best spot ever!

pheonix · #1 (**permalink**) 16-12-2005, 04:43 PM

if this is possible for people to do, i was wondering what everyones best sighting has been, the one the really wowwed you and possibly still does when you think back to it?
stick to the uk but add on any thing else if you wish.
i think mine has to be Dormouse, as it is such an illusive species that few people get to see, this particular one actually ran onto my hand!

nightshade · #2 (**permalink**) 16-12-2005, 05:09 PM

I find all close encounters of the wildlife kind memorable and exciting,I have recounted a few here before,but sitting shooting on the mendips I have had the company of deer,Dormice,woodmice and even had a basking Adder move over to my feet for some shade as temperatures soared, keep still move slowly when you must,wear muted colours
I have even had Rabbits jumping my gun barrel as I crawled toward them
with pie in mind!

Fourwings · #3 (**permalink**) 16-12-2005, 10:18 PM

It has to be finding Leicestershire's first Lesser Emperor dragonfly on a warm July evening back in 2004, a truely magic moment and made all the sweeter by the fact that it was on my "local patch" - the reserve that I spend half of my life on from April to October

Pat · #4 (**permalink**) 17-12-2005, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightshade

I find all close encounters of the wildlife kind memorable and exciting,I have recounted a few here before,but sitting shooting on the mendips I have had the company of deer,Dormice,woodmice and even had a basking Adder move over to my feet for some shade as temperatures soared, keep still move slowly when you must,wear muted colours
I have even had Rabbits jumping my gun barrel as I crawled toward them
with pie in mind!

Not shooting our wildlife I hope

wildone · #5 (**permalink**) 17-12-2005, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightshade

I have even had Rabbits jumping my gun barrel as I crawled toward them with pie in mind!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat

Not shooting our wildlife I hope

I suppose there is some justification if it is for the pot. After all anyone who eats meat or fish has a killing on their hands even if they didn't do it themselves. Is the life of a wild creature of more importance than that of a farm animal which often hasn't even had the chance of a natural life?

Pat · #6 (**permalink**) 17-12-2005, 11:19 AM

I was on about shooting for the fun of it or sport as I know a lot of people do and I have never seen the point

I don't eat farm animals anyway.

wildone · #7 (**permalink**) 17-12-2005, 12:12 PM

Sorry about going off thread. Back again now.

One of my best experiences was during the summer. I was at the boot of the car getting out food for the feeders at the wood when I felt a draught on my bare upper arm and looked up to see a Sparrowhawk. It had come between me and the hedge less than 4 feet away from the car. I see them quite regularly taking their chance with what might be on the feeders but they usually wait until I am back in the car.

allerleirauh · #8 (**permalink**) 18-12-2005, 09:09 AM

i have never been in UK, so I have no nature experiences there, but here, where i live, the most wonderful time i spent with young Badgers , which i observed for several weeks. They have been amazing.. playful and curious like cats. They have been too young to show fear and so they accepted me after a while as part of the surrounding . They played with each other or with the things i offered them ( apples,fircones, a ball ) as if i would not be there. Sometimes one of them came and sniffeled on my jacket or boots but like "kids" are soon forgot of me again in the play or in exploring the surrounding of their lair.

Tinkerbell · #9 (**permalink**) 18-12-2005, 10:11 AM

Welcome allerleirauh - It's great to see that we have a new member for our forums from Bavaria. Your observation of the Badgers is fascinating - I hope you will enjoy reading more about British flora and fauna and adding to the various debates.

allerleirauh · #10 (**permalink**) 18-12-2005, 12:51 PM

Thank you , Tinkerbell, for the welcome :-). I will love to learn more about your native flora and fauna as this was the reason to join this forum. We have a lot of animals and plants in common , but there are ( island-related ) differencies ( behaviour, seize etc ) and i am interested to learn more about it.

