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16th January 2017
Fields at home 57. Mandarin duck
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15th January 2017
Via Gellia Mills 54. Kingfisher 55. Dipper 56. Grey wagtail
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14th January 2017
At home 53. Sparrowhawk
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8th January 2017
At home 52. Fieldfare
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6th January 2017
Pavillion Gardens 51. Canada goose
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3rd January 2017
Shillito woods 48. Brambling 49. Yellowhammer 50. Great spotted woodpecker
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1st January 2017
Leighton Moss and Silverdale Buzzard Lapwing Turnstone Curlew Redshank Oystercatcher Red-breasted merganser (Brand New British Species) Great black-backed gull Black-headed gull Robin Dunnock Blue tit Great tit Coal tit Marsh tit Chaffinch Goldfinch Bullfinch Redwing Blackbird Song thrush Nuthatch Treecreeper Wren Carrion crow Jackdaw Magpie Feral pigeon Wood pigeon Pheasant Starling Grey heron Little egret Cormorant Marsh harrier Greylag Mallard Teal Pintail Wigeon Gadwall Tufted duck Pochard Shoveler Mute swan Moorhen Collared dove
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Summary of 2016
I have managed to see 136 species of bird this year. I think one of the best species I’ve seen this year is the ring ouzel at Lightwood, and the most impressive was probably the sea eagle in Scotland. One of the species that’s really frustrated me is the red kite, which unfortunately I haven’t managed to see. Another bird that has proved difficult to see is the jay. We went on a trip to Blackrocks where we were sure we were going to see them but didn’t. I hope to see even more species in 2017, including lesser spotted woodpecker. I also hope to see a badger that’s actually…
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Rare thrush near Beeley
Recently, there has been a rare Dusky Thrush near Beeley in Derbyshire. Birdwatchers have been flocking to the area to see it.
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Its the new game of ‘swoop and catch’!
There’s a surprising new rival for Andy Murray – a red kite that can play catch! This kite, like most birds of prey can, showed amazing aerodynamics when it was catching the tennis ball. It liked dropping it and then swooping down to catch it in mid-air. Kites are probably the most agile of our raptors. Even though it looked as though it was playing a fun game of catch, experts believe that it was practising its hunting skills – either that or it mistook the ball for an egg. Red kites are mainly scavengers, but they will eat anything from rubbish to young rabbits. Iain Heslop, aged 51, captured…
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4th December 2016
Shillito Woods 135. Brambling, Fringilla montifringilla 136. Redwing, Turdus iliacus
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Painted snipe
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3rd December 2016
Goyt valley 134. Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris
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My skull collection
Mammals Badger, Meles meles Mummy found this skull in 2001 at the Goyt Valley. It is 12.3cm long. This is the best mammal skull of my collection, and probably one of my favourites. It is also the third largest skull in my collection, after the sheep’s and the great black-backed gull. Sheep I have two sheep skulls, one ram and one ewe. I remember finding the ewe’s skull at Minninglow last year. This lives in my den in the garden. The ram’s skull is the largest in my collection, and it won’t fit in my draw, so we’ve put it on my shelves. The ram was one mummy’s first skulls that she…
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Petition to stop badger cull
For 3 years, thousands of badgers have been killed pointlessly in an attempt to control bovine TB, which the badgers apparently pass on to the cattle. And this cull might carry on in September in 4 new counties. Tens of thousands of perfectly healthy badgers could be killed. So Simon King has set up a petition to stop the cull. The petition is already over 26 and a half thousand. If the petition reaches 100000, it will be considered for debate in parliament. Our constituency has 111 signatures for the petition.
