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How has it changed in your lifetime?
I remember seeing a fox for the first time as a kid.
Didn't see one for maybe 15 years after that. Now they wander the streets in daylight.
Pre foot and mouth I would never see a deer on a ride but now its a common sight.
We moved to our current house 6 years ago and I would see a kingfisher once a year. Now I see them on a weekly basis.
Not seen a slow worm or lizard for years though.
Grey Squirrels appearing right through Northumberland.
See many more raptors and adders than I used to as a kid.
Raptors and many different types of owl nowadays.
I watched two huge buzzards hunting overhead yesterday morning. 😛
Oh and lizards, in Herts!
Less Sparrows. Even in New York City you get that nice chirping sound. Don't hear it much around the UK now.
Lots more birds of prey. Hardly ever see a hedgehog.
Loads of spuggies around here still.
Lots of badgers both alive and deceased, you want buzzards, go to princes risboro in the chilterns, I was born near there in a small village, we used to get plenty of raptors as kids in the 70's then they were all gone, for 30 odd yrs.
Happy to say they recovered from yrs of the farmers gun
Don't forget [i]Silent Spring[/i], years of the farmers' guns following the pessticides accumulating up the food chain.
Oh, and badgers, one considered moving into my back garden, and they're losing the fear of people.
They come over 'ere, taking our hedgerows... Increasingly I feel I ought to take a course to learn more about which tree is which, difference between a stoat and a ferrit, what bird it is that does a perfect imitation of brake squeal.
I live in a rural area so fox, deer (various), badgers, rodents, raptors, snakes, and so on are familiar sights.
Changes over the last ten years or so?
Boar, dumped from a farm some years ago and now feral, are a regular sight these days. The occasional red kite is now occasionally seen but owls, although still around, seem to be declining. Hedgehogs seem to be much rarer as are dragon flies. Otters are making a comeback though but mink are common. We are lucky to have a few rare birds in the area both resident and migratory.
Most sighting/hearing of various fauna is seasonal and in specific areas so it helps to view/hear if you know when and where. I've also noticed that it can be cyclical, numbers increasing and falling every few years; as indeed it seems to be the case for foodstuffs, berries, etc..
So, in answer to your question, yes I have noticed changes, mostly cyclical but there is a lot of wildlife out there if you keep your eyes and ears open 8)
I forgot to mention parakeets.
Lots of slow worms in our garden, badger tends to rummage the bin, hedgehogs wake me up if I sleep in the garden, tits on my nuts, frogs, newt, bats.
In Londinium even the pigeons had attitude with their [i]you will stop[/i] swagger as they strolled across the road in front of your car!
On my commute to work I've actually had to perform an emergency stop on my bicycle because of deer jumping out! & perfect holding my breath as I pass the decaying corpses of roadkill badgers
Yes, roadkill - usually smell it before you see it 🙁
Equally, if you're riding or walking downwind of a group of boar or, sometimes, deer you can pick up the smell before you see them (or they see you!) 🙂
I saw a mink in the centre of Todmorden a few years ago.
Never spotted one whilst riding, but this one just ran across the pavement near the canal.
One very large green parrot seems to have moved into the wood near bus stop quarry in Deiniolen.
Fewer sparrows, more deer, badgers and foxes and stoats.
Not seen a live adder in the Peak for 20 years, but spotted a dead one last summer.
I'm never sure if it's more/different wildlife or just that I notice it more.
Loads of Magpies where I used to live just outside Edinburgh.
Kites - but that's partly due to planned re-introduction.
The herd of feral goats near Dundonnel seems to be growing in number.
Don't see as many swifts as I once used to, see loads of curlews/skylarks though.
We certainly never used to get these...
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More sea bass off the coast over here at carlingford lough. Also more red squirrels returning to the mournes.
Nowhere near as many spuggies around as there used to be, same with starlings, lots of goldfinches come into the garden now, swifts and martins not so common in town. Magpies were all over the place a few years ago, but numbers seem to have dropped off recently, ravens have become almost common around North Wilts, and there are shitloads* of buzzards around! I was watching a bunch of them doing courting flights this afternoon, and they regularly fly over the centre of Chippenham, I've even seen a red kite in town, although they're still not common around Wiltshire.
