Getting close to wildlife - literally

[03060]

Garden or Wood Warbler but by the description of it's call I wouldn't rule out the Reed Warbler which (according to my RSPB book) "On migration, may be found in unexpected places, such as thickets and hedgerows."

 

Very nice photo Steve, I take it that you're happy with your new camera ? I'm looking at getting a new monocular that can connect with my phone to take pictures, I'm generally not a technology fan but could see me actually getting some use out this.

 

Regards,

Ian.

Edited May 27, 2021 by 03060

[sb67]

3 hours ago, 03060 said:

Garden or Wood Warbler but by the description of it's call I wouldn't rule out the Reed Warbler which (according to my RSPB book) "On migration, may be found in unexpected places, such as thickets and hedgerows."

 

Very nice photo Steve, I take it that you're happy with your new camera ? I'm looking at getting a new monocular that can connect with my phone to take pictures, I'm generally not a technology fan but could see me actually getting some use out this.

 

Regards,

Ian.

 

Thanks Ian. I am pleased with it, it's pretty good for a bridge camera and so far I've only used the "automatic mode" so I've still got a bit to learn. The Monocular sounds interesting, be good to see some pics from that. 

[Flying Pig]

6 hours ago, 03060 said:

Garden or Wood Warbler

 

No, it really is a chiffy. It's a Phylloscopus warbler with short primary projection and a dark cheek contrasting with the white lower eyering.  The tail is blurred in the photo - is that just depth of field, or is the bird tail-dipping, a classic chiffchaff habit?

 

Wood warbler - same genus as chiffchaff, but distinctive with very long wings and undertail coverts that give it a stubby-tailed appearance, quite unlike this bird; colour green above and cold greyish white below with bright primrose yellow throat and supercilium. I suspect very uncommon in Essex as it has a westerly distribution in Britain and isn't seen much on migration.

 

Garden warbler - much bulkier overall with notably thicker legs and bill; longer primary projection and doesn't usually show a tail notch like this bird.  Grey-brown in colour and unlikely to appear as yellowish olive as this bird, even among green foliage.  Unlikely to show such a strong supercilium.

 

Reed warbler - again, a larger bird, long pp and a distinctly rounded tail with long undertail coverts; colour warm brown with a distinctly gingerish rump.

Edited May 27, 2021 by Flying Pig

[03060]

46 minutes ago, Flying Pig said:

 

No, it really is a chiffy. It's a Phylloscopus warbler with short primary projection and a dark cheek contrasting with the white lower eyering.  The tail is blurred in the photo - is that just depth of field, or is the bird tail-dipping, a classic chiffchaff habit?

 

Wood warbler - same genus as chiffchaff, but distinctive with very long wings and undertail coverts that give it a stubby-tailed appearance, quite unlike this bird; colour green above and cold greyish white below with bright primrose yellow throat and supercilium. I suspect very uncommon in Essex as it has a westerly distribution in Britain and isn't seen much on migration.

 

Garden warbler - much bulkier overall with notably thicker legs and bill; longer primary projection and doesn't usually show a tail notch like this bird.  Grey-brown in colour and unlikely to appear as yellowish olive as this bird, even among green foliage.  Unlikely to show such a strong supercilium.

 

Reed warbler - again, a larger bird, long pp and a distinctly rounded tail with long undertail coverts; colour warm brown with a distinctly gingerish rump.

 

Wow, thanks @Flying Pig that led me into a very educational 1/2 hour of watching You Tube videos of the various Warblers seen in Britain, found the wing tip length relation to distance of migration interesting. That's also put me in doubt as to the identity of what I've always assumed were Whitethroats, seen in my usual bird watching area around Esholt Sewage works, Bradford; I will now have to try and get some photos and maybe video to check whether I'm correct or not. 

 

Every day's a school day, as they say !

Regards,

Ian.

[boxbrownie]

8 hours ago, 03060 said:

Garden or Wood Warbler but by the description of it's call I wouldn't rule out the Reed Warbler which (according to my RSPB book) "On migration, may be found in unexpected places, such as thickets and hedgerows."

 

Very nice photo Steve, I take it that you're happy with your new camera ? I'm looking at getting a new monocular that can connect with my phone to take pictures, I'm generally not a technology fan but could see me actually getting some use out this.

 

Regards,

Ian.

Are you referring to the Canon zoom monocular?

 

I was interested in one of those but after reading the reviews the pictures are quite poor IQ seeing the results.

 

If it’s not the Canon I’d be interested if there is another make out there?

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, beast66606 said:

Small video of one of "my" hedgehogs heading inside his feeding house for some food.

 

ConvHog.mp3 13.16 MB · 1 download

It just directs me to a music download, that is empty?

[03060]

2 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

Are you referring to the Canon zoom monocular?

 

I was interested in one of those but after reading the reviews the pictures are quite poor IQ seeing the results.

 

If it’s not the Canon I’d be interested if there is another make out there?

 

The honest answer is I'm not sure, I've carried a small monocular around with me for years and have found it quite adequate for nature watching whilst walking the dogs (I do have other larger pieces) but I've dropped it a couple of times and think that I've lost some clarity in the lenses (I've dismantled it several times) so I did a quick search for a new one which is where the photo connection versions popped up, I've only had the briefest of looks so far but taking your comment regarding the Cannon will proceed carefully and will let you know how I get on, I'm not in any great rush though.

 

Regards,

Ian.

