Jump to content
Everywhere

ED Nature Watch

Peckhamgatecrasher
 Share

Recommended Posts

Sue

Sue

Posted
Posted (edited)
  On 10/03/2025 at 22:46, malumbu said:

Got loads of frogspawn.  Don't have that much success as can't keep it in the pond as the newts eat it.  I took the first clump out yesterday and put it in a bucket with netting on top.  The loads more appeared.,...

Last year I kept it like this and then transferred to some large plant saucers when they were near to walking onto land.  Had to top up the water, provide shade as they will have cooked in the sunshine, and fed with boiled cabbage, kale or other green stuff. I got a few froglets.  two or three years ago I picked up some spawn from someone in SE22 who had a whole nursery, numerous ponds, in their back garden.

Never seen any baby newts or spawn, maybe have ten or more, but I know they go roaming.

Expand  

I have a very small garden with a "pond" in an old Belfast sink and a couple of other small water containers used by birds and sometimes frogs.

I have had frogspawn,  but it usually gets eaten by something (no idea what. Cats?)  though I have had tadpoles and froglets in the past.

I had never seen any newts until a couple of years ago when I opened the door of my tiny shed and found a pile of eggs just inside and a newt hastily scarpering out of a hole at the back of the shed.

The eggs  must have only just been laid. Had I not seen the newt, I would have had no idea what they were. It seems a strange place to lay them.

Sadly they didn't come to anything, they just sort of dried up.

Malumbu, I would like some of your frogspawn if you have any to spare?  Or if anybody else has any?

Edited by Sue
  • Agree 1
  • 2 weeks later...
Sue

Sue

Posted
Posted (edited)
  On 25/03/2025 at 16:28, sunbob said:

In my childhood home I remember wood pigeons attempting to make a nest on the TV ariel each year! 

Expand  

That must have done wonders for the TV reception!

I once watched a pair of birds, can't remember what they were, don't think they were pigeons, dismantling an old nest twig by twig and rebuilding it a few trees down 🤣

I suppose it was a handy source of sticks, but it seemed rather pointless given there was a nest already there. Maybe it was in poor condition or something?

Edited by Sue
vladi

vladi

Posted
Posted

Yesterday I watched a pair of crows in a sycamore tree at the end of our garden  and they were pecking at the branches. After some time I noticed they were removing the bark. They were taking the bark off in strips. When one of them got a length of about six inches he/she would fly off and return later.  Short pieces would be discarded until a decent length was stripped off. 
I raised the topic with ChatGPT and it confirmed that crows prefer pliable strips of bark for use in building their nests. They seemingly are quite particular about the flexibility of the strips and use these to intertwine with twigs and grass stems to make their nests.  

  • Like 1
malumbu

malumbu

Posted
Posted

Hope wood pigeons are better nest builders than their rat cousins.  We had a feral pigeon nest on a window ledge in a central London office; just a pile of sticks.  

I've left some hair out in a feeder I got from the hairdressers for the birds as nest material.  Last year I got wool from the horniman sheep that all went.  

  • Like 1
Sue

Sue

Posted
Posted
  On 25/03/2025 at 23:05, malumbu said:

Hope wood pigeons are better nest builders than their rat cousins.  We had a feral pigeon nest on a window ledge in a central London office; just a pile of sticks.  

I've left some hair out in a feeder I got from the hairdressers for the birds as nest material.  Last year I got wool from the horniman sheep that all went.  

Expand  

Great ideas!

  • 1 month later...
RubyGraeme

RubyGraeme

Posted
Posted
  On 18/05/2024 at 15:19, BrandNewGuy said:

Here's my updated list of the dates when swifts were first spotted in ED:
2011 – May 9
2012 – May 1
2013 – May 17
2014 – May 8
2015 – May 9
2016 – May 4
2017 – May 6
2018 – May 7
2019 – May 8
2020 – May 6
2021 – May 9
2022 – May 9
2023 – May 4
2024 – May 7
That 2013 date is rather an anomaly. I checked the weather records for that period and we had a very cold early May with northerly winds for several weeks, so the swifts didn't risk flying north from Europe to be faced with a lack of food, namely flies, moths etc.

Expand  

I'm sure I just heard a few swifts just now, I'm sitting outside and heard them high above me but couldn't see them. Is this a record? Has anyone else heard them? 

ianr

ianr

Posted
Posted (edited)
  On 26/04/2025 at 10:43, RubyGraeme said:

I'm sure I just heard a few swifts just now, I'm sitting outside and heard them high above me but couldn't see them.

Expand  

Do you have any binoculars?  My first ever sighting of swifts was when I was lying in the park, trying out some 10x25s.  Nothing at all  within plain sight, but when I was playing around with the focus -- presumably for clouds or planes -- suddenly there they were.   I've still never heard any in real life though.  The sample I heard on the BBC website sounded fairly high frequency and not very loud, so I suppose I might miss some; but then there have been precious few reports I've seen here of any being heard.  The only one I remember is Jenny1's last year. 

Edited by ianr
Sue

Sue

Posted
Posted
  On 26/04/2025 at 14:48, ianr said:

Do you have any binoculars?  My first ever sighting of swifts was when I was lying in the park, trying out some 10x25s.  Nothing at all  within plain sight, but when I was playing around with the focus -- presumably for clouds or planes -- suddenly there they were.   I've still never heard any in real life though.  The sample I heard on the BBC website sounded fairly high frequency and not very loud, so I suppose I might miss some; but then there have been precious few reports I've seen here of any being heard.  The only one I remember is Jenny1's last year. 