Lapwings are pretty scarce, I saw two this afternoon, but there used to be flocks. There were lots of skylarks singing their little heads off today, too, I was watching them landing and running across the fields around Biddestone.
Not seen any hares the last two years or so, even in the places they used to be common, I was looking for them today, but didn't see one.
*accepted collective noun
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never seen a stoat or weasel in the wild, I'd like to. Are they just very good at not being seen or are they very rare?
Saw a few reindeer today
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Wood pigeons - never remember seeing them as a kid, now they're a top 10 species.
Yes how lovely that must have been to see them grazing the heather back to the earth and therefore reducing the chance of raptors such as the endagered hen harrier breeding there, assuming its in this country 😉
i spent the afternoon fishing on my favourite river, caught sweet fa but was treated to some grey wagtails nest hunting and a dipper bobbing up and down flitting here and there and a kingfisher hunting, he caught more than me anyway 😀
Saw a stoat last week while commuting. Great moment. More buzzards nowadays, occassionally see owls. Never seen the fabled kingfisher on my canalside commute. Fewer hedgehogs than there were.
Do see alpaca on my commute though 🙂
Zippykona that's a snail without it's shell isn't it? Seen one of those before.
We used to race snails when we were at school. The boys would paint the shells in their own colours so we knew which was which. Mine was all black. I thought he'd be quicker if I took his shell off completely, but that just made him more sluggish.
It's Limax Maximus or leopard slug and that's a wine bottle.
Big buggers.
spuggies
Byker Grove?? 😆
Around here there are lots of green Parakeets- I think some 15 years ago a couple of them escaped someones Avery and have obviously been breeding! They don't seem to have had too adverse an effect on thee native birds, at least not obviously.
Also I'm an angler, I've noticed Carp in rivers that have never usually had them. I guess they escaped from the commercial fisheries into the rivers during periods of flood. River Roach and Dace have been in a bit of a decline too- many blame this on Cormarant predation and the controversial re introduction of Otters.
I also have seen water voles on my local chalk stream last summer, a real joy. I hadn't seen them for a decade or so!
When I lived in Glasgow about 10 years ago it was magpies that ruled the roost out in the back garden. Now I'm on the Isle of Wight, it's wood pigeons. And I can't cut the grass in the summer without eviscerating at least one slow worm.
Saw a fox prowling the downs while out riding on Saturday. Made a nice change from seeing them scavenging puked-up kebab in a city centre at night. I generally feel a bit short-changed when it comes to wildlife sightings, considering I live in a relatively under-populated part of the country. I see a few buzzard and little egrets, and the very occasional barn owl if out riding at dusk, but not a great deal else. Much is made of there being red squirrels on the island but I hardly ever see them. Loads of pheasant, but I guess they're not really wildlife.
I saw a parakeet flying about Maryhill Park in Glasgow in the middle of winter last time I was home visiting my folks. Incongruous to say the least.
Still see a fair few Spuggies round here. Lots of Red Kite which have increased their range from Harewood, Buzzards galore, plenty of owls to be heard, as many hare's as I've ever seen too. I'm pretty lucky in that I've seen two Pine Martens in the Highlands, one by Lochaline & the other on the Loch Shiel track.
Loads more magpies, I do think these should be "controlled" especially as they raid other birds nests :0(
Lots of buzzards, love to see them, and yes I do call them when I can hear/see them
Saw some Parakeets near Hagley Hall the other day!
Sadly seeing too much road kill, especially badgers. I still think crafty farmers are to blame for a fair number of these
Around here there are lots of green Parakeets
Funny you should mention those fellas. In Greenwich Park there are loads now. MrsBouy said 5 years ago you'd never see one there yet now there are quite a few. Most came down from up West she said, Richmond/Hyde/Green Park area..
Certainly adds to a "tropical" soundscape that is East London.. 😆
On night rides in the warmer months I regularly see raccoons. Not generally a native of Europe but spreading like wild fire at the expense of foxes apparantly.
