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Sheffields Flora and Fauna


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Not really flora or fauna really, just caught my eye this morning

This was near a bus stop on Abbeydale Rd Sth, obviously there had been a puddle and passing traffic had caused spray up the bush, hence the icicles

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Not really flora or fauna really, just caught my eye this morning

This was near a bus stop on Abbeydale Rd Sth, obviously there had been a puddle and passing traffic had caused spray up the bush, hence the icicles

Very impressive display though isn't it.

Ice can be quite attractive really, just a pity its so slippy, dangerous cold and wet.

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That lad wouldnt have a royal view from his drey would he?

I don't know about a royal view, but a great view of the city centre

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Hangon, didn't I tell you that lol

Don't think so, - check my post #122, don't think I got a reply to that.

Take it I'm right then, - just guessed it from the location of some of your recent topic posts.

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Guest Trefcon

Reynard yesterday morning braving the cold.

Dont forget our feathered friends. The empty sweet tin you have left from Christmas, fill it with melted lard and nuts, seeds, rind etc etc. Mix together and let set. Then scooped into yer empty Satsuma 'nets' and hang in the garden.

Been watching a small flock of Redwings this last week, flitting up and down the tree line on the back garden. Best of all though was twice seeing a Sparrowhawk take a Tit from the Hawthorn and devour them, quite gruesome through binoculars!

Dean.

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The 8 or 9 sparrows who frequent my back garden have dwindled to 4 or 5 as far as I can make out. Hope I don't loose any more. Still got the Dunnocks though.

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The 8 or 9 sparrows who frequent my back garden have dwindled to 4 or 5 as far as I can make out. Hope I don't loose any more. Still got the Dunnocks though.

Quite difficult to keep giving wild birds fresh water in this weather as everything freezes up so quickly.

Indoors we have recently lost one of our more elderly lovebirds, and the ground is so frozen we can't easily bury him.

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Quite difficult to keep giving wild birds fresh water in this weather as everything freezes up so quickly.

Indoors we have recently lost one of our more elderly lovebirds, and the ground is so frozen we can't easily bury him.

This recent bad weather has also caused some birds to lose their bearings and get a bit lost.

Yesterday my wife spotted an unusual looking bird in our garden, not near the bird table but hiding under a bush and coming out to feed on rotting apples which had fallen from our apple tree in the autumn and never been cleared up.

She tried unsuccessfully to get a photo as it did seem to stay under the bush for protection.

She described it to me as about the size of a collared dove, looks like a very large thrush (speckled breast) and has a distinctive call, which is what drew her attention to it in the first place.

After a bit of searching through an RSPB book and the Internet she identified it as a fieldfare.

Can't say I had heard of one before, or ever seen one around this area.

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This recent bad weather has also caused some birds to lose their bearings and get a bit lost.

Yesterday my wife spotted an unusual looking bird in our garden, not near the bird table but hiding under a bush and coming out to feed on rotting apples which had fallen from our apple tree in the autumn and never been cleared up.

She tried unsuccessfully to get a photo as it did seem to stay under the bush for protection.

She described it to me as about the size of a collared dove, looks like a very large thrush (speckled breast) and has a distinctive call, which is what drew her attention to it in the first place.

After a bit of searching through an RSPB book and the Internet she identified it as a fieldfare.

Can't say I had heard of one before, or ever seen one around this area.

DaveH I am at Handsworth and I had Fieldfare and Redwing feeding on the hawthorne berries last saturday .

First time I have seen them too.I have heard they come into gardens when the weather gets bad.

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DaveH I am at Handsworth and I had Fieldfare and Redwing feeding on the hawthorne berries last saturday .

First time I have seen them too.I have heard they come into gardens when the weather gets bad.

I thought that, although they are a British bird, their normal habitat was further north, in northern England and Scotland.

If this is so then the winters up there could be a lot harsher, causing them to move further south into our area.

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There was a bedraggled looking redwing at the Rustlings Rd entrance to Bingham Park last week. Never seen one before, but no mistaking it.

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We had a small group of Redwings a few years ago.

I looked them up on the net and it said they would be gone as soon as they'd stripped the local shrubs of their berries.

2 or three days later - not a Pyracantha berry left on the street, not a Redwing in sight. lol

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Would you believe it?

