Wildlife This Winter

[forest of dean redneck 12,022]

Just musing whilst waiting for kids to come out of tae kwondo,

With all the wet an floods certain wildlife is going to be displaced from their lairs and soaking wet or struggling to find food,

Now they are on about cold spell maybe snow etc

Is this going to be a strain on the animals ,and lead to a bad year for death by starvation and exhaustion?

[neil cooney 10,416]

So far I'd say most wildlife has been OK. Apart from the obvious like the heron and the kingfisher most animals have been making do with the mild weather and the fresh growth. There's even still plenty of insect life around.

I've been trapping very few rats but did get a squirrel in a trap this morning who must have been hungry as the bait was a handful of corn in a stubble field.

I did however yesterday seen a kingfisher fly across some wide open country quiet a bit away from a river. I feel for them as they rely 100% on fish, whereas the heron is an opportunist and will take most prey.

I was near a flood this morning and there was plenty of grey crows looking for drowned worms etc. around the waters edge and they were totally ignoring me so that's a mission with the gun in the morning.

[j j m 6,615]

i found a female spar dead yesterday

[The one 8,585]

Think it's going to be a problem for all the smaller birds and animals being wet and cold all the time. The bigger animals should just be able to move but it might cause a impact on territoral animals

[forest of dean redneck 12,022]

i found a female spar dead yesterday

Any signs of what caused death?

[stealthy1 3,964]

Think the wildlife will be fine, plenty of food around, nothing is fighting on my bird table, and only another month until Spring.

[neil cooney 10,416]

Wildlife this Winter ?

Walked out my back door a few minutes ago to check on the dogs and thought that one of them had shit on the doorstep.

It was a bloody big slug.....................at 10 o clock at night on January the 7th.

Doesn't make sense.

[j j m 6,615]

Its keel was very sharp and it looked a bit scruffy it looked to be about 4 years old.a shame to find such a wonderful bird dead

[Lutra Lutra 611]

So far I'd say most wildlife has been OK. Apart from the obvious like the heron and the kingfisher most animals have been making do with the mild weather and the fresh growth. There's even still plenty of insect life around.

I've been trapping very few rats but did get a squirrel in a trap this morning who must have been hungry as the bait was a handful of corn in a stubble field.

I did however yesterday seen a kingfisher fly across some wide open country quiet a bit away from a river. I feel for them as they rely 100% on fish, whereas the heron is an opportunist and will take most prey.

I was near a flood this morning and there was plenty of grey crows looking for drowned worms etc. around the waters edge and they were totally ignoring me so that's a mission with the gun in the morning.

Neil, of course when you mention the (Grey Crow), are they the Hoodie or Hooded Crows we have here in England?Nice to hear you caught a Grey Squirrel in the trap; I detest those more than a Rat! Kingfishers are wonderful, wonderful birds and like you have correctly stated they can suffer due to them having to rely on an available food source,i.e. Fish.Do you have many Herons? I grew up not too far from a good -sized Heronry. It still exists to this day. Also do you have many good Rookeries?

[neil cooney 10,416]

Lutra Lutra, as a rule we don't have Carrion Crows here in Ireland, although there's stories of localised populations, but the Grey Crow takes his place.

Hooded, Hoodie, Grey and Scald Crow are all local names for this villain.

Rookeries are common in Ireland and is it weird that I like the Rook ? I wont shoot one.

Herons are plentiful too and although I know they are a serious predator I feel for them in the floods.

The River Boyne is only a couple of miles from me and it's a large rich river and in a mornings fishing to see 2 or 3 Otters wouldn't be unusual but you might fish it all day without seeing a Kingfisher. However, the river Nanny is on my doorstep and is small in comparison with the Boyne ,but yet, to see 4 or 5 Kingfishers on a walk along the Nanny wouldn't be unusual. The Nanny also has a healthy Otter population.

Talking of Winter. I started a thread on the trapping forum about one of my rat traps.

I've always a few rat and squirrel traps set as well as a few snares.

Most of my traps are in tunnels but there's one rat trap I just cover in some grass and weeds with a handful of wheat as bait.

For 3 days in a row the grass was pulled of the trap and the trap was pulled to one side to expose the wheat.

Yesterday I seen the culprit in action. It was a hungry cock Pheasant.

The season's nearly over and I hope he makes it.

Mind you, my lurcher nearly nailed him this morning.

[CushtyJook 1,097]

Be a different story when your walking with a gun those crows are clever as Einstein