ED Nature Watch

[Sue]

Cheeky long tailed tits are back, which is nice.

 

Lucky you! My favourite birds!

I used to get quite a mix of birds in my tiny garden.

I haven't seen (or heard) a robin, blackbird, blue tit, great tit, goldfinch or wren for ages.

Less surprised about the wren, as they are very shy and hide in the climbers, so could still be there, but sorry about the others.

I do get a regular flock of sparrows, and some wood pigeons, but that's about it these days 😭.

I do put food out.

[sunbob]

Often of a morning I hear a flock of starlings chattering in trees near Peckham Rye Park and there are sparrows to be heard in the various front garden hedges. I regularly see a robin and wren on the footpath through to the Greendale and in spring we get blue tits nesting (near the park).

[malumbu]

Have a walk along the footpath between the Horniman and the old railway nature reserve and you will see wrens. They are the most numerous of birds but rarely seen in gardens round our way, only ever seen one in the last decade or two in ours.

[Nigello]

The tits - blue and great - are back. They were there in early spring but went away. Wren (dunnock?) and robin also making appearances.

[Sue]

I was walking down East Dulwich Grove yesterday afternoon and heard a lot of high pitched twittering.

I crossed the road and saw a load of long tailed tits in a tree.

As I was admiring them, a woman passing by asked what I was looking at.

When I told her, she said "oh, I get loads of them in my garden."

GRRRR 🤣 I never get any!

[heartblock]

Also lots of chatty starlings today - do they ever appear in a murmuration in the area?

[malumbu]

I expect you need large numbers. Much larger than we see

[malumbu]

Have a squirrel (or squirrels) in the loft, bought a cage and baited it.

What to do if/when I catch one. They are vermin and by law have to be disposed of. I've killed one rat in my life, but not anything else classed as a sentient being.

What do do, what to do. I'll be going for the green squawky things and feral pigeons next.....

[Sue]

A newt has laid eggs on the floor of my very tiny shed. I don't know how long they have been there, as it's a while since I opened the shed door.

Surely this is a strange place. How can they survive if/when they hatch? I have a Belfast sink nearby with water and pond plants. Why would a newt go into a shed to lay eggs?

The floor on that side was a bit damp because the roof felt was dislodged (now put back) and there was damp newspaper on the floor (now removed)

Do the eggs need damp? Should I replace the damp paper?

The actual newt scurried away down a hole when I opened the shed door. That was how I realised they were newt eggs (never seen them before, had to Google).

Also, isn't it the wrong time of year? Will they survive the winter?

And what will happen when they hatch? There is no water in the shed 😭

In thirty years of living here, I have never seen a newt before, though I have frogs and a toad in the garden.

[legalalien]

Usually we get 5-6 giant wood pigeons who arrive in September and scoff all the crab apples from our tree. None this year, which made me sad and wonder about bird flu (although a bonus for smaller birds who have been feeding there).

This morning a very skinny looking wood pigeon arrived on its own, and must have eaten its own body weight in crab apples. And now there are three of them! They’re not the most exciting birds but I am pleased to have them back.

[malumbu]

We had a few resident wood pigeons, which were a bit of a pest, eating grass seed that I sowed and crapping in the bird bath. Sadly feral pigeons took their place, so in retrospect I now value them, and miss them even if I did need to clear the bird bath out frequently.

Current order of pests, feral pigeons, with squirels and green squawky things in equal second place, When food runs short the order will change.

[legalalien]

I now seem to have attracted a whole bunch of things that look like thrushes. Are they likely to be fieldfare? I googled and that seems to be the closest looking thing, although the video said they were more October time visitors to towns. But then again the wood pigeons were late?

[malumbu]

Probably redwings, occasionally see one in the garden and others on this site report flocks in Dulwich Park.

[Castleton]

I've seen some Narcissi flowering, anyone else?

The coming frost will probably kill them off

[Sue]

I've seen some Narcissi flowering, anyone else?

The coming frost will probably kill them off

 

Lots of flowering plants seem to have had their flowering schedule completely disrupted by the weird weather we now have.

This is bad news for insects (and indirectly birds, whose food sources for their young are also disrupted)

[legalalien]

I think the new occupants of my tree are indeed redwings. Here’s a pic.

Def change in visitors this year, usually pigeons and parakeets have eaten all the fruit before the leaves fall off the tree, this year lots of small birds (tits, sparrows etc)

Bird picture

[heartblock]

White flash above the eye = redwing... fabulous bird. A wren somehow got into our lean-to but my partner beaconed it out with their bird-whispering. Wrens are so delightful.

[Mabaker]

I'm noticing that some deciduous trees , like sycamores still have their leaves. Some are even still green. I'm sure they're usually bare at this time of year, or am I misremembering?

[Penguin68]

My Sycamore has shed entirely, so I suspect it may rely on location. My willow is still almost fully in leaf, which it used not to be a few years ago by now.

[jimmah]

There was a flock of redwings in my garden today, I don't think I've ever seen one before.

[Penguin68]

A large grey heron has just spent 5 minutes or more perched on the very crest of house close by (with a very small pond in its garden, mainly with newts in it, if anything). Perched in trees nearby were a bevy of green parakeets. I would never have expected to see this when I moved in, over 30 years ago. East Dulwich has certainly changed significantly over that period.

[DulwichSociety]

There was a flock of redwings in my garden today, I don't think I've ever seen one before.

 

Our Wildlife Group say it's a redwing winter - they have come here in numbers as the Scandinavian rowan berry crop failed this year.

[jimmah]

That will explain them stripping the pyracantha then!

[Sue]

There was a flock of redwings in my garden today, I don't think I've ever seen one before.

 

Our Wildlife Group say it's a redwing winter - they have come here in numbers as the Scandinavian rowan berry crop failed this year.

 

Amazing they know where to come to find berries 😮 - all that way 😮

[Penguin68]

They presumably keep on flying till they it pay-dirt