Wildlife

[Alan Stubbs]

An Osprey taking a salmon from the River Don and simultaneously watching a Dipper walking underwater harvesting weed to build its nest probably takes it for me, but at Wingham sat between 2 trees with a nightingale on one side and a Cetti's warbler on the other in good view was something I will always remember with gratitude to Steve Burke.

[UK_Ozzie]

6 Large Manta rays hearding plankton in a near perfect circle out of the Dampier Achipeligo off Legendre Island.

Once one of the Cobia were hooked on a Popper one of the Manta Rays would peel off the circle swim over and bust the line with their wing then swim back to what they were doing.

How the Manta Rays had the awareness to carry out this who knows. Like a form of ESP communication or an understanding of what takes place who knows?

[bampah]

I work as a Ranger on Canford Magna golf club and constantly look for fish in the Dorset Stour that runs alongside our Riverside course.

One day I spotted a turtle as big as a dinner plate, sunning itself on a lily pad. It moved off smartish when it spotted me above.

I reported it to the Environment Agency but I could tell that the woman I was speaking to didn't believe a word.

 

The Riverside course was built on the floodplain and it regularly floods in winter (though this is the first year it's ever flooded in July!)

After one flooding, when the water had nearly cleared, a fellow Ranger was inspecting the course when he found what must have been the same turtle, groggily surviving in a flooded bunker.

He gave it to the owner,s wife who nursed it back to full health.

Whereabouts now unknown.

Rangers 1 - Environment Agency 0

[Bobj]

6 Large Manta rays hearding plankton in a near perfect circle out of the Dampier Achipeligo off Legendre Island.

Once one of the Cobia were hooked on a Popper one of the Manta Rays would peel off the circle swim over and bust the line with their wing then swim back to what they were doing.

How the Manta Rays had the awareness to carry out this who knows. Like a form of ESP communication or an understanding of what takes place who knows?

Good story, mate. It is well known that mantas and cobia have a symbiotic relationship.

Magic part of WA, lived on the Burrup Peninsular once.

[Rob Ward]

A grass snake swam across the front of my swim at Wingham last week, not particularly exciting compared to some of the others here but it's the first time I've seen a wild snake in the UK so I was quite chuffed.

[Steve Burke]

As I wrote earlier I'm spoilt having my own gravel pit complex at Wingham where I allow very limited access. As many of you will know I also run it as a nature reserve and because of the low level of disturbance I see a lot of wildlife.

 

The latest was seeing a hobby twisting and turning to take a swift right in front of our eyes. The other half of the us was a new member on his first visit, and he was certainly impressed. I did admit to him though that it was the first such close encounter I'd seen. Previous kills of birds rather than dragonflies that I'd seen were high in the sky when little could be made out.

[Bobj]

Our resident tree snake. His home, for the last 2 months, is in the brickwork of the house and his hole is directly under our bedroom window. The aerial roots are from an orchid.

 

[Steve Burke]

I was over at my lakes at Wingham the other day when my car alarm went off. The culprits? A pair of fox cubs playing on the (now scratched) bonnet! The rascals!

Edited July 26, 2007 by Steve Burke

[rojones86]

Not sure whether this would be classed as impressive or just damn right shocking....

 

 

Yesterday i was fishing a local pond which is pretty much overrun with pike, but does contain other species. About an hour before packing up i heard one of the 2 resident grebes splashing and making awful screeching sounds over in the middle of the lake. The bird was dissapearing tail first under the water and being held there for a couple of seconds before coming back up. this happened about 5 times before the bird managed to struggle free. However it only managed to swim away about 15 feet when the same process started again. This time the bird made no return.

 

Have any other anglers witnessed these kind of pike attacks? (the pikes mouth was clearly visible holdIng the grebes leg)

 

hi rich. was that at pike pond? i went there the other week and a bloke told me a pike had taken a coot off the surface. rather scary! :-S

[Emma two]

Ospreys an' otters are now regular sightings although they didn't used to be. One when quite young out in the lake on a boat with my father we saw a red deer enter the lake and swim right acros it, going past us.

 

The most unusual, for me anyway, ceature to be encountered were bear in Canada. Perhaps not so unsual for those who live in parts of the worls where they occur. The first 'close encounter' came one morning as a friemd and I walked through a wood towards to river in the Rockies in western Alberta. We spotted a black bear about 100 yards away rubbing itself against a tree. The advice we had been given was 'don't run away from them, as it might prompt them to chase, and if they do have a go at you then roll up into a ball to protect your vital organs'. Our walking speed gradually increased untill out of site, then we 'legged it' down to the river, waded right in and sat on a small island in mid stream. A waste of time if it had really wanted to get us a few feet of water wouldn't have stopped it. The bears were a regular evening visitor to our campsite taking scraps and fish heads and tails from the picnic tables.

Edited October 4, 2008 by Emma two