Tinkerbell · #11 (**permalink**) 18-12-2005, 01:44 PM

And, for my own never to be forgotten memory - my brother and I used to visit our grandparents at Uckington, Near Cheltenham and sometimes made our way across the fields to a shallow, narrow area of the river Chelt. As children do, rope swings were tied onto branches and enjoyed by both of us, and other children, but as energy sapped and things became quieter, we saw kingfishers darting to and fro. I've rarely seen them as an adult but the sight of their brilliant plumage and activity remains in my memory with affection.

nightshade · #12 (**permalink**) 18-12-2005, 06:03 PM

sorry not a best spot,a hello to Allerleirauh please tell me more about your bats

henrya · #13 (**permalink**) 19-12-2005, 08:35 AM

Like nightshade, I find all wildlife encounters memorable, but one of the best was late one evening in Dorset. I had just finished some research on Greater Horseshoe Bats and was walking back to my lodgings when I saw, in the gloaming, something running along the path towards me. A dog, I thought, even though it was very late, since the path is favoured by dog walkers. But as it got closer I realised it was a Badger. It came closer and closer - when it got to within about two feet of me it skidded to a halt, gave a very loud snarl, which made me jump and made the hairs on my head stand up and my heart gallop, and turned at right angles and dashed off into the undergrowth. Unforgettable!

henrya

Tursiops · #14 (**permalink**) 19-12-2005, 01:26 PM

Bit of a long one this, but since you asked, and I seem to have some free time this afternoon...

One of my most memorable, and magical, bird sightings occured when I was still very new to the field. I was 15, and it was my first winter with a pair of binoculars. We lived then in a place called East Molesey in north Surrey, on the opposite side of the Thames to Hampton Court Palace. At the time, my sister was taking riding lessons at a local stables. This was an activity that held no interest for me whatsoever, so I've no idea why I said "yes" when my mum asked me if I'd like to drive down with her when she went to pick up my sister after a lesson, but for some reason I did.

When we got to the stables, I was delighted to find that it was located on the north side of Island Barn reservoir, the smallest and most south-easterly of the great West London reservoirs. I didn't know, at that time, how famous these huge concrete water tanks were for wintering wildfowl, but I'd read in the books that reservoirs were good in winter, so when the owner of the stables said I could look over the water from their land, I leaped at the chance.

I was given twenty minutes before I had to be back at the car, so I hot-footed it up the bank, and found myself gazing in awe at a body of water almost completely covered with birds - huge numbers of coot, gulls, and (if I remember correctly) my first Goldeneye and Goosander, and many others. While scanning this crowd, I became aware of something happening to my right.

Turning that way, I first became aware of the view - looking west over the flat Thames floodplain, an unfolding panorama of reservoirs and houses extending as far as Heathrow airport, with Windsor Castle a blip on the horizon. I then became conscious of the weather. There was a snow-storm coming in from the north-west - not as a continuous bank of cloud, but broken into discrete pods of cloud, each with its own skirt of falling snow beneath it. Back-lit by a late afternoon sun, they traversed the landscape like elemental spirits from Norse mythology. One of these behemoths was heading straight for me, and its passing across the sun had caught my attention.

As I stood watching this majestic snow-djinn approach, and the snow started to fall around me, I became aware that there was something distinctly odd about one of the snowflakes - it was getting rapidly larger, and in fact had apparently sprouted wings! Within a few seconds, this enigma had resolved itself, and my first ever Snow Bunting fell out of the sky and settled on the reservoir bank not six yards from my feet. I watched it, entranced, for five minutes until called back to the car.

It was one of those "right time, right place" moments, the intersection of two separate life paths, that will always be one of my most treasured memories.

