ED Nature Watch

[rbrtdngl]

I didnt even know we had foxes in our backgraden until it snowed and I saw their footprints in the snow leading to a bag of rubbish that had been pulled all across the front drive. I dont hold it against them though

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Despite the snow yesterday, I think Spring is amost here.

In PR Park the snowdrops are up and the drakes are fighting.

[bonniebird]

I hate the pond "goings on" this time of year :'( they nearly drown each other

[KirstyH]

A murmuration of starlings

A charm of goldfinches

Not quite so sure of this one: a lek of capercallie - or is lekking more the courtship ritual the males do rather than the collective...either way.

The other thing re foxes is if you whistle at quite a high pitch they always stop - I think they like a tune too. On the cycle path behind Peckham Libr late at night if you are whistling away and cycling reasonably slowly they will always stop and look at you before going on their way. I wonder what the origin of that is ie reaction to higher pitched noises - same with dogs.

Just heard on the radio that its RSPB birdwatch weekend.

[LordLaneship]

The grey squirrels will never concede. They are warriors. I enjoy seeing two of the little fellas ducking and diving around my garden of an wintery afternoon. Is it wrong to find them a little bit erotic? This one's my fave .

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://rookery.s3.amazonaws.com/807000/807111_205b_625x1000.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.worth1000.com/contests/2586/evil-animals-3&usg=__fHB4irDRD4NOH2dObQHDbjhm-lY=&h=586&w=624&sz=79&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=Js6WxDr19O9_EM:&tbnh=154&tbnw=166&ei=4itETc_tG4ywhQfiyq3IAQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhard%2Bsquirrel%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D614%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=522&vpy=289&dur=179&hovh=218&hovw=232&tx=126&ty=210&oei=4itETc_tG4ywhQfiyq3IAQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0

[The Minkey]

Great photo ;-)

Not a lot going on out back of my house at the moment, apart from a flock of unneutered cats spraying & mating all over my garden :-(

[Moos]

I'm not enjoying the rain this morning, but the daffodils don't agree. All along Goose Green and East Dulwich Grove banks of daffodils are shaking off their paper skirts. Tomorrow will be a hullabaloo of yellow.

[spotify]

Louisa will be out counting them and making sure they are not stolen:))

[spotify]

The great tits have been eyeing one of the boxes.

[jim_the_chin]

Crocuses out in Horniman gardens this morning, lovely sight. Waiting for those bluebells in dulwich woods.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Um Moos speak with um forked tongue. Not even a ghost of golden daffodils.

Don't worry spotify - my dog's peed up most of them. That should sort the dilly down thiefs out.

[Moos]

Bugrit. Not even on ED Grove? I was so sure. Goose Green was a bit excessively green today, I agree.

[minder]

Since Friday I've since 3 big bees (prob Queens) - two of them were on the pavement dead.

One of them was on my living room floor and I put it out to back garden.

Wonder what's going on?

[Sue]

That's weird, Minder, because I found a bee on my pillow on Friday (I think), which appeared to be totally comatose, though it wasn't dead.

I put it out of the window and it just plummeted to the ground.

It couldn't have come in the window because it was closed, so I don't know what's going on either!

But I also saw what looked like a queen wasp yesterday looking for a way into my neighbour's roof. When it couldn't find one it flew across to mine, so no doubt I now have yet another wasp's nest about to be built in my loft :-S

[Penguin68]

At this time of year every large wasp you see which you kill (indeed killing any wasp) is killing a queen and subsequent nest, as only queens, in general, over-winter. However worker honey bees do over-winter (some) which is why bees make honey (for winter sustenance). Warm days will also bring out bumble bees from hibernation - but sudden cold-snaps or rain can leave them very vulnerable - ideally if you find a stranded bumble bee move them into the sun so that they can warm up - they can then more easily fly-away. On a window ledge is ideal, as this discourages many birds from swooping down for a snack. Otherwise move them into shelter from the rain.

[lousmith]

Its been a bumper year for frogs and their spawn this year so far. It can always go tits-up if a squadron of dulwich ducks spots it whilst on a sortie. They can devastate an entire spawning in moments as they nearly did last year. There are probably close to two hundred frogs in my modest back garden pond exhibiting quite a prediliction for cuddling up in twosomes, threesomes, foursomes even fivesomes. The females get a rough time of it, one was even partially inside-outed through her mouth due to the over-enthusiasm of her many suitors, who remained oblivious to the fact that she was long dead, clinging on steadfastly. Its quite a spectacle, probably a week or so to go before its over for another year. I'll be separating some of the spawn from the main batch to prevent the all your eggs in one basket syndrome. If any parents have budding zoologists on their hands I would be willing to share some small amounts in the interests of education as long as they promise to return them to the wild or back to me when they develop. They don't require much, a bit of meat when they get big (cat food ) and some way of climbing out of the water when they grow their legs to stop them drowning. Let me know.

