Search found 73 matches

by Mervyn Thornhill
Mon Aug 01, 2022 8:47 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: Rowan trees
Replies: 1
Views: 181

Rowan trees

The blackbirds ( there are several nests nearby) totally cleared a small rowan tree of berries in my front garden last week. They are just starting, but only just, on what I believe is an identical rowan tree variety and what looks, to my eye, to be of exactly the same degree of ripeness about 10m a...
by Mervyn Thornhill
Sun May 08, 2022 6:34 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: cuckoo
Replies: 0
Views: 154

cuckoo

Cuckoo cuckooing away at 5.30 am this morning in south Euxton but not heard when I woke again at 7.00 or since
by Mervyn Thornhill
Sat Jan 01, 2022 9:38 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: Hedgehog
Replies: 1
Views: 194

Hedgehog

I have just disturbed a hedgehog feeding on scraps under the bird table. By the time I got back out with some cat food it had gone. Still, if it gets back again before the magpies tomorrow morning, it can have a good meal before going back to bed.
by Mervyn Thornhill
Fri Nov 12, 2021 4:41 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: Kingfisher pair
Replies: 0
Views: 170

Kingfisher pair

A pair of kingfishers this morning on the River Lostock just below the bridge on Ridley Lane. Although I walk round here fairly regularly I've never seen a single kingfisher here before, so a pair was a big bonus.
by Mervyn Thornhill
Fri Apr 30, 2021 7:37 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: Garden Siskins - Euxton
Replies: 1
Views: 270

Re: Garden Siskins - Euxton

Ian, You can't be far from us. We are in South Euxton and have just been watching a beautiful male siskin feeding for about fifteen minutes in our garden, until it was chased off by a squirrel. In the evening sunshine it looked so much brighter and more colourful than the pictures in the books. We h...
by Mervyn Thornhill
Thu Apr 15, 2021 4:58 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: Euxton Mandarins
Replies: 0
Views: 269

Euxton Mandarins

Pair of mandarin ducks on the large loop in the Yarrow near Shaw Green, Euxton this morning.
by Mervyn Thornhill
Mon Jun 29, 2020 6:11 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: more juveniles
Replies: 0
Views: 294

more juveniles

Loads of young birds in the garden. Also up to six squirrels making at least one daily visit and a rather scrawny looking young fox the last few late evenings, my wife insists that it needs feeding up on cat food. Highlight this morning was a family of 5 jays (one adult) clustered round the base of ...
by Mervyn Thornhill
Tue May 26, 2020 8:22 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: Garden birds.
Replies: 4
Views: 608

Re: Garden birds.

We have nuthatches every year nesting in the same hole in a dead oak tree. For the past week or so the birds have been busy backwards and forwards to the nest but, all of a sudden they are gone. This happens every year. I don't think they have come to any harm (although a woodpecker was having a loo...
by Mervyn Thornhill
Sat Apr 18, 2020 10:38 am
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: A non sighting
Replies: 4
Views: 860

A non sighting

A couple of years ago I posted a "sighting" commenting on the lack of fish in the Yarrow. About 5/6 years ago the river was full of them . I knew several locations where I could more or less guarantee to see large (what I assumed to be) trout and plenty of small fish too. I recall taking t...
by Mervyn Thornhill
Thu Mar 26, 2020 7:10 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: The unintended consequences of good intentions
Replies: 0
Views: 334

The unintended consequences of good intentions

The field next to my house in Euxton is about to be developed for housing (that’s another story). Beyond the opposite corner of the field from my house is a pond that has a small population of Great Crested Newts in it. As part of the preparation works an exercise is ongoing to trap and collect any ...
by Mervyn Thornhill
Tue Oct 29, 2019 8:26 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: Giant fungus in Duxbury
Replies: 1
Views: 580

Giant fungus in Duxbury

The attached photo shows a fungus on a dead beech stump in Duxbury gardens. It is about 40cm across and, although we are regular visitors we haven't noticed it before today, so I assume it is this years - it looks fresh enough. My wife is there not just to add glamour but also a sense of scale.
by Mervyn Thornhill
Sat Oct 26, 2019 12:03 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: hedgehog
Replies: 0
Views: 517

hedgehog

A hedgehog is still in my garden every night and taking food. It's been there all summer and occasionally we have two but I haven't seen any offspring this year.
by Mervyn Thornhill
Fri Sep 13, 2019 8:56 am
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: Blue Shieldbug with Friend.
Replies: 5
Views: 1352

Re: Alder Leaf Beetles with Friend

A small alder in Astley park was full of these and in process of being stripped bare (by the beetles or by their larvae? - although I only saw the beetles) on 11th September.
by Mervyn Thornhill
Sun Aug 11, 2019 2:36 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: my garden
Replies: 1
Views: 646

Re: my garden

Those who read my original of 31st July will have wondered what it was all about. When I look back I think the site didn't accept my photos for some reason but I think it will now. Perhaps my original will now make sense.
by Mervyn Thornhill
Wed Jul 31, 2019 8:49 pm
Forum: Recent Sightings
Topic: my garden
Replies: 1
Views: 646

my garden

On the dead tree in my garden at the moment is this regular visitor (see photo1 or possibly 2). This exact same spot (see second picture or possibly first) is a lookout post for many birds and the tree is a nesting site for great tits and nuthatches and (once) for GS woodpecker. The garden has been ...

Go to advanced search