The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Jon Tilson wrote: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

Heard of that but the crossbreeds were easy to spot.

Lol...
Memory plays tricks after so many years.
Apparently the one I was thinking of didnt do well around St Pauls Cathedral for a while and sadly expired.
I think others have done better.

There is a seriously studious tome about the "native status" here...

http://www.owls.org/sites/default/files ... evised.pdf

if you want some deep bedtime reading...

Jonners

Well that was an interesting read Jonners, thanks for that It seems we are down to beliefs again
The article is (I believe) saying that Eagle Owls do exist in UK and that it is best to keep quiet about it because they are large enough to take lambs and pets. Conclusion is say the least about it.

Every now and then we see things that are not written about by "experts".

For in my own case I was fishing the Sussex Rother near Petworth and just as it started to get dark many sea trout started sticking their heads out of the froth apparently to see the waterfall that they had to leap to get to the spawning grounds, within a few minutes they all started leaping the fall.

Only last year we saw what seemed like a snake in the road, however it was a string of weasels moving nose to tail. But by the time we got the camera out they were gone.

Finally when we walked on Pantokrator, which is Corfu,s highest point we came across a dead Sand Boa which we did take a picture of and when I returned home got in touch with a top herpetologist who was really excited by the find because they had never been reported as living there before.

Conclusion is as Grasshopper was told "expect the unexpected".

Nice one Jeroen

Lol...before I got the camera out.....sums my day up.

Today I had 2 simultaneous visitors but only one of them was wild....and it wasn't Vince Cable.

Anyway while passing the time with Vince, the green woodpecker that is about an every 2 years visitor to our garden
popped down to investigate our recently pruned sycamore. I thought it was a bit obscured by branches and didnt bother getting the camera out. Anyway passed a very pleasant 5 minutes with our Vince in which he defended himself for flogging the PO cheap and imposing tuition fees and then lo and behold if our Greenie isnt fighting with a big earthworm smack in the middle of the lawn. Never seen that before.....
So off to grab the camcorder and I was just about to press the tit when off he goes.....

Grrrr!!!!

I had to laugh...the timing was perfect. Smart old crest....and it impressed our Aussie with its resemblance to a kookaburra..

Jonners

Yes green wood peckers are a welcome visitor but normally eat ants.

I've just spotted this blackbird at the back of the house.

Common as mud down here Dave but a nice shot....

Anyone see the Beeb Springwatch. Is that Ospreys in Wales?

I'd consider moving for that....

Jonners

Keep your eyes peeled in August/September round any lakes as the Ospreys fly south, we were lucky to see one about 5 years ago as it looked for a meal while it flew up the river Meon.

Last night we were driving home after an evening walk and a weasel tried to cross the lane so I stopped as we had a good view as it darted backwards and forwards waiting for us to leave. Hard to believe something so small is such an effective killer.

Spotted a couple of common birds at Wick Harbour....






Common Tern

These are summer visitors coming here to breed. They are easily confused with Arctic Terns, but the Common terns has
a black tip on its beak whereas the Arctic variety is entirely red.
Although usually a ground nester there are several pairs of common terns nested on the (flat)roofs of buildings near the harbour.
They are extremely noisy and very intolerant of intruders (human or otherwise).
The one in the photograph was using the railing as a perch from which to dive to catch fish, mainly sandeels, of which there
are plenty this year.




Rock Pipit.

Just along from the tern I spotted this pipit. These are very common on rocky coasts here and are present all year round. Some,
like this one, venture into the harbour area abd surrounding streets.
They are easily overlooked due to their excellent camouflage, especially in the winter time.
During rough weather they demonstrate a real talent for being able to work the edge of the waves without ever getting soaked.



Ian.

My wife caught this sparrowhawk just after it took down a collared dove on our front lawn, about this time last year.

Wow...that would be a competition worthy shot...

Terns.... we saw a lot of those on our canal trip last year near on the Grand Union near Leighton Buzzard...

They are complete masters of the air and put on a real bird air show...

Jonners

I'll second that, what a couple of shots!

Nothing much to report down here in southern Hampshire apart from a couple of hares which always surprise me by the fact that they are so big.

They are great shots, I tried to get her to send them in to countryfile see if they could get into their calendar, but she wasn't happy as they are slightly out of focus as she was shooting them through our living room window and holding the blinds so no to disturb it. Also have some decent shots of a pair of paraquetes stripping sunflower seeds from garden behind ours last August / September, a bird I didn't even know was in our country! They are around again this year as can hear them occasionally but yet to see them, but have planted lots of sunflowers.

Great shots indeed Rich The second paraquetes one is worthy of a shot at countryfile id say

Tony

Not a huge fan of the Indian Ringneck myself...

They have afflicted most of West London for the last 30 years and get ever bolder.
I've even seen them down as far as Broadstairs in Kent.

Noisy things and on a par with magpies for guano generation. Some places you just don't park your car...

I cant see their ever increasing population being good for indigenous birds.

Jonners