If you live in the UK or northern Europe, do you ever see any exotic birds in your garden or general area ?

[IndigoSpritz]

I'm in Leeds and I'm told there are wild parakeets living in nearby Bradford. I've yet to see any where I am; in fact, I was surprised to learn they lived this far north. The most colourful bird I've seen (and heard) recently is a greenfinch - not many of those round here. And a greater spotted woodpecker in the country park nearby. I've heard the green woodpeckers call but never seen one. I would like to see a parakeet - I appreciate they're not native and potentially harmful.

Parakeets have been gradually spreading out across the UK. Several parts of London have them now.

My parents have had parakeets in their garden for a few years now. I had only seen them from a distance before Easter, and was shocked at the size of them when I saw one close up.

They are everywhere where I am (SW London)

They live in South London.

A sparrowhawk was the most "exotic", though they're native species in Britain I think. I wasn't impressed with her murdering all the new magpies and jays though

Parakeets in London, that's all!

Some of the local feral pigeons have quite handsome 'colour schemes' (pale brown to pinky purple) but they're not exactly exotic.

We had a little flock of waxwings once, very briefly - that was exciting! They’d have been on their way somewhere.

Also just once, a spotted woodpecker on the tree beyond our backyard wall. It wasn't there long enough to remember identifying details though

I stayed in abbey wood in London once and there were parakeets everywhere.

I live in the midlands, saw a bittern once.

Someone recommended a really good app the other day, birdup. It listens to them and gives you a l ist.

We see goldfinches in our London garden every now and then and I saw a buzzard in the West Country yesterday.

I've also seen an egret in South London.

Here in Germany I've got a woodpecker (and gorgeous red squirrels and black squirrels, which are obviously not birds but great to watch in the garden and use the bird feeders)

South East London

Parakeets
Thrush
Starling
Sparrow

Seen a few small birds with interesting colours but not sure what they are .

We have the flocks of parakeets - they don’t really feel exotic anymore.

We regularly have parakeets in our south London garden. They ruin any ruit crops - apples, pears etc. Thet have also severely damaged a listed mill near us by gnawing all the wooden sails. They frighten all the other birds off the bird feeders too.

We also get herons. We don't have a pond. Next door has a very small one and now has no fish

Not exactly exotic, but there was a heron in the canal in Leeds, saw it a couple of times ( canal near the Asda building). Quite unusual for a city centre.

I live on the London Essex border and we see parakeets and woodpeckers.
There are herons in a nearby pond but mostly ravens, magpies, blackbirds, starlings, robins and some finches.

We see the following in our garden.

Goldfinches
Greenfinches
Sparrows
Great tit
Chaffinch
Starling
Bluetit
Jay
Nuthatch
Robins
Bullfinch
Siskin
Sparrowhawk (which picks off the ones above )
Bloody pigeons who feed off the dropped seeds

Costs a fortune trying to feed them.

Yes to parakeets & herons in SE London. The Herons live in a local park that has a massive pond, the parakeets are everywhere

I saw parakeets while visiting friends in London
We are in Yorkshire and not seen anything exotic but we do have woodpeckers, a Heron and a kingfisher in our garden as well as all the usual birds

I live on the outskirts of South London as you hit the countryside

Parakeets
Eagles ( one was using a lamppost at the junction with the main road as a lookout )
Owls
Wrens, found one in my conservatory - sooo tiny
Woodpeckers
Jays - loads of them
Herons - they look like dinosaurs in the air

The amount of additional wildlife is fantastic

Badger - snuffling around my garden
Deer - in the road early one morning
And a huge variety of field mice , voles, frogs and other creatures the cats bring in ( I've got a rescue rate of about 50% of what they catch )
I am also forever picking ticks off the cats

We get pretty much everything here in SW Surrey. Parakeets, Sparrowhawks, Red Kites, Buzzards, Hobbies. All the usual small birds like tits and finches, hundreds of starlings in big flocks, field birds like fieldfare, and martins, and suchlike. We also get Pheasants, and Heron and Egrets. Plus the bigger birds like Magpies, Raven, Crows (hate crows), Jays, and Pigeons, lots and lots of Pigeons (the Sparrowhawk has a particular liking for them and regularly catches them in our garden, gruesome, but amazing to watch).

We are really lucky, in Surrey, but semi-rural, and surrounded by fields.

Oh yeah, forgot about the woodpeckers, green and speckled, and owls who keep us awake!

Eagles in London - not likely, unless escaped. Probably a Red Kite ?

Hampshire; nut hatches, pheasants, peregrines, buzzards, sparrow hawks, and red kite, bullfinches, goldfinches, and all the usual garden standards.

But I am most jealous that a couple of times, my parents in Brittany get a hoopoe!

Nothing truly exotic, here in my Durham garden, but we've had

Sparrowhawk
Magpies
Jackdaws
Crows
Woodpigeons
Doves
Blackbirds
House Sparrows
Blue, great and Coal tits (though the blue tits haven't been back since the magpies got their nest, last year)
Robin with serious small bird syndrome
Wren

Also often hear a chiff chaff, but have never seen it. We live right on the edge of woodland. Have heard owls at night, in the summer.

Our garden also attracts a lot of small mammals. We've had a rabbit (the little bugger ate my parsley!), various mice and voles, a greedy grey squirrel and a weasel.