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John Smyth
Приєднався 29 кві 2008
Blackberries & bullfinches - essential winter food
In this video, I describe how, even though the blackberries have long since withered on the bramble stalks, they can still provide essential food for back garden birds such as bullfinches and goldfinches. Video features bird footage from last summer as well as last week's cold spell (January 2025) and all recorded inmy back garden in Galway city, Ireland.
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Відео
Red Squirrels, Foxes & Pine Marten sharing the same space (but not at the same time!) -December 2024
Переглядів 29Місяць тому
I talk about the red squirrels that live in a woodland in south Galway, and how they need to steer clear of predators such as red foxes and pine martens , who also share the same woodland habitat.
Garden Pond December 2024 - where are the dragonflies
Переглядів 56Місяць тому
I give an update on my back garden pond in Galway city. In this video, I concentrate on the damselflies and the dragonflies that I recorded visiting the pond, and question why so few species were recorded this year. I also examine why so many emperor dragonflies did not survive this year.
Red Squirrel gathers moss for a nest
Переглядів 136Рік тому
It's mid-November and the red squirrels in Garryland wood near Gort in south Galway, Ireland are preparing for winter. In this short video, I show a red squirrel scraping moss off the bark of a beech tree to use as nesting material. The squirrels are fairly wild in this woodland, but this one didn''t noticeme (I was using a telephoto zoom and was standing on a path looking up at it)
Galway Garden Pond Update November 2023
Переглядів 129Рік тому
This video describes the wildlife that was attracted to the back garden pond that I created at the beginning of June 2023 in Galway city, Ireland. I describes the plants thatI planted and the insects and birds that were attracted to the pond environment. In particular, I describe the different species of dragonflies that came to the pond to mate and lay eggs. I had untended to release this in m...
New Galway Garden Pond Build June 2023
Переглядів 854Рік тому
In this video, I describe how I built a newer, bigger garden pond in my back garden in Galway city, and how I managed to trnsfer all the plants and critturs from the previous pond.
Galway Garden Pond - Good news and bad news! ( June 2023 Update)
Переглядів 288Рік тому
This video gives the latest update on my back garden pond in Galway city, Ireland. It describes how the pond has fared since Xmas, and also describes a big change for the future.
Irish Garden Bird Survey, Winter 2022-2023
Переглядів 734Рік тому
I participated in the Birdwatch Ireland Garden Bird survey this winter. In this video, I describe the birds that visited my back garden in Galway city on the west coast of Ireland. Birds that feature in the video include : Goldfinches, Sparrows, Robin, Chaffinches, Goldcrest, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Dunnock Starling, Sparrowhawk, Common Jay, Wren, Blackcap,Blackbird,Thru...
Wren & Redwings in Galway
Переглядів 44Рік тому
Short video of a wren and some redwings singing in hedgerows at the edge of Galway city in Ireland.
Five Irish predators
Переглядів 246Рік тому
A short video showing the relative sizes of five common irish mammals. The footage was captured over a week on a trailcam that was set up near a turlough in south Galway. The turlough (which is a seasonal lake) is beginning to evaporate trapping lots of fish in a relatively small area. It's also the end of the frog spawing season, so there is plenty of food to attract these mammlas. The five ma...
Frogs emerge from hibernation in Galway
Переглядів 528Рік тому
A brief update on my pond (the first frogspawn appears) and a short account of hundreds of frogs gathering for mating at a turlough in south Galway
Galway Garden Pond December 2022 Update - Pond Freezes over!
Переглядів 4792 роки тому
In early December, the weather turned very cold in Ireland, and it was below zero for multiple days even by the coast in Galway. My back garden pond frroze over, so I needed to find another way of making sure that the birds had a place to drink and bathe.
Galway Back Garden Pond - November 2022 update
Переглядів 9 тис.2 роки тому
This video gives an update on my back garden pond project in Galway city. the video describes how the plants, birds, insects and animals have adapted to using the pond - what creatures showed up, and how much biodiversity the pond attracted. In particular, I describe how the tadpoles progressed into frogs, how the local swallows used the pond for nest building, and whether any dragonflies decid...
Otter kills a Gull
Переглядів 25 тис.2 роки тому
This video shows an otter killing a gull at the Claddagh in Galway city by swimming underneath it, grabbing it and breaking its neck. Otters are frequently present at the mouth of the Corrib at the Claddagh but this is the first time I've seen one attacking and killing a bird. Note that the drone footage at the start of the video was recorded 2 winters ago (hence the frost visible on the ground...
Fox versus Magpie - Peace was never an option!
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Fox versus Magpie - Peace was never an option!
Swallows arrive in my backgarden - May 2022
Переглядів 592 роки тому
Swallows arrive in my backgarden - May 2022
Hooded Crow eating tadpoles in my back garden pond
Переглядів 4922 роки тому
Hooded Crow eating tadpoles in my back garden pond
My nightly fox visitor chooses between Nutella and Peanut Butter!
Переглядів 672 роки тому
My nightly fox visitor chooses between Nutella and Peanut Butter!
Making a backyard garden pond for wildlife in Galway
Переглядів 6 тис.2 роки тому
Making a backyard garden pond for wildlife in Galway
River in full flow in the Maumturk mountains in Connemara, Galway
Переглядів 892 роки тому
River in full flow in the Maumturk mountains in Connemara, Galway
Congrations john. I love your garden.
Your a great gardener john. Your a breath of fresh air. Your garden is buitifull and sweet. And magic. Great work john.
Great video John hope the survey is going well this year. Going to start mine this week. Might be a bit late but looking forward to it
I love your garden john. ❤ and lovely p🎉🎉ond in your garden.
