I’ve just been seranaded by the song thrush but can I spot him in the sycamore tree? Can I heck. But it sure wasn’t the wood pigeons or collared doves that I did spot that were singing. Maybe next time he’ll sing from a branch at the front of the tree just for me.
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We have a buzzard as well, he is beautiful but unfortunately he does think our back lawn is a great place to eat his pigeon lunch, so it is often covered with feathers and a bit gory… definitely nature red in tooth (or beak!) and claw! Last week I watched him demolish half a pigeon, take off with the rest of it and casually leave it on top of the (very high) beech hedge behind my studio. The half a pigeon stayed on top of the hedge until the middle of the following day when it disappeared; whether he came back for it or something else got a meal out of it I don’t know.
I’m quite glad I’ve never seen him take anything other than pigeons though!
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That is quite amazing Helen, if a bit gruesome. I’ve never seen anything like that!
The sparrowhawk at my parents house in Bath has learnt to dive bomb the birds on the bird table, knocking the unsuspecting doves off it so that it can pin them to the lawn for the kill and pluck! We would normally be left with a pile of feathers and the occasional foot as he carried the plucked bird away with him (or her). Once watched it attempt to eat a greenfinch through the mesh of a squirrel proof bird feeder, it had it in its talons but couldn’t get the right angle for plucking. Nature is a violent place.
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I have a male black bird comes to my garden and he recently started to sing a lot in the cherry blossom tree. Must have worked for him because he now has a Mrs blackbird hopping around the garden with him 
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There used to be a heron who visited my neighbours garden to fish-He appears to have stopped coming since they have “taken steps.” I don’t know what these were, but they must have been effective 
Love Sam x
I just saw a sparrow hawk in my garden! I’m so exited, I had to tell you all lol It wasn’t doing anything interesting but I will be watching for it from now on 
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Ooh lucky you! I’m still waiting for mine to return, but he’s obviously camera shy and doesn’t want to be papped!
Love Sam x
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I now have 7 fish !
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Aw lovely! It looks like they will enjoy your pond
Love Sam x
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The dreaded lily beetle has returned (on my snakeshead fritilaries) so I’m running an experiement to see which happens first: they swim to the side of the pond or the frog eats them. I’m hoping for the later 
.
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They do rather ask for trouble don’t they in that vivid red jacket.
Any sensible self- respecting beetle would dress more discreetly.
Just begging to be frog’s dinner. Fingers crossed.
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I have just spotted a visitor on my lavender plants :).
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It’ll turn into a moth at some point - possibly an angle shades moth or one of the hawk moths. Could you be tempted to keep/ feed it in a jar to find out which?
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Yes, that’s a good idea; it is in a jar now, see what happens…
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I’d love to find out what it turns into too! I do love moths…
Sam x
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This is what I think it will be if we are patient
apparently it eats anything herbacious. I want to set up a moth trap now to find out what’s flapping about in my garden.
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Hmm, I got very exited last night as I haven’t done this before, but I just realized that I will be on holiday abroad next week for a few days and I am not sure what to do with the caterpillar. Shall I just leave it in a jar with plenty of food, hoping that it won’t pupate until I come back or shall I put it back where I found it… 
Plenty of food, airholes, some soil in the bottom of the jar and a cool dry place and it should be fine for a couple of days however if you think it won’t be release it and then you can find another one when you get back. It will stay as a pupa for a couple of weeks so you probably wouldn’t come back to a moth in a jar.
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Great, I will do that then, thank you :).