Wildlife spots. Early or not?
Discussion
Sooo. First time in this section, and it seems to be mostly cats/dogs as far as thread titles go.
I'm not a wildlife expert, by any means, but since I am not currently working, I've been keeping a closer eye on what's going on in the garden. I've seen a smattering of the 'usual suspect' garden birds, and one or two more interesting species that I hadn't seen in the garden before, such as Blackcap and Dunnock and Long Tailed Tits. This all seems fairly normal, for the time of year, but.....
Last week I saw a bat flying around between our house and the one next door. No idea what species, but large, in terms of bat sizes. It was flitting in and out of the area lit by the streetlamp, so following it's movements was a struggle. The next spot was yesterday. A large 'bumble-bee', so large that I spotted it at the bottom of the garden through the kitchen window whilst washing up. I went out for a closer look, and there it was, doing bee stuff, with big blobs of (pollen?) trapped in the hairs on it's legs, despite the low temperature and the drizzle.
Now, the question I have is, "Is it too early for these critters to be up and about, given that the nights are still frosty, and there is snow forecast over the next week?"
The next question is "Is there anything I can do, on a practical level, to assist said critters, or am I best to leave well alone?"
I'm not a wildlife expert, by any means, but since I am not currently working, I've been keeping a closer eye on what's going on in the garden. I've seen a smattering of the 'usual suspect' garden birds, and one or two more interesting species that I hadn't seen in the garden before, such as Blackcap and Dunnock and Long Tailed Tits. This all seems fairly normal, for the time of year, but.....
Last week I saw a bat flying around between our house and the one next door. No idea what species, but large, in terms of bat sizes. It was flitting in and out of the area lit by the streetlamp, so following it's movements was a struggle. The next spot was yesterday. A large 'bumble-bee', so large that I spotted it at the bottom of the garden through the kitchen window whilst washing up. I went out for a closer look, and there it was, doing bee stuff, with big blobs of (pollen?) trapped in the hairs on it's legs, despite the low temperature and the drizzle.
Now, the question I have is, "Is it too early for these critters to be up and about, given that the nights are still frosty, and there is snow forecast over the next week?"
The next question is "Is there anything I can do, on a practical level, to assist said critters, or am I best to leave well alone?"
the big bees will be fine - even saw some honey bees last week.....they can actually handle the weather better than many larger things and seem to have a bit of a calendar of their own
No idea about bats though - not sure what they'd be eating at this time of year (well theres little flies and stuff I guess) whether if it gets really cold again it'd hit em....not sure. be interested if anyone else knows
No idea about bats though - not sure what they'd be eating at this time of year (well theres little flies and stuff I guess) whether if it gets really cold again it'd hit em....not sure. be interested if anyone else knows
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