Alder
Established Member
I have just seen our first swallows of the season.
Fantastic.
Russell
Fantastic.
Russell
Swallows.
- Thread starter Alder
- Start date
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Trevanion
Greatest Of All Time
I saw one about ten days ago circling above making the distinctive call which I thought was insanely early for them, I haven't seen another since though.
When you see the first swallow, summer officially begins.
When you see the first swallow, summer officially begins.
MikeG.
Established Member
Two or three days ago here, in reasonable numbers. And the first cuckoo today.
I've been plagued by them for a few weeks now. :roll:
Lovely birds to watch, but when they start nesting I get locked out my workshop for a couple of days. Even though its only a single car garage with a roll up door, they will swoop in and around me and try to build nests in the high corners. I have to nip in quick for what I want and the close the door again. (hammer) (hammer) Once they have their nests sorted, then I can leave the door open again.
They swoop the pool for water to build the mud nests with, its impressive to see the bird dive in and stop dead for a half second, then fly off again.
I dont know if its the same bird each day, but one will perch on the fence or the end of the rotary line, and chatter away for ages, completely ignoring how close we are. Its almost like its telling us to clear off. 8) 8)
But the biggest benefit is their eating habits, over 800 flying insects per bird per day. =D> =D> =D> Its worth putting up with their mess for that. 8)
Lovely birds to watch, but when they start nesting I get locked out my workshop for a couple of days. Even though its only a single car garage with a roll up door, they will swoop in and around me and try to build nests in the high corners. I have to nip in quick for what I want and the close the door again. (hammer) (hammer) Once they have their nests sorted, then I can leave the door open again.
They swoop the pool for water to build the mud nests with, its impressive to see the bird dive in and stop dead for a half second, then fly off again.
I dont know if its the same bird each day, but one will perch on the fence or the end of the rotary line, and chatter away for ages, completely ignoring how close we are. Its almost like its telling us to clear off. 8) 8)
But the biggest benefit is their eating habits, over 800 flying insects per bird per day. =D> =D> =D> Its worth putting up with their mess for that. 8)
I've been plagued by them for a few weeks now. :roll:
Lovely birds to watch, but when they start nesting I get locked out my workshop for a couple of days. Even though its only a single car garage with a roll up door, they will swoop in and around me and try to build nests in the high corners. I have to nip in quick for what I want and the close the door again. (hammer) (hammer) Once they have their nests sorted, then I can leave the door open again.
They swoop the pool for water to build the mud nests with, its impressive to see the bird dive in and stop dead for a half second, then fly off again.
I dont know if its the same bird each day, but one will perch on the fence or the end of the rotary line, and chatter away for ages, completely ignoring how close we are. Its almost like its telling us to clear off. 8) 8)
But the biggest benefit is their eating habits, over 800 flying insects per bird per day. =D> =D> =D> Its worth putting up with their mess for that. 8)
Lovely birds to watch, but when they start nesting I get locked out my workshop for a couple of days. Even though its only a single car garage with a roll up door, they will swoop in and around me and try to build nests in the high corners. I have to nip in quick for what I want and the close the door again. (hammer) (hammer) Once they have their nests sorted, then I can leave the door open again.
They swoop the pool for water to build the mud nests with, its impressive to see the bird dive in and stop dead for a half second, then fly off again.
I dont know if its the same bird each day, but one will perch on the fence or the end of the rotary line, and chatter away for ages, completely ignoring how close we are. Its almost like its telling us to clear off. 8) 8)
But the biggest benefit is their eating habits, over 800 flying insects per bird per day. =D> =D> =D> Its worth putting up with their mess for that. 8)
MikeG.
Established Member
sunnybob":mpqpw4cy said:
You're lucky to still have insects. Various studies have pointed to a catastrophic 80%+ decline in insect numbers in northern Europe (the numbers are much the same for the UK and Germany). I can remember when you had to wash you car windscreen every few days because of the smear of dead insects on it. Now a squished insect on your window is a rarity. Interestingly, number plates were used for some of these sampling tests, because they were of a known uniform size throughout the country. Volunteers put a piece of peel-off clear plastic over their number plate and recorded the number of miles they drove. The plastic was peeled off and the dead insects were then counted.
AES
Established Member
In NW Switzerland I saw 2 or 3 zooming around together for the 1st time this year about mid last week.
AJB Temple
Finely figured
Saw the first ones this week as well. Always a thrill. I think there are far more insects this year too: we have some pools in the garden and the visible flying insect population is far more than I remember last year.
The bats are also very active in the evenings. The ponds are alive with great crested and common newts and all the usual things. We get very few frogs though. The bees are also very active: local bee society has warned of early swarm risk so we added another super to the hives yesterday.
We have a pair of mallard and a pair of moorhens nesting in the garden. Also two species of woodpecker (Very noisy) and an owl (Tawny - also saw a little owl this week). Yesterday I had my first Kingfisher sighting this year. Remarkable year. Have not heard a cuckoo yet. There are a pair of buzzards nesting somewhere nearby, but I don't know where as I have not left the premises.
Nature is loving the lack of human pollution?
