The Hide (chat thread)

Keplar240B wrote: »

The willow warbler is still in Garden(CITY garden) a week later two possibly three of them.
At least I think its a willow warbler I don't know
Beautiful bird they kind of hover at back of plants like ferns and pick off insects from underside of leaf
What are they doing in city have they paused on their winter migration route
there is a good few trees in the garden.

best shot I could get with my crap camera thru window about size of bluetit
Is it a willow warbler?

Are both pics of same bird Keplar ? You mentioned there were a number of them Just looking at first pic seems like willow warbler ok, but second bird has darkish legs and appears to have shortish primary (wing) feathers - may be just the light / angle of shot but could it be a Chiffchaff ? Probably the experts here will be able to confirm ID - both species tricky to tell apart on plumage pics alone ? Other opinions ??

thyme wrote: »

Anybody notice that there's no beech nuts this year, and the acorns haven't developed at all.
So there will be a lot of birds and small mammals looking for an alternative food source this winter.

Beech nuts here ok. Acorns are plentiful if a little late developing but they will be fine.

thyme wrote: »

Something strange must have happened to the trees around here so.

We have a lot of beech and oak trees here and no nuts on ether tree, the acorns turned blackish and never developed.

Some beech trees are producing new growth while others are nearly leafless, very strange.

Sounds like frost damage from last Spring. It happens. Some areas get good years and others don't.

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

This is a blog post by Rob O'Sullivan of the HSI, initially discussing a specific blog post that got attention recently, but then it moves onto the topic of animal rights and conservation, and how they are often two different 'camps - the most obvious example being the type of people who 'free' mink from a mink farm without any thought or consideration for the huge impact it then has on local wildlife. Worth a read:

http://thehsi.org/2015/09/10/animal-rights-gone-wrong/

Excellent article there, thanks for that OYE.

The author was provoked into writing it by another piece by animal-rights fanatics, saying that natural predation by carnivores, for e.g. Lions killing Zebras in Africa, is cruel, and that those who care about animals should do what they can to prevent it. Therefore killing Cecil was the right thing to do, because that saved lots of his potential prey:

"Which brings us back to Cecil. Just as we may be able to alleviate the suffering caused to wild animals by disease or natural disasters, we might also be able to do something about predation and the often-brutal competition that permeates the natural food chain. If animal activists care about wild animals as much as they care about domestic animals, then these are two main causes of suffering and death among wild animals that they should try to prevent."

It's mind boggling just how moronic people can be: no consideration or importance is given to the fact that predators are absolutely essential to a healthy and functioning ecosystem. And the sheer arrogance of these people to think that it is the prerogative of one species - humans, to dictate to every other living thing on the planet how it should behave, is staggering.

What about this one???

2 Killer Whales spotted off the Nose of Howth today.

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

Wildlife photographer of the year 2015 winners - in pictures



Aww, I don't like it.:(

That photograph is very pertinent, as it represents the destructive impact of climate change on wild species globally. As the planet warms, the range of the Red Fox is rapidly extending northwards, that of the Arctic Fox is shrinking, and the two mammals are increasingly coming into conflict, with the smaller Arctic Fox invariably the loser.

That's largely why this particular image won, because of the much wider picture that it conveys.

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

I don't like it either. And Red Foxes have been in the Wapusk area for many many years. This is not a result of climate change.

The judges who chose the photo in question don't agree:

"In the Canadian tundra, global warming is extending the range of red foxes northwards, where they increasingly cross paths with their smaller relatives, the Arctic fox. For Arctic foxes, red foxes now represent not just their main competitor – both hunt small animals such as lemmings – but also their main predator. Few actual kills by red foxes have been witnessed so far, but it is likely that conflicts between the two mammals will become more common."

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/wpy/gallery/2015/images/mammals/4965/a-tale-of-two-foxes.html

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

I still don't like the picture. It's nothing to do with it being a kill scene or that the prey is a "cute" animal. I just don't like it as a picture. It does nothing for me and says nothing to me.

Fair enough, we all have our different personal likes and dislikes. But far from saying nothing, this photograph speaks volumes about the threat that climate change presents to species and biomes. Here's a recently published article on the same subject I was reading earlier:

The Rapid and Startling Decline Of World’s Vast Boreal Forests

Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about the fate of the huge boreal forest that spans from Scandinavia to northern Canada. Unprecedented warming in the region is jeopardizing the future of a critical ecosystem that makes up nearly a third of the earth’s forest cover.

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/the_rapid_and_startling_decline_of_worlds_vast_boreal_forests/2919/


I think the judges of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition were right to perhaps prioritise content over form here, given what's happening.

The Oaks in my small, and still young, wood had a decent crop of acorns this year and today we had our first Jay to visit the garden. A wonderful sight and brings the species count for the garden to 54.

Capercaillie wrote: »

Great stuff. how big is your wood?:)

Shy of a half acre.

Not a thing wrong with them for your purposes. I'd prefer 8x42 myself but they would be fine.

Interesting obs this morning on a small local lake - small flock of redpoll (c40 birds) feeding on raft of broken reeds/sedge and other floating vegetation just off the shoreline - never seen this behavior, quite strange seeing these birds alighting on floating vegetation - obviously some plant seed there for them ?

fryup wrote: »

what do the swans and herons do during the floods?? is their habitat encroached??

Good question. Yes, they have to look elsewhere for accessible feeding. You'll see swans in waterlogged or flooded fields feeding on grass for example.

Floods can be difficult for Herons as their prey are displaced.