[The Minkey]

If you see an almost comatose bee, as well as putting it in a sunny/warm spot, you can help it on its way with a feed of honey. It's really gratifying when they fly away burping.

Lousmith - I'm green with envy. I'm 9 years old when it comes to amphibians and really hanker for a frog pond. How big is your pond to hold so many?

I was saddened to find a good size frog drowned in a bucket which I'd left outside over winter. There was just enough water to drown in, not enough water for the frog to be able to get back out over the side :-( Empty those containers out, folks.

[ianr]

I killed my first airborne house moth of the year yesterday. And today saw, I'm fairly certain, my first goldfinch, perching companionably just a couple of shooots along from a brightly billed blackbird.

[lousmith]

Hi The Minkey,

its not a massive pond, maybe 8or 9 feet by 5 and a couple of feet deep. I've come to know what they like over the years, plenty of damp crevices etc, and they've been breeding for about a decade there. There are large adjoining gardens for them to forage in during the rest of the year. Sadly no toads this year, but loads of newts just waiting for the tadpole smorgasbord that awaits. You'd be more than welcome to come and witness the spectacle, I'm working from home so am around most days. Let me know and I'll pm you my details.

Lou

[Sue]

ianr Wrote:

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

> I killed my first airborne house moth of the year

> yesterday. And today saw, I'm fairly certain, my

> first goldfinch, perching companionably just a

> couple of shooots along from a brightly billed

> blackbird.

xxxxxxx

I have seen three (what looked like clothes) moths in the last few weeks, grrrrrrr, after all my efforts at eradication last year, and I wasn't quick enough to kill any of them before they disappeared down holes etc (don't ask).

It's a weekly check of all clothes and hangings in the house from now on :))

I am mightily jealous re the goldfinch, all my efforts at attracting them have either failed dismally or else I have just not been looking out of the window at the right time ..... though the niger seed does not seem to have been eaten at all so I guess it's the failed dismally explanation .....

ETA: But a blackbird has been giving me great joy singing its heart out in the morning and evening either in my garden or somewhere very near it :)

[The Minkey]

Lousmith - thanks so much for the offer. Depends how near we live to each other really as I don't have a car and rely on buses to get around. I'm just between Brenchley Gardens and Cheltenham/Ivydale Roads. That's a nice size pond. Did you put it in yourself?

[lousmith]

Hi The Minkey, we're on Barry road, library end, so a bit of a number 12 from the Rye. I put in the pond myself as soon as I moved to the house, my old west Indian neighbour used to call me 'Frog Daddy' as I would spend so much time gazing into the water.It took a few years before there was a successful spawning. A large proportion of spawn is produced with white nucleii, very often all of one batch, which is non-viable. Last year I had a catastrophe as the water level started to drop alarmingly quickly after the tads had hatched. As you probably know a wholesale topping up with tap water ruins the balance in the ecosystem, so I elected to 'save' damn near all the tadpoles numbering probably 10000 into temporary tanks whilst I re-lined the pool. At that time there were 80 frogs and close to 20 newts in the primordial slime at the bottom. The whole process took less than a week and has established pretty quickly. Lazy me has postponed the final stages of landscaping, so some liner is on show on one side. touch wood it holds up pretty well now.

let me know if you want to come.

Lou

[The Minkey]

Lol @ Frog Daddy - love it! Funnily enough, I have jamaican neighbours who are scared of the frogs they find in their fishpond during the annual cleanout so I have the job of 'rehoming' them, which just means freeing them under some leafage in my garden. I hope as and when I get a pond installed, I'll be able to create a froggy heaven and they will choose to relocate ;-) I would have done the same as you faced with all those tads in mortal danger!

I'm around at the weekend and on Tuesdays, if any of those days suit you.

[The Minkey]

Sue - where are you based? I get goldfinches but I think that may be because of my proximity to Brenchley Gardens, One Tree Hill, Nunhead Cemetery, various allotments and the Park with a good run of trees in between for them to move about safely. I had a niger feeder which they did feed from but they are equally happy with the mixed finch seed I put out which has a lot of sunflower hearts. I haven't had the niger feeder up for a year now but I still get the goldies.

[aspidistra]

A complete eruption of ladybirds indoors. More than in previous years.