The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

The Robins are back ! They have been visiting for the past 10 years and usually manage to breed. Last year they hid and nested in a thick bank of ivy by next doors fence. Unusually last year we had a lot of magpies and crows around as well as the local red-kite from the Chilterns.We never saw exactly where the robins nested but there was a lot of flying in and out. Now, at the weekend it was time to tidy up a bit and we found the old nest, and it was very well hidden. So we left that bit and a large section around it in case they re-used the nest. Reading the web-site it doesn't actually say whether they re-use the previous years nests or not, but today Daddy(?) robin was back prospecting the area for nest building (?).
Oh yes , this is urban Berkshire.
Watch this space !

There's not much wildlife where I'm currently living. The previous place (the one with the garage) was where I'd posted the footage of the squirrels and is a former farmhouse situated next to a disused railway and there was quite a bit of wildlife. I remember hearing a woodpecker and at night we could hear a strange sounding bird in the woods nearby but we could never identifiy it. The place before that was the converted mill where I'd posted the photos of the heron and the Mallards (a breeding pair as what I meant when I posted the photos).

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Toledo Man

West Yorkshire Area Organiser & forum moderator
Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month at 8.00pm at The Old Brickworks, Wakefield Road, Drighlington, Bradford, BD11 1EA
****Meetings are currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic****
1972 Dolomite 1850 auto (NYE 751L - Waiting for me to give it some love)
2008 Citroën C4 Grand Picasso 2.0 HDi Exclusive (MA08 WCL - the workhorse)
1995 BMW E36 318i (M265 PNC - Project Bimmer, the 2nd car)
1991 Toyota Celica GT (J481 ONB - the current project car)
Former stable of SAY 414M (1974 Toledo), GRH 244D (1966 1300fwd), CDB 324L (1973 1500fwd), GGN 573J (1971 1500fwd), DCP 625S (1977 Dolomite 1300) & LCG 367N (1975 Dolomite Sprint) plus 5 Acclaims and that's just the Triumphs!

Check my blog at http://triumphtoledo.blogspot.com

"There is only one way to avoid criticsm: do nothing, say nothing and BE nothing." Aristotle

Probably one of these beauties in your neck of the woods Dave...

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Vindicator Sprint, Honda Fireblade RRX 919cc, re-powered by AB Performance. Quick.
1995 Trusty Peugeot 306 XND, no turbine, 242K miles young.
1997 Trusty Peugeot 306 GLX TD, 90K miles and soon to ride again..
Alfa Romeo 147 1.9 JTD 150 Ti Lusso , no longer smoking.
Various other transient runners for selling.

Do they ever go away?

The UK breeding populations are either resident or partial migrants. Scandinavian breeders over winter in the UK making the robin
much more numerous in said winter months. They are also easier to spot because their plumage is brighter at this time too.
The robin is the only UK breeder that regularly fights to the death over territory. They are also the only UK bird to sing in winter
although some other species such as blackbirds will sometimes do so under street lights.




Ian.

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TDC Forum moderator
PLEASE help us to maintain a friendly forum,
either PM or use Report Post if you see anything you are unhappy with. Thanks.

One of my other interests is angling and on the rare occasions that I fish in winter using maggots, you find robins will actually land on your chair and nick the maggots while stealing you a look as if to say, "you dont mind, do you"?

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track action maniac.

The lunatic is out................heres Jonny!

Jod, you could be right! I did see a robin at the same place. There's not much at the current place aside from the local bird population which is mostly crows, magpies and wood pigeons (I see the wood pigeons when I'm walking the dog).

