Winter watch - BBC2 at 8 PM

foxes (nap)

could be a buzzard again

mice perhaps?

Sessile…… not any word used often

a

Badger!

Lovely fire!

foggy

100 flight's at Heathrow cancelled yesterday

heres a one we filmed earlier

We have to throw in a bit of daytime filming

It was on last night!

I missed it!

We = They    (dictation error )

tyson fox was on last night picking at carcass

Will check it out on iPlayer later

Dartford warbler lovely Bird

only seen it in books and on film

none up north as far as i know

What miscreant puts a trap out for a mouse?

My dad used to catch squirrels in a cage in his garden and take them away about a mile and release them.

They used to play havoc with the bird feeding stands

He's given in a rest recently

it

On again ...

Fox and Woodcock !

good name for a pub.

Just had a look , there isn't one in the whole world

Cute water voles.

my old golf course had water voles

i spent hours watching them rather than practice

no regrets

Used to be a brook where I grew up, just north of Cheltenham, quite a few on the banks.

Water Voles were Water Rats when I was a kid.  They changed the name to get valuable support for the work required to protect and grow their numbers.   We've got them back in our local brook

nb - still don't like this bunny-hugging biased programme though

They are not rats so the name change is good because rats are associated with sewers and filth.

If there were no cities then rats would have the same rep as mice.

If we don't look after wildlife it will gradually disappear.

Any cats in it ?

No

Of course they are not rats, I was merely relaying how they were commonly referred to in the countryside in my youth. In the countryside, rats are not particularly associated with sewers and filth, but more with hay, grain and other good stuff; they are still vermin mind. 

Hard to think anyone would disagree with your last sentence, except the definition of "wildlife" varies significantly from town to country, and from interested party to interested party.

Disappointed you don't like the programme, blackbarn, as it's the only one we have on mainstream which allows the general populace to learn real stuff about the wonderful fauna we have around us.

Agree that the mouse thing last night was a bit gooey and was half expecting good ole Johnny Morris to pop up with a narration but apart from that think it's a great outlet and there are many people whose interest might be piqued by the odd bit of that. Didn't see tonight's so can't comment on anything.

btw if you are looking in last week I saw a crested bird, starling size maybe, perched on top of a large tree in a town centre. It was difficult to make out any colours looking up without bins. It flew off in a dippy-loopy, undulating woodpecker style. It was alone and wasn't a woodpecker. Could it have been a waxwing?  Thanks.

Clouseau - could easily have been a Waxwing - Good year for them (even down here in Sussex) and they are only slightly smaller than a starling and they do have a dippy flight. Unusual to see one though though as they are big flockers (ooh er mussus!) particularly where food is plentiful. Rowans!!

Hoopoe perhaps ?

Hoopoe - Too early, or very very very late

The Leopard    24 Jan 17 20:36 
My dad used to catch squirrels in a cage in his garden and take them away about a mile and release them.



This is a criminal offence. If you catch a squirrel, you must humanely kill it.

Not really Facts!  The legislation relates to "humane killing".  The capture and subsequent release if done humanely is not an offence. Waste of good meat, and an offence against nature of course, but legal nevertheless.

To kill a squirrel for not good reason is an offence against nature.....grey squirrels are here now....they are okay.

Leopard - They are arguably pretty, but it is perfectly legal (and indeed desirable) to kill grey squirrels. There are very strong environmental reasons why a vigorous campaign for the eradication of this pest should be waged.

Name a few...

Red Squirrels
Forestry Tree/sapling damage
Orchard/Vineyard damage
Household intrusion - loft/electrical wire damage leading to fires

Why do you think killing them is legal???

Where do you live Leopard?

I live in Leeds

I live in Ealing, I support Leeds United, I am from near Cheltenham where I lived for 25 years

and I know very little about Squirrels

I was born in Leeds but support Middlesbrough never supported Leeds Utd ..since I was 10 years old ..never would change team best team never regret it.

I'm not an obsessive supporter ....

I have only ever seen the Boro at Elland road but it was great to watch them with Ravanelli  and Juninho

Every squirrel has a soul...... It is an individual..... If you kill squirrel then your soul is damaged

Leopard - do your principles apply to rats? (22.03 last night). If not where is the dividing line.

I love Urban Foxes but unfortunately they may have all died or been wiped out recently as I haven't
seen any round my neck of the woods in 6 months.I used to make them stop in their tracks and look
at me from clicks I made with my mouth they knew me in a way but they have all gone or been killed
on the roads sadly

Jan 26, 2017 -- 1:09AM, blackbarn wrote:

Leopard - do your principles apply to rats? (22.03 last night). If not where is the dividing line.

They do apply to rats also…… every creature has a soul ……there is no dividing line

I put leftovers outside my flat now and then ........ the foxes come round about 12 PM,

It's good to have Real wildlife in Ealing

We have goldfinches, Blue tits, Robins: parakeets, Great tits, Black caps, Wood pigeons

Foxes aren't vermin as I believe if you keep livestock protect it and foxes won't take it
they might take a couple of lambs but I don't think they would ever destroy flock after
flock and if you have a problem go out ith a gun and night sights you don't need 200 hounds
and 50 horses with hoorah Henry's aboard.

Fox hunting is mainly a social thing,a way of showing hierarchy in the local society

Don't give a monkeys about the pain a fox goes through

They don't give a monkeys about pain in the fox goes through

Humane is a gun not hounds chasing and tearing it to pieces.I have lived in the Countryside and in the City
so I know a lot more than the average Joe.

You know what do you know .....Joe

Reference : AI : movie

blackbarn


" Under Schedule 9 of the WCA, it is illegal to release a grey squirrel into the wild, or allow one to escape. This means if you trap one, you are obliged to humanely dispatch it. You must not let it go as this act would be illegal. "

Thank you Facts. I was wrong!.  Good news mind

Jan 26, 2017 -- 1:37AM, The Leopard wrote:

You know what do you know .....Joe

That should have been :

What do you know… Joe?

Reference : AI from movie

Just because Grey squirrels are becoming more numerous doesn't mean we have a right to kill them.

Leopard, I love animals , but Grey Squirrels are absolute vermin. No coincidence they're called ' tree rats ' 

On again..... Grey squirrels are very clever… why are they vermin?

I suppose It's like when that the Europeans went to North America.

Not good what they did to the native Americans

Leopard

Spread disease, kill off red squirrels, raid birds nests, ruin bird feeders. Damage to buildings, electrical cables bitten through.  Trees destroyed.

A contraceptive could be supplied to them through feeding points and the population would fall.....much more humane.

Would they know how to put it on though ?

They are quick learners.

Lots of urban foxes in my neck of the woods and they are brazen, out and about morning, noon and night scavenging. Lots of red robbins around in the last couple of months and countless grey squirrels. There used to be two owls in Dulwich Park fairly often but haven't seen them for a few months.