ED Nature Watch

[vladi]

8 minutes ago, Penguin68 said:

Do you have a pond? Did you have fish in it? 

No pond, so I guess it was after slugs or worms. It was certainly pecking at something in the grass

[Sue]

The Peckham Rye Park heron was eyeing up two quite large cootlets on Sunday.

Their parents were swimming around them and presumably trying to protect them.

We couldn't understand why the coots  didn't swim off, but as they were under a large tree branch, maybe the heron would have been better able to catch one of the chicks in open water.

It eventually gave up and flew off. Crikey they have vicious pointy beaks, herons! Is it for spearing fish?

[first mate]

That heron is a fearsome predator. Are there any babies left?

[Sue]

1 hour ago, first mate said:

That heron is a fearsome predator. Are there any babies left?

Well unless the heron got them later, there were the  two cootlets.

I think some others of this year's babies must have escaped the heron.

Many years ago (and possibly still, though I never see them any more) there was a whole heron family on the island  - mum, dad and youngster.

I don't know how long herons live. Maybe this one is the grown up youngster.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Not in Ed, but I was in NE England over the weekend and saw an otter in the wild! Never seen one before, it was quite lovely.

[first mate]

Around ten days ago there were around 6 Mallard ducklings and the same number of Canada Goose goslings. Today, not one to be seen 😥

[malumbu]

Hopefully the Canada Geese were being culled - I'm being serious.  It's permitted

[Sue]

9 hours ago, first mate said:

Around ten days ago there were around 6 Mallard ducklings and the same number of Canada Goose goslings. Today, not one to be seen 😥

😢😢😢

7 hours ago, malumbu said:

Hopefully the Canada Geese were being culled - I'm being serious.  It's permitted

😮

[cookie]

I nearly stood on this beauty in my garden today

 

[Brian up the hill]

You can record your discovery here……https://ptes.org/campaigns/stag-beetles-2/

[Jenny1]

Don't forget to put water out for the birds during this very hot spell. Just remembered to do it myself.

[malumbu]

And other wildlife.  We have!

[Dulwichway]

This beauty gave me a surprise recently! 

[Sue]

12 hours ago, malumbu said:

And other wildlife.  We have!

Please just make sure they can get out if they fall in (unless it's a very shallow container).

Eg by a pile of pebbles on the inside and some sort of ramp on the outside.

I was devastated to find an apparently drowned baby (or very small) mouse in one of my mini ponds a few months ago 😭

Edited June 18, 2025 by Sue

[vladi]

Had a green woodpecker visit our back garden this morning. Appeared to be eating ants or ant larvae.

[malumbu]

We have them every few years, several, and yes, eating ants

7 hours ago, Sue said:

Please just make sure they can get out if they fall in (unless it's a very shallow container).

Eg by a pile of pebbles on the inside and some sort of ramp on the outside.

I was devastated to find an apparently drowned baby (or very small) mouse in one of my mini ponds a few months ago 😭

Yes, critters can get in and out

[georgepeter89]

Saw a sparrowhawk down at Herne Hill velodrome over the weekend. 

[Han92-ED]

Does anyone know what happened to the lovely willow tree on the rye? 

[Mabaker]

I saw workmen taking off all the branches on the tree next to it today while I was on the bus. It looked quite brutal. I hope they didn't cut it down completely.

Edited June 25, 2025 by Mabaker

[Han92-ED]

It looks like they have cut it down completely now 😭

[Sue]

7 minutes ago, Han92-ED said:

It looks like they have cut it down completely now 😭

Does anybody know why?

Trees aren't cut down for no reason. There must have been something wrong with it (I hope that was the reason).

A child was recently killed and another one injured when a tree fell in a park (not in this area).

It isn't always obvious from the outside when a tree is diseased or whatever, and I imagine the council would give safety considerations priority when deciding what to do, if there was any doubt at all.

[cookie]

I was amazed to see a young nuthatch crawling headfirst down a the trunk of a tree in my garden to bully the great tits and blue tits off the bird feeders yesterday.  Didn't expect to see one this far from the woods.

[vladi]

Had a Red Admiral in front driveway today. Hadn't seen one for some time

[HeadNun]

I noticed more butterflies than ever this year - lots of red admirals and white ones. Couldn't understand why, then found this. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/18/big-butterfly-count-uk-numbers-recovery

[Nigello]

Jersey Moths are about and have been for the last fortnight or so.