WHAT'S BUZZING OR FLYING NEAR YOU 2020

I hadn't thought about them being Scandinavian @strongylodon.

I eat my words! The first geese flew over this morning, about twenty of them and I would say about a month earlier than normal. Are we in for a long winter?

 

@Sheal Many summer visitors here also breed in Scandinavia, Flycatchers, Warblers, Swifts, Swallows, Martins, Wheatears, Pipits, Redstarts and Whinchats (to name a few!) some up as far as Finland and fly through the UK on passage Spring and Autumn (Autumn migration starts now as shown by the Martins).
If flying from Central Africa to here is a feat for such small birds imagine some doing the extra 1000's of miles from S Africa to the top of Norway and back eg Swifts!!

 

American Red Squirrel. We don't see too many of these anymore because they can't compete with the Grey Squirrels.

 

Hydrogardener, not a problem seeing your cute squirrel here but you may not have realised that we have a thread for non winged wildlife....

Land/Water Wildlife

 

Thanks, Sheal. So noted and going forward that is where I will post furry critters.

 

The evidence....



the damage.....



Oh no! The woodpeckers have discovered Oswald the owl!



I think his days are numbered anyway. There's a split down his back and the wood is rotten.

 

@hydrogardener Same here, the loss of our Reds is due to the introducton of US Eastern Greys 150 years ago.

 

That is way too weird. We have the opposite problem. The red squirrels from your part who hitched a ride here are bullies and drive out our grey and black squirrels. They even broke into my house and I had to catch them all before sealing things up again.

Our black squirrels have to be the stupidist of the class. They are highly representative of road kill sightings!

My granddaughter is a better photographer than I and will try to capture pictures of the Monarch butterflies visiting my garden. Hopefully I'll be able to share tnem soon.

 

We do not have the black squirrels yet, but I understand they are getting closer. The squirrel in the photo is the first red squirrel I have seen in a long time, the greys are out of control. I hope with the coyotes moving in they bring them under control as they are destructive, like tearing the screen on our screen house.

 

Tortoiseshell butterfly

 

Envious of you having so many Greenfinches @shiney only one for us this year and it only visited twice.

Portland Bill, despite the hundreds of people there, Wheatears were in good numbers having just arrived from further North.

 

House Martins gather around my garden at this time of year before migrating. There were about twenty here today and were revisiting and old nesting site in one of my gables.

 

I presume they haven't nested there this year then @Sheal