Wildlife in UK cities

Posted on December 9, 2012 by argylesock

I’m grateful to my fellow blogger petrel41 for pointing to this.

About argylesock

I wrote a PhD about veterinary parasitology so that's the starting point for this blog. But I'm now branching out into other areas of biology and into popular science writing. I'll write here about science that happens in landscapes, particularly farmland, and about science involving interspecific interactions. Datasets and statistics get my attention. Exactly where this blog will lead? That's a journey that I'm on and I hope you'll come with me.
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9 Responses to Wildlife in UK cities

  1. Finn Holding says:
    December 9, 2012 at 3:59 pm

    I’m looking forward to finding my first wasp spider… and the first wild boar!

    Reply
    • argylesock says:
      December 9, 2012 at 5:09 pm

      Me too! Well, the boar. I’m not sure whether this article says that wild boar are living wild/feral in Britain. Add that to my to-blog list! Spiders aren’t my area of expertise but it would be interesting to learn. You’re pretty good on the inverts, aren’t you?

      The article’s a bit confusing about hedgehogs, isn’t it? Another to-blog topic, this time, one which was already on my list. So were Chinese mitten crabs. And red kites, which are now common round here – yesterday I saw 2 pairs flying as we went to the pub – we’re within kite-flight of the Harewood Estate.

      Reply
      • Finn Holding says:
        December 11, 2012 at 7:49 am

        There are wild boar living wild in the UK. They must have originally been feral because I think they were exterminated in this country way back when, but there are now small wild populations in Kent and in the West Country.

        We get the occasional red kite here, which is frustrating because we’re quite close to one of the original release sites at Fineshade in Northamptonshire and there are good numbers not far from here. Aren’t they magnificent birds though?

        Reply
        • argylesock says:
          December 11, 2012 at 9:21 am

          Yes red kites are breathtaking. To me they look almost like vultures with their shoulders so hunched. Is there a Friends of the Kite group or something at Fineshade? I ask because a friend of mine did voluntary work at Harewood, encouraging walkers to look at the kites and discussing the reintroduction.

          I’m writing about wild boar right now.

          Reply
  2. thinkingcowgirl says:
    December 9, 2012 at 5:08 pm

    Thanks, that was an interesting link. I’ve been down on the Southbank when the RSPB have got their telescopes trained on the peregrines, it’s fascinating – and very good publicity for the rspb, I think they get loads of new members that way! We used to have a family of foxes living at the bottom of our garden…I always loved to see them sunning themselves on top of the garden shed 🙂

    Reply
    • argylesock says:
      December 9, 2012 at 5:14 pm

      That sounds lovely. The RSPB turns up at Malham Tarn too, with telescopes and membership forms when the peregrines are nesting.

      I hope the foxes didn’t become a nuisance in your garden. We see them trotting across our allotment at times. When I buried a beloved pet guinea pig, his grave was promptly robbed. I didn’t mind, though. He returned cleanly to the Earth.

      Reply
  3. Carol Hague says:
    December 11, 2012 at 10:34 am

    I’m not sure I like the idea of boars trotting around the streets here – they’re a bit big and scary. Mind you, the way the economy’s going, they’d probably be eaten before too long! (just kidding). Great spotted woodpecker not too much of a surprise though – apparently anywhere with mature deciduous trees is fair game for them, and I’ve seen firat hand that they like peanuts, so with the prevalence of bird feeders it’s not surprising if they’re spreading into more urban areas, I reckon.

    There’s been a peregrine nest on Derby cathedral for the last few years – they even have their own webcams! : – http://www.derby.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/parks-and-open-spaces/wildlife/peregrines/#peregrine-webcams

    Reply

  4. Pingback: Wild boar | Science on the Land

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