😮 inst it a great gift to have wild life. So lets work together to proctect our wild life.❤
Congrations john on pure magic garden.
Your making a differents to the invirement and nature john.
Your garden john is buitifull - and super magic. Your very kind to nature john.
❤ 😂🦊🦝🦊🦊🐯🐯🐯🐅🦌🦌
Your very intetesting. And. I appreatate you john.
John. I love your vidios. I enjoy your vidios. Well done . Congrations on your great work..your making a big differents to the invirment.🐀🐗🦬🐘🦒🐹
Irish birds are buitifull . We need to apprearate them more.❤
Love animals. ❤
Great info, thank you. I'm starting the survey this year. You nearly need a supplementary record sheet to track your numbers during the week and then transfer them into the official sheet at the end of the week. Would you mind if I copied your format?
Absolutely - feel free to use the template. I find that recording the daily totals on the Google Sheet is the handiest way for me - my home office this year looks out directly on the bird feeder so as I see visitors to the feeders, I just update the Google sheet with the current data. I haven't had time to upload the weekly totals so I just submit them all at the end, using the summarised data from the Google Sheet. Storing the raw data on your own Excel/Google sheet also means that you can easily look back at data over the years. I've been doing the survey for 5 years and, from the historical data, I can see that this year (i.e. last week), is the earliest that a blackcap has visited the garden. Best of luck with the survey
thanks for sharing this John - its really helpful to newbies like myself just starting out on the birding journey - thanks for the encouragement!
Such a lovely video to watch while eating breakfast. My garden in Belfast gets a small fraction of these birds.
Thanks for the comment. My garden is quite long, and the feeders are at the end of it, so I suspect the birds feel secure when they visit. I'm also close to a university campus which has a lot of tree cover, so I think that accounts for the number of visitors too.
If it were connected to the sea, then the water pushed back would be salty. It is clearly fed by a freshwater spring and drained by a hole, just like any other tidal body.
Nice update of your lovely pond, John😊 My husband and I have made quite some progress on our pond on the end of the summer. But we're not able to fully finish the pond, because it's full of water. With our clay soil and high water table, I can only hope it will drain enough on it's own by next spring🤞🏻
With all the rain that's been falling so far this Autumn, your pond is unlikely to drain any time soon!
How is the fox, John, any update? Thank you for the lovely upload. Mark. London.
The magpies are still ruling the roost in the back garden, but I have a pair of foxes visiting the front garden most nights.
So,what is your point...?!
Nice video Enjoy it😊😊😊😊
They are predators. I know all the books and guides like to say its the mink that take birds, but they never explain why the otter wont.
There are also mink in the same area of Galway harbour, so the birds really have to be careful of what's swimming underneath them!
The otter took him to gull-way docks 😂 great footage buddy
Excellent video john. Enjoying your content here 🙂
Hats off to you for this project John. Back breaking work but well worth it in the end 🙂👍
Great looking pond John, and attracting lots of wildlife 👍
Social services #parental alienation specialist's
Otter so brave
As a prosecuter, if said such otter broke its neck, then drowned it, could this not be a double homicide?
Pre meditated?
I've never seen this before.
Your video was just recommended John. What a great job you've done. Fantastic place for the local wildlife to thrive 👏 And I loved the makeshift IKEA scraps holding tank 👍🤣
Cheers. My wife was defintely glad to see the back of the holding tank. It was all she could see when she looked out the kitchen window!
Love your videos John - I've just finished filling a new wildlife pond - getting plants this weekend, and looking forward to seeing all the wildlife appear.
Cheers. It's always an exciting time when the pond is just filled and you're wondering what's going to arrive to it
Fantastic video. I'm looking to replace my preformed pond with a bigger one next year so this was very informative. Looking forward to the next one.
Thanks for the comment. I definitely think the bigger the better when it comes to ponds.
I wonder 🤔 if it tastes like chicken 🐔...
Nice video and pond!
Nice pond and video!
Love your videos! All the best from Massachusetts!!
Great video, very informative and interesting. some feedback, the text and titles are a little difficult to read. Thanks for a peaceful watch!
Thanks for the update John. Very interesting and informative. Cheers
Have you thought about using concrete, instead of a liner?
The trend for ponds is not to use concrete, since it could crack over time. My pond is small, so I opted for a low-tech solution. If it was much bigger, I might consider a hard outer shell like concrete, but would probably also, just to be sure.
That pond and garden is just beautiful!
This sub-adult Herring gull was probably injured, or may have mistaking landed on a surfacing otter. Larus gulls aren't prey to otters. Thank you for posting this
The gull was one of a bunch grooming/washing near the shore. The otter made a point of swimming over towards them, and dove down before coming up under the one that it killed. The unlucky gull may not have been as strong as the others (and may have had an injury) but it was splashing about before the kill. I witnessed the actual kill, but didn't get footage of the exact moment.
@@JohnSmythGalway The otter and gull both compete for food. Gulls are also klepto parasitic, and will take food out of the mouth of sea mammals. Gulls are certainly an unwelcome sight for otters.
Is that one of those nasty sea gulls that people film swallowing rabbits whole? If so, I'd say they'd have some karma like this waiting for them in the deep...
I hope there is a proper KARMA following specially humans.
@@saskasbirdssaw a video of a seagull swallowing a squirrel
Thank you for the comprehensive coverage. Your pond is really a credit to you.
I hate giant river otters
Great shots sir
Dang magpies!
New updates please
Is it nonfilter wildlife pond?
yes