Wildlife in Stroudgreen

andy

That is a fantastic cat/magpie infographic Toddlesocks. Do you work for BBC news? I would like to see you put in charge of their election coverage.

Toddlesocks

@Andy lol, i think the SG wildlife is more interesting, certainly tamer

Our neighbourhood fox sleeping on top of my garden hut today

<a href="http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k94/sharmay/house/?action=view¤t=fox3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k94/sharmay/house/fox3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Image Hosting"></a>

Leaving at dusk
<a href="http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k94/sharmay/house/?action=view¤t=fox4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k94/sharmay/house/fox4.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Image Hosting"></a>

magicP

Excellent pictures!

A fox sometimes curls up for a sleep in our back garden. I wonder if it's the same one.

unaesthetic

wow, that's a surprisingly non-skanky urban fox!

katiejane

I saw a dead cockroach on SGR this morning. Does that count?

I also saw a man locking the door to Hanoi on his way out of there, but sadly was feeling to shy to ask him when it was going to open.

hedgetrimmer

I was staring out the window this morning and saw an unfamiliar, dowdy little bird on my patio. I looked him up, and blow me down if he wasn't a dead ringer for a chiffchaff. How exotic is that?

andy

@kj - do you think woodward and bernstein broke the Watergate story by being too shy? We need brave investigative journalist types to find out when that place is going to open!

tosscat

@ andy - and what kind of predicament would we be in if Kajagoogoo had not been Too Shy? Hmmm?

andy

hush hush

unaesthetic

limahl for prime minister!

katiejane

and Colette didn't even pick up on my typo!

Colette

Katiejane!

katiejane

that's more like it!

krappyrubsnif

Fieldfare in the tree outside my window this morning. Must be driven in to the city by the snow. First for my back garden, anyway.

jandb

Looks like <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/12/big-freeze-wildlife">it's not the only one</a>

krappyrubsnif

Yes it was on the Today Programme this morning too. And just as the radio story finished, past my window came our feathered friend.

Ali

Are you sure it wasn't a Jay ?

krappyrubsnif

Positive. Absolutely. In fact, believe it or not there was a jay in the next tree, so I had a right twitch with my binoculars.

Billy Bookcase

Tawny owls have been out of control the last few nights.

tosscat

And jays are pink.

tosscat

There was a cracking barn owl by Harringay station the other morning.

krappyrubsnif

Out of control? How, exactly?

Billy Bookcase

Hootin' and carrying on so loudly that I couldn't get back to sleep.

andy

Apparently, Fieldfares are everywhere: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8457214.stm>;

nick_m

I can confirm the presence of fieldfares; there was a group of them in my garden jealously defending a berry bush. New to me. Are there any decent bird feeders that squirrels can't access? They clean mine out in a day, greedy sods. We saw a kestral up on the heath eating a mouse the other weekend. If anyone sees a Muntjac they get the star prize. Surely they are an SG myth?

miss annie

Squirrels are total bandits. There is a bird feeder that squirrels can't access - it's weighted so that shutters slide down to cover the feeding holes when the big heffalumps get on it. You can get it via the RSPB website.

Alternatively a whole pot of very hot powdered chilli/cayenne pepper added to the peanuts, or seeds before you put them in the feeder will deter squirrels (for a while at least). Birds have no taste receptors for chilli so it has no effect on them at all, perfectly safe.

Has everyone noticed quite a few woodpeckers in their garden recently? Haven't seen any rowdy barn owls yet.

tosscat

No, but there was a beautiful goldcrest outside my window the other day - it made me very happy.

jandb

We get the odd goldcrest too. Small but perfectly formed.

Billy Bookcase

I have seen Muntjac on the Heath and on the Gospel Oak to Barking embankment.
Kestrels are easy to spot on the heath between Kenwood and Parliament Hill.
We have great green and black and red woodpeckers that seem to live in The Grove allotments.

taff bach

I have see a Muntjac on the Walkway and in the grounds of Stroud Green School early in the morning. I thought it was a whippet at first. We have a family of woodpeckers at the bottom of the garden which give me great joy, especially the juveniles in the spring. A Wren flies up and down behind the house and bats the same in the summer evenings.When a neighbour cut down a rotten tree an enormous owl flew off. Good result for the vole population!