_________________
Toledo Man

West Yorkshire Area Organiser & forum moderator
Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of the month at 8.00pm at The Old Brickworks, Wakefield Road, Drighlington, Bradford, BD11 1EA
****Meetings are currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic****
1972 Dolomite 1850 auto (NYE 751L - Waiting for me to give it some love)
2008 Citroën C4 Grand Picasso 2.0 HDi Exclusive (MA08 WCL - the workhorse)
1995 BMW E36 318i (M265 PNC - Project Bimmer, the 2nd car)
1991 Toyota Celica GT (J481 ONB - the current project car)
Former stable of SAY 414M (1974 Toledo), GRH 244D (1966 1300fwd), CDB 324L (1973 1500fwd), GGN 573J (1971 1500fwd), DCP 625S (1977 Dolomite 1300) & LCG 367N (1975 Dolomite Sprint) plus 5 Acclaims and that's just the Triumphs!

Check my blog at http://triumphtoledo.blogspot.com

"There is only one way to avoid criticsm: do nothing, say nothing and BE nothing." Aristotle

There's not much at the current place aside from the local bird population which is mostly crows, magpies ..... which are classed as vermin .....

Magpies and crows do well on road kill.
Pigeons or collared doves (I cant tell the difference) are absolutely taking off numbers wise.
They seem to like the berries on our Ivy hedge. Often wonder what they taste like....

We also have a lot of herons. Funny how they always take off the second I'm ready to snap them. They must have a camera detector.

Had a really strange encounter with a swan last night. It had decided to just sit in the cycle lane as I drove past. Seemed ok.....plenty of would be helpers so
I didn't bother to stop. Funny place to just have a sit down....

Jonners

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Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.

Speaking of Herons...



I snapped this from my bedroom window yesterday. Can't remember seeing one around here before.

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Sprintless for the first time in 35+ years.

2007 Porsche Boxster S




You can't start a sentence with 'And'.

Grammar:
The difference between knowing your sh#t and knowing you're sh#t.

Schedule: Pronounced "Shedule" not "Skedule"!

Nice one Mart...

In my experience Herons have some form of detector that makes them fly off just as you aim the camera...

Seems to be true of a lot of other wildlife as well...

Jonners

_________________
Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.

Nature is hugely underated and I'm always stopping in my tracks to view what's going on with our smaller companions of this planet...!!!

I was in Hyde Park this weekend and my mind was blown at seeing some of the sights I saw (I am easily amused!)...

People need to be more aware of what's around them as the next time they stop and take a look it might not be there!

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1976 Triumph Toledo 1300

Collared doves, a non native species that is now very common, are easy to identify,
they have a consistent pinkie grey colour, a thin black "collar" around the neck and a pronounced fan like tail with very pale feathers.

Wood pigeons are much bigger with bluey grey colour and have an obvious white bar on each wing. Again their colouration is consistent.

Feral pigeons/rock pigeons are very variable in colour and about the same size as collared doves. They will readily enter buildings unlike
collared doves or wood pigeons.




Ian.

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TDC Forum moderator
PLEASE help us to maintain a friendly forum,
either PM or use Report Post if you see anything you are unhappy with. Thanks.

Thanks Ian...

Round here there are numerous examples of all three...

Which ones eat best I wonder....

Jonners

_________________
Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.

Wood pigeon is the only one to eat

_________________
Vindicator Sprint, Honda Fireblade RRX 919cc, re-powered by AB Performance. Quick.
1995 Trusty Peugeot 306 XND, no turbine, 242K miles young.
1997 Trusty Peugeot 306 GLX TD, 90K miles and soon to ride again..
Alfa Romeo 147 1.9 JTD 150 Ti Lusso , no longer smoking.
Various other transient runners for selling.

Very strange event when we stayed at daughter Rebecca's house near Reading over Christmas.
It was late at night and her two cats that were outside set off an enormous racket of screaming and snarling and when the door was opened they rushed in terrified with their tails all puffed out (fear sign in cats).
We were just quick enough to spot a very large bird flying away in the dark.
My guess was a large Tawny owl got confused and thought the cats were smaller than they were so grabbed but let go.
Or it was an escaped Eagle owl which could tackle a cat.
What do you guyrs reckon?

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track action maniac.

The lunatic is out................heres Jonny!