Dwindling wildlife...............

[Peter99]

Well as autumn approaches there's been a summer of "no shows" in my garden. For example, I haven't seen a single wasp all summer, not one. I've also seen very few butterflies. Have you had any notable by their absence creatures this year? Worrying stuff as human kind continues to destroy the planet and everything on it. James Brown was raising concerns decades ago, as were other artists. 

Peter

[Davey S]

Just 1 frog in my pond.

[Dobber]

Same here,my pond hasn’t attracted anything,and the 3 butterflie trees I have still have full cones on,normally well and truelly sucked dry by now from butterflies and bees!

Small  birds are less too,and feeding less frequent 

weird!!!

 

 

 

[Bo Diddley]

We seem to doing OK. There are dozens of Sparrows and Dunnocks. I made a few more nest boxes for the Blue Tits early this year and 2 of them had residents! So there are also lots of both Blue and Great Tits. 

Sadly, a Sparrow Hawk has also worked this out!

There was a Green Woodpecker who bought the new addition to the family. This was a month or so ago.

The Hedgehogs seem to have moved on. I think they got the hump when we stopped putting Dried Mealworms out.

I think we do OK with the wildlife as we put lots of food out.

I was thinking about doing a pond but couldn't decide. Wildlife Pond people (Joel Ashton does lots on youtube) seem to want to avoid having pumps. But, I'm not so keen on having a swamp at the end of the garden. ANY ADVICE?

 

[Benji]

I agree, overe here (bavaria) much less wasps than in years before. Not that I mind though.

On the other hand I've seen quite a number of dragonflies on my cycling trips. Don't think I'd seen so many in one season ever before.

[Shinehead]

The birds on my feeders are now returning, been quiet since the breeding season finished, I assume plentiful natural food been available for them.

Plenty of Bumblebees on my fuchsias and hoverfles,  just had half an hour on the garden and a dragonfly was milling about, I usual go outside about 9pm to watch the bat's catching insects.

But as most posters above wasps seem to be scarce and only seen a few flying ants emerging from my lawn it's usually teeming with them about the end of July.

Also saw a sparrowhawk try taking a starling from a flock in a nearby elderberry and then it was mobbed by 3 magpies.

Is the fact that councils are now not cutting grass verges regularly and leaving them to run wild helping the insects and maybe that has a knock on effect from visitors to our gardens ? only a suggestion.

[Chalky]

It is largely due to the constant rain we had for almost a year until the early summer.  Many caterpillar larvae failed, food for many birds, blue tit nesting largely failed with nonfood for the young. Butterfly’s the same the rain had a massive effect, they have shown a bit of late but nothing like the numbers there should be. 
 

but blackbirds and robins that feed on worms etc have thrived because of the wet damp weather. 
 

when hiking, the peat bogs have not dried out this year, still very boggy and still water running off the moors and hills, can see big problem with floods if we have an autumn, winter and spring like the last couple. 

Edited August 20 by Chalky

[Wayoutgirl]

Remember the days of travelling in the car heading for a summer destination and by the end of the journey; the windscreen was covered in orange splats off the unfortunate insects hitting it. No longer see anything like that these days. My family go mad when I let flies and wasps out of the house but trying to do my little bit. Have lots of caterpillars on my roses though. 

[Agentsmith]

40 minutes ago, Chalky said:

It is largely due to the constant rain we had for almost a year until the early summer.  Many caterpillar larvae failed, food for many birds, blue tit nesting largely failed with nonfood for the young. Butterfly’s the same the rain had a massive effect, they have shown a bit of late but nothing like the numbers there should be. 
 

but blackbirds and robins that feed on worms etc have thrived because of the wet damp weather. 
 

when hiking, the peat bogs have not dried out this year, still very boggy and still eater running off the moors and hills, can see big problem with floods if we have an autumn, winter and spring like the last couple. 

