The Hide (chat thread)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Half-cocked wrote: »

Damn neighbours cat killed a woodpigeon in the garden yesterday.

Cats are beyond pests at this stage. Add that bird to the millions of others they kill every year. I'm sick of them sneaking around my garden.

magicbastarder

out for a nice evening cycle today. i know i'm not exactly deep in the middle of nowhere out around north county dublin, but the extent of mown verges which clearly had been fizzing with cow parsley, reeds, and everything else in between was just infuriating.

a few years back, we had a wedding ceremony in my parents-in-law's back garden. the neighbouring farmers had been very kind by allowing the marquee to be erected on their land, but the day before the wedding, the farmer decided he'd do us a favour and make the (single lane) road my in laws live on look better before the guests arrived, by mowing the entire length of it on both sides. we obviously couldn't say anything, as it was done with good intentions; but it had looked lovely and my wife had remarked on how well it looked for the arriving guests.

what is it with farmers (generalisation alert!) that so many see what they do as being control or domination of nature?

Birdnuts

Excellent days birding around the Turloughs of SE Mayo where i'm spending my summer holidays again this year. Still a few Whooper Swans about and nice to see Lapwings and snipe breeding too. Also witnessed the amazing site of 9 well grown ducklings swimming behind their pround mum

Zoo4m8

On the upside..a Turtle Dove on the drive this morning,
On the downside.. no Woodpeckers since Christmas, appear to be gone from the out farm as well, during the drought last summer two juveniles and an adult visited the pond to drink fairly regularly so they had obviously bred locally,
On the upside..since the reduction of the Magpie population (even one of the resident Grey Crows keeps any it sees moving) the garden is alive with bird life, Particularly around six in the morning, Blackbirds, Thrushes, Hedge Sparrows etc etc never been as busy before..

Birdnuts

Another great day among the Turloughs. This time I had 2 Widgeon outside Balla on the SAC, more Lapwing pairs, Loads of Cuckoos(including Rufous phase bird) on the hills around Ballyvary and a lovely Kingfisher on the River Robe in Hollymount this evening.

OpenYourEyes

Birdnuts wrote: »

Another great day among the Turloughs. This time I had 2 Widgeon outside Balla on the SAC, more Lapwing pairs, Loads of Cuckoos(including Rufous phase bird) on the hills around Ballyvary and a lovely Kingfisher on the River Robe in Hollymount this evening.

The Irish Rare Breeding Birds Committee would appreciate any reports of breeding Lapwing or Wigeon! I suspect your part of the world is probably under-watched, particularly at this time of year!

http://irbbp.org/species-list/rare-breeders/

Zoo4m8

On the upside again.. despite many years on this planet I have never seen or been aware of a Long Tailed Tits nest till this spring when a pair chose to set up home at the edge of the garden.
Twice I dissuaded 😎 a pair of Magpies from taking any further interest... and this morning the chicks have fledged and are zooming through the shrubs and trees making as much noise as kids in a playground!..:D

Put up a nest box on the side of my house about 3 years which has never been used until just a few days ago I noticed a blue tit leaving it, and on closer inspection I could hear the chirping of the nestlings inside!

Is there anything I can do for them? Around when do blue tits fledge generally?

magicbastarder

leave them be is usually the safest bet.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The WitchKing of Angmar wrote: »

Put up a nest box on the side of my house about 3 years which has never been used until just a few days ago I noticed a blue tit leaving it, and on closer inspection I could hear the chirping of the nestlings inside!

Is there anything I can do for them? Around when do blue tits fledge generally?

They fledge 15 to 23 days after hatching. Just leave them alone. Keep away from the box and resist the temptation to check if there's any activity there or not.

Okay I will stay away from the box so

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Great to see so many bumblebees about at the moment. Dozens, in four species, busy in the garden today.

Plenty of solitary wasp nest holes in the soil of flower beds too.

Birdnuts

Great days birding on the place in North Mayo. Inchderry Island in Broadhaven was packed with nesting Sandwish Terns, BH Gulls and Meganzers. Alot of seals too and lovely Orchids starting to come out everywhere Also got great views of several Lapwing chicks out in Termancarragh with their proud parents guarding them constantly against the local Hooded crows

Capercaillie

Birdnuts wrote: »

Great days birding on the place in North Mayo. Inchderry Island in Broadhaven was packed with nesting Sandwish Terns, BH Gulls and Meganzers. Alot of seals too and lovely Orchids starting to come out everywhere Also got great views of several Lapwing chicks out in Termancarragh with their proud parents guarding them constantly against the local Hooded crows

Lapwings have it tough at Termoncarragh. Hoodies plus ravens hammering chicks. The fence has been breached recently, something has dug under fence (large enough hole). Section of fence underground but might have rusted.

fryup

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

Great to see so many bumblebees about at the moment. Dozens, in four species, busy in the garden today.