Kill the mink Kill the mink
Watched a buzzard being mobbed by jackdaws in my wood yesterday - spectacular sight up close!
This morning I had a pair of bullfinch feasting on my seed while a goldcrest nibbled on my fat balls... 😯
Greater spotted woodpeckers, nuthatches and treecreepers are now a very common sight, unfortunately, so is the sparrowhawk.
My policy of putting up strongly-worded signs to dissuade cats seems to be working 😉
I've also spotted an otter in the brook, chasing the little brown trout that can be seen flipping up the waterfall around September time...
The RSPB put together a state of nature report last year - illuminating and worrying in equal measure.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/science/research/projects/363867-the-state-of-nature-report
The report is wort a read if you have a spare hour or so.
I've also spotted an otter in the brook, chasing the little brown trout that can be seen flipping up the waterfall around September time...
jealous of that!
Used to watch red squirrels from the front window in north Kent. They disappeared one year. Grey squirrels came several years later but boogered off, and now it's all wood pigeons when I go back at winterval.
Moved overseas, and often get to see slow worms, squirrels, black woodpeckers (they're huge), hear cuckoos, red kites regularly (often very close - like sub 20 metres), buzzed by falcons/harriers (never did suss out what, but a bird of prey that size), see all sorts from my office window (nuthatches, black redstarts, something that's mostly yellow).
lots of deer, red, fallow, roe, muntjac, lots of buzzards, seen a couple of barn owls, although there is now a dead barn owl on the roadside on the way to work 🙁 Seen a couple of red kites recently as well. had a hedgehog in the garden a couple of years ago, which was surprising.
Lots of badger carcasses, I do wonder from location in relation to road whether some aren't road kill.
Should have mentioned, I'm in the north west - Ribble Valley. Where are others that are posting?
Seen a huge increase in barn owls, see them most times we visit Gisburn. On summer evenings, there's often one patrolling the field adjacent to the big climb up to the top of the Hope track...
oh - forget to mention lots of herons, but then the biggest heron reserve is 2 villages away (used to work there when I was in scouts).
pretty sure they're still there, but they'll have to be evicted to make way for an airport.
never seen a stoat or weasel in the wild, I'd like to. Are they just very good at not being seen or are they very rare?
Like all apex predators, they're less common than their prey, they're very small, and very, very good at not being seen.
I've seen a few, had a weasel come right up to me on the Sustrans route out of Chippenham once, I saw it loping along in front and stopped, it kept coming towards me and stopped right below my bike, looking right up at me! I even managed to take a photo with a cheap plastic camera, but the noisy shutter made it run off.
I saw a stoat rolling around in the road with a rabbit once, and a blackbird flapping above the two of them, making a racket, until the rabbit got free and had it away on it's toes up the road, the stoat being finally driven off by the bird's noise and flapping. Amazing sight, that.
Fewer Hedgehogs, Hares, sparrows, blackbirds and no red squirrels, the last one was seen in our area in 1981.
Lots of badgers, buzzards, herons, Canada geese, wood pigeons, mallards, gold finches and frogs.
Would like to see grey squirrels culled ( Yes, I know it's controversial).
Hoping to see an otter soon. Too many mink though and that's a really bad thing.
Lots of egrets by us, never used to see them pre-2000, must be all those people with greenhouses causing it. Ditto humbingbird moths. Went to Aylesbury a few weeks ago and saw loads of red kites. We had a gennet living wild in nearby woods for a few years in the 90's, would love to see again but suspect long since dead. Our tawny owls haven't come back this year yet and haven't seen hedgehogs for about 5 years.
The amphibians are getting jiggy now the sun is out!
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Saw a couple of newts today too.
Less wild flowers, less bumble bees.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/18/sting-tale-dave-goulson-review
http://bumblebeeconservation.org/
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/british-natural-history/survey-bluebells/bluebell-aboutthesurvey/
I dislike Prof Goulson, although I suspect STW wouldnt like me posting why on their forum, he was the final straw in me deciding to leave research.
Saw some goldfinches yesterday in my garden, haven't seen any for ages
Regularly see rose ringed parakeets now
(I live in North London)