Bird of the day

[ACW]

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Sea eagle perhaps?

A FURTHER 7 WHITE-TAILED EAGLES RELEASED ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT

The return of white-tailed eagles to England has reached its next key milestone with the successful release of a further 7 birds on the Isle of Wight. The 5-year reintroduction programme, now in its second year, is led by Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and aims to...

www.islandecho.co.uk

There is a site where you can track them but i cannot find it.

I suppose it could be ,it was really high in the sky ,riding a thermal.

 

[jaybeegee]

I meant to post this earlier but forgot. Out on the lower Wharfe on Tuesday, I saw what I think must have been a great egret fly down the river no more than a hundred feet away when it passed. Much bigger than the cattle egrets which were a common sight when I lived in West Africa...unless there’s such a thing as an albino heron?
B

 

[noel]

There are a few Great Whites doing the rounds we have 1 or 2 on the Tees area . Went for a drive to Hartlepool today before that gets stopped as I was driving a skein of 200 or more geese flying in they had lands by the time I got to Salthome on driving past about 100 Barnacles on the ground and a few little egrets in the area all spotted whilst driving .

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

There are a few Great Whites doing the rounds we have 1 or 2 on the Tees area .

Eek! Remind me not to go swimming in the Tees!

 

[noel]

Plenty of food for him we have an area of mud flats called Seal Sands for obvious reasons.

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

Plenty of food for him we have an area of mud flats called Seal Sands for obvious reasons.

It's actually a bit strange why we don't have great whites round our islands. They are distributed round all the world's oceans except for the polar regions and the northern reaches of the Atlantic. The are found on the Pacific side up to the Bering Sea, so there is no reason why they should not be in the northernmost Atlantic.

As you say, there are seals, seals, seals galore for them here. For all their huge range, there are not many of them - only about the same number as there are tigers in the wild - 4 or 5 thousand, tops.

Col

 

[ohanzee]

Was it not the case that great whites started to appear as water around the UK began warming, global warming aided as it were?

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

Was it not the case that great whites started to appear as water around the UK began warming, global warming aided as it were?

There have been plenty rumours over the years of great whites off the south coast, and if it is only temperatures keeping them away, then you'd expect them to be coming north with rising temperatures. The Bering Sea can't be exactly warm? Another possible factor - great whites are sometimes targeted by orcas, and any others in the area that catch wind of an orca attack get well away from the area. Orca populations all specialise in particular prey and particular hunting tactics. Maybe northern Atlantic orcas like to go for great whites when they get the chance, and that keeps them away??? Total guess, though.

Also, I wonder if the sightings off the south coast might be large makos? They are relatives of great whites and look quite similar to the untrained eye... and they grow to over 1000 lb - knowns as 'granders'

 

[Mrtrout]

S.

 

[codyarrow]

The Bering Sea can't be exactly warm? Another possible factor - great whites are sometimes targeted by orcas, and any others in the area that catch wind of an orca attack get well away from the area. Orca populations all specialise in particular prey and particular hunting tactics. Maybe northern Atlantic orcas like to go for great whites when they get the chance, and that keeps them away??? Total guess, though.

The only problem with the over all theory is that in order for Orcas to kill Great Whites they have to exist together. At least for a while anyway - the theory being the sharks decide running away is the best option. Food and current patterns perhaps?

 

[jaybeegee]

Noel you are definitely responsible for the way this thread has developed.
B

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

The only problem with the over all theory is that in order for Orcas to kill Great Whites they have to exist together. At least for a while anyway - the theory being the sharks decide running away is the best option. Food and current patterns perhaps?

For sure - as I said, it's a total guess. I was going by the fact that any time orcas off the Pacific coast of America start targeting great whites, all the great whites in the area scarper to the other side of the Pacific! So, maybe that happened in the northern Atlantic and they have never come back???

It's another brilliant example of the intelligence and hunting strategy of orcas... when they approach a great white (or the ones that specialise in hunting stingrays), they turn upside-down, so when they grab it, and right themselves, the shark (or ray) is now upside-down and the famous 'tonic immobility' of all elasmobranchs kicks-in, and the shark/ray does not struggle or fight back while the orca tackles it.

Col

 

[codyarrow]

It's another brilliant example of the intelligence and hunting strategy of orcas... when they approach a great white (or the ones that specialise in hunting stingrays), they turn upside-down, so when they grab it, and right themselves, the shark (or ray) is now upside-down and the famous 'tonic immobility' of all elasmobranchs kicks-in, and the shark/ray does not struggle or fight back while the orca tackles it.

Col

Glad you mentioned that. When I saw the orcas killing whites doc in San Francisco area I was intrigued by 'tonic immobility' in the shark family. Tried it with dogfish and spurdog - it did not happen. Do not doubt it happens in whites and other larger sharks, not sure about the smaller versions?

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

Glad you mentioned that. When I saw the orcas killing whites doc in San Francisco area I was intrigued by 'tonic immobility' in the shark family. Tried it with dogfish and spurdog - it did not happen. Do not doubt it happens in whites and other larger sharks, not sure about the smaller versions?

Cheers - I checked on it. I thought it was common to all elasmobranchs, but it says 'some' sharks and rays.

Col

 

[PaulD]

Meanwhile . . . bird watching . . .

From around mid September I'm always keen to ensure that my bird feeders are ready and kept full to ensure that the local birds have learned that food is available as the Autumn and Winter progresses. However, over recent years. I noticed a continuing decline in what were some common visitors - two in particular, Greenfinches and Chaffinches. I know that in recent years there has been an infection that has badly affected Greenfinches but the local Chaffinch 'loss' is confusing as the RSPB continues to show it as conservation status green.

Highlight of the day so far has been the first appearance of a pair of Siskins this Autumn. Goldfinches have started to appear on the feeders in numbers, looking forward to the Long Tailed Tits being regular visitors.

 

[3lbgrayling]

Fishing on sunday at club loch.About 2pm I noticed 4 or 5 Sand martins,then a couple of Swallows.hawking above the water but steadily drifting southward. 10 minutes later they were gone.

Jim

 

[noel]

Noel you are definitely responsible for the way this thread has developed.
B

Sorry .

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

We were on Coldingham Loch on Sunday. Strange weather - warm, cold, calm, breezy, wind off east, north and west, bright sun, torrential rain... and spells of haar coming in off the sea. At 3 o'clock, a bat appeared and started flitting about along the margins. Can't think of seeing one in the middle of the afternoon before. It was a decent sized one. Not sure what likely species it would be?

Col

 

[ohanzee]

We were on Coldingham Loch on Sunday. Strange weather - warm, cold, calm, breezy, wind off east, north and west, bright sun, torrential rain... and spells of haar coming in off the sea. At 3 o'clock, a bat appeared and started flitting about along the margins. Can't think of seeing one in the middle of the afternoon before. It was a decent sized one. Not sure what likely species it would be?

Col

The first lone male goes on patrol before the rest emerge, usually noticeably the biggest.
I was part of a bat rehoming here when the developers went through that, quite interesting, we had hand held bat detector things that are set to their frequency and do different bleeps for different species.

 

[Cap'n Fishy]

The first lone male goes on patrol before the rest emerge, usually noticeably the biggest.

At 3 o'clock, in the middle of the afternoon???