Uncommon Visitors ...

TTony

... seen them both before, but it's still unusual to see them.

There's also a Kestrel roosting under the eaves of the log cabin, but it disappears off into the trees whenever I get within camera range.  We had another one there a couple of years ago - though that one died (for reasons unknown).


Hopefully the current occupant will do a bit better.

breakstuff

Great pictures. 

Jalapeno

We get the occsional Woodpeker - but that weasel is a great lad !

RobDavies

I wish we had a weasel!

LastMantra

That's cool.
I was sure I spotted a woodpecker a couple of years ago. It was mostly black with a couple of bright red bits. Would that be right?

Edit; just googled pretty sure it was. Could hear it tapping from a distance. Plus it was on a dead tree with lots of holes in it.

axisus

I see woodpeckers quite a lot but I've never seen a weasel! Awesome! (is it a weasel??)

camf

Stoat?

ThorpyFX

camf said:

Stoat?

its hard to tell but if you really want to tell the difference then use the following:

"A Weasle is Weasly recognised, but a stoat is stoatly different."

LastMantra

I was cycling down a little footpath with thick weeds growing up either side when this little beasty ran out in front of me. It continued to run along in front before darting back into the bushes. Was the same kind of colour as that but only about 6-8 inches long. Lucky I didn't splat it. Poor wee critter got the fright of it's life. Was shifting! 

historyisjunk

Reckon he or she is a stoat-  black tail tip.

If you're lucky you'll see them in ermine in a few months. Watch out for any members of the house of lords sneaking around trying to bag them for a coat trimming though.

You've got the makings of a very famous wildlife picture there too. A few years back someone got a picture of a green woodpecker taking off with a stoat or weasel still hanging on after attacking.

historyisjunk

there you go-  https://www.google.com/search?q=weasel+green+woodpecker&tbm=isch&source=univ&client=firefox-b-d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjslK-Lh4PmAhUOilwKHQ6lCFwQsAR6BAgGEAE&biw=1440&bih=713#imgrc=3gV6K51HXxdnfM

spawned a thousand spoofs

Dominic

We have lots of weasels.........that's definitely a Stoat ;much bigger....the weasels are actually very small .Seeing Stoats outside of the far North/Scotland is rare .
The Yaffel is quite common we have at least 6 or 7 in our garden ......sadly 3 of them flew into our glass windows in the early summer curiously all on the same afternoon within a couple of hours.......exactly the same happened one day 10 years ago.

Funkfingers

camf said:

Stoat?

I agree. That tail is a dead giveaway.

TTony said:

a Kestrel roosting under the eaves of the log cabin

They are fairly common in rural West Wales. They fly above the coast path. There was even a pair, raising chicks on the storage tanks of the oil refinery where I used to work. 

TTony said:

it disappears off into the trees whenever I get within camera range. 

Wild birds of prey have that tendency - even Buzzards.

rocktron

During the summer, a flock of Ringed Neck Parakeets started to come for a feed on the trees around the block of flats where I live in West London. A month later, they were still here, and although It has now turned cold, the birds are still here screeching in the trees, although most of the leaves have turned brown and have fallen.

I am surprised that the parakeets have survived the cold weather as they are not a native local species. No one seems to know exactly where they came from, but a report on the internet says they have been in the West London area for many years. and may have originated as escaped pets, or even escaped from the Heathrow Airport Animal Rescue Centre, They seem to be thriving, but they are obviously looking for food. 

I haven't seen any nests, There are lots of squirrels here, so I hope that the parakeets are not scared off from nesting.

These pictures were shot hurriedly, through a window:- 

https://i.imgur.com/hWredPQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/abK4bkO.jpg
         

boogieman

rocktron said:

During the summer, a flock of Ringed Neck Parakeets started to come for a feed on the trees around the block of flats where I live in West London. A month later, they were still here, and although It has now turned cold, the birds are still here screeching in the trees, although most of the leaves have turned brown and have fallen.

I am surprised that the parakeets have survived the cold weather as they are not a native local species. No one seems to know exactly where they came from, but a report on the internet says they have been in the West London area for many years. and may have originated as escaped pets, or even escaped from the Heathrow Airport Animal Rescue Centre, They seem to be thriving, but they are obviously looking for food. 

I haven't seen any nests, There are lots of squirrels here, so I hope that the parakeets are not scared off from nesting.

These pictures were shot hurriedly, through a window:- 

https://i.imgur.com/hWredPQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/abK4bkO.jpg
         

The parakeets have been around that area for a long time. I used to see (and hear!) them all the time when I lived in Brentford 10 years back. We get big flocks of them where I live near Epsom now too, the cold climate obviously doesn’t bother them that much.

There’s a few urban myths about where they came from, including that they escaped from the film set of Doctor Doolittle and that Jimi Hendrix set a couple free. 

Dominic

Thousands in NW London.......the tree next door my friend has had up to 300 in it quite frequently and they are terribly destructive and noisy
There was a plan to cull them........think there still is
Nothing like Urban Myth......I heard they were released from the Film set of The African Queen