The Hide (chat thread)

Capercaillie · 02-01-2019 8:35am

whyulittle wrote: »

A bit misty and murky, but always nice to start the new year over at Lough Boora. Happy New Year all!

What crop is that?

recedite · 02-01-2019 11:58am

That be Long Grass.

whyulittle · 02-01-2019 1:27pm

Just long grass as recedite says. This area is between the working fields that have the strips of kale and the fully managed Partridge habitat area.

fryup · 02-01-2019 10:37pm

how do slugs get into houses?? my back-hall doors are insulated with draft proofing and yet i still find them crawling up the walls?? do they get through the keyhole? why do they come indoors anyway?

TopTec · 02-01-2019 10:52pm

I have a triple glazed modern sun room and I frequently get slugs inside. You can follow their slime trails back under the heavy door and into the drip strip across the entrance. There are small drain holes to the outside where they come in.

TT

Strawberry1975 · 03-01-2019 8:10am

recedite wrote: »

That be Long Grass.

Ya can't smoke that type of Grass Seanie
A Great Action plan

Graces7 · 04-01-2019 1:41pm

fryup wrote: »

how do slugs get into houses?? my back-hall doors are insulated with draft proofing and yet i still find them crawling up the walls?? do they get through the keyhole? why do they come indoors anyway?

In search of food. I once left some new potatoes I had picked on a very tall hall stand and forgot them.

The following day they were chewed and the slugs had left trails under the door, across the hall and up the legs of the stand.

They can flatten and slime their way through the thinnest gap. no bones! Jelly! Yukk!

recedite · 04-01-2019 8:48pm

Slugs also get in through open windows.

Graces7 · 07-01-2019 2:39pm

recedite wrote: »

Slugs also get in through open windows.

One place I rented there was a plague indoors of slugs and snails, with shells. Never did find out how the latter got in.

Nothing like putting your hand on a slug first thing in the morning.. :eek:

New Home · 07-01-2019 4:12pm

Graces7 wrote: »

One place I rented there was a plague indoors of slugs and snails, with shells. Never did find out how the latter got in.

Nothing like putting your hand on a slug first thing in the morning.. :eek:

Try your bare foot...

The_Outsider · 08-01-2019 5:08pm

New Home wrote: »

Try your bare foot...

Yup, know that feeling....... Yeeeesh

Graces7 · 11-01-2019 3:16pm

New Home wrote: »

Try your bare foot...

er,,,, no thank you! I have enough trouble with my old cat who occasionally throws up without my seeing him... and I NEVER go barefoot in the house!

whyulittle · 11-01-2019 9:57pm

I remember asking a few years ago do any of our normal birds show up in far flung places as mega finds.

Here is a Robin drawing the crowds at Beijing Zoo this morning!

https://twitter.com/BirdingBeijing/status/1083573923352965120

Half-cocked · 13-01-2019 9:06pm

Watching honey bees on snowdrops today. In mid January. The climate has gone crazy.

vistafinder · 31-01-2019 3:55pm

Went out walking in the snow yesterday. Left the camera after me I find trying to get photos of wildlife all the time can take away from just enjoying the walk.

Anyway came across a beautiful fox panned out on the ledge of a south facing rock. Enjoying the winter sunshine.

Stunning animal.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 27-02-2019 4:23pm

The hormones are certainly rampant in one of our garden Bluetits. He's not only attacking his reflection in the windows but has taken to attacking the blue flower buds of the Grape Hyacinths in flower pots. He'll wear himself out, if he doesn't cop on.

New Home · 27-02-2019 4:34pm

Pepé Le Pew of the bird world.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 27-02-2019 5:33pm

New Home wrote: »

Pepé Le Pew of the bird world.