Tursiops

nightshade · #15 (**permalink**) 19-12-2005, 06:50 PM

sorry not a veggie though I do enjoy them, I only shoot with my camera now
-days
this week I was checking some pumps and on opening the pump house door and switching on the lights(0600) I was joined by a robin which followed me around until I approached the door when it flew outside it has done the same thing for the last 3 days. I had tried to feed it today but it just seemed to like the company

Imaginos · #16 (**permalink**) 20-12-2005, 10:21 AM

I have two experiences competing for top spot in my memories.
The first was Borth Bog, Aberystwyth where a friend & I sat watching a juvenile Hen Harrier & a Merlin try & catch the same Meadow Pipit for about 10 minutes; the harrier would flush the bird only for the merlin, who was perching on a nearby hide, to swoop in under the harriers talons, & invariably miss, letting the poor mipit escape into the undergrowth, only for the harrier to flush it out...
The second was on Sherkin Island, Co. Cork. I'd just finished a butterfly transect which had featured swarms of Common Blues speckling the grass like gemstones. I sat by the sea to eat my lunch, saw a cuckoo fly over and then the clincher; an Otter appeared about 20 feet away & proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes hunting & feeding virtually by my feet, needless to say my lunch went uneaten that day!

Tinkerbell · #17 (**permalink**) 20-12-2005, 03:25 PM

Some great recollections here, and Tursiops, you've painted a great picture of the day you saw the snow bunting. I've not been to that area of UK, but can imagine it from your writing.

P.S. That's one of the reasons I've asked folk to describe their 'neck of the woods' on the thread 'Be it ever so humble'.

pheonix · #18 (**permalink**) 22-12-2005, 09:12 PM

i have had a very close encounter with a young Badger so busy foraging it didnt notice me untill it came to with 4 feet from me, and although im not really into bats ive had the pleasure of watching greater and leeser horseshoe emerge from a roost whilst listening to them light sampling with a bat detector!

allerleirauh · #19 (**permalink**) 23-12-2005, 02:07 PM

hello Phoenix,
i made the experience that Badgers seem not to be very worried when on their way. Maybe because they have no natural enemies anymore and also the hunt was forbidden for years, as they have been nearly exctincted when they fumigated the dens of foxes here.
That you could listen to the sounds of a horseshoe bat is a wonderful and very rare experience.
IS this long fm/cf call not amazing ?
The horseshoe-bats have the best echolocationsystem of all batspecies. They are able to detect a wire of 0,05mm diameter.
We use the detectors here alot for monitoring and to determine batspecies when we find new quartiers.

Gitta

allerleirauh · #20 (**permalink**) 23-12-2005, 02:09 PM

I am very sorry, just saw that i wrote your name wrong.. :-(

Gitta

pheonix · #21 (**permalink**) 24-12-2005, 11:37 AM

its ok you actually got it right, i originally got it wrong!

its amazing that they're that sensitive, i have only heard them once whilst eating at a pub after work, by the the river dart in devon, they were in a cave around the back of the garden. a very rare bat in england, im not to sure about the reast of europe?

nightshade · #22 (**permalink**) 24-12-2005, 12:32 PM

Seeing a good mix of bats swarming, picking out the different calls on the bat detector has got to be a high
The Greater Horseshoe call is unusual but I like the Serotine ,nattterers and the more widely known Pipistrelle

allerleirauh · #23 (**permalink**) 24-12-2005, 10:32 PM

Hello Phoenix,
I am not sure about the rest of Europe, but here in Germany they belong to the most endangered and rarest batsspecies.

LonesomeTwin · #24 (**permalink**) 26-12-2005, 12:45 PM

My best spot ever was a adonis blue, seen a small strip of uncultivated land by the car park where I worked in Northampton, in around 1996. The brilliance of its colour in the wild is breathtaking.

(edit)
Spurred on by Google, it turns out that this sighting was way, way out of its established area, and was probably well worth reporting. Without a photo, would I have been believed?

glsammy · #25 (**permalink**) 26-12-2005, 03:48 PM

Had my best Christmas Present today, For the very first time we saw three Bullfinches, finding something to eat on our old Honeysuckle plants. They stayed for about 10 minutes- a real Boxing Day treat.

Our usual limit is sparrows, blue tits, greenfinches an odd robin and blackbirds, so for us this was a brilliant sight.