Silly Commuter Wildlife

nic_77

Scalped a badger on the way home tonight... almost literally - definitely cuffed the little fella (resisted the temptation to say badger)!

Pleased to stay upright though - it's the second time one has ventured into my path at night...

bails87

I almost ran a deer over in my car yesterday, does that count?

UndercoverElephant

A few months back I saw a Golden Eagle waiting at a bus stop. I slowed down to take a shot with my phone, but the swine flew off.

prj45

UndercoverElephant wrote:

A few months back I saw a Golden Eagle waiting at a bus stop. I slowed down to take a shot with my phone, but the swine flew off.

Surreal if you read that literally.

I was in Canada and a big feature of a tour we were going on is that we MIGHT see a golden eagle.

On the way back from seeing this golden eagle I nearly hit about three with the car after they swooped over the bonnet. After seeing so many the majesty seeing this regal bird was reduced somewhat, to like what it feels like seeing pigeons.

UndercoverElephant

Surreal indeed. There weren't even any busses due for the next 20 minutes, you'd have thought he could have just flown.

Flasheart

ROFL

N0bodyOfTheGoat

UndercoverElephant wrote:

A few months back I saw a Golden Eagle waiting at a bus stop. I slowed down to take a shot with my phone, but the swine flew off.

Must have been off to town for some Xmas shopping and could not deal with the stress of car parks...

I've heard guns are more effective at shooting things too, while phones are believed to be useful for talking to other wildlife!

hamstrich

wgwarburton

UndercoverElephant wrote:

A few months back I saw a Golden Eagle waiting at a bus stop. I slowed down to take a shot with my phone, but the swine flew off.

Doubt is was a Golden- Sea Eagle seems more likely..?

Cheers,
W.

redvee

Was out near Bridport and nearly ran a duck over that was in the middle of the road and it wouldn't move no matter how loud I shouted at it, on another occaisson I was riding in Holland and saw a heron take off 20 yds ahead and still ducked as it looked, and was, bloody huge. A fox on a zebra crossing is the most recent encounter.

prj45

hamstrich wrote:

Brilliant! All we need now is to add in UndercoverElephant taking a shot at it with his cleverly concealed gun phone and we're there!

UndercoverElephant

You see now, this is exactly why I wanted to take a photo with my phone. No bugger believes me, I was sober and everything. I've checked several times and it was a Golden Eagle, I swear. I was even close enough to see that it had no tags on it's leg.

I wouldn't believe me either.

pastryboy

If you can call rats wildlife I've had lots of near misses/collisions (never killed one as far as I'm aware) - they're constantly running across my path. Also hit a few birds (on the ground and in the air), nearly hit dogs and cats too. Joys of canal path commuting.

always_tyred

UndercoverElephant wrote:

You see now, this is exactly why I wanted to take a photo with my phone. No bugger believes me, I was sober and everything. I've checked several times and it was a Golden Eagle, I swear. I was even close enough to see that it had no tags on it's leg.

I wouldn't believe me either.

No sea eagles in East Lothian.

Ospreys down in the borders.

Lots of Buzzards.

Are you sure it wasn't a golden buzzard eagle you saw?


EDIT - I stand corrected - there have been Sea Eagles released on the east coast, on the islands in the Firth of Forth I think. As far as I can tell, there's only one Golden Eagle pair in the Borders. When I was in the highlands in November I saw a juvenile Sea Eagle. Took me ages to figure out what it was, and I so wanted it to be a Golden Eagle (not that Sea Eagles are common).

I bet it was a Sea Eagle you saw. Or a manbearpig.

Headhuunter

Well in SE London I see a lot of foxes and grey squirrels but not a lot else.... I remember years ago whilst out on a ride with my dad, a magpie took a sudden liking to his bright, shiny helmet and kept swooping down on him to try to carry it away.

UndercoverElephant

Always Tyred wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

You see now, this is exactly why I wanted to take a photo with my phone. No bugger believes me, I was sober and everything. I've checked several times and it was a Golden Eagle, I swear. I was even close enough to see that it had no tags on it's leg.

I wouldn't believe me either.

No sea eagles in East Lothian.

Ospreys down in the borders.

Lots of Buzzards.

Are you sure it wasn't a golden buzzard eagle you saw?

EDIT - I stand corrected - there have been Sea Eagles released on the east coast, on the islands in the Firth of Forth I think. As far as I can tell, there's only one Golden Eagle pair in the Borders. When I was in the highlands in November I saw a juvenile Sea Eagle. Took me ages to figure out what it was, and I so wanted it to be a Golden Eagle (not that Sea Eagles are common).

I bet it was a Sea Eagle you saw. Or a manbearpig.

Way to big for a buzzard, and all brown unlike a sea eagle. It was really quite golden eagley, if that helps.

There's a number of large estates that I commute past, could well live on one of them.

Like I say, I wouldn't believe me either.

always_tyred

I would have thought that it would be fairly well documented if it was a Golden Eagle in that area.

Juvenile Sea Eagles are brown and a little mottled, with yellow feet.

tailwindhome

Always Tyred wrote:

I would have thought that it would be fairly well documented if it was a Golden Eagle in that area.

If there is one in the area it may be the conservationist are trying to keep it quiet.

There was one spotted in Northern Ireland recently http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8408846.stm and it's location was a 'closely guarded secret'

always_tyred

Its possible - although there were Golden Eagles release in Ireland recently (says so in the article).

I just think, if you are cycling along the coast, away from g.e. habitat (the hills in East Lothian are about 10 miles from the coast I think) but close to where sea eagles were recently reintroduced, application of Occam's Razor sort of suggests that one is likely to have seen the latter.

