May Top Trumps....wildlife geeks step this way and get your spots in here!

[ArielThePiraticalMermaid]

I'll start - I'm hoping that someone will do better than an infernal wood pigeon and obnoxious noisy herring gull. Before the morning is up, hopefully.

And remember, cast ne'er a clout til May be out.

Yes it is lovely here. Where did you stay?

Well down the road actually. In Newport - had a special deal on a lovely little hotel. The estuary was frozen!

Oh, so you came in that very cold weather we had. It was minus 12 in my garden.Newport is pretty isn't it? My dds go to school between here and Newport (we are close to Cardigan). You should come in the summer too, september is nice as the sea is a bit warmer. I have a massive bell tent if you like camping, am happy to lend it, just pm me.

Thanks helly, but I am kind of tied to Cornwall in the summer! Hence the winter holidays.

Oakmaiden - I was thinking just today, when is someone going to spot some pond/stream fauna? V impressed you can tell the age of a dragonfly nymph!

Downy - Duke of Burgandies are rare aren't they? That and the first (flying) damselflies) are brilliant entries to the thread!

I'm sure I see more of you on here than in RL at the moment . I think you'll have to take the same 'handicap' as me for our spots though and then come down the river with me and tell me what bird it is that makes the funny 'whirly whirly' almost like a synthesiser call.

Saw two pairs of swallows nesting this weekend in my friends stable, can't wait for the babies.

Grimma - I did have a nice lady from the RSPB with me, who was identifying things for us - she was the one who said she thought it was probably a 4 year old. It was huge - she reckoned it will probably be turning into a dragonfly this year.

They really are rather astonishing, arent they Oak - we came across one in a stream once and at first thought it was a frog, it was so big!

Have just googled Ingleton Waterfalls and I want to go there immediately

A great beast of a fox crossing a field of wheat this morning. Magnificent it was, with a lovely sheen to his fur and a luxuriant brush.

Sounds like Fantastic Mr Fox. Bet if you'd had a conversation with him he'd have sounded like Martin Jarvis

I know they are frightfully common but there is something a little bit breathtaking about seeing a decent sized wild mammal with sharp pointy teeth out and about in the wild.

Foxes are lovely but I haven't seen one since moving to the country, plenty in the city though.

Today I climbed a tree over the loch lemme have a stealth boast and watched the duck + ducklings, coot, moor hen, pair of great crested grebes, mr. swan parading on the edge of the reeds where mrs. swan is nesting, goldfinches and a pair of really noisy oyster catchers flying overhead, oh and a neighbours lovely lab cross dog :o and we got some cattail fluff.

And I had to untangle a float, fishing line and hook some pathetic fisherman left behind

I saw a moorhen family in my paddock today. Pretty much the same look and level of cuteness as the coots I saw yesterday!
These chicks everywhere are making me really broody. I'm really tempted to borrow a broody and hatch some hens eggs. I haven't had. Hickens for several years. I do miss them!
I'm also a little sad though. Our stable swallows aren't back yet. It's just not the same without them! The bees are missing too. This bloody rain is messing everything up!

Chickens!

I've had 4 chicks hatch in the incubator today, does that count?

I want chicks!

Waves at losty...Haven't seen you for ages, I want to cwtch your puppy.

I saw a hedgehog today, it was lovely. First one I've seen in a long time.

There are currently two hedgehogs in my garden making sweet sweet love . I am in a quandary as I need to let the dog out soon and don't want him to try and eat them

Helly, come round and cwtch the puppy anytime, he is quite big now but loves cuddles. If the girls want to come and walk him with me they would be very welcome, he basically runs like the wind for 10 mins and then lies down and grins.

You have loved up hedgehogs? We've only seen one here ever, and that was about 3 years ago. You will have hedgehog babies! your garden will be a haven of cuteness!

Had a mother and two baby greenfinches on the feeder today. Male Great Spotted Woodpecker on the peanuts... but him and his missus are often about.

We are blessed with our birds... bullfinch, green woodpeckers, nuthatch.

We have a hedgehog pair too! They are quite noisy sometimes. I was really pleased to find hedgehog food at the local garden centre so I am fattening them up in the hope of hedgepiglets.

But our neighbour will not give up using slug pellets. The ferrous sulphate kind- they are supposed to be wildlife safe- does anyone know if this is true?

Coffee don't get me started on bastard anglers. I remove yards and yards of fishing line on a daily basis from our harbour and coast. And I have had plenty of young kids coming up to me after swimming for first aid because they have a hook in their hand/foot