The Hide (chat thread)

recedite

That thing about the native wildlife not eating eucalyptus is a bit of a myth. The juvenile leaves are usually covered in whitefly or greenfly during the summer.
The adult leaves are tougher but still get eaten.

Livestock, deer and rabbits will eat most Eucalyptus trees so protect young trees with top grade rabbit wire compounds secured in place on timber stakes

Anyway, I'm not sure how anyone can walk through a forest and declare the "trees are untouched by wildlife". If you walked through either a conifer or a deciduous forest you would not expect to see the trees stripped of their leaves/bark unless some terrible catastrophe had just occurred.

Half-cocked

I planted a mountain ash at the bottom of the garden about 5 years ago. It has a massive amount of berries on it at the moment and I just counted 3 juvenile Blackbirds and 2 juvenile Song Thrushes in it all at the same time this evening!:D:D:D:D

BAAA RAM EWE

They're banning eucalyptus plantations all over the world.

A eucalyptus tree consumes 90 litres of water a day

During summers and times of drought, its roots can go down up to 30ft

Compared to 177m mean depth of groundwater, eucalyptus plantations have increased depth to 260m

Borewell yield within 1km of plantation reduced by more than 35 per cent in five years

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

BAAA RAM EWE wrote: »

They're banning eucalyptus plantations all over the world.

Big job to ban them. They are the lifeblood of paper pulp manufacture in many countries. Who exactly is the 'they'?

BAAA RAM EWE

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

Big job to ban them. They are the lifeblood of paper pulp manufacture in many countries. Who exactly is the 'they'?

ah I left out the word trying, parts of Australia, India, different states in the US, eventually they'll ban it.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

BAAA RAM EWE wrote: »

ah I left out the word trying, parts of Australia, India, different states in the US, eventually they'll ban it.

Ah! Trying!

Australia want to ban a native tree? This makes little sense. They have over 90 million hectares of Eucalypt forest n Australia; it's three-quarters of the total native forest area.

And still who are 'they'?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I found the article; 2015 in The Hindu.

The Karnataka High Court 'asked' the Department to consider a ban after an unsuccessful claimant maintained they have caused his water table to lower. The Department said it was not possible to enforce any such ban.

Rosahane

Just spotted three juveniles among the Goldfinches at my niger feeder. They were lots of juveniles several weeks ago so is this likely to be a second clutch?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Rosahane wrote: »

Just spotted three juveniles among the Goldfinches at my niger feeder. They were lots of juveniles several weeks ago so is this likely to be a second clutch?

First clutch juveniles will still be juveniles. A second clutch would be fledging at least 5 weeks after the first. So, could be either.

Meteorite58

Can some learned person verify if this is a Moss Carder Bee nest ?

Just spotted this nest today beside the pond system in my garden here in the countryside. On a site this last 7 years that we have tried to transform the garden to a natural habitat for all types of nature and to my delight starting to see lots of wildlife about as it begins to mature. Have seen a few nests in the garden already from wasp to Bumble Bee but this one is a first. Live near the coast here in Kerry, I believe Carder Bees are often found on coastal margins.





Close up

recedite

Nice nest. I think you mean moss carder bee.
Carding was part of the weaving process in ye olden days, a way of straightening out the wool fibres.
Any photos of the actual bee, is it like this?

Meteorite58

recedite wrote: »

Nice nest. I think you mean moss carder bee.
Carding was part of the weaving process in ye olden days, a way of straightening out the wool fibres.
Any photos of the actual bee, is it like this?

Oops! adjusted the spelling . Yes that is the one all right thanks, seeing them coming and going this evening and some seem to be rambling around on the ground with bits of dried grass and moss and possibly building a tunnel type structure or maybe a new nest beside it.

recedite

Congrats on attracting in these unusual bees, you must be doing something right
Any Natterjack toads around?

Meteorite58

Thanks. No haven't seen any Natterjacks around here, we are a couple of miles from the coast, good few frogs though. The only thing is we get quite a few Great Diving Beetles and they or their larvae seem to devour the tadpoles!

