[bigironhorse]

Saw a tawny owl  near Hunters Bar recently, often hear it but only seen once so far.

[lagerstarfish]

a plague of ring ouzels at Burbage North this afternoon

four of them messing about in the 20ft Crack to Banana Finger area - never seen them together like this

didn't seem too concerned by our presence - me and kids got a great view of one that was going in and our of the boulders near Banana Finger 

a few further down the edge as well

[Will Hunt]

We've had Siskins in the garden. No idea if that's of any note whatsoever but not seen them before.

[fatneck]

First swallow of 2016 last Friday by the Hangar. Looked a bit lost!

Also a nice weekend in the Peak produced the first Green Woodpecker of the year (heard not seen) and a random pair of Mandarin ducks in a field opposite the house we were staying at in Eyam 

[bolehillbilly]

Wild boar up at Isatis Hautes Plaines just off the path above the Millenium block at dusk a couple of days ago. First one I've seen in the forest. 

[lagerstarfish]

Wild boar up at Isatis Hautes Plaines just off the path above the Millenium block at dusk a couple of days ago. First one I've seen in the forest.

very cool

how far away from you?

[bolehillbilly]

Wild boar up at Isatis Hautes Plaines just off the path above the Millenium block at dusk a couple of days ago. First one I've seen in the forest.

very cool

how far away from you?

About 30m further up the hill. 
Was sitting on top contemplating just how fantastic Font is, having just done a quietly brilliant 6a called Le Grain de Beauté  https://bleau.info/plaines/13653.html (off topic recommendation - a real gem), when I heard the snuffling.  Had a good view for 30 seconds or so then disturbed by a group walking up the path.

[SA Chris]

Was it pursued by Kurt Albert and Jacky Godoffe, both wearing helmets with horns on them?

[Eddies]

I've been trying to get birds back into the garden of my new house (moved in Feb) after being ruled by cats for years.
My dog is keeping the cats out and I've put up 4 different feeders... A couple of weeks ago I put up two boxes, this one I moved last weekend from my west facing garage wall to its north facing gable end... This weekend a pair of tits have moved in 
Tits by eddiesniper, on Flickr

[bigironhorse]

I've been trying to get birds in my garden too, had the usual suspects (dunnock, blue tit, great tit) and a wren but I suspect the local cats are scaring off anything less abundant, as well as digging up and shitting on my vegetable patch. 

[SA Chris]

We get the occasional cat in the garden, but if the feeders are up in trees the cats don't seem to bother the birds. They love fatballs (insert joke) but need to keep the feeder full at all times if you want them to visit regularly.

[Eddies]

Yeah, my fat balls are definitely my most popular feeder closely followed by my seed feeder. Some birds seem only to eat fallen seeds rather than from the feeders.

[dave]

Great knowledge on here guys. It's always been my dream to be able to regularly watch a couple of birds (preferably great tits) nibbling on my fat balls in the garden.

[duncan]

I've suggested to the offspring that we start trying to attract birds to the balcony (bargaining against getting a hamster or some other smelly vermin). I'm aware this needs to be done consistently, but that's also good for him to realise. I'd not considered bird-boxes, despite observing fledging blue-tits being some of the most memorable events of my own childhood.

Any more beta for feeding or on bird boxes? I'm on a first floor flat with a 2x3m balcony, in inner suburban London, close to green spaces (Highgate Cemetery, Waterlow park) . 

[andy_e]

Put food out, birds will come. Try to put feeders in somewhere with nearby cover so they can escape if needs be. There's plenty of info on the RSPB website about where to site boxes I'd imagine.

[chris20]

The birds in our garden always keep me entertained whilst sat on the sofa applying for jobs.  We are dominated by sparrows, but have 1 blue tit that visits, a couple of dunnocks, a wren and have seen the starlings on the feeder that are nesting in the house opposite.  Not got any fat balls but all the birds seem to prefer the seeds over peanuts.  We were out at our local nature reserve yesterday and I saw and heard my first nightingale.

[Falling Down]

Me and Duncan saw something I'd never seen before on Saturday.  Down at the base of Boulder Ruckle, we heard a right commotion; a Peregrine in flight carrying another bird in its talons both making lots of noise - OK, been there seen that before with pigeons and swallows - but I then noticed the bird was another raptor.  The Peregrine had it in a firm grip until it struggled free and flew off.  It was a kestrel or a merlin... quite a sight the two of them grappling with each other.

[SA Chris]

Bit like Alien vs Predator.

[Eddies]

Mums top beta is to get a bird bath... You can pretty much square root the innuendos after that [emoji106]

[tomtom]

Bit like Alien vs Predator.

Fiend vs Dense (or the other way around..)

[lagerstarfish]

regarding fat balls...
proper suet blocks seem to be much preferred over those cheaper "fat balls" with various seeds mixed in

sunflower seed hearts are the most popular seed round here (other seeds get left for ages - for the mice and rats)

if you have a chance of goldfinches, nyjer seed feeders are a good companion to the sunflower hearts feeder - not had any other birds eating them, but a group of goldfinches lifts the soul

[Duma]

Love the goldfinches on our Niger feeder. Pigeons have most of the rest I put out though

[siderunner]

My nephew spotted an echidna mooching about in my neighbours garden at the weekend, and got the obligatory phone snap to prove it. Sadly it had mooched off by the time I went to look. I didnt know they were in my area, pretty happy about that.

This definitely trumps my best garden wildlife so far in Sydney, which is a bandicoot I spotted with my headtorch while putting out the bins late one Sunday.

We've also had a snake on the patio, but that doesnt count as "wild"life since our cat put it there (unharmed, and safely released).

[lagerstarfish]

saw a few ring ouzels at Curbar on Friday evening

two jigging about round the boulders (GW etc)

another solitary one at the high point at the N end of the crag

walked back along the top of the crag and saw two on the plateau - kind of above Seans Arete - I guess these could have been the same too as I saw by the boulders earlier

[tomtom]

Peregrine Falcon(s) above Helsby yesterday..