The Hide (chat thread)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

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

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/

..... the inconvenient truth is that some of the greatest enemies of the conservation movement come from within our own ranks. We delude ourselves when we allow ourselves to believe that any animal lover, or animal rights activist, is by default a friend of the conservation movement. There are radicals in our midst, and it is our responsibility to call them out when they are wrong.

Jayzesake

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.

Jayzesake

Jayzesake wrote: »

no consideration or importance is given to the fact that predators are absolutely essential to a healthy and functioning ecosystem.

Native predators, that is.

Capercaillie

Cut my first cut of silage on Sunday (cut late for Corncrake). Cut from Centre out, what normally takes 3 hours for a normal farmers takes 9 hours for me. In the Spring cut all the grass from my established Iris and heavily fertilised it with 10-10-20 at 200kg/acre. It grew massive and has also spread. Even with the terrible weather the patch where the iris way is dry. The iris has grown so much it is basically "drinking" the excess water!

_Tombstone_

_Tombstone_

What about this one???

Capercaillie

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

What about this one???

Northern hawk owl

tricky D

2 Killer Whales spotted off the Nose of Howth today.

_Tombstone_

Wildlife photographer of the year 2015 winners - in pictures



Aww, I don't like it.:(

Surprising behaviour, witnessed in Wapusk national park, on Hudson Bay, Canada, in early winter. Red foxes don’t actively hunt Arctic foxes, but where the ranges of two predators overlap, there can be conflict. Though the light was poor, the snow-covered tundra provided the backdrop for the moment that the red fox paused with the smaller fox in its mouth in a grim pose.

Jayzesake

_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.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Jayzesake wrote: »

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.

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.

Jayzesake

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

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

There were Red Foxes there in 1978 when I was there - long before it became a national park.

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.

Jayzesake

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.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The point is it doesn't convey that message to me at all. I know Climate change is a big issue for you but it doesn't jump out of that particular picture for me.
Anyway, sorry I didn't mean to start a row over a picture or another discussion on loss of habitat.

Capercaillie

The more depressing photo was the one of the lion/tigers in the Chinese "circus". Their teeth and claws ripped off and living in tiny cages:(

_Tombstone_

Mad looking place!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

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

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

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.

Great stuff. how big is your wood?:)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Capercaillie wrote: »

Great stuff. how big is your wood?:)

Shy of a half acre.

Woodville56

Time running out for public submissions on Coillte's draft Strategic Plan 2016-2020 ! Hope their commitment to maintaining / protecting their broadleaf and old mature woodland biodiversity is upheld with measurable outcomes - too much to expect ?
Mods - ok to move if not appropriate to this forum.

http://www.coillte.ie/aboutcoillte/about_coillte/coillte_consultation/coillte_current_consultations/

Zoo4m8

North of Arklow this morning, a Red Kite low level cruising the new motorway verge, I presume looking for road kill, not enough cover on the verge to conceal much else edible. Fast overtaking the Peregrine as my favourite bird...
Beautiful morning, countryside looking fantastic in the bright autumn sunshine ..:D

_Tombstone_

Winters here, tis fairly sh1tty out tonight. Snowing. Haven't really been filling the feeders that much since it was so mild but I'll go all out on them in the morning.

Bsal

The last few days I have a coal tit taking sunflower seeds from the feeder and hiding them around the garden, on occasion a blue tit watches from a nearby bush and then steals the hidden seed

laoch na mona

how good would 10x32 binoculars be, I do a bit of hiking and are looking to get a set of binoculars which I could use to do a bit of nature watching on hikes. as they'll be for hiking the smaller the better

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

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

Bsal

I had a goldcrest in the garden today, I haven't seen one in a few years in my garden.

Woodville56

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 ?

Woodville56

Anyone noticing increasing numbers of Mistle Thrushes about ? Plenty of Redwing & Fieldfare in this neck of the woods too !