Somethings very wrong: where are the jackdaws and insects?

Sun 29 Jun 2008, 01:56

Well, they may have been watching the cricked on all these web enabled phones and want to try it themselves. but the point remains: last few years they were down there in droves AND UP HERE in droves. And this year hardly anything this end...

The Kites moved in last spring (last year) and there is a breeding pair of Buzzards up this end (woods along Clarkes Bottom and the big house nearby) which is why the housebunnies (free run of downstairs when in the house) are in a much smaller covered run when put out for their vitamin D daylight rather than the 4x bigger uncovered run from year before last (last year was underpinning foundations caused by subsistence from neighbours fir trees - 8" roots under the concrete pan snapping the integrity, full blown heavy navvying nightmare work for someone in such pain from spinal injuries and muscular "rheumatism" as myself, entire garden a quagmire of mud so fluid a baby digger just fell over in it one day from straight upright, almost broke my leg).

On housebunnies for any other "free to roam" bunny lovers: I hadn't realised until vet told us this spring that Bunnies need daylight or their bones get thin - light somehow goes through the fur and the ears y'see, whereas I thought with all that fur no way... lose up to 60% of their bone mass if kept indoors all the time!!!

Err back to birds. There is a Sparrowhawk on the go - saw him yesterday after school while we were having tea in the garden heading down the footpath behind our house on the way to school, so now absolutely no doubt. My youngest, bright observant lad, had noted that every day there were freshly plucked feathers in the school playing field and no sign of the sort of remains cats leave but just like sparrowhawk butchering for nestlings like we've seen before, so he was completely correct in his conclusion. Kids are providing "MacDonalds" takewaway birds service for the sparrowhawk family after lunch and break and when they go home! That could be shutting up the louder and more prominent birds but I think the low numbers is more than that. I think, given flight path, they must live in big house on corner tree somewhere. Three days ago saw a peregrine fly over. but he or she is clearly just a passeger en route somewhere who hasn't found a mate or a nest site and is mooching around, seemed set on heading southwestwards flying with some determination so doubt we'll see it again! What alerts you sudden silence and experienced naturalists then look up to see what is causing the alarm - that's how I caught a 5 second glimpse of the peregrine. Last year we had a Honey Buzzard go over - thought for a few seconds was a Golden Eagle, by gad they look alike until one gets the scale into perspective!

I can't sleep due to pain and its after 1.30 at night and I've windows wide open and two computers on and fluorescent lights and NOT ONE SINGLE SODDING MOTH. I mean NOT ONE. And I'm rambling too, and only take painkillers during day to be with kids, so better stop before I become totally inchoherent...

But back to point: This isn't right, it really really isn't. There aren't enough bees around during the day - we've a lot of wild bee flowers here. Today we saw our first swallow for a week. About 3 or 4 butterflies the last month. No visible caterpillars (we've looked). No honey bees. One or two bumblebees who I know where they live on the big bank I piled all the earth and stone on from the underpin on the back boundary and planted a hedge upon - I've forgotten the species name but I created habitat specifically for them when building the bank, and for other creatures (caverns, different soil types in different places, so forth, it was a designed spoil bank not just piled on).

Please people wake up - something is really really not right. The whole area up here back of Hundley Way and up to Ditchley is way way down on numbers and species counts of the little critters, and without little critters big critters go missing.

It's not a pair of kites and buzzards up in the copses heading out Ditchley way that are making things go missing. I repeat: something is not right. Listen to me, please listen to me, I've two budgrigars and an O level (prize to the person old enough to get THAT one)...