Your Wildlife Sightings!

Good thinking pal PS If one of the friendly critters asks for Gin or Red Wine,do not fall for it,because they will fall

 

For the past week i have heard the squeaky calls of young Sparrowhawks at a nest in Woodland not 400 metres from my house,i have seen the adults bust hunting and patrolling,i think the young are very close to flying the nest There is another family of Sparrowhawks around the other side of the small hill near me and a family of Kestrels right away around opposite the Great Orme.
I am also hopeful that the local Green Woodpeckers have bred,especially after the success of the local Hawfinch.It has on the whole been a good year for Butterflies in my local patch and a reasonable Dragonfly one.
Meanwhile i already have ultra cool plans for several trips up to the Highlands next year with Ruby Boxer,starting with a 2 week strike next April

 

Depending on where you're going , you might have knee deep snow to contend with !

 

Do not worry pal i know the area like the back of my hand and have stayed in a tiny village up there with 10 inches of snow.I now base myself in Kingussie,so there are a good few bars for me and Ruby Boxer to retreat to.
Back here on my local patch i can confirm that 3 young Sparrowhawks have flown the nest near my house

 

I was told today that Pacific salmon have been found in UK rivers . It was by an old acquaintance , who is a very keen angler , and I hadn't seen him for years ( probably circa 12 years ). Anybody else on here prepared to shed some light on this subject . Is it a sign of global warming ?

 

Yes over years a few have been caught in Scottish waters,there seems to be some sort of influx this year though.

 

Driving along Edinburgh Rd yesterday, on the grass verge on the left side, I saw about 100 Jackdaws all standing near each other as if they were in deep conversation. Looked as funny as *.

 

Yesterday I saw a Wood Wasp at my workplace . My first sighting for over a decade .

 

Orcas and dolphins this week.Closest Ive seen the orcas in a while.Massive dragonflies about this summer too.

 

Fantastic stuff pal,i am not jealous,honest!

 

One of the only perks of the job mate.Keeping an eye out for tuna,theres been sightings and its the right time of year for them.

 

Fantastic,where abouts and how close were the Orcas??

 

Orcas were about 50 metres away,they were just lazily surfacing.Seen them jumping clean out of the water before a few years ago,very impressive.Seen them halfway between Isle of Harris and St Kilda,which is where the tuna have been sighted.

 

You have a sensational job pal,it is like getting a double wage,one the money,the other a massive Wildlife bonus,and bhoy do you make the most of it!

PS And the locations you mention,sensational!!

 

Thats it mate,tourists actually pay a lot of money to see these animals and its not always a guarantee that they will either.Yet to see a basking shark this summer,usually longer than the boat with mouths open and so big that it could swallow a small car.

 

In the early 00s i used to do Bird Surveys in boats off North Wales and North West England,tell you what in the winter those chilly north east winds cut right through me and sea sickness was always hitting me in any kind of swell.I never saw Orcas of course,but saw some cracking bird species and Dolphins.
The surveys were for the Offshore Wind Farms,on a couple of them i was on the Bangor Uni Ship But i would swap them all to experience your patches

PS Still to see a Basking Shark,on my Wildlife Bucket List of course.

 

I saw a Grey Wagtail last week at work . It was moving down the course of a burn , stopping on rocks every now and then , and wagging his tail . I had to refer to the internet for confirmation .

 

Heron. ducks .coots all in a marsh land where I am workingoing

The woodpigeons egg has hatched and the baby alive and chirping
Will have to find a way of posting pics ad on here it says to large

 

Foxes.

 

My daughter is just back from Arbroath. She had great delight in making me jealous telling me she'd seen Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Greater BlackBack Gulls, Guillemots, and numerous types of Terns. She was up there for a 50th Birthday party, but she always tries to get a spot of Birding in.