Plenty of solitary wasp nest holes in the soil of flower beds too.

i planted a bed of wild flowers to attract pollinators about 6 weeks back...and they don't seem to be growing followed all the instructions on the pack

ZX7R

fryup wrote: »

i planted a bed of wild flower seeds to attract pollinators about 6 weeks back...and they don't seem to be growing i followed all the instructions on the pack

Not sure where your located , but besides today's rain it could be lack of water, everything in my area is a couple of weeks behind

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Lots of reasons possible. Insufficient watering, temperature, sowed a bit late, different wild flowers take different lengths of time to germinate. They may still come.

Base price

Whilst herding early on Monday morning I was delighted to see a rabbit hopping into the ditch. It's the first rabbit that I've seen on the farm since Autumn 2017. We used to have lots of them but they disappeared suddenly and I presume it's due to RHD.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Base price wrote: »

Whilst herding early on Monday morning I was delighted to see a rabbit hopping into the ditch. It's the first rabbit that I've seen on the farm since Autumn 2017. We used to have lots of them but they disappeared suddenly and I presume it's due to RHD.

Well for you. I have 6 to 8 in the garden every morning and many a plant has been lost to them.

fryup

my front lawn is inundated with song thrushes esp in the evening, never seen the like before?

fryup

fryup wrote: »

my front lawn is inundated with song thrushes esp in the evening, never seen the like before?

Was it a particularly dewy morning where you were?

Could've been many snails and slugs out - Thrushes love 'em

fryup

it was evening time - dusk

Pie Man

Had at lest two Marsh Fritillary on Unimproved grassland near my home there today. No previous records for the area, have someone that knows his Butterflies coming to confirm there presents and see can we get a better count.

whyulittle

Got a new phone last week, and when I went to use the BirdTrack app today, it didn't have any of my places listed. Anyone any idea how to get them back?

Bsal

Record year for Starling fledglings in my garden, lost count at 39 today in the garden.

New Home

Wow! You won't have just murmurings, you'll have fully blown chatterboxings.

Stigura

whyulittle wrote: »

Got a new phone last week, and when I went to use the BirdTrack app today, it didn't have any of my places listed. Anyone any idea how to get them back?

Physically Put them back, I'd imagine?

What I don't understand about BT is; How come, if I'm out and about and log birds on my phone ~ they don't transfer to my on line / computer site? Again, it looks like we're expected to come home and read the data from our phone and type it in, on line

I don't even have it on my phone, now. And, OMG! As for what they've just done to the web site?! Urgh!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Bsal wrote: »

Record year for Starling fledglings in my garden, lost count at 39 today in the garden.

Yes a good year, so far, for them here too. House Sparrow fledglings are in good numbers too.

New Home

Not sure if this warrants its own thread, so I'll post here for now.

Good/bad news. A swarm of bees has been trying to take over a disused chimney in my mother's house. There's a hole that goes through it sideways, through which a genius decided to put a gas pipe (yes, you read that right). On the inside of the house, there's vent that connects to the chimney that's used for a small extractor fan for the bathroom. It's on the ground floor, but it's still about 2.5 metres up. The rest of the chimney is hollow (nobody thought about blocking it in when the pipe was installed). So far I've blocked both side entrances with wads of cotton wool soaked in lemongrass/citronella essential oil, and I've removed the bathroom fan, and I've ushered out through the window the hundred or so bees that swarmed out of it in instalments. I've also fed them honey 'cause they were absolutely starving. The very bad news is that two nights ago my brother heard the buzzing, assumed they were wasps (without actually checking - don't get me started!), and sprayed a lot of insecticide inside the chimney, with the result that many of the poor little bees are now dying on the ground.

For the last hour, no further bees have flown out into the bathroom, but although I've used one of those pipe cameras Lidl sold a while back, I can't see properly inside the chimney to see if the queen is still in there. Meanwhile, on the outside, the swarm is getting bigger and bigger (but still not huuuge).

Is there anything I can do to entice them to move along, or to remove them without harming them? How can I check if the queen is actually there?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

New Home wrote: »

Is there anything I can do to entice them to move along, or to remove them without harming them? How can I check if the queen is actually there?

This might get a better response in the Beekeeping Forum.