Well the nice bee lady gave us a jar of hers and I'm currently sipping my brew sweetened with half a spoon of it.

The BEST place to buy honey from is your local beekeeper. Honey is one of the most faked foodstuffs on the market. Almost all supermarket honey will have a percentage of plant based syrup in it usually corn. It it usually heat treated aswell to stop it setting. It is also blended with stuff from all over the place mainly China.
We do feed the bees sugar syrup late summer and early spring and also sugar fondant over winter but this is only to replace their stores ie honey that has been extracted into jars. The honey is their food to get them through the winter. If we steal it we need to replace it. Feeding takes place with the boxes that the honey is stored in removed so feeding sugar has no impact on the quality of the honey.

HUX wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 2:42 pm The BEST place to buy honey from is your local beekeeper. Honey is one of the most faked foodstuffs on the market. Almost all supermarket honey will have a percentage of plant based syrup in it usually corn. It it usually heat treated aswell to stop it setting. It is also blended with stuff from all over the place mainly China.
We do feed the bees sugar syrup late summer and early spring and also sugar fondant over winter but this is only to replace their stores ie honey that has been extracted into jars. The honey is their food to get them through the winter. If we steal it we need to replace it. Feeding takes place with the boxes that the honey is stored in removed so feeding sugar has no impact on the quality of the honey.

Thanks very much for that explanation. Much appreciated. Honey/bee keeping: what an art...

HUX wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:49 am Their natural instinct is to reproduce, to swarm. In may/June the beekeeper can manipulate the hive to make them think they have swarmed.

This is what I’ve just done with my two hives. I'm going to be away for four weeks, so I won’t be here to keep an eye on them. So to stop 'em swarming, I've split each hive into two. This leaves one of each splits without a queen. Now, a hive without a queen is doomed, but luckily bees have developed a way around this and they’ll make themselves a new one - new queens are pupating in their queen cells as I write. All being well, the new queens will be laying by the time I come back. That's the plan, anyway - I just hope they've been reading the same bee books I’m working from.

frogatthefarriers wrote: ↑Thu Jun 17, 2021 8:15 pmI just hope they've been reading the same bee books I’m working from.

I'm not sure bees are especially literate, you should probably dance out the message for them.

Yesterday ... an Otter jogging down the edge of the road for 30yds before hopping through the hedge and vanishing*.



*yes, Otter can both jog and hop.

I love otters. They seem full of character.

There are Otters on a stretch of river near me. The location is the last place I'd have imagined they would live, I couldn't believe it when I saw one, but I imagine that's a good thing they are there. I've told no one as it will attract the very wrong sort of attention if it becomes more widely known.

Hi all first post some photos of one of Britain’s rarest birds the Bittern. Been aware of this bird for 3 years now because of the males deep bombing call can be heard for up to 2 miles in the fen. This year there are 3 nests and they are breeding here after being absent for 130 years. Less than a quarter of a mile from where I live. I hope this works

I’m not sure how to do this photo posting malarkey

Good spot Nellieboy and great photos

Nellieboy wins the thread

Dead jealous! Never seen or even heard a bittern.

Oh, yeah - welcome to the forums.

Last week I headed west to Aberfoyle to engage in some gravelwankery with a couple of pals. The day was a scorcher with bright sunlight and bone-dry trails. During an enforced halt while one of them dealt with a mechanical, I happened to turn round just in time to catch a pine marten loping across the track about 30 metres away. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough to capture any photographic evidence but the sight will stay with me for a good while. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen one of these creatures and was surprised, a. to see it boldly moving around in daylight (given that they're usually considered to be nocturnal) and, b. the size/length of it, much of which consisted of its long, bushy tail, to be fair.

I’ll be keeping a lookout for them when I go there next but needless to say, last week was probably a one-off sighting.

Super pics there. Bittern herons were around now then in Aussie where I grew up, but never seen one here. They're great hunters.

This weeks BAM had me looking for lovely wildlife. Up until 12 or 14 hours of the 'event' I'd only managed a few Buzzards just past Leighton. My camera isnt3the best and nor are my skils. Plus as soon as they thought I was trying to snap em they seemed to just ride the waves further and further up. Frustrating and another failed attempt at engaging with some wildlife/birds.

Later in the day whilst nursing my sore bottom, whilst waiting on the final train to get me near home. There was a thud and a swarm of starlings obviously went past. This one obviously thought it might take a shortcut through the station waiting room.