All that said, about a fortnight after moving to Scotland, I saw an Osprey diving for fish on Loch Tay. Took some convincing of friends/family that I actually did see this.

Jay dubbleU

Foxes, sika deer squirrels - nearly ran down a pigeon the other day.

For your infomation eagles can't read timetable so it was probably just waiting on spec

Anyone else noticed more buzzards about ?

UndercoverElephant

Always Tyred wrote:

Its possible - although there were Golden Eagles release in Ireland recently (says so in the article).

I just think, if you are cycling along the coast, away from g.e. habitat (the hills in East Lothian are about 10 miles from the coast I think) but close to where sea eagles were recently reintroduced, application of Occam's Razor sort of suggests that one is likely to have seen the latter.

All that said, about a fortnight after moving to Scotland, I saw an Osprey diving for fish on Loch Tay. Took some convincing of friends/family that I actually did see this.

Certainly I think I would struggle to spot the difference between the Golden Eagle and the Juvenile Sea Eagle from your picture. It didn't have any tags, which I guess if they have been re-introduced, they may have had young in the wild. I've seen Golden Eagles in captivity, and I really thought it was one of them that had escaped. Either way your missing the point: it was a chuffing large eagle, and it was waiting at a fricking bus stop!

Wallace1492

I gave a mouse a backie down Maryhill Road before releasing it in the canal bank if that counts....

suzyb

I saw some kind of bird of prey a couple of weeks ago standing in a field. Don't know what it was though. It was that kind of brown colour but there's a few like that is there not.

Aside from that and a squirrel the only wildlife I've ever seen is road kill

gert_lush

3 dears (not old dears!) ran out just infront of me today, scared the bejesus out of us glad they didn't hit me as that would have hurt!

also saw a few dead bunnies, a flat rat, some cows and some sheeps

Lazarus

Most memorable wildlife moment on a commute has to be when i scared the crap out of an Owl that swooped down from a tree whilst i was going down a local avenue.

Those things are bloody huge when they fly past your head ! !

New Biker

Just started commuting to and from work recently and was at work arguing that I thought i had seen a Golden Eagle twice on the way home the past few nights. (up near Fa'side, Elphinstone areas)
So looked up their habitats, compared pictures of G.Es with Peregrine Falcons, Buzzards, sea eagles etc then typed in google "Golden Eagles in East Lothian".

Then this thread came up with undercover elephants obs that he had seen what he thought was one at the bus stop.

Brilliant

Have now joined the site, cos im a Golden Eagle spotting New Bike person!!!!!

Was defo a Golden Eagle, too big and plumagy??to be Kestrel, Sea Eagle etc
Now Goldens do range from West Coast & Highlands & Argle etc but tjis thing just stood out so much
Ive lived in East Lothian most of my life and never sen this type of bird before>

Porgy

I usually see most wildlife on the Dunwich dynamo

- many bats - last year I had a light strapped on my head at one point a giant illuminated bat shape flashed before my eyes. :?

- deer including road kill, but not necessarily. On my first run I found a deer that must have just been hit as fresh blood was still pooling around the body, though it was definitely dead.

last year I saw a stoat pushing a dead baby hedgehog along the road.

three years ago at dawn I saw a large owl flying low across a field - illuminated by the rising sun. I watched it for ages - it was flying parallel to me.

hedgehogs crossing the road faster than you would expect

mice, shrews, little furry critters too fast to identify

strangely - not a single badger.

On my commute though - lots of foxes, squirrels, rats, many types of bird - common garden varities, cormorants, swans, coots, geese, ducks, all sorts of different wading birds that I'm unable to identify, keep meaning to take my bird book out with me.

davis

Surprised a deer this morning. It was just stood in the middle of the road.
Then saw a squirrel, a popped bunny, and most oddly, a woman in hi-viz and an unusual helmet riding some sort of strange large dog-like animal. It was probably around 2m high and skittish as hell, forcing me to pootle past. It seemed a bizarre form of transport as it was

a) Mad as a box of frogs
b) Slower than walking
c) Probably expensive to feed
d) Quite wide

Most odd. Must find out what it was...

UndercoverElephant

New Biker wrote:

Just started commuting to and from work recently and was at work arguing that I thought i had seen a Golden Eagle twice on the way home the past few nights. (up near Fa'side, Elphinstone areas)
So looked up their habitats, compared pictures of G.Es with Peregrine Falcons, Buzzards, sea eagles etc then typed in google "Golden Eagles in East Lothian".

Then this thread came up with undercover elephants obs that he had seen what he thought was one at the bus stop.

Brilliant

Have now joined the site, cos im a Golden Eagle spotting New Bike person!!!!!

Was defo a Golden Eagle, too big and plumagy??to be Kestrel, Sea Eagle etc
Now Goldens do range from West Coast & Highlands & Argle etc but tjis thing just stood out so much
Ive lived in East Lothian most of my life and never sen this type of bird before>

Excellent! Someone to corroborate my story who, although a new user is, obviously, both a person of great integrity and definitely not me under a pseudonym. Nor is he receiving any form of inducements from me.

Welcome aboard, oh great spotter of the mythical East Lothian Golden Eagles.

pllb

whilst riding the Devon Coast to Coast route last summer I was descending at around 25mph following a mate and watched in horror as a tiny wee mouse ran out from the side of the road timing its run perfectly to miss my mates front wheel however due to the speed I witnessed the splatterage of said mouse when the rear wheel arrived

Also on that ride was joined by a flock of small birds (finches maybe) that were flying alongside me and darting in and out of the hedgerow - was transfixed until nearly joined them in the hedge :shock:

Quite often (almost always) see Red Kites when out in the Chilterns. Majestic scavengers!