Grey Squirrel at the Hide
The Hide , Wednesday 23rd April
The recent damp weather has certainly had an effect on the sudden growth of the meadow. My last visit here was a full four days ago and we are rapidly approaching the need to start cutting the path. The nettles and vegetation around the pond are now about 450mm (18 inch ) tall and the visiting wildlife seems to spring from nowhere ! The landscape and background is now thick with lush green leafs , trees starting to expand upwards and new plant life everywhere.
There’s also a lot of wildlife activity, most centred around the ponds. One surprise visitor today , the Red-legged Partridge, a small but stunning game bird. Also known as the ‘French partridge’, it was introduced to the UK from western Europe during the 1700s as a new gamebird. The red-legged partridge is sandy, grey-brown above, with intricate black and brown barring on its sides, and a white throat surrounded by a black necklace. The bright red beak and pink-red legs help to identify it. When disturbed, it prefers to run instead of fly, but will fly short distances if absolutely necessary.
Then we have the usual suspects, the small birds like the Robin , Great tit and Dunnock . For the mammals, Rabbit , Brown Rats and the Grey Squirrel gang.
All told another day wildlife watching with well over twenty species on parade.
Read the full story at www.wildonline.blog
Grey Squirrel at the Hide
The Hide , Wednesday 23rd April
The recent damp weather has certainly had an effect on the sudden growth of the meadow. My last visit here was a full four days ago and we are rapidly approaching the need to start cutting the path. The nettles and vegetation around the pond are now about 450mm (18 inch ) tall and the visiting wildlife seems to spring from nowhere ! The landscape and background is now thick with lush green leafs , trees starting to expand upwards and new plant life everywhere.
There’s also a lot of wildlife activity, most centred around the ponds. One surprise visitor today , the Red-legged Partridge, a small but stunning game bird. Also known as the ‘French partridge’, it was introduced to the UK from western Europe during the 1700s as a new gamebird. The red-legged partridge is sandy, grey-brown above, with intricate black and brown barring on its sides, and a white throat surrounded by a black necklace. The bright red beak and pink-red legs help to identify it. When disturbed, it prefers to run instead of fly, but will fly short distances if absolutely necessary.
Then we have the usual suspects, the small birds like the Robin , Great tit and Dunnock . For the mammals, Rabbit , Brown Rats and the Grey Squirrel gang.
All told another day wildlife watching with well over twenty species on parade.
Read the full story at www.wildonline.blog