Agree with the latter paragraph of your analogy, Carl....there cant realistically be anyone on here who dodn't have a water butt....the prevalence of the rain last year resulted in ours being full to the brim.......we've never witnessed that before, even having had it 5 years...the damp hampers the hatching cycle of all winged species and invertibrates....sparrows have been on the decline for years now, with peoples preference for concrete walls or wooden fencing, resulting in the sprecies natural habitat, privit hedgerows being removed...if youve budlea, lavender and such, the bees will certainly be about....not seen wasps yet either.....far more concerned about the threat of these imported asian hornets spreading.....a very major threat to bee colonies....thankfully seen none of those either, but fully aware of the need to report such instances as theyre considered dangerous.

The biggest threat of all though, is us.....we continue to swallow up habitat at an alarming rate, in the name of housing the population, and monsterous warehousing that no one needs...that drives the climate and ultimately, the jet stream...habitat equates no just 5o fields, meadows and woods, but farming and arable land....it all impacts, and the flooding will increase as the water table is impacted by tarmac, concrete and bricks n mortar.

So far, our late arrivals here have been red admiral, painted lady, fratillery and cabbage white, honey, worker, bumble bees...and we've had a dragon fly....this is east leeds on the outskirts of the city, a relatively milder climate in this area...not terribly exciting for insect activity or birds, though we do try!.

Ultimately, we will be the masters of our own survival or demise.

Einstein said if the bee population dies, the human race dies...within 3 decades...or is AI going to intervene to engineer pollenation?

[Rick Scott]

Don't see any Starlings any more like i used to when they were considered Unwanted Greedy pest birds  and the tiny birds as mentioned a rarity, never see Thrushes at all, not done for years, Put bird food out for them and remains untouched, What seems to have taken over are Sea Gulls and i live 30 miles from the coast, Wood Pigeons, Doves, Crows, Magpies, grey squirrels i get a regular visitor (hedge hog) every nite for the bananas i top and tail at breakfast and throw on the back garden grass in the morning, my neighbours  have female a cat (and just bought another kitten ) and i get visits to my garden from 5 different  cats daily because the neighbours leave food out for their cat while out at work so the cats get free feeds which doesn't help, so sad picking up dead birds around nesting time along with mice and voles, very depressing as a wildlife lover.    

Edited September 2 by Rick Scott
info correction

[Chalky]

4 hours ago, Wayoutgirl said:

Remember the days of travelling in the car heading for a summer destination and by the end of the journey; the windscreen was covered in orange splats off the unfortunate insects hitting it. No longer see anything like that these days. My family go mad when I let flies and wasps out of the house but trying to do my little bit. Have lots of caterpillars on my roses though. 

Being on the road all day most days, last summer I saw a large increase of splats on the windscreen which was hugely encouraging.  This year hardly any. 

[Diddy Morgan]

We've got parakeets nesting in a tree behind our garden , which is nice

[Chalky]

1 hour ago, Rick Scott said:

Don't see any Starlings any more like i used to when they were considered Unwanted Greedy pest birds  and the tiny birds as mentioned a rarity, never see Thrushes at all, not done for years, Put bird food out for them and remains untouched, What seems to have taken over are Sea Gulls and i live hundreds of miles from the coast, Wood Pigeons, Doves, Crows, Magpies, grey squirrels i get a regular visitor (hedge hog) every nite for the bananas i top and tail at breakfast and throw on the back garden grass in the morning, my neighbours  have female a cat (and just bought another kitten ) and i get visits to my garden from 5 different  cats daily because the neighbours leave food out for their cat while out at work so the cats get free feeds which doesn't help, so sad picking up dead birds around nesting time along with mice and voles, very depressing as a wildlife lover.    

Load of Starlings on my back, had a dozen young on the guttering last week.  Lot of Sparrows too.

[Peter99]

Thanks for all the posts - I've run out of likes. 

Seems like us soul fans are all wildlife fans too.

Happy watching.

Peter

[Agentsmith]

25 minutes ago, Peter99 said:

Thanks for all the posts - I've run out of likes. 

Seems like us soul fans are all wildlife fans too.

Happy watching.

Peter

Deffo, we're always out looking for stuff...usually sightings of bigger animals: geese, goats, donkeys, alpacas, llamas the usual suspects so nothing surprising there....now, if we had them in our garden...that would be a different kettle of fish....we'd probably be charging admission for the school kids!