He's more like Hong Kong Phooey, the way he's tearing lumps off them.

bolgbui41 · 01-03-2019 10:58am

Hi,

Not sure if this is the best place for this, but I'm looking for a bit of advice on tree felling. A neighbour has just started to take out a mature roadside ditch - mostly a mixture of ash, hawthorn, holly, and elder and the odd sycamore. Is it illegal to cut any trees after 1st March provided they don't fall under exemptions like those listed under the Wildlife Act (linked below)? And, if it is illegal, who'd be the best person to report it to? This ditch has always been a popular nesting spot and we'd also see a lot of small mammals in the area. The farmer who owns it has zero concern for the environment (we've reported him several times to the EPO for rubbish in fields and illegal spraying) so I'd have no hesitation in reporting tree cutting - I just want to be sure that it is actually illegal first. Thanks!

https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/general/section-40-wildlife-acts-consolidated.pdf

recedite · 02-03-2019 2:24pm

It seems a fairly straightforward breach of the law to me.
I wouldn't have any sympathy for the guy, because we have just had a whole month of perfect weather for that kind of work.
Also these restrictions are really for trimming hedges, if you are "grubbing out" a roadside hedgerow completely I think you might also need permission from the county council?

NPWS have contact info here.

fryup · 03-03-2019 11:41pm

do you know that freshly cut grass smell, is actually the smell of distress..

But it turns out, the cause of the smell isn't nearly as pleasant. The scent is actually a sign of the plant in distress, and it's the side effect of some serious chemical reactions. When leafy plants are harmed in any way, they release organic compounds called green leaf volatiles

link

Bsal · 08-03-2019 3:09am

Had a brief visit from a Greenfinch yesterday, looked like a female. The Goldfinch had no intentions of sharing the nyjer feeder with her so she didn't stick around, I haven't seen a Greenfinch in the garden in over a year I think.

Birdnuts · 09-03-2019 1:05am

Bsal wrote: »

Had a brief visit from a Greenfinch yesterday, looked like a female. The Goldfinch had no intentions of sharing the nyjer feeder with her so she didn't stick around, I haven't seen a Greenfinch in the garden in over a year I think.

Seeing alot of calling Greenfinches these last few days - must have bred well last year

KJ · 13-03-2019 3:48pm

I'm 99% certain I saw a stoat today. I was out for a run on the Newry Greenway and saw something cross the path into the undergrowth. I stopped to see what it was and saw it moving about and then it came out and stood up on its back feet and watched me for about 30 seconds. I've been looking online and it seems that they are around 30-40cm long but this one was tiny, maybe 10-15cm at best. Could it have been a juvenile?

Kamili · 13-03-2019 4:00pm

Maybe it could have been a pine marten?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 13-03-2019 4:04pm

In that location it was most likely a stoat. Not too many pine martens, if any around there.

KJ wrote: »

I'm 99% certain I saw a stoat today. I was out for a run on the Newry Greenway and saw something cross the path into the undergrowth. I stopped to see what it was and saw it moving about and then it came out and stood up on its back feet and watched me for about 30 seconds. I've been looking online and it seems that they are around 30-40cm long but this one was tiny, maybe 10-15cm at best. Could it have been a juvenile?

KJ · 13-03-2019 4:12pm

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

In that location it was most likely a stoat. Not too many pine martens, if any around there.

There are pine martens in Slieve Gullion forest which isn't miles away but I assumed pine martens were bigger too. I just wish I had had my phone with me at the time.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 13-03-2019 4:20pm

It's a bit of a leap from Gullion to the greenway though, and much different terrain.

KJ · 13-03-2019 4:23pm

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

It's a bit of a leap from Gullion to the greenway though, and much different terrain.

True, looking at photos online it definitely looked more like a stoat than a pine marten anyway. I had never seen either before. Typical that whenever I go out with a camera, I see nothing new but they appear when I've none.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 13-03-2019 4:27pm

Join the club. We've all been there.

KJ wrote: »

True, looking at photos online it definitely looked more like a stoat than a pine marten anyway. I had never seen either before. Typical that whenever I go out with a camera, I see nothing new but they appear when I've none.

New Home · 13-03-2019 5:32pm

If I could publish the photos I have in my head, I'd have a permanent post in National Geographic. But alas...

Half-cocked · 30-03-2019 4:30pm

Just watched a Sparrowhawk chasing and mobbing a Hooded Crow. Wonder was the crow threatening the hawks nest?

WildIreland · 31-03-2019 9:00am

Half-cocked wrote: »

Just watched a Sparrowhawk chasing and mobbing a Hooded Crow. Wonder was the crow threatening the hawks nest?