Zoo4m8

Fantastic garden!

Bsal

Passing through Ballyboughal village today seen a dead Kingfisher in the middle of the road which I'd assume was hit by a car.

Zoo4m8

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

Good point..maybe the Kites are slow to expand and as very social birds are probably not very territorial , anyway I've asked a couple questions in the Red Kite section of the Eagle site so I'll see what they have to say..
Open to correction but I don't think they are feeding now right enough..
Re Woodpeckers, I've had a bird here in the garden a couple of days ago that I'm convinced was a Woodpecker , he flew over head near me but with the sun in my eyes it was difficult to make out the markings, I resorted to keeping the bins beside me at mealtimes as with the hot weather we would have the sliding doors open in the kitchen.. Every time I heard him I would rush out to have a look but the little bugger made sure he was well out of sight in the middle of a large conifer.
He apoears to have gone now, maybe just as well, I think the other was half was considering having me committed ...:rolleyes:

Ta DA!! I can confirm that my mystery bird is indeed a Great Spotted Woodpecker! It has been coming and going constantly and my frustration was rising in tandem with each visit but it eventually stopped to examine a dead conifer at the edge of the garden so with no foliage I had a clear view at long last...coincided with a very clear view of a Long Eared Owl who chose to visit the same conifers at more or less the same time..
It's days like these that make it worthwhile getting up in the morning..:)

cameramonkey

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

Ta DA!! I can confirm that my mystery bird is indeed a Great Spotted Woodpecker! It has been coming and going constantly and my frustration was rising in tandem with each visit but it eventually stopped to examine a dead conifer at the edge of the garden so with no foliage I had a clear view at long last...coincided with a very clear view of a Long Eared Owl who chose to visit the same conifers at more or less the same time..
It's days like these that make it worthwhile getting up in the morning..:)

what part of the country are you in, may I ask?

Zoo4m8

Near Greystones, North Wicklow..

cd07

Bsal wrote:

Passing through Ballyboughal village today seen a dead Kingfisher in the middle of the road which I'd assume was hit by a car.

I knew thats what it was I saw on the road today. Passed through early today and was thinking robin but it was much bigger! Keep an eye out for red kites in the area I've seen a few lately

whyulittle

Pretty cool post this from Clara Bog Visitors Centre.

bernard0368

I was wondering if anyone else who frequents the wooded area in Bush park has noticed the decline in the wildlife since Dublin City council started the works in the area.
I haven't seen the same numbers of songbirds and I am positive the kingfishers have gone.
I also can not figure out why they cleared certain areas and replaced the bushes with conifers instead of broadleaf trees which are more common in the woods.

Ulmus

I've never visited Bushy Park but Dublin City Council has removed shrubbery from many of its parks: Mountjoy Square, Ringsend Park and, more recently, Herbert Park and Merrion Square.
The problem, unfortunately, is the shrubbery gives cover not just to wildlife but also antisocial behaviour such as drinking dens, sleeping rough, mugging and urinating in public.
http://www.newsfour.ie/2015/02/bush-warfare/

Bsal

Noticing large amounts of Swallows passing through my area (Swords) the past few days.

Half-cocked

Dead Badger on the side of the road at St Annes Pk, Raheny. Sad, but at least evidence there are still Badgers there.

Bsal

I was cruising back to Weston airport yesterday afternoon in a light aircraft at 2,000ft and almost hit a Cormorant. Think I was around Athboy at the time, the Cormorant was heading eastbound, first time encountering one at that altitude.

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^^

microlight ?

Bsal

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^^

microlight ?

Cessna 152.

recedite

Just curious, but what is the "windscreen" like on one of those for impact resistance. Cormorant would be a fairly hefty bird, if you met one head on.

Bsal

It's not very strong, found an article where a Buzzard impacted the window

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3201023/Two-pilots-escape-lives-buzzard-smashes-way-plane-s-cockpit-1-000ft.html