Seriously though, it appears to be of concern but, if i thought there was a genuine panic on about something now, i'd have consulted one of the uk's leading zoologists...who lives amongst us all, here in the north of England....who just so happens to be a leading record dealer too.....i wonder if you can guess who that is?

[Mick Boyle]

And he knows all the animal/bird names in Latin.  

[Peter99]

32 minutes ago, Agentsmith said:

Deffo, we're always out looking for stuff...usually sightings of bigger animals: geese, goats, donkeys, alpacas, llamas the usual suspects so nothing surprising there....now, if we had them in our garden...that would be a different kettle of fish....we'd probably be charging admission for the school kids!

Seriously though, it appears to be of concern but, if i thought there was a genuine panic on about something now, i'd have consulted one of the uk's leading zoologists...who lives amongst us all, here in the north of England....who just so happens to be a leading record dealer too.....i wonder if you can guess who that is?

 

16 minutes ago, Mick Boyle said:

And he knows all the animal/bird names in Latin.  

Mm, not sure I'm certain about the person in question, although I may know them. The person I'm thinking of also knows the Latin names of plants too...................... 

I'm sure they wouldn't mind being "outed" for their other interest.

[Peter99]

On another note, I live in a suburb of Nottingham, and recently someone walked out of our local Morrison's supermarket and saw a Wallaby in the car park. There have been numerous sightings of them in other parts of Notts too.

Peter

[Agentsmith]

25 minutes ago, Mick Boyle said:

And he knows all the animal/bird names in Latin.  

He certainly does, Mick

[Agentsmith]

5 minutes ago, Peter99 said:

On another note, I live in a suburb of Nottingham, and recently someone walked out of our local Morrison's supermarket and saw a Wallaby in the car park. There have been numerous sightings of them in other parts of Notts too.

Peter

Peter,

 

There used to be a colony of wallabees in Leek, Staffordshire, that lived on the moors above the town?, been there and its a pretty well known story about them...also features on the town's coat of arms i think. Deffo unusual that though, in a city a city suburb...but then you wouldn't be surprised to see deer....or even goats, as with those in llandudno!

[Happy Feet]

Living in the Wyre forest I've noticed the number of Hornets have trebled in numbers , and have witnessed first hand their hatred of wasps , let alone bees , they literally grab them roll them over on their backs and decapitate them , then onto the next , and the noise they make is quite frightening .

The wasps work very hard in the pre-spring pollinating the Ivy , which then grow berries which a lot of the wild birds depend on especially the Wood Pigeons , so no wasps no Ivy berries etc etc .

Sparrows , Blue , Long tail , Coal , Great & Blue tits , Robins , Blackbirds , Cuckoo , Collar Dove , Wood Pigeons, Magpies , Wood Peckers all types, All  types of Finches , Wrens , Kestrels , Peregrines, Buzzards , Sparrow Hawks ,Crows & variants and this year ( We've been here 10 yrs.) our 1st Red Kite , we do get various types of waders on the Severn , Geese , ducks , Swans & Seabirds , kingfishers being so close to Trimperley Resovoir, and insects , bats etc seem ok too . 

Maybe being out in the sticks we've yet to see the changes , but now I'll take more notice , but there is a lot of birds , Magpies for instance which take a lot of young birds , Kestrels live on Voles , Sparrowhawk's, and the Migrating birds suffer too from having to fly over places like Lebanon & Italy , it's not just the weather.

[Dylan]

9 hours ago, Peter99 said:

On another note, I live in a suburb of Nottingham, and recently someone walked out of our local Morrison's supermarket and saw a Wallaby in the car park. There have been numerous sightings of them in other parts of Notts too.

Peter

That’s interesting roughly where in notts is that ? I live there myself might be close to me ?

[Mick Reed]

20 hours ago, Peter99 said:

Well as autumn approaches there's been a summer of "no shows" in my garden. For example, I haven't seen a single wasp all summer, not one. I've also seen very few butterflies. Have you had any notable by their absence creatures this year? Worrying stuff as human kind continues to destroy the planet and everything on it. James Brown was raising concerns decades ago, as were other artists. 

Peter

Same here for wasps n east uk no miss i hate the bloody things.