It's the week before Christmas,

We have just had a bit of snow and the daytime temperature is barely above freezing, night time is down to -3.

Had another look in those frost covered garden planters and those fungi from September are not only still there, - there are more of them!

A fungi that thrives in cold and frost!

Even more remarkable are these fungi photographed in the grounds of the Spires Centre (Hurlfield School) today.

We have just had a month with the ground constantly covered in snow and daytime temperatures barely above freezing. Nights have been exceptionally cold reaching around -12 at times.

But come the thaw so we can see the ground again, these fungi growing from an old tree stump (perhaps SteveHB can identify them) are still there :blink:

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Even more remarkable are these fungi photographed in the grounds of the Spires Centre (Hurlfield School) today.

We have just had a month with the ground constantly covered in snow and daytime temperatures barely above freezing. Nights have been exceptionally cold reaching around -12 at times.

But come the thaw so we can see the ground again, these fungi growing from an old tree stump (perhaps SteveHB can identify them) are still there :blink:

Dave your last photo (growing on a tree stump) looks like it could be Oyster fungus,

as it grows all year round.

Sorry but I can not identify your previous photo,

the underside (gills) and also the stem play a big part in making an identification,

most times more so than the cap.

Here is one you won't see much of until we get sub zero temperatures,

the Velvet Shank

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Dave your last photo (growing on a tree stump) looks like it could be Oyster fungus,

as it grows all year round.

Sorry but I can not identify your previous photo,

the underside (gills) and also the stem play a big part in making an identification,

most times more so than the cap.

Here is one you won't see much of until we get sub zero temperatures,

the Velvet Shank

Thanks Steve.

I'm just suprised to see so much fungi surviving through such harsh winter conditions.

The one you can't identify has actually gone now that it has been buried under snow for the best part of a month, but if it reappears next year I will try to get some better pictures showing the underside gills.

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DaveH I am at Handsworth and I had Fieldfare and Redwing feeding on the hawthorne berries last saturday .

First time I have seen them too.I have heard they come into gardens when the weather gets bad.

The fieldfare which appeared in our garden in early January has spent about a month with us. It has been in the garden almost all the time either up in the apple tree or hiding under a bush, frequently coming out to feed on apples, some of which we had put out especially for the bird.

However, in the last week it seems to have taken leave of us and flown back to where it came from.

Never did get a photo of it :(

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The fieldfare which appeared in our garden in early January has spent about a month with us. It has been in the garden almost all the time either up in the apple tree or hiding under a bush, frequently coming out to feed on apples, some of which we had put out especially for the bird.

However, in the last week it seems to have taken leave of us and flown back to where it came from.

Never did get a photo of it :(

What the old saying, "Red sky at Night, Shepherds delight" etc

Taken from my computer desk tonight at 18:05

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What the old saying, "Red sky at Night, Shepherds delight" etc

Taken from my computer desk tonight at 18:05

Wonder why it's a "shepherd delight"?

The redness at sunset is caused by particles in the upper atmosphere which scatter different frequencies of light (colours) differently.

Normally blue light is scattered sideways and red light comes straight through, so the Sun appears red (direct light) and the sky, which in reality is a colourless gas, appears blue (scattered light) but dust particles of a certain size create an effect called Tyndal scattering where red light is scattered into the sky making it appear red.

Why this bit of optical physics should delight shepherds remains a mystery. :huh:

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I seem to remember being taught a mixture of the two when I was a sprog, Red sky at night, shepherd's delight, red sky at morning, sailor's warning.

Mind you, my Gran used to make it up as she went along. She had a remarkable number of superstitions no-one else had heard of!

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It dates as far back as the Bible Dave .. http://www.rhymes.org.uk/red_sky_at_night.htm

OK so a red sky is caused by small particles high in the atmosphere which are big enough to scatter light causing the sky to appear red.

These same particles could cause condensing water droplets in clouds to coagulate (clump together) forming bigger droplets of water to form which are heavy enough to then fall as a rain shower.

If this happened at night an overnight shower would clear the air of both dust particles and high levels of humidity leaving it clear and dry the following morning

If it happened in the morning then there would more than likely be a rain shower that day leaving a clear period for the following night.

Would that explain the rhyme?

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