ED Nature Watch

[louisiana]

Sue Wrote:

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> Lot of these about at the moment .... garden tiger

> moths

This year I'm once again getting lots of Jersey Tigers

http://www.uksafari.com/jerseytigers.htm

They love to bask on the kitchen windows.

Today I've also noticed a huge number of flying ants around my front door. Not so nice.

[Sue]

louisiana Wrote:

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>> This year I'm once again getting lots of Jersey

> Tigers

>

> http://www.uksafari.com/jerseytigers.htm

>

xxxxxxxx

Ah, maybe this is what mine are :-$

[louisiana]

I was over the moon the first time I saw them, so frantically tried to find out what they were, and the bloke that runs one of the butterflies and moths websites ID'd it straight away.

[SteveT]

The runner beans are about ready now which is good, but the Japanese wine berry has almost finished it's had it's most productive year so far, they are similar to a rasberry in shape and colour but smaller.

The tomatoes are coming along but nowhere near ripe yet.

The grape vine is laden and the plums are growing towards full size.

The goosegogs are about ready now so pies and deserts are imminent.

The blackcurrants have been picked and jammed,

it's the best flavoured blackcurrant jam I have made to date, which is nice.

[Sue]

My fat ball holder holds seven fat balls. I refilled it on Saturday, and by Monday morning there were none left.

I'm amazed the sparrows manage to get off the ground, they must be full to bursting :))

[LadyTaTa]

What are you feeding them :)I tried moving mine again, the ungrateful buggers still haven't touched it them.

[SteveT]

My fatball holder takes 4 and if it empties that quickly, it usually means the pigeons have attacked it when I was away.

[Sue]

They're called Gardman Fatsnax, I get them in tubs of fifty off the internet, they're nothing fancy, no added insects or berries or anything, just the cheapest I could get :))

But at this rate, it'll end up costing me more to feed the birds than to feed myself!

I have peanuts and seeds out as well, but the fat balls seem to be favourite ....

I did try making stuff myself last year, out of suet, but basically it didn't work (didn't set hard enough), may try again at some point.

[Karrie]

[Deleted] Safety reasons

[LadyTaTa]

This is what pigeon babies look like (warning: not cute)

[Sue]

Karrie Wrote:

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> I have made my own fat cakes before, which did

> harden ok, I think I used lard.

>

> Just melted it in a microwave and added my usual

> grain that I use, chopped dried fruit and nuts.

> once it had cooled but still soft I added grated

> cheese. I lined old small plastic blackberry

> punnets with clingfilm and filled them with the

> mix and put it in the fridge, which did harden ok.

> They did go down well with the birds last year,

> but haven't bothered this year.

>

>xxxxxxxx

Oh yeh I meant lard, not suet, duh.

[Pickle]

LadyTaTa, your picture solves our mystery as to what the baby birds were our cat bought home a couple of weeks ago! I don't feel so bad now that I know they're pigeons and not something more rare :-$

[LadyTaTa]

"... as her pigeon dies

on a humid and grey Dulwich mornin',

another little baby pigeon is born

In the ghetto..."

(sorry Elvis)

[Sue]

Don't give up the day job, Lady TaTa :))

[SteveT]

I think it might make gold LadyTaTa.

I know why the pigeons don't bother to line the nest, the big one sleeps on top of the runt which only survives in years of abundance.

[LadyTaTa]

Yes, I noticed one egg hatched much sooner than the other, and that bird is much bigger and always smothering the smaller one. Also, the babysitting parent frequently flys off and leaves them - I know the chicks aren't pretty but I do worry for them with all the crows about, and they shiver dreadfully.

[SteveT]

It would make most of us shiver dreadfully at the thought of kipping down next to those looks.

The runner beans have reached the top of the 8ft canes and are leaning over by about a metre, hope they produce as many beans as they do inches of plant.

[Karrie]

[Deleted] Safety reasons

[SteveT]

First drop of rain this morning for weeks.

Hooray, but we need more!

[bonniebird]

SteveT Wrote:

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> First drop of rain this morning for weeks.

>

> Hooray, but we need more!

Just what I was thinking, the grass is like straw:'(

[Karrie]

[Deleted] Safety reasons

[mekon]

morning all. saw quite a few Jersey Tiger moths yesterday - apparently they are on the rampage:

link

anyone else seen any? the wings are black with thin white stripes when closed

[louisiana]

Already reported by me on this thread a few days ago.... and last year too. In other words, the story is not correct: they've been around here for a while (last year I saw hundreds).

[louisiana]

I did report the Jersey Tiger sightings here last year to one of the main monitoring sites... They told me the moths had already been around in London for a little while, though last year we saw a population explosion.

[Nero]

Are there different versions of the Jersey Tiger? I see a fair few of them in the morning but not sure if they are the same thing. Lots of what I think are hover-flies, again in the morning and those moths that look like a T-lock - very slim wings, almost twig-like.