Another Week Gone by Nature Lovers.............

[LoftyLottie]

................ and I'll start it off with this link to a lovely website I have just found

http://www.mywildlifefriendlygarden.com/index. html

[madboutcats]

what a lovely picture you've found loftylottie. i was watching one of my mums wood pigeons the other day collecting bits of twigs or his/her case a great big long twig
and it got me wondering how many times to woodys nest in a season, was he/she building a new nest or repairing an old. and talking of the woodys there was 5 w pigeons on one roof top and 4 on another mostly young so they have done well so far in bringing up their babies.

[alfieblue]

Beautiful pictures LL. :o)xxxx

[bensmum]

That's a lovely site Lottie - thank you. Anyone can attract wildlife to their garden but it's sad that so many people are tearing up gardens for decking or covering up grassed areas and removing shrubs.
I get a huge amount of pleasure watching what goes on in the garden - afer all it costs nothing!

[yogasun]

Hi everyone! Phew it's quite warm here but I'm not complaining.

Lovely link Lottie! Totally agree bensmum. The trouble is that when a garden is concreted over to make it more manageable, it never gets dug up again to return it to vegetation, it's lost forever. Our garden is probably the odd one out in the road in that we only cut the hedges once a year in February, letting one hedge(privet) flower and the rest to be in a 'tousled' but wildlife- friendly state. Also the back garden is a mass of small trees and shrubs and some long grass left for butterflies, etc. We love it !!

[garner]

That was lovely LoftyLottie, I have to agree with bensmum why people make their garden so sterile I will never know.We have plenty of grass,trees,flowers and shrubs and get great pleasure of all our visitors that come to the garden not to mention our regulars.g.

[bensmum]

I've said before that my garden is a bit of a wilderness! I don't like gardening so the edges just get left. Unfortunately the property borders a road so I have to keep that side of the hedge trimmed but the garden side gets left. There is such a variety of wildlife - birds, insects and animals. I heard it said that a weed is only a plant which is growing where it's not wanted so I leave the so-called weeds because the insects love them

[gelda]

I used to visit an old lady in her eighties who had a wild flower garden she used to plant wild flower seeds, it was one of the prettiest gardens I've ever seen, she had a little pond with frogs in it, the pond used to attract dragonflies and a lot of different butterflies, and talking about weeds , outside her front gate she had a bunch of dandelions either side of the gate, so pretty! she died recently and I dread to think what the young family that moved in have done to the cottage, I passed there the other day and noticed a skip outside with lots of shrube etc. in it and also the dandelions had been ripped out, so sad , I don't think I will be driving past there again, too upsetting!

[burnhal]

had to do some tidying of my jungle today...well I decided I HAD to cut the grass. The blackbirds love a newly cut lawn (god how pretentious am I calling it a lawn!!) and have been grubbing around in the cut grass for all sorts of morsels. Mrs Blackbird seems to be in the nesting mood again- she has been taking bits of grass into the depth of my hazel tree all afternoon.
Nice seeing all the fledglings- lots of young goldfinch decimating the contents of my niger feeder. Spent ages watching a family of young pied wagtails chasing around after flies the other day.
Wardening day for me tomorrow on the reserve so shall post an update tomorrow.
Had a hobby fly over the garden during the week. Always takes a few seconds to identify when birds are spotted out of their normal context.

[raysparx1]

Hi all great link Lottie, hope you are all well I feel a little sad today because i think a squirrel has killed the house martin chicks, when i came home from work yesterday he was literally just walking down the gable end of my cottage, the same wall the house matins nested on, toady no sign of any house martins on the wall, on the front they are still active, somebody please tell me I am dreaming and he wouldn't really take the chicks, speak to you all soon, it really has made me feel sad. take care all, Ray xx

[burnhal]

Grey squirrels are notorious nest robbers both of eggs and chicks. Nature red in tooth and claw I am afraid. There is no real solution unless you want to go down the air rifle path. Not sure I would want to but have done so to rats in the garden in the past when they were invading the house.

[raysparx1]

Cheers burnhall, I knew they would kill and eat, but have never come across it myself before, hope the matins come back again, such lovely birds. nature is so beautiful yet so cruel.

