The Hide (chat thread)

Birdnuts

Was walking some spring tillage stubble yesterday near the parents place outside Naas and was impressed with the numbers of wintering skylarks I put up. Is anyone else noticing anything similar in their area??

Keplar240B

My collins complete guide to Irish widllife says on the House Mouse and i quote

"formerly common and widespread but now comparatively scarce and local"

What does this mean?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Keplar240B wrote: »

My collins complete guide to Irish widllife says on the House Mouse and i quote

"formerly common and widespread but now comparatively scarce and local"

What does this mean?

Yes, my copy says likewise.

The statement is incorrect in some ways, The House Mouse was never truly widespread, in that it is dependent on human settlement and often outcompeted for food and habitats in rural areas. It was always absent from open countryside.

The population density of house mice can vary depending on location, the time of year and the availability of food. In some places with warehouses or food stores there may be the equivalent of several thousand individuals per hectare, while rural areas can have up to fifty per hectare in the peak breeding period of summer and early autumn.
They are comparatively scarce compared to decades ago when we had poorer food hygiene standards, unreliable storage methods for foods, and less rodent deterrents. Years ago virtually every home and business had mice, Now it's the exception.

So, they are local, in that they are found in particular areas and comparatively scarce compared to the past.

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=112279419&postcount=3163

fiacha

Stuck in the house over the last couple of weeks and starting to get major cabin fever.

I came across a channel on Twitch that does two live safaris in Kruger Park 7 days a week. Very interesting watch. Lions / Leopard / Wild Dog / Elephant / Hyena and a lot of birds.

https://www.twitch.tv/ourwildearth


A nice little escape from all the election coverage.

fiacha

Just spotted my first Bumblebee of the year in the garden. She flew off before I could get an ID. Just a big white arse disappearing through the ivy

I can't remember seeing one at home this early before. Plenty of crocus flowering over the last couple of days, so hopefully she has enough to keep her going.

ZX7R

Where I work in maynooth 2 nights ago the place was crawling with frogs,a beautiful heron having a field day eating them.
I was amazed at how close the heron let me get to it I was only an arms length away, wonderful experience .

Scotty #

fiacha wrote: »

Stuck in the house over the last couple of weeks and starting to get major cabin fever.

I came across a channel on Twitch that does two live safaris in Kruger Park 7 days a week.

Check out this YouTube channel, live safari twice a day everyday... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV6HJBZD_hZcIX9JVJ3dCXQ. Very knowledgeable guides.

magicbastarder

just spotted spawn in the pond in the back garden, and i don't think it was there yesterday. hardy frogs!

wexandproud

was out on a mountain bike on tuesday and spotted large patch of frogspawn in a small pool . Was out in same area today and i have never seen anything like it , huge amount of spawn in the ditches . stopped at one spot where the pool is about 7mtrs x 2mtrs . i stood still until the frogs started to come back to the surface , had counted as many as 40 and wasn't finished when some one walking a dog came along and the frogs all dived again . I haven't seen anything like it for decades .

don't know what the law is , if there's any , about giving location . If anybody wants to know location pm me .. if its not breaking any rules/laws

magicbastarder

spotted a barn owl this evening, first time i'd seen one in at least 5 years i think.

appledrop

magicbastarder wrote: »

spotted a barn owl this evening, first time i'd seen one in at least 5 years i think.

Wow. I would love to spot one. I'm presuming your in a rural location+ it was very dark around you.

magicbastarder

not too far from dublin; only a couple of km north of the M50.

appledrop

Wow so maybe I might spot on yet.

Where were you when you spotted it as in a field, back garden, outhouse etc?

magicbastarder

actually, out driving; my wife spotted it first. it was flying only a few metres to one side of a road with some tall trees nearby.

fryup

for the second day running i saw the spilt second flash of a bird swooping down at the back garden bird feeder...kestrel? sparrowhawk?

Jim_Hodge

I would say it's a sparrowhawk (no expert) as one swoops at the bird table here maybe once a week. I think Kestrels are more in to small mammals and invertebrates.

appledrop

fryup wrote: »

for the second day running i saw the spilt second flash of a bird swooping down at the back garden bird feeder...kestrel? sparrowhawk?

I'd would be 99% certain it's a sparrow hawk. They are expects at swooping on bird feeders! It's actually astonishing watching them zoom in + out around hedges/feeders.

Ours also like the odd pigeon + pluck it + leave feathers everywhere!

Kestrels in contrast prefer to hover overhead + usually eat vermin/small mammals.

Base price

I was driving from Cavan to Dublin earlier this afternoon on the N3/M3. After junction 10 I spotted eight little Egrets hunting on flooded tillage/grassland to my left. A small river runs through the area but I don't know it's name.

gzoladz

Base price wrote: »

I was driving from Cavan to Dublin earlier this afternoon on the N3/M3. After junction 10 I spotted eight little Egrets hunting on flooded tillage/grassland to my left. A small river runs through the area but I don't know it's name.

Keep an eye on Cattle Egrets too as sightings are increasing rapidly, also white but with an orange bill. Similar size, but their build looks a bit more sturdy.

gzoladz

fryup wrote: »

for the second day running i saw the spilt second flash of a bird swooping down at the back garden bird feeder...kestrel? sparrowhawk?

Deffinitely sparrowhawk, lovely to watch if you are lucky. You may want to see if you find where he (assume it is a male) hides before striking/ambushing as that will give you a clearer view.

fryup

any idea what this fungi is? its appeared in the back garden lawn...i thought autumn was the time for fungi?

magicbastarder

saw a bat for the first time this year over the back garden. disappeared as soon as i got the bat detector out, the little bugger.

sumsar

magicbastarder wrote: »

saw a bat for the first time this year over the back garden. disappeared as soon as i got the bat detector out, the little bugger.

Just like you I seen a bat for the first this week over the back garden, but oddly enough was in the day time.

What’s a bat detector? Ha

magicbastarder

it takes the ultrasonic noise a bat makes and transposes it to a frequency humans can hear.

Half-cocked

Had a Ring-necked Parakeet on my peanut feeder yesterday evening. NPWS received reports of them in the area a couple of years ago. I hope no one is deliberately releasing them.

OpenYourEyes

Half-cocked wrote: »

Had a Ring-necked Parakeet on my peanut feeder yesterday evening. NPWS received reports of them in the area a couple of years ago. I hope no one is deliberately releasing them.

Was that in north Dublin? There have been 2 or 3 around Botanical Gardens to Swords area since last September, so they've survived the winter! Definite possibility of breeding...

If you see them during the summer months could you let me know as I'll log it for the Irish Rare Breeding Birds Panel (non-native/invasive species falls under their remit).

Half-cocked

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Was that in north Dublin? There have been 2 or 3 around Botanical Gardens to Swords area since last September, so they've survived the winter! Definite possibility of breeding...

If you see them during the summer months could you let me know as I'll log it for the Irish Rare Breeding Birds Panel (non-native/invasive species falls under their remit).

Baldoyle. Apparently there have been reports of them in Malahide, Swords and Howth in the last couple of years.

Half-cocked

Had a newly fledged Robin in the garden yesterday. I don't usually see them until mid-April in our area.

fryup

i wonder would animals sense there's something going on? dogs especially