Author |
Topic: natures amazing..... (Read 2162 times) |
|
taliban aka Cheekyboy2
Senior Member
I'm a YaBB newbie!
Posts: 1552
|
 |
natures amazing.....
« on: May 1st, 2008, 9:34pm » |
 Quote  Modify
|
there i am tidying up my flat on a sunny spring evening, windows open etc when i hear a bird squawking in panic/terror, i look round, there's only jessie in so i think, oh no, alfie's been out for a take away, but, the bird is still squawking? i look out the back window looking for alfie, no sign except the white cat (alfies most hated enemy) is sat there transfixed by something? i look around again and there it is just 10 feet from my window a beautiful bird of prey, hawk? falcon? dunno, it was mainly grey in colour and not really any bigger than a pidgeon and was looking at its catch which was pinned to the ground under one foot. it then plucked it and ate it. just a shame i couldnt capture it on camera, never seen that in real life, not bad for inner london. the only concern i have is the bird it caught; just lately i've noticed a pair of sparrows fluttering about which is good as they're the first i've seen in london for over a year (their numbers have declined by about 80% or more in london over 10 years), so i hope there is still a pair....
|
|
 IP Logged |
|
|
|
gozz
Senior Member
Been around awhile
Posts: 3475
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #1 on: May 1st, 2008, 11:02pm » |
Quote Modify
|
tali.
It was almost certainly a sparrowhawk.We bog dwellers see them frequently.They usually just leave the wings,a bit tough I suppose.
GOZZ.
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #2 on: May 2nd, 2008, 1:54am » |
Quote Modify
|
I'd agree with Gozz 
I'm no twitcher, but my younger brother used to be an avid bird watcher & would often inform me of his many urban sitings of Sparrow Hawks....yawn 
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/sparrowhawk/index.asp
Nature is amazing though....
....when I was a kid, we used to put nuts on the lawn for the squirrels.
There was one particular squirrel that obviously realised a good source of food when he saw it & started coming up to the patio door in anticipation. When we opened the door he would just sit there & wait for his nuts.
It got to the point that he would actually start scratching on the window of the patio door, & when we opened it he would take the nuts straight from our open hands.
Come winter, he dissapeared, so we just assumed he'd hibernated for the winter & never expected to see him again.......but come the next Spring, he was back, scratching at the patio door again.....
......Friendly & clever little fellow he was
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
Snoopy
Administrator
Very old.BAD tempered and missing friends.
Posts: 6278
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #3 on: May 2nd, 2008, 7:59am » |
Quote Modify
|
If it was a GREY then they do not hibernate ... Rodents the lot of them and one of the biggest enviromental disasters ever inflicted on this country.. Typical !
Bring back the levy on the grey!
Red squirrel is the natural one for this country and is protected by law as they have become so rare .
|
|
IP Logged |
HELP the FORUM.Please DONATE
|
|
|
taliban aka Cheekyboy2
Senior Member
I'm a YaBB newbie!
Posts: 1552
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #4 on: May 2nd, 2008, 5:48pm » |
Quote Modify
|
yep, there are no greys on the isle of wight....
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
taliban aka Cheekyboy2
Senior Member
I'm a YaBB newbie!
Posts: 1552
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #5 on: May 2nd, 2008, 5:54pm » |
Quote Modify
|
a sparrowhawk you say.....hmmm....looks likely....especially as i think it may have been eating a sparrow ......
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
gozz
Senior Member
Been around awhile
Posts: 3475
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #6 on: May 2nd, 2008, 10:34pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Quite right Snoopy they dont hibernate,vermin they are,we used to get a shilling from the powers that were,for every tail.They have all but ousted the reds of course !
GOZZ (one time rodent murderer)
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
DezertBLU
Newbie
I'm a newbie!
