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London (Inner City) Wildlife

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  • killerandflash
    killerandflash Posts: 69,987
    @Uboat - actually not too frightening, we see a bunch of black bears in Spring and Autumn around in the valley here. When I first saw one, not long after I moved here I crapped myself!! Used to them now though... if I saw a grizzly bear that close however, different story.
    Do you always carry around bear spray just in case? I remember carrying it when on a short walking holiday in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons
  • bobmunro
    bobmunro Posts: 20,899
    edited May 2020
    @Uboat - actually not too frightening, we see a bunch of black bears in Spring and Autumn around in the valley here. When I first saw one, not long after I moved here I crapped myself!! Used to them now though... if I saw a grizzly bear that close however, different story.
    Do you always carry around bear spray just in case? I remember carrying it when on a short walking holiday in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons

    Bells are what you need!

    A guy's going on a hiking vacation through the mountains out west.  Before
    setting off into the boonies, he stops into a small general store to get
    some supplies.
    
    After picking out the rest of his provisions, he asks the old store owner,
    "Say mister, I'm going hiking up in the mountains, and I was wondering;
    do you have any bears around here?"
    
    "Yup," replies the owner.
    
    "What kind?" asks the hiker.
    
    "Well, we got black bears and we got grizzlies," he replies.
    
    "I see," says the hiker.  "Do you have any of those bear bells?"
    
    "What do you mean?" asks the store owner.
    
    "You know," replies the hiker, "those little tinkle-bells that people wear
    in bear country to warn the bears that they are coming, so they don't
    surprise the bears and get attacked."
    
    "Oh yeah," replies the owner.  "They're over there," he says, pointing to 
    a shelf on the other side of the store.  The hiker selects  a couple of 
    the bells and and takes them to the counter to pay for them.
    
    "Tell me something, mister," the hiker inquires, "how can you tell when
    you're in bear territory, anyway?"
    
    "By the scat," the old fellow replies, ringing up the hiker's purchases.
    
    "Well, um, how can I tell if it's grizzly territory or black bear territory?" 
    the hiker asks.
    
    "By the scat," the store owner replies.
    
    "Well, what's the difference?" asks the hiker.  "I mean, what's different
    between grizzly scat and black bear scat?"
    
    "The stuff that's in it," replies the store owner.
    
    Getting a little frustrated, the hiker asks, "OK, so what's in grizzly bear
    scat that isn't in black bear scat?" he asks, an impatient tone in his voice.
    
    
    "Bear bells," replies the old man as he hands the hiker his purchases.
    

  • kentaddick
    kentaddick Posts: 18,729
    edited May 2020
    Uboat said:
    Bumped into this beauty walking around the local golf course here in Whistler the other day...
    I have to ask. How frightening was it?
    Black bears are the pussies of the bear world. If you’re used to them popping up you just give them a respectful distance and make lots of noise and they’ll scram
  • blackpool72
    blackpool72 Posts: 23,729
    Uboat said:
    Bumped into this beauty walking around the local golf course here in Whistler the other day...
    I have to ask. How frightening was it?
    Black bears are the pussies of the bear world. If you’re used to them popping up you just give them a respectful distance and make lots of noise and they’ll scram
    A bit like palarse fans then.
  • Leuth
    Leuth Posts: 23,391
    Brown bears require a bit more to scare away. You need to yell PERKELE very loudly
  • Macronate
    Macronate Posts: 12,914

    We've seen a heron scanning the area from on top of sheds and outbuildings quite a few times here in Barnehurst.

    Still amazes me, the size of them and wing span when they take off.

  • Addickted
    Addickted Posts: 19,456
    edited May 2020
    Since the lockdown, the wildlife has seemed to be returning in droves in Mote Park - especially down by the lake.


  • killerandflash
    killerandflash Posts: 69,987
    Saw a kestrel (I think) on Hampstead Heath this afternoon
  • Macronate
    Macronate Posts: 12,914
    Addickted said:
    Since the lockdown, the wildlife has seemed to be returning in droves in Mote Park - especially down by the lake.


    No way would those birds plot up in Maidstone.

  • Stig said:
    Bumped into this beauty walking around the local golf course here in Whistler the other day...
    A nice little stroll around your local golf cub.
    Pretty sure I've run around that golf club. Made sure I made even more noise, huffing and puffing running along! It's wierd seeing bears by the side of a road, then being out close to the same roads an hour or two later. 

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  • Not urban, nor wild I know but I regularly see these guys taking in the sea air. The council use them to keep the gorse down on parts of the clifftop.



    Chunky buggers. 

