howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
that's an easy one to explain ray, a very small alien parachuted out of his craft landed on your shed.
he is probably now in human guise and aiming to get on your parish council.
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
Thanks for that suggestion Howard, got me thinking!
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
I'll take a 'wild' guess Ray. The mark was left be a Bat out hunting. A moth was perhaps flying by at roof hight, the bat swooped down on it's prey and ploughed into the snow (the marks of it's wings can be seen to either side near the bottom of the scoop). Momentarily pre-occupied with it's catch and it's striking the roof it did it's level best to fly onward and upward leaving few (but some) signs of the snow on it's back.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
Good suggestion Tom, I hadn't thought of that and we get bats around here. I'll ask our local wildlife expert if they're likely to be flying now.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
i thought that bats hibernated in winter.
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
"What happens to bats in winter?
Because there are few insects to be found in this country during winter, British bats hibernate. They
find a cool place, free from disturbance, sometimes a cave or disused tunnel, and tuck themselves
away, often in a crack or crevice. Their heartbeat and breathing slow down and their temperature
drops, so they use very little energy. Sometimes you may see a bat flying during the winter as they do
wake occasionally, to move to a new site or look for food or water."
From...(pdf)
http://www.bats.org.uk/publications_download.../British_Bats_English_3_09.pdfIgnorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
it was a batty bat howard,must have thought spring had sprung.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Fascinating Ray...batty...the mystery in the snow! Well as long as you dont come across the Abominable Snowman out there in River you should be okay..
The bit of sunshine today has cheered us all up after the miserable greyness of yesterday...here is the patchwork seafront just a few minutes ago looking a tad more cheerful and colourful. You can spot just two people braving it...
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
On further inspection and a little more thought (but sadly no greater knowledge of all things beast) it could also have been caused by a small Owl. The crux of the problem has to be the below wing scoop at the bottom of the mark. Whether a bat on hearing the bad news of rapidly increasing proximity signals would scoop it's feet + wing membrane just as it struck the snow or whether this somewhat rounder end of the scoop was caused by the tail of a small owl, there's the rub.
The 'wings' do undercut the snow for most of the scoop and maybe then tucked-in and with the momentum of the strike no further extension of flap was necessary until it was clear of the roof.
Also the snow is likely to be very loosely laying on the roof so it is not a great deal of material that is now missing.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
Do drop the other shoe chaps. Did it snow in Dover overnight?
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
Not out here in Lydden Tom, 5 miles from the seafront.
Owls are a promising thought, we have little and tawny owls around at present though what they would be swooping on is a mystery.
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
It may not really involve prey in either case. Visually a flying approach on a course set to avoid the fence the snow-capped roof would blend entirely with the distant background. Echo location would be a nightmare also;soft snow and the angle of the roof would make the hazard invisible.
Had an ordinary song bird been involved we might expect it to have wandered around until it got it's bearings. Something with more mass than that sparrow had the lucky escape.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
no snow in dover tom, getting back to bats the drop redoubt is out of bounds during winter so that their sleep is not disturbed.
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
Thank you Ray & Howard and kudos to Jan and the BBC. Our snow from last night was for purely decorative purposes.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
Yes they are fast asleep in the Drop Redoubt, slightly later this season as it stayed mild
Talking of the Redoubt, intrigued what these footprints may be in the fresh snow there....
Been nice knowing you :)
Re 100 , what I think may have happend is a bird attempted to land slipped and took off agin leaving the mark and the impression at the end as it took off agin
Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
Re the snow print photo's. when you have seen and taken photo's, you know what you have seen.
To others, unless blatantly obvious they are difficult to read as they are not what you might call 3D.
Ray may be able to explain that a little bit better as he has quaffilications in that sort of thing you know.
Snow prints and mud prints are a world apart for some.
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
Ian, technically it's a combination of the angle of dangle and the sight of the light!
The widget on my laptop tells me it's currently -2 degrees in Dover, my digital weather station and the nose I just stuck outside the door tell me it's -8 degrees and falling here, take care if you're out and about in the morning.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,888
Just to cheer everyone up my computer at 7.30 says it is -8 brr! so take on the residual ice and snow if you go out this morning.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
My thermometer said it was -11 here in Lydden when we got up, probably colder than that in the night. Now up to a balmy -9!
