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.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Exit - well I've got an informative hoverer, what's your excuse?

I remember seeing hummingbirds when I visited my great aunts in BC(Okanagan valley). I didn't realise the wee things migrated to and from Mexico.

[ExitPursuedByABear]

I went out. To tuck the horse in and walk the dog. Will do it now.

[CoffeeAhorlicksAnonymous]

Don't know what a hoverer is? but am in southern Scotland.

A blanket fog of wee midges, no evil big mosquitoe type ones but will catch one and send it off to the uk mosquitoe watch.
Ducklings!! :o and ducks
Grebes
Coots
Dive bombing Swallows.
Cows

All wild:
Bogbean
Skirtle? I think
Comfrey
Cluster of old Cherry trees in blossom and some saplings
Blue/Green algae

at humming birds/wood peckers/sharks

[GentleOtter]

Yes at humming birds.

Saw some wild periwinkle for the first time today and some wood avens.

Lots of curlews, lapwings and little pied wagtails in the field, pecking the oats we were sowing today.

The fat, yellow bumblebee came back too.

[SaggyOldClothCatPuss]

I saw a Kestrel today. It was hovering over the headland of the field next door. Also a pheasant.
We used to have a pet wild pheasant called Norman, he was absolutely stunning. He had a crooked beak, and soon learned where to come to fill his belly, we used to feed him grain. He was so tame, he would let us touch him. His beak got so bad, I was toying with the idea of catching him and getting his beak trimmed and building him a pen. before I got the chance, he was hit by a car. I was really upset!

[GentleOtter]

Poor Norman

[chixinthestix]

Ooh coffee, what's skirtle? Is it a scottish name for something else?

Saggy your poor Norman reminds me of the hedgehog we had in our garden last year, the first we'd seen in 10 years. We were so excited and kept going out and hearing him rustling about. Then all went quiet and I found him flat in the middle of the lane. :(

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

Not much today, can hear a fox calling (spooky sound). Just our regular woodpecker, blue and great tits, goldfinches, robins, wren, sparrows and reed buntings on the feeders today, DD walked the mutt for me so I didn't venture out for my evening walk.

[CoffeeAhorlicksAnonymous]

Chix yes, sorry, it's a wild yellow day lily, grows beside the water not on it.

for norman and hedgehog

[barbarianoftheuniverse]

Kingcups the brightest things about today. Went up to the moors for a bit of air (Derbyshire) and it looked like midwinter with the blackened heather and yellow grass and low dark sky. One kestrel, one lapwing tumbling, one squashed hare to join Norman and the pheasant.

[Selks]

Hello fellow nature nutters
I haven't seen much this month yet, but I think I have birds nesting in my gutter - haven't been able to spot what kind, but they're small by the sound of them.

Loving the otter story, and Ariel how cool to see a basking shark - I love those beasties.

[DaenerysTargaryen]

Extra points for city spots? Oooh

Ok, I'm going to try my hardest to spot something and then google it to find out what it is

Jealous of black swans and what is a black squirrel? I've only heard of the red or grey kind, I see loads of greys if I go to the right places but I'd love to see a red.

[DaenerysTargaryen]

Gonna look out for peregrine falcons now too.

[amistillsexy]

I've stumbled across this thread and not too good at spotting wildlife, but driving over the Penine Moors today, a curlew flew right across the road in front of us.
I got a lovely view of it's long curved beak.

it reminded me that I once saw a very strange long, thin creature running across the road at that very spot. Maybe it was a weasel or a stoat? It moved very fast, but undulating its body up and down as it ran. anyone have any ideas what it could have been?

[amistillsexy]

its long curved beak, not it's. Ouch! I hate that!

[GrimmaTheNome]

Black Squirrels - that's just the first relevant google I found. I didn't know we had them in Britain - I think Hell is in East Anglia, sounds like that's where they're commonest. Cool!

Now this is why we want those hoverers so we know where the wildlife is (I thought when I first read 'black squirrel' it must be abroad). You just go into MyMumsnet, click on Registration Details and set your User Status.

ami - yes, that sounds like a stoat or weasel. As already mentioned, hard to tell apart unless you can see the tip of its tail - stoats have a black tip. Here are some details. If it was bigger (and you were near water) it could have been a mink I suppose.

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Ami Whereabouts on the Pennines. Could have been one of my curlews.



Yellow wagtail (is there such a thing?) and two dippers on the river yeserday evening.

Lapwing at the stables this morning. Love 'em.

[Selks]

Ami and Exit - I'm in the Pennines too - Yorks / lancs border

Ami, your undulating animal does indeed sound like a weasel or stoat. Fantastic creatures!

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Get yer hovers sorted.

[PeriPathetic]

First ducklings of the year just three but awww!

Mum had 17 in her garden last week, from one duck. Last year she had 12. Sadly they only survived a couple of days before something got them. We're trying to work out how to prevent this next year

[chixinthestix]

A pair of beautiful bullfinches in the garden just now. Not quite so happy with them once I realised the were scoffing the blossom off my pear tree but still.

Saw Ma Buzzard looking distintly like she was feeding something in her nest this morning. No sight of any little fluffy heads yet though.

Right...off to try and hover...

[GrimmaTheNome]

Well done Chix . Luck you having bullfinches (pears aside). Maybe I need some blossom trees to try to attract them.

[chixinthestix]

I love them, so shy for such showy birds and a lovely soft call too.

Peri, I think I put something on last month's thread about ducks being bad mothers. The ones we used to keep seemed to manage to lose most of their babies by just not looking after them very well (by leading them out of the pond up a bank so steep they couldn't climb it, into fast flowing stream where they got swept away, across road where they couldn't get up the kerb etc), so unless you put them in a pen probably not a lot you can do.

[violetwellies]

The myxomatosis seems to have got hold :( 3 out of 4 rabbits shot last night had it.

[mrspnut]

Oh dear, poor bunnies.

We have spotted today some penguins, macaws, alpacas and small capuchin monkeys but as we have been to Sewerby Hall it has been slightly cheating.
Otherwise nothing but millions of bloody seagulls and the odd wet magpie.