Wildlife in the garden

maybe not unusual but I managed to snap our resident mouse and a visiting redstart today

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I have quite a lot of birds , just the usual, blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits, jays blackbirds etc, there is also a fox that lives down the end of the garden. Also there is a great spotted woodpecker doing his drumming on the dead trees out the back.

But a couple of years a go when I was catless :open_mouth: I used to have a little pair of robins visit me in the kitchen where I put a tray of meal worms down for them. Sometimes one of them would come right in, but sadly I think either the male or female died, and the one bird was left to do all the feeding (well that’s my take on it- prob wrong) and he/she actually fell asleep on the edge of the tray for a whole 10 mins, it looked so tired , then he just wok up and went on his way :smile:

Suzanne :o)

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that mouse looks like he’s been caught red handed :smile:

LOL he does doesn’t he? He went back and forth to the bird feeder for quite a while, but he doesn’t seem to be going into the shed any more. When we move next year and I discover he’s eaten all the boxed stuff stored in the shed I shall be cussing him I expect.

Ladybirds are about the best I can do unless you count the bats that fly round at night.

I have tried attracting the birds with a beautiful JoSara birdbath and lots of seeds but I think my little girls have a knack of scaring everything away. We do get to hear lots of wildlife living very close to the woods. We hear the owl and woodpecker most days but have yet to see them. Cassie x

Love the photos of the robin, and of the little mouse. That reminds me, I think we must have mice underneath our garden shed from the reactions of cats that wander through our garden, and the occasional dead mouse we find on the lawn…

that’s what’s written all over his face :smiley: , he’s been at the food box - he probably couldn’t believe his luck :mouse:

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Loving the mouse and the cutie birdies…
This is a collared dove nesting in one of my hanging baskets, there are eggs too, I have a couple more pics on my blog :slight_smile:

My Blog

Jan x

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I love frogs in the garden, I don’t have a pond but there is a stream close by :slight_smile:

Yesterday I saw a sparrow hawk sitting on the garden fence just 2 metres away from me. The previous day I found a half gnawed blackbird in the same area and blamed my cats but it could have been the sparrow hawk wot dun it!

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Just got overly excited at seeing the first swallow of the year fly overhead.
Always think it heralds the first whisper of Summer :smile:

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Hi,
My first visit to the new forum. Have been reading all about the lovely wildlife you all get. We have hedgehogs I put out peanuts for them everynight as a thank you for keeping down the slugs and snails. A while we had a visit from a fox it was a female and had cubs somewhere she only came the once but the dog fox came everynight for about a month I would put an egg out for it that way we could tell if it had been or not. Then it came just after 8am one morning so that night my husband set up his camera and I manage to get a picture of it picking up the egg moving it about in its month then pop into the field and came back a couple of minutes later to finish off the peanuts. We never saw it again. I will try and find the photo and put it on here.
Rosemary
p.s got to try and work this out.

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At first I thought to myself I didn’t know foxes liked eggs - and then lightbulb thought about hen coops! I’d love to see the photo - and welcome to the madhouse Rosemary!

The only wildlife we get are squirrels who like to dig up my onions and around my fruit trees. We get a lot of pigeons, doves (house opposite has them), cats and lots of little birds.

I just have foxes but I remember years ago i had a Rosella I think it was called ( a very colourful bird ) that had escaped from some where. I have a picture of it somewhere having a bath in my garden. It visited me for about 6 months until my neighbour caught it and put it in a cage in his hut. I was so angry with him as it was obviously managing to survive through the winter months and now it was couped up in a hut.

Mainly woodland birds plus the sparrow hawk, magpies, and crows. We also get foxs and I’ve found the shredded skin of a snake under my potting shed. We’ve had field mice, mr prickles the hedgehog and plenty of big fat toadies,

One year we went to open the back door to let the dogs out and it was covered in frogs of all sizes. Never seen it happen since.

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Wow! What wonderful wildlife people have! Are there lots of country folk on here or are there more urban animals than I think?

I know she’s not exactly unusual (who doesn’t have blackbirds in their garden?) but we have a remarkably tame hen bird. I think she thinks she’s a robin! She came and hopped around my feet yesterday while I was watering plants on the patio, literally inches away, quite fearless! Reminded me of when we were at our previous house, there was a tame robin there who would get that close while I gardened, and I would have the robin on one side and my old pussycat on the other. The robin knew Ratty wasn’t bothered about chasing him and Ratty was content to watch me dig, and the little bird hunt for worms… (he loved work, he could watch it all day!).

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A few years ago we had a really tame hen blackbird and she used to chirp at us or even fly at us to attract our attention to go out and feed her. She rewarded us by nesting in our hedge every year but the nest was bothered with cats and magpies and the noise of both the hen and male trying to warn them away used to wake us in the early ours of the morning. Our neighbours must have thought us mad as we used to throw open the window and through things out to frighten the cats away. When My husband cut the hedge he would leave the part where she was nesting so not to disturb her. She loved raisins and she would come and peck out your hand. Sadly she must have died as she stopped coming. We tried to tame the male bird but yes he would look out for you but wouldnt come near you.
So christina I would buy a pack of raisins/sultanas and get a chair and sit in it and just put the food on the arm of the chair and then look away from her . Once she is landing on the arm of the chair try putting the food on your hand. This would be a good time to try as they are nesting and about to feed their young and will be hungry!

When I moved in last year I had a blackbird as a constant visitor but I think my dog finally chased it away. Loads of pigeons and seagulls around here though they don’t seem to mind the dog. We see squirrels when out walking. I love the picture of the robin having a snooze.

What a lovely thread :grinning:
Its great to read about everyone’s wildlife visitors. I love the pictures. That little mouse is totally adorable :heart_eyes:
We have some lovely birds that visit the garden throughout the year. At the moment we see Gold Finches, robins, blackbirds, blue tits.
I love watching the bats at dusk swooping and diving for moths. They fly so close to the house.
A few years ago I came home from work to discover a fox sitting in the sunshine on the lawn at the back. It was so magical that I didn’t dare move a muscle.
It was a glorious colour in the sunshine and looked so beautiful.
It opened its eyes and saw me, but it didn’t dart away like I thought. She stretched and yawned and tilted her head to one side and after a minute passed she pottered off up the garden path. I’ve since investigated the top of the garden and I have no idea how she got in or out. Quite spooky. I often wonder if it was my guardian angel or something like that because it really choked me up.