[alfieblue]

Oh dear ray. I didn't realise squirrels robbed nests.:o(

You are so right, nature is so beautiful but also somewhat cruel. I hope the other little'uns survive. xxxx

[yogasun]

Hi everyone! Lovely morning.
Oh Ray that's a real shame. I hate it when a sparrowhawk comes through our garden and snatches a greenfinch but then they too are beautiful birds and must survive. Mr yogasun was a little worried this morning as there was silence from the blue tits' nestbox but I'm pleased to say all is well and they are squeaking away now.
It's great to know that others leave at least some of their garden for wild life. We really need to downsize at some stage (boys grown up) but I can't bear to think of what would happen to this garden if someone else moved in. Bound to get rid of our overgrown pond (now full of mating dragonflies, etc). All covering shrubs and small trees cut down and hedges probably replaced by fences. (I know just how you feel gelda). So we are here for as long as we can manage.
burnhal, my son (who has just co-written the Axe Estuary Bird Report) was writing a local bird newsletter and reporting local sightings. We were debating whether the plural of Hobby should be Hobbies(as in activities) or Hobbys. Anyone know?!
Keep wildlife watching- busy day, may post later. :-))

[raysparx1]

Good morning all, hi alfie and Lottie, shame isn't it when nature shows its cruelty side, but life is death equals new life and the circle keeps going, sad but true,

I love sparrowhawks Lottie, one visits us sometimes and to watch him hover, then sway from side to side then swoop like an arrow, straight down, then within seconds up,up and away til the next time, such great hunters, but we do not see what he takes, so we are not sad we are more than happy to watch him perform, unlike the squirrel who killed the chicks, that was reality, on a nicer note, blackbirds are singing, the house martins on the front of the house are really busy, so I guess we wil se little beaks appearing soon, the buzzard is about early today sweeping around in his great big circles, what is he after? guess we will never know,

I saw a fox last night, is there a more beautiful animal in the countryside, he was majestic, so proud, strolling across the field, always looking around always alert, such a sight I feel very privileged. have a lovely day everybody, and take care enjoy the fresh air and the beauty that surrounds us.Ray xx

Lottie I would say it was "Hobbies" you must be real proud of your son,fancy being able to actually write something that people will read,

[raysparx1]

Sorry misread that last bit, it was yoga, apologies to you yoga, it is early morning,

[yogasun]

Thanks for your nice comments ray even tho you called me Lottie which I don't mind as I knew you meant me!

We adore sparrowhawks and love to see them sweep through the garden - amazing.
Yes, I'm really pleased that my son has become so keen on wildlife and fantastic at bird/dragonfly/butterfly identification. He writes really well and articulately about them and he was never the most brilliant at English at school! xx

[raysparx1]

Hi yoga, got it right this time, I think what your son is doing is amazing, I was a real "Dumbo" at school, they told me I was thick, but I say no way, they just never asked me anything I knew,

it just goes to show, that if you have an interest in something, you will excell at it, congratulations to him on doing such a great job, he will be a great asset to the world we live in and share with so many creatures we know little about. wish him well please. take care and enjoy today.

[bensmum]

Yogasun - you must be very proud of your lad. That's such valuable work especially in these days of consumerism when people are too busy to notice anything. My own sons are typical of their generation in many ways but I'm pleased that both have a curiosity about the natural world. All that time dragging them round reserves must have had an effect!
I haven't seen the sparrowhawk for a while - the female was perched on top of one of my feeder poles a while back and we just stared at each other for a while before she took off. The garden went very quiet! I love birds of prey - we see so many buzzards round here and locally there are hobbys and goshawks nesting but their exact whereabouts is not public knowledge at the moment. I can remember going down to Chichester a few years ago and thinking that amid all the gulls I could hear a strange cry. There are peregrines nesting up on top of the cathedral and all these tourists were wandering around with their eyes to the ground and missing these wonderful birds wheeling round the nesting site.

[yogasun]

Thanks bensmum, yes I am proud. Unfortunately he can'tmake a living at it yet which would be his ideal scenario.
He is a supermarket manager working bird-watching friendly shifts (!) but he can fit in bird surveys and report writing. Jobs in this line are generally very short contract ones 3 months, etc and the more permanent ones go to 'insiders' or require degrees. He's only 22, I think his day will come. My other son is academic but he too appreciates wildlife.
We have Peregrine falcons near us, I love birds of prey as well.

[twocats]

thanks for the lovely website loftylottie. i live close by to a
cemetary which is full of squirrels. my little granddaughter
is taken to feed them by her other nan. they are very tame
and will take nuts out of her hand. my grandsons who also
live close by have seen a fox running at night outside the
cemetary by the road which runs alongside. One night
my headlights shone through the gates as i was leaving
my daughter's an there in the headlights was my first sighting of a fox. Such a beautiful creature. There are also
deer which have been seen too. Would these be montjac
deer. nature is a wonderful thing.