Wildlife April 2011

[mark smyth]

A swift box Stephen? Can I suggest a second? Swifts will fight over one box. Have I sent you the CD lure?

Today a common swift was seen in Belgium

[Stephenb]

Yes, I've had one on my house for 25 years and an artificial House Martin nest site which I got from the RSPB at about the same time! Neither have been used! I'm hoping that the tape lure you sent me last year will finally do the trick...

[Anthony Darby]

saw the first Holly Blue butterfly of the year today & lots of Brimstones.

Not things I saw in Dunblane in spite of having both spp. of buckthorn ( for brimstones) in my front hedge and ivy and holly being ubiquitous! I think the holly blue is spreading north, but I take records (e.g. last years "big butterfly survey" produced some real lulus!) out of their normal range with a bucket of salt.

[emma T]

i wouldnt mind putting up some swift boxes  . I think the bats and the sparrows use up all my roof space. Bats are noiser than you would think       Plus the wrens who sleep in the roof during the winter, they make quite a racket sometimes too.

[ashley]

Also on the point of being lost in Ireland was the grey partridge Perdix perdix
Down to 7 pairs until something was done
http://www.rte.ie/tv/livingthewildlife/grey_partridge.html

I cant find it on RTE player

Here it is Mark.

I think the holly blue is spreading north, but I take records (e.g. last years "big butterfly survey" produced some real lulus!) out of their normal range with a bucket of salt.

And west; it's far more common in this part of Ireland than before, although I haven't seen any yet this year.

[mark smyth]

i wouldnt mind putting up some swift boxes  .

Emma you have three weeks to be ready and a week late the eager birds will be flooding in. Do you want the lure CD?

Thanks Ashley

[mark smyth]

Great excitement in the hills above Belfast. A great grey shrike (butcher bird) has been present for a few days.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3FrL4ghBPbE/TZjVf5GT9gI/AAAAAAAAAUI/HJSJr5z_WNk/s1600/The-twitch.jpg

[mark smyth]

 .. and in Belfast city centre a flock of waxwings have been present for about a week. They are using the trees around the city hall. I was there for a look today. No berries to eat but they are eating sycamore flowers and or buds

[Stephenb]

Great excitement in the hills above Belfast. A great grey shrike (butcher bird) has been present for a few days.

Do Great Grey Shrikes ever breed in the UK?

[emma T]

i wouldnt mind putting up some swift boxes  .

Emma you have three weeks to be ready and a week late the eager birds will be flooding in. Do you want the lure CD?

No lure cd, no boxes as yet. i will have to look up how to build them and where to put them.

[mark smyth]

Emma the two boxes with the round hole in reply 2 were cut by the guy at my local builders yard. It took under an hour to go to the yard and then screw the bits together.

I'll be selling flat pack nest boxes in a couple of weeks. The pack will include
6 panels including the nest entrance
pre drilled screw holes
the screws
screws and rawl plugs to fix to a wall, tree or ...
nest platform
CD lure

[emma T]

Sounds great      Why the need for the cd lure ?
 

Would the swifts use the same space as bats  inside my house ? Would they be able to use the same holes in the roof as the bats ?

I will put up some boxes as well, just wondered if they would cohabit with the bats .

[RichardW]

Great excitement in the hills above Belfast. A great grey shrike (butcher bird) has been present for a few days.

Do Great Grey Shrikes ever breed in the UK?

pretty sure they only over winter.

[emma T]

Loads more oil beetles strolling round the lawns. Also now have seen the mining bees the oil beetles rely upon to survive.

Oil beetles also spotted in Fovant ( in a friends garden)

[mark smyth]

According to the RSPB web site they only winter here. Red-backed shrikes bred in a secret location in England last year.

Emma the lure advertises to non breeding swifts that their is a colony of swifts on a building. They are always on the lookout for new nest sites. The lure is the duet of a male and female swift defending a nest site

I know of only one site where bats and swifts use the one entrance hole. If your building has open/ladder eaves with access to the attic floor then yes swifts will nest