Expand  

I have heard them round here in past years.

It is quite a distinctive sound.

Sue

Sue

Posted
Posted (edited)

Not sure if this is exactly nature, but does anyone else have Holboellia in their garden?

It's an absolute thug of an evergreen climber, and it seems to grow at about a metre a minute in all directions,  but it redeems itself at this time of year when it's flowering.

The scent is absolutely wonderful, even with just a few flowers presently out, and I can even smell it inside the house.

Apologies to anyone whose garden mine  has wandered into, but do take a moment to appreciate the scent before you cut it back!

ETA: I have a zillion things to do, but I'm sitting in the garden watching the insects. 

One very small hovering thing with apparently no brain (or whatever passes for a brain in insects) just flew to my Libertia, attempted to do something with a load of unopened buds, failed, moved to a just beginning to open bud, failed, and then flew off,  completely ignoring all the open flowers on the same plant.

Maybe it's a reincarnation of someone like Trump.

Edited by Sue
  • Like 1

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Advertise Here

  • Latest Discussions

    • Dulwichway
      Where have the swifts gone ?

      By Dulwichway · Posted

      Gone to the better hunting grounds during this local ongoing dry spell.
    • Dulwichway
      Flight on a Dreamliner 787

      By Dulwichway · Posted

      The Dreamliner has an impeccable service history, you are more likely to get mugged on the way to the airport than having any issue with your flight, that's how safe it is!  Have a great trip.
    • Sue
      Council "weed" removal

      By Sue · Posted

      Maybe. Does that kill grass? If so, possibly the same dog that has left its poo outside my house - pretty sure it's not fox poo.
    • Sue
      Can anybody recommend a good local plant nursery or garden centre?

      By Sue · Posted

      Here you are, intexasatthemoment (you seem to have been in Texas for a very long time!) We went to three of the recommended places yesterday,  as they were all in the same road (just near Wallington)  and I needed to give the car a run to avoid another slap on the wrist from my garage (and another new battery). Here's my findings. BARNES Parking We thought we would go here first as it was the earliest to close on a Sunday (3pm). There was no apparent entrance or anywhere to park. One notice said do not park on grass verge, and another one said staff cars only! Flittons was opposite but I'd already passed the entrance, so I had to drive down the road, turn round at the next available place (covered in signs saying do not park here) and park in Flittons car park! Plants Barnes  specialise in hardy perennials, so that was basically what they had, but an excellent selection, and many more unusual plants (or at least, plants you probably wouldn't find in a garden centre), eg Corydalis,  lots of different varieties of Epimediums, Trollius, some lovely Phygelius, lots of different ferns). The plants were divided into sections according to whether they needed sun or shade or could cope with both. They had a particularly good selection of  shade loving plants. There was really useful information above  each group of plants, which meant you didn't have to look at individual labels. All the plants looked in good health and  very well cared for. They don't produce a printed catalogue, but they  said their plant list was online (I haven't looked yet). I assume most of  the plants they have at any one time are when it's their flowering season (if they flower). I wasn't intending to buy anything, though was very tempted, but I'd definitely go here again once I've sorted out my overgrown garden. Other Stuff Don't think they sell pots, compost, etc. No cafe/tea room and I didn't see a loo, but Flittons is just over the road. FLITTONS  Parking Easy to park Plants Sorry, but mostly terrible. There was one section with vegetables and the rest was flowering plants. There was a general feeling of delapidation. Some of what was on display was actually dead (surely it would only take a minute to remove dead plants) and a lot of the rest was very poorly maintained, eg gone to seed, weedy, apparently unwatered, or with a lot of dead leaves. There was a notice asking for volunteers to work there, so I can only assume they can't afford to pay staff. Other stuff There was a notice to a play barn (?) saying invited people only, so I think they must host kids' parties or something. They redeemed themselves with a cosy little cafe with savoury stuff, nice cakes, iced chai and oat milk, and a loo. Also a selection of books and CDs on sale for charity. If you want an Andrews Sisters CD, you can find one here. There is a small shop with gift shop type stuff and a display of the history of Flittons, which apparently is family owned since the sixties (I think it was). I suspect that the arrival of Dobbies down the road must have greatly affected Flittons' fortunes, which is sad. DOBBIES  Parking Easy in theory once you had navigated a rather narrow entrance, but it was very busy so it took a while to find a space. Plants  Lots of plants, well maintained but I imagine their turnover is high. Lots of nice bedding plants for hanging baskets, window boxes etc  to cater for all tastes (ie some of it wasn't mine, but fine if you like those horrid little begonias (my opinion only) but they did have some nice (in my opinion) stuff as well. I was tempted but decided to buy from North Cross Road market. Fair selection of climbers, various different Clematis etc. I'd be happy to buy plants from here. The prices seemed reasonable and they were in good condition. Other stuff  It's a big garden centre with all that entails these days, so a large area selling garden furniture and storage, tools, animal collars, pots, all the usual stuff you would expect. Very helpful staff. There's a cafe which we didn't check out, charging points for electric cars, a Waitrose (no idea how big, we didn't look). Only on our way out did we see that there was a drive through "express section" for compost etc, which was annoying as I wanted compost and hadn't seen any anywhere,  but I was getting tired by that time. Just Down the Road A ten minute drive away is Wilderness Island, a nature reserve in Carshalton, which is well worth a visit. We heard eleven different kinds of bird (according to Merlin) and saw a Kingfisher flying down the tiny river!

East Dulwich Forum

Established in 2006, we are an online community discussion forum for people who live, work in and visit SE22.

Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...