    Also saw a deer running around the mini golf at the top of the road recently. First time in 20 years down here. 
  • killerandflash
    killerandflash Posts: 69,987
    Not urban, nor wild I know but I regularly see these guys taking in the sea air. The council use them to keep the gorse down on parts of the clifftop.



    Chunky buggers. 

    Also saw a deer running around the mini golf at the top of the road recently. First time in 20 years down here. 
    Well Bournemouth is full of old dears...
  • What I have noticed over the weeks is the foxes have returned to the fields en mass now all the takeaways and fast food outlets have been closed and no rubbish for them to scavenge through
  • iaitch
    iaitch Posts: 10,266

    This was a Buzzard spotted over Eltham being attacked by crows
    Looks like a flying shark. 
    Don't get sharks in London mate
    Plenty of sharks hanging around the club at the moment.
  • AddicksAddict
    AddicksAddict Posts: 15,841

    This was a Buzzard spotted over Eltham being attacked by crows
    Looks like a flying shark. 
    Don't get sharks in London mate
     A flying shark could go wherever it wants.
  • AddicksAddict
    AddicksAddict Posts: 15,841
    2 badgers and one buzzard seen in Beckenham 
    Drove past Downing St on Monday, the complete and utter bastard Cummings wasn't to be seen.
  • killerandflash
    killerandflash Posts: 69,987

    This was a Buzzard spotted over Eltham being attacked by crows
    Looks like a flying shark. 
    Don't get sharks in London mate
     A flying shark could go wherever it wants.
    But would have to quarantine itself for 14 days after arriving in this country
  • Elthamaddick
    Elthamaddick Posts: 15,847
    the bloody foxes are getting worse!, total pain in the arse round here in Welling
  • JohnnyJoeyDeeDee
    JohnnyJoeyDeeDee Posts: 1,043
    Too many postings from non urban areas and way beyond inner London. Anything beyond Charlton station doesn’t count. We want our London back 
  • Hovi's Biscuit
    Hovi's Biscuit Posts: 1,717
    Leuth said:
    Talal said:
    We regularly get woodpeckers but I've no idea if they're quite common or not. 
    Greater Spotteds are fairly common in SE London; Greens are a bit more unusual in the city. Lesser Spotteds would be an insane find; I've never seen one
    Loads of green woodpeckers living in Camberwell New Cemetery / One Tree Hill. Never seem to see them beyond there though

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  • I've seen quite a few wagtails, but oddly only in car parks and that is from the City of London to Bexleyheath.

    Pied Wagtail  NatureSpot
  • Wilma
    Wilma Posts: 1,618
    edited May 2020
    I've seen quite a few wagtails, but oddly only in car parks and that is from the City of London to Bexleyheath.

    Pied Wagtail  NatureSpot
    I used to love seeing them in Tesco Foots Cray when I worked nearby. Like you, I've only ever seen Pied Wagtails in carparks and never anywhere remotely green. 

    I've edited to specify Pied Wagtails in carparks, as I've seen Grey Wagtails near the rivers in Dartford and Foots Cray. 
  • Covered End
    Covered End Posts: 52,069
    Ditto, I see the odd wagtail or two in Bromley, but never in my garden.
  • killerandflash
    killerandflash Posts: 69,987
    I've seen Scott Wagtail. He was better than Danny Green Woodpecker
  • Leuth
    Leuth Posts: 23,391
    Have seen pied wagtails on Blackheath! And yeah wherever there's lots of concrete. Railway platforms even
  • cafcfan
    cafcfan Posts: 11,206
    Wilma said:
    I've seen quite a few wagtails, but oddly only in car parks and that is from the City of London to Bexleyheath.

    Pied Wagtail  NatureSpot
    I used to love seeing them in Tesco Foots Cray when I worked nearby. Like you, I've only ever seen Pied Wagtails in carparks and never anywhere remotely green. 

    I've edited to specify Pied Wagtails in carparks, as I've seen Grey Wagtails near the rivers in Dartford and Foots Cray. 
    Pied Wagtails like car parks because they have learnt that we very kindly catch their food for them.  They eat insects and squashed and half-dead ones are as good as live and much less work when you don't have to chase them but just pick them off the front of cars.   (Grackles, a much larger bird, do a similar job in the USA.)
  • charltonbob
    charltonbob Posts: 8,288
    Bumped into this beauty walking around the local golf course here in Whistler the other day...
    If that was me taking the photo I think it might be very blurred
  • charltonbob
    charltonbob Posts: 8,288
    Greenwich Park 
  • charltonbob
    charltonbob Posts: 8,288
    Greenwich Park II


  • i_b_b_o_r_g
    i_b_b_o_r_g Posts: 18,948
    Saw a kestrel (I think) on Hampstead Heath this afternoon
    Is that a euphemism, sailor?

    ;)