The bats are also very active in the evenings. The ponds are alive with great crested and common newts and all the usual things. We get very few frogs though. The bees are also very active: local bee society has warned of early swarm risk so we added another super to the hives yesterday.
We have a pair of mallard and a pair of moorhens nesting in the garden. Also two species of woodpecker (Very noisy) and an owl (Tawny - also saw a little owl this week). Yesterday I had my first Kingfisher sighting this year. Remarkable year. Have not heard a cuckoo yet. There are a pair of buzzards nesting somewhere nearby, but I don't know where as I have not left the premises.
Nature is loving the lack of human pollution?
MikeG.
Established Member
AJB Temple":1pwz74td said:
These things are intimately connected. We collect and keep our frog spawn in a separate holding container until the tadpoles are big enough to survive the interests of dragonfly larvae and newts. We also do whatever we can to keep mallard off the pond, including netting it, but they're persistent little so-and-sos. God knows how many newts we've got, but I could see at least 15 at once yesterday afternoon when I stopped for a little pond-gazing. Of course, frogs also need some rough and damp areas of the garden as they don't live in the pond year round. A few piles of logs and/ or rocks helps.
MikeG.
Established Member
AJB Temple
Finely figured
Thanks for the link.
I have no chance of keeping the mallards out, and I quite like them anyway. The ponds are too big to net and the ducks are determined. I forget too mention that we also get a visiting Grey Heron. I have never seen frogspawn on any of our ponds (there are 4 - but one has Koi in it and nothing else apart from a system to keep the Heron out!) - If I did I would collect it and keep safe. The wildlife pond is surrounded by rocks and logs and there are some in the pond as well along with a lot of aerating plants, lilies and some bullrushes and so on. I only dug this pond about 3 years ago and it has done amazingly well. There is a boggy area at one end and a lot of shelter as there are about six Gunnera we planted as very small plants but they expand really fast. These have sprung into action, but there are no big leaves yet.
I do see a few frogs and toads, usually very small, around the garden. I like the croaking at night, but we don't get that at all!
I have no chance of keeping the mallards out, and I quite like them anyway. The ponds are too big to net and the ducks are determined. I forget too mention that we also get a visiting Grey Heron. I have never seen frogspawn on any of our ponds (there are 4 - but one has Koi in it and nothing else apart from a system to keep the Heron out!) - If I did I would collect it and keep safe. The wildlife pond is surrounded by rocks and logs and there are some in the pond as well along with a lot of aerating plants, lilies and some bullrushes and so on. I only dug this pond about 3 years ago and it has done amazingly well. There is a boggy area at one end and a lot of shelter as there are about six Gunnera we planted as very small plants but they expand really fast. These have sprung into action, but there are no big leaves yet.
I do see a few frogs and toads, usually very small, around the garden. I like the croaking at night, but we don't get that at all!
AJB Temple
Finely figured
That Science article is really interesting. I am a motorcyclist and so vizor splat is an occupational hazard, but it certainly has declined. Where we live is possibly a bit of a small ecosystem. There is a fishlake one field away, there is a small river that runs down one side of our land, and we are still pretty much surrounded by orchards and a few hop fields nearby. Maybe that creates a bit of a haven for wildlife? Certainly we have an abundance of wild birds nesting in our garden (though we actively feed quite a lot) and the first dragonflies are also about, along with a few butterflies.
For most of my life since I was 30, including when we had a farm, I have been trying to attract barn owls to nest. Zero success. Made no effort at this house and this year a tawny owl moved in. I keep a couple of dead trees and one of them seems to be where the nest is. Quite high up. I think it has taken over an old squirrel dray. (I control squirrels as they wreak havoc with nesting birds. We only have greys sadly).
For most of my life since I was 30, including when we had a farm, I have been trying to attract barn owls to nest. Zero success. Made no effort at this house and this year a tawny owl moved in. I keep a couple of dead trees and one of them seems to be where the nest is. Quite high up. I think it has taken over an old squirrel dray. (I control squirrels as they wreak havoc with nesting birds. We only have greys sadly).
MikeG.
Established Member
AJB Temple":1zypnfry said:
Are you covering yours on frosty nights still? We lost 4 leaves a week or two back on the one night we forgot.
AJB Temple
Finely figured
Ha! Yes. We learnt our lesson last year. We drape fleece over them. Likewise tree ferns.
MikeG.":3jljd11s said:
Err, no. (hammer) (hammer) (hammer) (hammer)
If I could do away with insects, I would happily let the birds and spiders go. Every table and seating area outdoors has fly swatters to hand. Every so often we get vampire flies. They bite and suck blood, and you only know youve been bit when you see the blood on your legs. We terminate those with extreme prejudice. They are the curse of my life style. 8)
MikeG.
Established Member
sunnybob":21m6gxoy said:
No insects......no humans. It's a very simple equation.
AJB Temple
Finely figured
Indeed. I agree. We should be super concerned about this. I keep bees, but contrary to popular belief, they are not the only pollinators. The eco system needs to be in balance: the food chain is delicate and we humans damage it (more) at our own peril.
