Wildlife

[MIG Wielder]

Hi Jon, The Chilterns to the North is a haven for red kites which have been re-introduced there recently. And they do appear on a regular basis about 30 miles south. Conventional wisdom has it that the Red Kite only feasts on carrion. But they are certainly an impressive sight around here.
Tony.

[DoloWIGHTY]

Out for a walk yesterday I saw this Oystercatcher. Really happy to have caught it with the camera on my phone as well;



Very shy birds too so a privileged to have seen it.

[shaunroche]

Out for a walk yesterday I saw this Oystercatcher. Really happy to have caught it with the camera on my phone as well;



Very shy birds too so a privileged to have seen it.

When I worked in the Bridge of Don in Aberdeen, we had a pair of Oyster catchers that lived in the car park!!

[trackerjack]

Hi Jon, The Chilterns to the North is a haven for red kites which have been re-introduced there recently. And they do appear on a regular basis about 30 miles south. Conventional wisdom has it that the Red Kite only feasts on carrion. But they are certainly an impressive sight around here.
Tony.

Come on Tony have you been drinking too much?
Down yere in the deep south we have loads of Kites too and just recently in the last month of warm weather we counted 13 of them over East Meon. These birds though large are not very heavy and would suffer injury in a cat attack.
Plus of course it was as I stated late at night and into owl time.

[Edin Dundee]

Out for a walk yesterday I saw this Oystercatcher. Really happy to have caught it with the camera on my phone as well;



Very shy birds too so a privileged to have seen it.

When I worked in the Bridge of Don in Aberdeen, we had a pair of Oyster catchers that lived in the car park!!

Yep, oyster catchers are not so rare up here, and nest on stones - we have several pairs at the factory due to the large amount of stone chip areas around the buildings, they are prone to foxes though.
I've seen a returning pair at another factory in Dundee, they nested on the stones in the same spot each year and the workers looked out for them. One of this pair would approach my brother every day, and look for a piece of bread roll. If the piece of roll did not have butter on it, the bird refused to take it! True! From a distance of a few feet every day.

[sprint95m]

Very numerous here, not only on the coast but inland too. Present all year round.
They don't come into the town but do fly over.
During the winter they will mix with lapwings, golden plovers, curlews, etc on the rocky foreshores.

(The tamest of all wading birds has to be the Purple Sandpipers? They exhibit no fear of humans.
Turnstones are bold too.)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_oystercatcher









Today I went to the highest hill in Caithness, namely Morven.
Aside from the howling gales and blizzards, the weather was fine!
Did see a few things of note
Ravens (common)
A vole? It was small and quick.
Red deer (very common)
Buzzards (very common)
Possibly two Kestrels, but they may have been sparrowhawks, it is difficult to tell in a blizzard. The former are getting scarce.
Short Eared Owl (scarce)

By the way, the snow did make it difficult underfoot .



Ian.

[trackerjack]

ARGH bloody cold it looks too! However it is beautiful.
We want to walk to the top of Ben Nevis before we croak, as we have done Snowden 3 times.

[davy67]

I've climbed quite a few of the Munroes, including Ben Nevis twice. I climbed it last June for the Glasgow Sick kids Hospital Charity and there was 2 feet of snow on top amd damn cold. Previous year a bunch of us local firefighters did it while dressed as Elvis Presley. I even carried my bagpipes to the top for a few tunes!

David

[Jon Tilson]

Red Kites are an increasingly common site in the Thames Valley, Chilterns and down into Hampshire. I cant see them risking a swoop on a domestic moggie....they are all wing and no trousers.

A buzzard on the other hand may well have a fancy for some chinese....

Jonners

[trackerjack]

Yes I agree if the attack was in daylight though unlikely as Buzzards are lazy. Remember it happened late at night when Buzzards and Kites are sleepy byloes.

[sprint95m]

My guess was a large Tawny owl

That is quite possible. Probably an inexperienced juvenile?

Tawny Owls tend to take small prey species which can be easily swallowed, so it maybe thought the cat was smaller than it actually is?
Despite being nocturnal, Tawny owls don't have good night vision, instead they rely on their exceptional hearing to locate prey.




Ian.

[trackerjack]

I would bet that all three got a shock.

Just like the Loch Ness monster we all want it to be true but simple solutions are the most likely.

I will imagine an escaped eagle owl prowling the Reading night skies ready to swoop down and carry off moggies and pooing small dogs

Spike Milligan wrote
"Of things that go bump in the night and give such a terrible fright.
It,s the hole in each ear that lets in the fear, that and the absence of light".

[sprint95m]

an escaped eagle owl prowling

Jon, recently there was one on the loose in Inverness.
Until it was eventually recaptured it attacked people.......







Ian.

[trackerjack]

Yes they are a bit fierce but no match for a Scot!

I have heard that there are a few living wild on the Yorks moors.

[Jon Tilson]

One escaped from London zoo a while ago. Made quite a difference to the local pigeon population IIRC.
I think it was "living out" for quite a while until it was recaptured.

Jonners