Possibly -- but not necessarily. Corvids and raptors have an uneasy relationship at best and rarely tolerate each other in the immediate vicinity, nest or no nest.

Hoodies are often the mobsters, rather than the mobbed... so the sprawk may well have been deploying a pre-emptive strike to dissuade aggression from the crow.

Eddie B · 31-03-2019 11:07am

KJ wrote: »

There are pine martens in Slieve Gullion forest which isn't miles away but I assumed pine martens were bigger too. I just wish I had had my phone with me at the time.

Yes pine marten aint far off the size of a cat, compared to a stoat which is closer to rat size. Being a bit brazin, and standing on its hind legs points at stoat, so I recon you are correct in your I,d.

Stigura · 31-03-2019 11:47am

:rolleyes: Here we go again!

https://www.thatsfarming.com/news/coypus-spotted-in-leitrim-species-alert

And I thought April 1st was tomorrow.

Eddie B · 31-03-2019 11:59am

Stigura wrote: »

:rolleyes: Here we go again!

https://www.thatsfarming.com/news/coypus-spotted-in-leitrim-species-alert

And I thought April 1st was tomorrow.

That's 2017. Same time they were allegedly seen all over the country lol

Stigura · 31-03-2019 12:03pm

Damn! You're right, Eddie! (It was a Long night, and I'm not quite tea'd up yet!) It's that bloody Jigsaw, again! I'm normally the first one to check the dates on news reports too.

(Puts the 220's back in the shed)

Eddie B · 31-03-2019 1:01pm

Stigura wrote: »

Damn! You're right, Eddie! (It was a Long night, and I'm not quite tea'd up yet!) It's that bloody Jigsaw, again! I'm normally the first one to check the dates on news reports too.

(Puts the 220's back in the shed)

Lol!! I recon most of these other sightings are misidentifications. I don't think they've spread too far from the Cork area. Saying that, animals can make good use of rivers to travel good distances in short periods of time

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 31-03-2019 1:17pm

Eddie B wrote: »

Lol!! I recon most of these other sightings are misidentifications. I don't think they've spread too far from the Cork area. Saying that, animals can make good use of rivers to travel good distances in short periods of time

The only valid sightings were those in the Cork area and it seems to have been sorted.

What gets me is a) how people can mistake native species for improbable foreign species and b) how the media & public run with these stories.

Eddie B · 31-03-2019 5:18pm

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

The only valid sightings were those in the Cork area and it seems to have been sorted.

What gets me is a) how people can mistake native species for improbable foreign species and b) how the media & public run with these stories.

Yes it's madness, but the vast majority of the public have little or no knowledge about wildlife in general. Not even our native species. It's sad to see how distant we are from from the nature around us.

fryup · 01-04-2019 10:44pm

very few insects about?

bees wasps hoverflies etc...or is it still too early?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 01-04-2019 10:52pm

A fair few around here, but it is still early.

fryup wrote: »

very few insects about?

bees wasps hoverflies etc...or is it still too early?

Kamili · 01-04-2019 11:22pm

I've seen a few too, but still early in the season. I've seen quite a good few bumble bees. Saw a lone red admiral over the weekend.

Have had a blue bottle in the house too.

Birdnuts · 02-04-2019 12:30am

Seen a Swallow yesterday while visiting my parents near Kill Village in North Kildare. Poor divil will have it tough for the next few days given the latest forecast:(

frosty123 · 02-04-2019 4:29pm

How about bumble bees are they on the decrease?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 02-04-2019 5:43pm

frosty123 wrote: »

How about bumble bees are they on the decrease?

Too early to tell this year, Generally their numbers are in decline, although we had unusually high numbers of several species here last year.

vistafinder · 02-04-2019 8:41pm

Hearing the first Chiffchaffs around here with about a week.

Bsal · 06-04-2019 6:11pm

First sighting of a swallow today near Skerries.

ZX7R · 06-04-2019 8:51pm

Heard my first yellowhammer last week , rural Kildare Wicklow border.

Fakediamond · 06-04-2019 9:58pm

Saw my first swallow today, Co.Carlow. I always get a thrill when I see the first one of spring.

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