got the crystals for dechlorinating tap water yet but understand that I can leave tap water outside and it will lose its chlorine

[BrandNewGuy]

Haven't seen swifts for a day or two – they might have started their migration already. All sightings to the contrary gratefully received.

[mazungu]

Sparrows are such interesting. Sadly not many around Dulwich that I know of but if you want to see/hear a large and really active community of them, go to St Giles Road Camberwell - around the end with the low house numbers where the little park is. Not too far from where Carrie and Boris had the flat.

[Sue]

There is a flock of often over twenty sparrows who regularly come to the bird feeders and water in my garden.

[Lynne]

Does anyone know if we have any poisonous spiders in ED? A few days ago while I was tidying the garden something bit/stung my finger. It was absolute agony. I've had wasp/bee/ant stings but nothing like this. Now that the worst of the swelling has gone down I can see two puncture marks and I'm wondering about a spider?

I'd like to know what it was (if only to jump on it)

[RichH]

All spiders are poisonous. Well, almost all. But UK spiders are very unlikely to bite you with the possible exception of the False Widow spider, which may bite if roughly handled.

As told to me by an acquaintance that collects the horrible things inc. Tarantulas and the like. Yuck!

[AC1964]

Hummingbird Hawkmoth in my garden in Dunstans Road this evening. Only the second time I’ve ever seen one (previous time was in Cornwall…). Beautiful and fascinating creature…

[IlonaM]

Had to google a picture - very beautiful creature!

[Annie5]

I used to see sparrows, blue tits, blackbirds and jays around my house on a daily basis. Havent seen any for weeks. Am concerned those awful green things are taking over and intimidating our local birds ......

[DulwichSociety]

Our Wildlife group would like you to know what wildlife you see in your garden. Anything that grabs your attention: birds, butterflies, beetles, insects. Just a date and a species name if you know it.

Watching garden wildlife is not only enjoyable but recording your observations will help our Wildlife Group understand what we are gaining and losing in Dulwich, in the context of the climate crisis.

Email your information to [email protected]

Thank you.

[Nigello]

Three cormorants in DP lake two days ago, early morning -great birds.

[Sally Eva]

There seem to be a growing number of crows/rooks on the Common with patches of white feathers.

Anyone know why?

[SpringTime]

They sound like magpies or jackdaws.

[Sally Eva]

I recognise magpies and jackdaws.

This is white feathers in patches, reminding me of the Canada Geese with wing feathers missing ie a genetic fault.

[Nigello]

Yes, I saw the rooks (which I thought at first were crows) a few weeks ago, never having seen them before. Perhaps dry weather forced them to try new places for food.

[Sally Eva]

they are being fed and I wondered if they were therefore over-populating, allowing genetic faults to survive (as per the Canada Geese).

[kristen]

they are being fed and I wondered if they were therefore over-populating, allowing genetic faults to survive (as per the Canada Geese).

 

I've read that white feathers in crows can be due to calcium deficiency or other environmental factors.

[Sally Eva]

Thanks. I've never seen them before on the Common crows. Some very scrawny ones too which have ragged neck feathers

[lbanks]

Hope this is the right place to post this - I’ve not seen it yet, but I’m assuming there’s some sort of bird of prey hunting at night around the East Dulwich Estate.

I’ve been seeing dead pigeons around the estate for a few weeks, generally first thing in the morning, and had assumed it was a particularly effective fox. But most of the pigeons I’ve seen were largely uneaten.

Then, one morning last week, I opened the curtains to find a headless pigeon in our guttering (we live on the 4th/top floor), which dispelled my fox theory! And yesterday there was a set of wings & spine in a different place on the estate - pretty gruesome.

Has anyone else noticed an uptick in pigeon deaths in the area or is the culprit in question just particularly fond of ED estate? If anyone has any guesses as to what it might be I’d be curious to know too!

[BrandNewGuy]

Almost certainly a peregrine or two. They've roosted/nested in the tall church spire just down the road and they often just pluck the breast out and leave the rest, A headless pigeon might have also been scavenged by a fox. Gruesome, but it's nature's way and there are plenty of pigeons to go round :-)

[malumbu]

Haven't posted for some time, so a few observations.

Feral pigeons have ousted the resident wood pigeons, the latter were a nusance but the rats with feathers are not welcome. They sit under the sunflower seed feeder and pick up the fragments dropped by the gold finches. I've lashed a squirel proof cage from another feeder, so the paraquets can't feed from it and fashioned a deep tray from a rubber thing that stretches over food containers. Great when it is dry but when it is wet I get this sunflower seed porridge - which I still dry out and reuse. I go through over a £100 worth of sunflower seeds so don't want to spend a quarter of that feeding feathered rats.

I've lost most of my frogs from my pond and similarly not seen any newts for ages but expect they will be back. Tadpoles failed again, I left some in the pond which the newts ate, and had a nursury in an old wheelbarrow. They got to back legs and then were eaten, by birds I expect.

Pond flora generally good, and I use excess to try to better manage a local pond which the authorities don't look after and is generally full of pond weed. I'm not saying where it is as some will be unhappy that I am moving tranferring from another pond. Mine is in better condition so I am not worried about cross contamination.

Cheeky long tailed tits are back, which is nice.

[Nigello]

Bees - honey and bumble - and flies and hover flies liked the recently blooming castor oil plant flowers in my front garden. Robins are louder and more visible now.