Posts: 17
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #7 on: May 3rd, 2008, 2:28pm » |
Quote Modify
|
The past two years while we lived in Hartlepool we had a bird of prey living near us, since our garden was a haven for birds of every description it naturally took to hunting above our garden.The huge doves we had spent the spring watching dissappeared as did an entire population of sparrows , black birds, starlings ect....we were also having to keep a very close watch on our very tiny Yorkie puppies.This year just before we moved...I have noticed no birds other than the starling couple who seem to roost in our overhang from the roof.I think birds of prey are amazing to watch and hope the species that are in danger of dying out make a comeback.
|
|
IP Logged |
"I'm Just A girl , In A Sea Of Many"
|
|
|
gozz
Senior Member
Been around awhile
Posts: 3475
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #8 on: May 3rd, 2008, 9:56pm » |
Quote Modify
|
DezertBLU.
Come along now,you know you should'nt allow your bald eagle out of his quarantine cage ! 
GOZZ.
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
sab6024
Newbie
I'm a YaBB newbie!
Posts: 36
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #9 on: May 3rd, 2008, 10:30pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Grey Squirrels are just Rats with good PR 
Once saw a Sparrow Hawk take a Sparrow from the tree in my back garden once, I was shocked yet amazed at the speed of the whole event
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
DezertBLU
Newbie
I'm a newbie!
Posts: 17
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #10 on: May 4th, 2008, 1:11am » |
Quote Modify
|
Grey squirrels are something I miss...I know the reputation they got here and such, but back home they were not only cute, but quite entertaining to watch. I havn't seen any greys here where i am it's been 6 years now since I saw one ...unless you count the ones on T.V.
And in my oppinion there is nothing wrong with RATS either, yes the city RATS are a problem and cause a real hazzard, but not ALL rats are a bad thing..but then that's just my own view having owned several in my lifetime.
|
|
IP Logged |
"I'm Just A girl , In A Sea Of Many"
|
|
|
Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #11 on: May 4th, 2008, 1:20am » |
Quote Modify
|
The squirrel in my post was grey, & I didn't say it hibernated, only assumed it did.
I do know that grey squirrels don't hibernate over winter, but I was about 8 years old at the time & wasn't aware of this fact.
I won't bother posting anymore heart warming childhood recollections of nature again, if the only response is from a couple of grumpy old men ......
The grey squirrel was introduced to this country in 1876....so it's not exactly a recent immigrant....& certainly not an illegal one
....& how anyone can compare a grey squirrel to a sewer rat  ....squirrels are gentile & elegant in their movements, whereas rats just scurry.
Squirrels are shy but inqusitive creatures that know how to find food & are predominately vegetarian, whereas rats will eat practically anything
Rats brought bubonic plague to this country with the fleas & parasites that lived within their fur......Grey squirrels have never inflicted humans with any such disease.....
.....So I don't see why anyone would class grey squirrels as vermin
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
Snoopy
Administrator
Very old.BAD tempered and missing friends.
Posts: 6278
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #12 on: May 4th, 2008, 8:09am » |
Quote Modify
|
Well if you really understood the damage they actually do , Stripping the bark of our trees causing them to die along with other traits, you would understand . They carry a virus which infects our NATURAL reds and kills them. The greys are just a carrier of this virus and are immune from it . The whole of the population of the American Grey Squirrel in this country is you so rightly state the offspring from the two greys released way back in 1876 .
Got go as there is another one in the tree at the back .. where's my gun !
BTW they taste quite good cooked !
|
|
IP Logged |
HELP the FORUM.Please DONATE
|
|
|
TiberiuS
Senior Member
Ex. 1996 2.3 Ultima - RIP P789 KHJ
Posts: 2257
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #13 on: May 4th, 2008, 12:58pm » |
Quote Modify
|
on May 4th, 2008, 1:11am, DezertBLU wrote:| RATS are a problem and cause a real hazzard |
|
Are you sure you meant RATS and not PATS? Both can be frustrating if you own a Scorp and live in the city
Nerdy joke I know, sorry 
We've got a grey squirrel in our garden, it's like watching the old advert that used to be on of the squirrel on the assault course with 'Mission Impossible' playing. d**n thing gets hoards of nuts from somewhere, every time you go to dig something you find a dozen peanuts buried there in their shells...