[Peter99]

8 minutes ago, Dylan said:

That’s interesting roughly where in notts is that ? I live there myself might be close to me ?

I live in West Bridgford Dylan.

There have been sightings in North Notts too.

But I'm not posh.

Peter

 

[Dylan]

2 minutes ago, Peter99 said:

I live in West Bridgford Dylan.

There have been sightings in North Notts too.

But I'm not posh.

Peter

 

Bit of a trek for me then from stapleford

Edited August 21 by Dylan

[Peter99]

13 hours ago, Happy Feet said:

Living in the Wyre forest I've noticed the number of Hornets have trebled in numbers , and have witnessed first hand their hatred of wasps , let alone bees , they literally grab them roll them over on their backs and decapitate them , then onto the next , and the noise they make is quite frightening .

The wasps work very hard in the pre-spring pollinating the Ivy , which then grow berries which a lot of the wild birds depend on especially the Wood Pigeons , so no wasps no Ivy berries etc etc .

Sparrows , Blue , Long tail , Coal , Great & Blue tits , Robins , Blackbirds , Cuckoo , Collar Dove , Wood Pigeons, Magpies , Wood Peckers all types, All  types of Finches , Wrens , Kestrels , Peregrines, Buzzards , Sparrow Hawks ,Crows & variants and this year ( We've been here 10 yrs.) our 1st Red Kite , we do get various types of waders on the Severn , Geese , ducks , Swans & Seabirds , kingfishers being so close to Trimperley Resovoir, and insects , bats etc seem ok too . 

Maybe being out in the sticks we've yet to see the changes , but now I'll take more notice , but there is a lot of birds , Magpies for instance which take a lot of young birds , Kestrels live on Voles , Sparrowhawk's, and the Migrating birds suffer too from having to fly over places like Lebanon & Italy , it's not just the weather.

That's a beautiful part of the country my friend. 

In my young, and much fitter days, I canoed the Severn River from Builth Wells down into the Severn Estuary. We took a selfie under the Severn Bridge to authenticate our trip - we were doing the trip for Guide Dogs for the Blind; just called Guide Dogs today I think. I can even remember the names of one of the puppies we sponsored - Guide Dog Hannah.

One night we stayed in either Haye on Wye or Ross on Wye and ended up in a Funerals Directors place - it's a very funny story but I'll save that for a more appropriate thread. 

Keep the wildlife posts coming .

Thank you.

Peter

 

[Agentsmith]

I think hornets have always been prevalent in the borders/mid wales, but naturalised colonies, not this threat thats coming from abroad so, dinstinction between the two species would interesting e.g. size, colour and what sort of habitat if anything specific....theyre obviously large than honey bees and i bet our native wasp, the latter queens are quite big, so, if theyre anywhere near that theyre going to need to be avoided at all costs and reported if sighted anywhere.

I assume there have always been  hornet colonies in most southern counties anyway, because if the warmer climate.

[Woodbutcher]

Always had hornets here since as long as I can remember going back to my first encounter aged about four.

Wonderful creatures in my opinion , I've got three nests in two different wooded areas in the garden , but they're no bother and their lofty flight lines keep them well away , although I do get the odd one or two join me in the summerhouse while I'm imaging as they like the wood for nest making , they're very impressive from three feet away ... 

[Peter99]

1 minute ago, Woodbutcher said:

Always had hornets here since as long as I can remember going back to my first encounter aged about four.

Wonderful creatures in my opinion , I've got three nests in two different wooded areas in the garden , but they're no bother and their lofty flight lines keep them well away , although I do get the odd one or two join me in the summerhouse while I'm imaging as they like the wood for nest making , they're very impressive from three feet away ... 

Do you live in a mansion?

[Chalky]

47 minutes ago, Woodbutcher said:

Always had hornets here since as long as I can remember going back to my first encounter aged about four.

Wonderful creatures in my opinion , I've got three nests in two different wooded areas in the garden , but they're no bother and their lofty flight lines keep them well away , although I do get the odd one or two join me in the summerhouse while I'm imaging as they like the wood for nest making , they're very impressive from three feet away ... 

