Springwatch highlights: Thursday 10th June
| 09:57 UK time, Sunday, 13 June 2010
The last show of the second week brought us glorious natives and exotic visitors, underwater sex, a beady-eyed bandit and bucketfuls of surprises. Here at Pensthorpe we saw amazing behaviour from the little ringed plovers in trying to ward off the marauding jackdaw. The avocet chicks continued to delight. A new and rather rare family, the spotted flycatchers, were introduced. And Chris analysed the kestrels' feeding habits.
Over in Dorset there was tragedy with the swan family. Of the five hatchlings, only three cygnets survived the night. Simon thought it might have been down to a fight with neighbouring swans. Not surprising given the aggression which male swans display when they fight.
The way in which the swan chicks find safety when threatened was one of our highlights. As was the final part of Ian Llewellyn's enchanting kingfisher diary. And finally, if you thought wildlife photography meant a trip to Kenya, Jay Dykes' macro photography should persuade you otherwise.
Which were your favourites? You can watch more clips from the show here or watch the whole show again on iPlayer.
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In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit Ö÷²¥´óÐã Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit Ö÷²¥´óÐã Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
Comment number 1.
At 13th Jun 2010, Asha wrote:I live in Criccieth, North Wales and while walking yesterday I found some tiny crabs in end of what appears to be a freshwater ditch. It is near the estuary but I'm pretty sure the water never reaches the ditch. As we don't have freshwater crabs could they be something new? Please help Asha
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Comment number 2.
At 13th Jun 2010, U14516279 wrote:i live in folkestone, kent. we have had a hedgehog living in and around our garden for about a year now. It dissapeared on bonfire night and we feared the worst. we didn't see it throughout winter but last week it came back!
it now has baby hedgehogs in the house we made it, which is near a ground-level pond. can hedgehogs swim and if they can't is there anything we could do to help them if they fall in?
frankie.
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Comment number 3.
At 13th Jun 2010, Debbie16 wrote:We have suspected for a while that there might have been a bluetit nest in our hedge, but today for the first time we have seen the fledgling, perched on top of the bird feeder, while Mum (or Dad??) pecks at the suet block (they like the suet and fruit best it seems!) and takes some back up to Baby waiting on top. We are still struggling to find ways of stopping the crows and jackdaws - we are afraid they will eat the fledglings, but hopefully there is enough hedge cover nearby so the little birds can escape to safety.
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Comment number 4.
At 13th Jun 2010, bluetit12 wrote:I was at tatton park on friday and had my picnic when over 10 jackdaws started to circle me and take my fruit. If I moved away from our position they just followed me. Next time this happens what should i do?
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Comment number 5.
At 13th Jun 2010, Rose Molyneux wrote:Hi, I have a question for the presenters and was unsure where to put it where it would be read!
Whilst walking in the woods this morning, my dad and I came across a dead fledgling crow which at first glance didn't appear to be wounded. However on closer inspection, we found that it had a large, perfectly circular hole in the back of it's head, which had been completely hollowed out! Apart from this there were no other wounds. Any ideas what could have done this?
Thanks, Rose.
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Comment number 6.
At 13th Jun 2010, Robert Jones wrote:Hi In our garden this year, we seem to be getting more of the larger birds such as pigeon, collared dove, magpies, even though we have not changed the type of food in our feeders. Where did all the lovely little birds go this year? hardly any blue tits or sparrows or finches. Do you think the larger birds are keeping the others away? And is there anything we can do to discourage the larger ones perhaps by changing the feed mix? I don't want to stop feeding them, but the feral pigeons are a real nuisance as they come down in flocks of six or eight. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Robert.
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Comment number 7.
At 14th Jun 2010, badwell wrote:hi there. can anyone update me on the ring plover we were watching please? i last saw the webcam when she only had one egg left but the webcam isn't running now? what did i miss? cheers
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Comment number 8.
At 14th Jun 2010, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Springwatch Web Team wrote:Hi Badwell
You can catch up on the little ringed plovers and our other families on our animals pages here:
[Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]
Hope this helps!
Sam :)
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Comment number 9.
At 24th Jun 2010, Sam Unsprung Researcher wrote:Sorry about that. Here is the link to our animals pages.
/nature/wildlife/by/b00sm50z
Sam :)
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