Changing habits

Hi all, nothing to do with Ospreys but wanted to share this with you. Over the past week or so I have witnessed a jay tackling acorns on the oak tree at the front of my house. OK that may be nothing new but I have lived here for over 30 years and never seen it before. In fact never previously seen a jay in the garden only in the nearby St Leonard's Forest about a mile away. Then yesterday another first. Was sitting in the conservatory watching the rain when bold as brass a hen pheasant strolled down the garden path. By the time I got the camera ready she was behind shrubs then flew before I could "capture" her! I have no idea what caused her to venture into a garden in the middle of a built up area.

Just wondering.  We know breeding ospreys return to the same nest site year after year.  Is there any record of an offspring returning to its birthplace to breed?

  • I am sorry your post has appeared to have been missed Rich_20. In our area, we have been remarking how fewer acorns there are this year, especially compared with last year, which was a bumper year around here. As there seems to be less pheasant shooting now, there are many more 'wild' pheasants around, so maybe it is not so surprising that they are venturing further afield.

    Maybe you should put your post on the All Creatures thread.

  • That's really interesting Brenda re acorns.  Every year we've been here the tree has produced an abundance of acorns.  However since we had a really awful spring three years ago the tree has virtually failed to produce anything of note. Even this year with better weather there has been a very small number of acorns on the lawn.  Maybe the tree is too old now.  

    Just wondering.  We know breeding ospreys return to the same nest site year after year.  Is there any record of an offspring returning to its birthplace to breed?