I think it is the Asian Hornet that is becoming more prevalent, invasive species and two or three time the size of our hornets.

Edited August 21 by Chalky

[Woodbutcher]

8 minutes ago, Chalky said:

I think it is the Asian Hornet that is beciomnibn g more prevalent, invasive species and two or three time the size of our hornets.

No Karl , the invasive Asian Hornet is actually a tad smaller than the native Vespa crabro ... 

And it's in no way becoming more prevalent , official figures here ... https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asian-hornet-uk-sightings/asian-hornet-sightings-recorded-since-2016

 

Edited August 21 by Woodbutcher

[Agentsmith]

Wow!, been here a while according to that, sparse initially but theyve been getting a foothold...on the whole the battle front against them aplears to be the south east of the country though there have been occasions elswhere, were nests have located and eliminated....as its been stated before its not about being directly a threat to us, but to the bee populations.

[Chalky]

33 minutes ago, Woodbutcher said:

No Karl , the invasive Asian Hornet is actually a tad smaller than the native Vespa crabro ... 

And it's in no way becoming more prevalent , official figures here ... https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asian-hornet-uk-sightings/asian-hornet-sightings-recorded-since-2016

 

Wherever they are from, I've seen a few this year, big buggers, biggest I've seen

[Soulandy]

Wildlife is very sparse around these parts, Sale nr Manchester,  and the surrounding areas. I think that's why the photo thread is slow, certainly lacking in wildlife pics. Was in Scotland earlier this year and there's certainly a lot more windscreen splats than England,  that's for sure. Midges are of course doing very well.

Had to take the bird feeders in as a rat had decided it liked it more than the birds! No butterflies,  wasps, very few bees, birds are thin on the ground and even the squirrels are very quiet this year. Walks along the rivers, canals and even the mountains are very quiet re wildlife. A lot of dragonflies though like others have said. Certainly noticeable, the climate, human race , has a lot to answer for.

[Twoshoes]

I've not seen as many Butterflies in the garden this year, not as many Bees on a bush that's usually full of them when in flower. The fields opposite my house have been the hunting ground for a Barn owl for the last few years. I'd see it almost every night flying back and forth, often settling on the fence directly opposite. Sadly the other night I saw it being harried by some kind of Hawk, they both dropped to the ground out of my eye line.  Haven't seen it for about four nights which is unusual. Hopefully it's maybe been  spooked by the encounter and lying low.

[Woodbutcher]

57 minutes ago, Chalky said:

Wherever they are from, I've seen a few this year, big buggers, biggest I've seen

Lots of folk mistake queen wasps for hornets as they're considerably larger than the average wasp you see , when you see a real hornet it's unmistakeable , and the sound is the big giveaway , completely different to a wasp or any bumble-bee , very low pitched and menacing.

[Stephen Houghton]

The grey squirrels are in great numbers where I work ,hoards of them I can't remember a collective name is 

[Dobber]

15 minutes ago, Stephen Houghton said:

The grey squirrels are in great numbers where I work ,hoards of them I can't remember a collective name is 

“Shitloads” is the term ste

[Woodbutcher]

3 minutes ago, Dobber said:

“Shitloads” is the term ste

Greys are the only wildlife "dwindling" in my garden , on average over the last three years I've despatched between a hundred and twenty and a hundred and fifty per annum , none get wasted as I leave them in the secluded 'picnic area' for the Red Kites , Buzzards and Foxes to munch on. The joys of having Walnut and Hazel trees in the garden.

[Agentsmith]

19 minutes ago, Woodbutcher said:

Greys are the only wildlife "dwindling" in my garden , on average over the last three years I've despatched between a hundred and twenty and a hundred and fifty per annum , none get wasted as I leave them in the secluded 'picnic area' for the Red Kites , Buzzards and Foxes to munch on. The joys of having Walnut and Hazel trees in the garden.

Bloody greys are a goddamn infernal nuisance...digging in the planters n pots. We've a couple of sun flowers just now, as has next door but the little vermin will have the heads off em soon.

You're right about the size of queen wasps, saw one a few weeks ago, untangling itsrlf from a spiders web....poor spider was probably petrified!

