Leeds Central Wildlife

Festwerfer · Post by **Festwerfer** » Sat 23 Jun, 2012 12:51 am

majorhoundii wrote: I've seen red kites over Eccup Resevoir but I don't suppose that counts as Central Leeds. . Now a regular sight over Harehills I suppose its easy pickings the amount of takeaways up here.

Tasa · Post by **Tasa** » Sat 23 Jun, 2012 10:27 pm

Tasa wrote: Cardiarms wrote: Are you sure? Greys can be ginger. Genuine reds (which can somethines be a bit grey) have unmissable tufts on their ears. Few months back I saw a pheasant in Headingley. Ah - I did wonder whether it was some kind of genetic variation on a grey squirrel but it was so red (and I later saw an adult squirrel of the same colour after I posted) that I assumed it was a "true" red squirrel. I've been looking out at the same view for 16 years and have never seen this variation.The next time I see them I'll look out for tufts on the ears.Thanks Cardi Sadly, my "red" squirrels turned out to be greys after all as I saw them again last night - very red fur all over, but no tufts on the ears

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Sat 23 Jun, 2012 11:11 pm

I was in Adel Dam Nature Reserve on June 18 and while there I saw some small clearly very young grey squirrels. The first one simply stopped hoping around on a tree and seemed interested in me, as it did not dash off despite me being only about 4 or 5 feet from it. It would have been a cute photo except that I did not have my camera to hand and I guess if I had tried to get it out the youngster would have gone. As it was it then lost interest in me and continued moving about. Moments after I saw another very young one (I'm fairly sure it was not the same one) very near me. That one looked at me but decided I was of no interest and simply continued scratching around in the leaf fall. It would seem like it may be a good year for the survival of young squirrels. There were several adult greys in the area but none let me get close to them.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Fri 06 Jul, 2012 12:53 pm

I would be grateful if someone could please identify this duck that I photographed on July 5 2012. I thought it was a mallard, but on looking at photos of them it does not look like it is. The duck is on a railing above the River Aire at the Whitehall Riverside area near Leeds Station. The photo makes it looks like it is right at river level but it is well above the river.

BJF · Post by **BJF** » Fri 06 Jul, 2012 1:40 pm

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdgui ... x.aspxThat blue stripe seems to make it a mallard.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Fri 06 Jul, 2012 1:47 pm

BJF wrote: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdgui ... x.aspxThat blue stripe seems to make it a mallard. Thanks BJF. That is appreciated. So my original thought was correct in that the duck is a mallard. In the admittedly few photos I saw of mallards none showed any with the nice blue pattern that can also be seen in the photo in your link. It was fun watching the duck giving itself a thorough preen as I watched and it did not seem bothered by my near presence. I thought I would add this photo of it during the preening.

jim · Post by **jim** » Fri 06 Jul, 2012 2:30 pm

Nice blue, nearly the same as the post war livery of Sir Nigel Gresley's A4 locomotives -of which No 60022 Mallard was the most famous.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Fri 06 Jul, 2012 3:00 pm

jim wrote: Nice blue, nearly the same as the post war livery of Sir Nigel Gresley's A4 locomotives -of which No 60022 Mallard was the most famous. Hi jim.That reminds me of when I was a train-spotting kid (as we all seemed to be then) in the very early 1950s standing next to the railway near Neville Hill to see trains. The 'Streakers' and 'Blinkers' were the most eagerly waited for and I'm sure the Mallard will have been one of them. Simple times.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Tue 30 Oct, 2012 9:06 pm

This photo shows a swan in the River Aire today (Oct 30 2012) on the Water Lane side of the river. The swan seemed to notice me as it then seemingly deliberately moved across the river to where I was standing on the Sovereign Quay side. As it got closer I could see that at least one wing seemed to be damaged. The swan also looked dirty, though I was not sure if that was its colouring. The poor thing stayed where I was for a short while then moved away. As it did not seem bothered by my presence I wondered if it gets fed and was waiting for me to feed it (I had no food) or perhaps it is just used to people from wherever it may have come from. I wonder if anyone knows it and if it does get fed, or is it new to the area? It seemed to be totally alone. I shall put a close-up view of the swan in my next post here. PS. I notice in the photo that there seems to be no barrier to stop cars going into the river. I hope their brakes are OK!

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Tue 30 Oct, 2012 9:10 pm

This is a close-up of the swan when it was almost directly below me after it had crossed the river.