Mice are often viewed as harmless. The species we’re talking about is the grey, long-tailed, nosetwitching house mouse.
They’re called house mice for good reason. They’re homebodies who live within a yard or two of their food supply, favouring human habitation, and often gain
access by simply sauntering across a welcome mat and through the gap provided by an open door or window
Autumn is the main time for migratory birds to depart from the UK. Those who can’t rely on stopovers or eat en route
often build up fat reserves by eating fruit, and not just songbird specialist
insect-eaters like House Martins. Fruits contain a high proportion of carbohydrates and unsaturated fatty acids that can be swiftly converted to body fat, increasing body weight.
The Geordie name ‘Piedy’ aptly
describes the attractive tri coloured pink, white and grey plumage of the long-tailed tit. These feathered ping pong balls with their long, stiff tails always appear in a flock, consisting largely of family members from a previous breeding season, constantly communicating uttering their familiar contact call ‘see see see.’ Hence the name Long-tailed Chittering.
Since the advent of arable farming, the
chaffinch and other seed-eating birds have
congregated on farms in great numbers at
harvest time to feed on the piles of chaff, the grain debris left over from threshing
(thrashing) sheaves of cereal grains
Ring-necked parakeets are in the news again. Although they’ve been in the UK since the 1800s, and first bred here in
1969, over fifty years ago, periodically a news item with dire warnings about invading parakeets is dusted off and broadcast.
A yew’s lifetime can transcend centuries surviving for over a thousand years, often
appearing immortal. The heart wood can rot away while other parts can regenerate.
A hen blackbird sunk low in its cupped nest, its upturned beak protruding over the rim, is often an enduring childhood
memory.
In medieval times, Nightjars were seen as a bad omen. When hunting moths and other insects in farmyards, they were believed to drink milk from the udders of sleeping goats, transmitting a disease that would cause blindness.
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Secretive yet common. The hedge sparrow is as much a familiar bird in urban areas as in the countryside, every park
and acre of farmland.