[Peter99]

12 minutes ago, Agentsmith said:

We've a couple of sun flowers just now, as has next door but the little vermin will have the heads off em soon.

 

My four sunflowers are doing reasonably well, although the wind blew off the first bloom the other day. I'll exceed my previous height record (not that impressive) this year, with my best one standing at 13 feet and still growing.

Peter

[Chalky]

1 hour ago, Woodbutcher said:

Lots of folk mistake queen wasps for hornets as they're considerably larger than the average wasp you see , when you see a real hornet it's unmistakeable , and the sound is the big giveaway , completely different to a wasp or any bumble-bee , very low pitched and menacing.

They weren't wasps, it was the noise I heard first

Edited August 21 by Chalky

[Woodbutcher]

2 minutes ago, Chalky said:

They weren't wasps, it was the noise I heard first

 

3 hours ago, Chalky said:

I think it is the Asian Hornet that is becoming more prevalent, invasive species and two or three time the size of our hornets.

Good to know that as you're a music lover that your hearing's still OK , even if your eyesight's getting a bit dodgy ...  

[Chalky]

22 minutes ago, Woodbutcher said:

 

Good to know that as you're a music lover that your hearing's still OK , even if your eyesight's getting a bit dodgy ...  

  I was sat having me dinner with the cab door over and I heard it at the side of cab, I'd never seen one that big before.

[Happy Feet]

Earlier on in the year spring / April time , we where on our way out and there was a quite a noise coming from the neighbours, we bumped into a friend walking her dog a long the lane , & she also could hear the noise asking was anybody flying a drone , we all looked up and in the neighbours very tall Ash tree, which overhangs our back garden was a swarm of Hornet's attacking a Bee's nest , the volume was amazing . 

  Our friend legged it with her dog  , the neighbours who by now had cottoned on what is was , asked shall we phone the council ( she asked the same question when the embankment on the SVR was alight ) I told her to go in shut all the windows, and we jumped in the car & continued on our shopping trip . Pleased to say when we got home 3hrs later it was eerily quite , but thankfully all over .

They do look even bigger in the evenings when they're head butting the bay window , or when they fly into the house on occasion scary buggers , close up .

[Benji]

On 20/08/2024 at 13:50, Benji said:

I agree, overe here (bavaria) much less wasps than in years before. Not that I mind though.

On the other hand I've seen quite a number of dragonflies on my cycling trips. Don't think I'd seen so many in one season ever before.

Had another longer bike ride this morning, 2/3 or even more were fields, woods, dirt roads etc. Besides the dragonflies I mentioned before I also saw countless butterflies.

Mentioned this thread to my wife the other day. She's command-in-chief of our yard and she told me that there are much more bees than last year. How I wish to say that insect wildlife is getting better in general....

[Rick Scott]

Just spotted 9 Huge Daddy Long Legs in a Huddle outside under my Kitchen Windowsill so whether there is an increase in those i'm not sure but i have never seen that many all in one small space, very large bodies and longest legs i've seen. 

[Stephen Houghton]

On 21/08/2024 at 19:37, Woodbutcher said:

Greys are the only wildlife "dwindling" in my garden , on average over the last three years I've despatched between a hundred and twenty and a hundred and fifty per annum , none get wasted as I leave them in the secluded 'picnic area' for the Red Kites , Buzzards and Foxes to munch on. The joys of having Walnut and Hazel trees in the garden.

I've eaten loads of them they taste like pork 

[Peter99]

I have grey squirrels that frequent the trees in next doors drive; I don't mind them. However, my Doberman rescue Ace, cannot abide them - they torment him, I'm sure for the sheer pleasure of it. They run along the fence but never put one foot in our garden - they know he'd have them good and proper. 

He's a right labour of love my Ace, poor boy has really bad arthritis in his back legs. He's only just turned nine as well. He's so reactive to other dogs and animals I can't take him anywhere. He only gets dark night walks, only when he is calm. He's a labour of love, but I love him to bits. Poor boy was so badly treated before I got him.

 

[Karen Wheeldon]

At the farm where I keep a horse the farmer has grown 2 fields of wildflowers under a government scheme, walked round them last week, not one bee or butterfly