Nursed it a bit with some water and I thought it'd broken its neck. But after a small while it got up, practiced a few 'hop&fly' practice runs. Let me stroke it briefly and after that it was off. How lovely...

Started off this morning with a funny couple of cheeky starlings on the edge of my roof doing a very very good impression of the call of a buzzard; also lots of swifts and martins flying about.

I was then quite impressed that I managed to catch a photo of a hare while out on my run

IMG_20210704_121908 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

Then this !!!

IMG_20210704_091312 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr

I found these two little guy or girls lying at the side of the road, looking dead. I had a closer look and gently touched one, just to check, and to my relief saw a little flicker of life. Same with the other one. No obvious signs of injuries, so I scooped them up and carried them home - obviously the cutest things I have EVER seen...

They've been snoozing all day while we've done our interweb research and been out shopping for cat food.

I've not long ago transferred them to a more deluxe larger box with nice warm bedding and fresh water, and I'm delighted to report that right next to me I can hear a gently little snuffle as someone is tucking into, o no correction, sitting in and ravenously devouring cat food

No pics but was good to see 3 Ospreys at Llyn Brenig this morning. After that awful incident a couple of months ago when someone chainsawed their nesting post down, this was a great sight!

Verena wrote: ↑Sun Jul 04, 2021 5:30 pm I've not long ago transferred them to a more deluxe larger box with nice warm bedding and fresh water, and I'm delighted to report that right next to me I can hear a gently little snuffle as someone is tucking into, o no correction, sitting in and ravenously devouring cat food

Awwww, bless! Brilliant bit of rescue work there. Bet you were well chuffed.

Names?

RIP wrote: ↑Sun Jul 04, 2021 5:45 pm

Verena wrote: ↑Sun Jul 04, 2021 5:30 pm I've not long ago transferred them to a more deluxe larger box with nice warm bedding and fresh water, and I'm delighted to report that right next to me I can hear a gently little snuffle as someone is tucking into, o no correction, sitting in and ravenously devouring cat food

Awwww, bless! Brilliant bit of rescue work there. Bet you were well chuffed.

Names?

I was like this https://youtu.be/H11mlCL-dkE

No names, they look too alike

Verena wrote: ↑Sun Jul 04, 2021 5:30 pm I found these two little guy or girls lying at the side of the road, looking dead. I had a closer look and gently touched one, just to check, and to my relief saw a little flicker of life. Same with the other one. No obvious signs of injuries, so I scooped them up and carried them home - obviously the cutest things I have EVER seen...

They've been snoozing all day while we've done our interweb research and been out shopping for cat food.

I've not long ago transferred them to a more deluxe larger box with nice warm bedding and fresh water, and I'm delighted to report that right next to me I can hear a gently little snuffle as someone is tucking into, o no correction, sitting in and ravenously devouring cat food

Hedgehogs that size shouldn't eat cat food. They need to be syringed special formula milk and specialist care.
If you need advice send a PM.

Hedgehog update: Babies have survived the night, I'm in touch with a helpline who have confirmed they are about three weeks old, and who will arrange for me to take them to a rescue centre hopefully later today.

Thanks Matt for the advice

I put this pond in 5 years ago then 4 years ago I put some tadpoles in that I'd saved from certain death due to a drying out puddle up in the Southern Uplands.

Frog by Raymond Young, on Flickr

This is Mrs Frog who now resides in said pond. This year she had eight male suitors but unfortunately the clutch of spawn she laid wasn't viable and although most of it hatched the tadpoles were very weak and didn't survive. I normally only see them come mating season or a plopping sound from the pond tells me she's there. Today I spotted her in the garden out in broad daylight. I love frogs.

Frog by Raymond Young, on Flickr

Good pics there folks. Cute hedgehogs and birdies! Well you'll never guess what I encountered today....
Was cruising along in the woods on the straggler, looked down at the GPS and saw this feller peering up at me:



Got a real shock as I couldn't work out what it was at first....



It was one of these (and its real not a plastic one ) Note scale compared to Garmin dakota - big! The colours were amazing - proper fluro yellows, blues and greens (must be an '80's mtber re-incarnated). It had obviously been a passenger for a while and it was very reluctant to let go. Eventually I got it onto my finger.....


But it dug its claws in (I could feel them on my finger end) and was reluctant to get off. Eventually it was persuaded to move onto a bit of damp moss.
Fab - huge dragonflies were a regular encounter on childhood West Coast holidays but not seen many in recent years. Saw a couple up north the other week but never seen them locally.