[PhilJ W]

18 minutes ago, beast66606 said:

 

When I click the link it shows me a hedgehog - try right click, save as and save it, then open it with a video player, your PC probably has MP3 as music only (which is strictly correct)

It seems that my PC has MP3 as music only and I am unable to view it.

[Gopher]

2 hours ago, beast66606 said:

Small video of one of "my" hedgehogs heading inside his feeding house for some food.

 

ConvHog.mp3 13.16 MB · 9 downloads

Brilliant footage.

 

Our garden cam filmed our resident hedgehogs mating a week or so ago.   The female is now busy taking nesting material into her hedgehog house.  The male however is busy eating, and fighting another male hedgehog who occasionally appears in our garden.  Great entertainment and much better than TV 

      

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, beast66606 said:

Small video of one of "my" hedgehogs heading inside his feeding house for some food.

 

ConvHog.mp3 13.16 MB · 13 downloads

It seems a few others cannot access the pic as well. Is it possible to put it into a format that all can access such as Flickr?

[Gopher]

I hope this link works to access the video of the hedgehogs mating.  File is too big to upload to this site 

 

 

[boxbrownie]

I can hear him now “careful, careful....stand still woman, ouch....oh....right up the....oooo.....that’s it, I’m off to find a mole”

[Gopher]

46 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

I can hear him now “careful, careful....stand still woman, ouch....oh....right up the....oooo.....that’s it, I’m off to find a mole”

You should have seen the video of the foreplay.  10 to 20 mins of him chasing her around the patio.  At one point she put her rear end against a flower pot.  He was a bit flummoxed by this, but persisted.  I think she just gave in, as he was not giving up any time soon.    

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

I can hear him now “careful, careful....stand still woman, ouch....oh....right up the....oooo.....that’s it, I’m off to find a mole”

One very surprised mole.

[boxbrownie]

53 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

One very surprised mole.

Or very grateful.....it’s very lonely down there.....

[petethemole]

Not that lonely, thank you.

[boxbrownie]

43 minutes ago, petethemole said:

Not that lonely, thank you.

Oh feeling a bit prickly? 

[hmrspaul]

Perhaps fortunate there is no sound. They are very noisy when mating. Some years ago I came home latish and there was considerable noise from the front garden - a torch soon showed up a romantic couple. 

 

Paul

[beast66606]

1 minute ago, hmrspaul said:

Perhaps fortunate there is no sound. They are very noisy when mating. Some years ago I came home latish and there was considerable noise from the front garden - a torch soon showed up a romantic couple. 

 

Paul

 

They get very grunty when 2 of them decide to snack on my supplies at the same time - quite comical at times.

[russ p]

Just checked the garden and a hedgehog tucking into meal worms , think we are getting at least three at the moment possibly ones we have released. 

We still have three long term rescue ones living in the house 

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, hmrspaul said:

Perhaps fortunate there is no sound. They are very noisy when mating. Some years ago I came home latish and there was considerable noise from the front garden - a torch soon showed up a romantic couple. 

 

Paul

What noise is that? Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch perhaps.

[sb67]

21 hours ago, Flying Pig said:

 

No, it really is a chiffy. It's a Phylloscopus warbler with short primary projection and a dark cheek contrasting with the white lower eyering.  The tail is blurred in the photo - is that just depth of field, or is the bird tail-dipping, a classic chiffchaff habit?

 

Wood warbler - same genus as chiffchaff, but distinctive with very long wings and undertail coverts that give it a stubby-tailed appearance, quite unlike this bird; colour green above and cold greyish white below with bright primrose yellow throat and supercilium. I suspect very uncommon in Essex as it has a westerly distribution in Britain and isn't seen much on migration.

 

Garden warbler - much bulkier overall with notably thicker legs and bill; longer primary projection and doesn't usually show a tail notch like this bird.  Grey-brown in colour and unlikely to appear as yellowish olive as this bird, even among green foliage.  Unlikely to show such a strong supercilium.

 

Reed warbler - again, a larger bird, long pp and a distinctly rounded tail with long undertail coverts; colour warm brown with a distinctly gingerish rump.

 

Thanks for the explanation, it was moving around quite a bit so hence the blurry tail.  Coincidently there was a bit on Springwatch about them and the similarity to other warblers. I did a bit of you tubing and found a video of Chiff Chaffs and their calls that explained their contact calls and that's exactly what it was doing. Mystery solved 

[KeithMacdonald]

Here's a Ronnie Corbett sort-off wildlife story.

 

A few days ago, I was out for a run up and down some of the footpaths and woodland trails round this way. Well, when I say run, at the pace I go up hill, I've had walkers pass me asking if I'm alright. But that's another story.

 

In some places, after heavy rain, the tracks at the bottom of some hills become a sump full of water. Imagine my surprise when I came downhill and round a corner to find one of these water-filled sumps, about 10 feet wide and ten-feet across. More of a pond than a puddle. Even more of a surprise was the two huge birds that suddenly flapped up from the middle of this temporary pond. I'm used to seeing buzzards and kites in the air around here, but never on the ground as close as about six feet. These buzzards were big birds, and when I say big, I mean big (or that more like Benny Hill?)

 

The funny part was they both flapped/shambled their way to the edge of the pond, looking backwards and forwards at me and each other, almost as though they were embarrassed at being caught having a bath, or pretending to be ducks in a pond.

 

 

 

[bimble]

Was over at Watership Down at the weekend photographing an archery event when I spotted this little fella, snuffling vigorously through the undergrowth!

 

 

 

[peanuts]

Getting some trashpanda cuddles with Missy Rascal Racoon