Regards, Bruce
|
|
IP Logged |
Bruce - '07 Jaguar XKR coupe, '95 Jaguar XJ Sport 4.0, '82 Ford Capri 2.0 Ghia, '15 Honda Civic (sloooooww..)
|
|
|
DezertBLU
Newbie
I'm a newbie!
Posts: 17
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #14 on: May 4th, 2008, 1:01pm » |
Quote Modify
|
It was 229 years after the Great Plague dealt London such a terrible blow that the probable cause of the disease was discovered. In 1894, during an epidemic in Hong Kong, two rival research teams – one led by the Japanese scientist Shibasaburo Kitasato and the other by the Frenchman Alexandre Yersin, a former pupil of Louis Pasteur – isolated the bacillus Pasteurella pestis (now called Yersinia pestis) that is responsible for plague.
Further research showed that this was a disease of black rats and other rodents, spread by their fleas. When all the rats died, the fleas would frantically look for new hosts: human beings. The plague bacillus is extremely virulent. Laboratory mice die after being infected with just three bacilli – and fleas can disgorge up to 24,000 in one bite.
|
|
IP Logged |
"I'm Just A girl , In A Sea Of Many"
|
|
|
TiberiuS
Senior Member
Ex. 1996 2.3 Ultima - RIP P789 KHJ
Posts: 2257
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #15 on: May 4th, 2008, 1:02pm » |
Quote Modify
|
on May 1st, 2008, 11:02pm, gozz wrote:| We bog dwellers see them frequently.They usually just leave the wings,a bit tough I suppose. |
|
GOZZ, You make them sound like a meal from the local Chinese takeaway, the wings are always a bit tough on the 'Number 32' from the Golden Dragon in town
Maybe I've been a sparrowhawk all along and not realised
|
|
IP Logged |
Bruce - '07 Jaguar XKR coupe, '95 Jaguar XJ Sport 4.0, '82 Ford Capri 2.0 Ghia, '15 Honda Civic (sloooooww..)
|
|
|
taliban aka Cheekyboy2
Senior Member
I'm a YaBB newbie!
Posts: 1552
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #16 on: May 4th, 2008, 1:33pm » |
Quote Modify
|
tbh i cant really see the point of taking out vengence on an animal for something human so called kind has done; if greys are such a pest its not their fault, its ours, or rather our ancestors. if all the greys originate from one pair then i suggest they're here to stay, just like rabbits and hares after they were introduced.
as for the 2 main plagues, there's still some debate as to whether they were bubonic or numonic (sp?), 2 different virus', maybe it was natures way of culling the human population, think what todays population would be if they hadnt happened....
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
pete from Hull
Senior Member
Non Scorpio at the moment, but still interested...
Posts: 1365
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #17 on: May 9th, 2008, 10:25am » |
Quote Modify
|
Did anyone see the black squirrels on tv last night? Apparently they are a crossbreed between the greys and the reds, now that is a new one because it was always said that they wouldn't interbreed. These black ones have more Mellatonin in them so it gives the effect of being black.... As the title of this post says, Nature's amaizing....
Pete
|
|
IP Logged |
Bring back fair wages.........
|
|
|
Snoopy
Administrator
Very old.BAD tempered and missing friends.
Posts: 6278
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #18 on: May 9th, 2008, 4:37pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Sorry to correct you they are NOT a cross bertween reds and greys they are a grey which has undergone a bio change and as such they have as you so rightly state more mellatonin in them and possibly more testosterone which is why they are able to bredd so readily ..... Darwins evolution theory comes to mind !
|
|
IP Logged |
HELP the FORUM.Please DONATE
|
|
|
Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
|
|
Re: natures amazing.....
« Reply #19 on: May 10th, 2008, 2:43am » |
Quote Modify
|
I read something about these black squirrels recently, & apparently, one of the reasons why the black squirrel population is expanding so rapidly is because female greys seem to prefer the black males to the grey males.........Don't know why this the case, but maybe the following scenarios about how squirrels mate might be the reason....
Grey male....  grey female....
Black male.... grey female.... ...........
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
|
Home
Help
Search
Members
Login
Reply
Send Topic
Print