Memorable things in nature

[MysticChevron]

It’s Friday evening, the kids are away for the night…please share your nature anecdotes!

I once saw a swarm of bees migrating - actually heard them first! I stood at my front door and witnessed them come round the street corner, follow my street, then turn another corner at the end of said street. It was nothing short of entrancing!

Ah @Pubgarden what an emotional experience and memory that must be for you ❤️
sorry for the loss of your friend, I love that you honoured her wishes and were rewarded with something you shall never forget 💐

Bird of prey experience. Walking around woods with a bird of prey just like you would take your dog for a walk. Two kites circling around me together, spending most of the afternoon with a young barn owl. Wonderful day

So not nature that other people have happened upon, but it was enthralling to spend time with these glorious creatures

Lots of butterflies around at the moment.
Flutterbies.

Mine's a bit of a grim but fascinating one. Saw a dead lizard on a garden wall in France. Noticed lots of ants marching towards it. They took it apart piece by piece and very shortly no more lizard.

Nature is awesome like this. I’ve often enjoyed watching a spider trap and kill its prey with similar fascination: there’s spidey, curled up in the corner of his web, when a fly comes along and gets trapped - and spidey pounces, scuttles like lightening, and binds it up to devour. I like to imagine the spider feels like I do, when I see my food coming at a restaurant; that little jump of glee and relish.

Did you see my post upthread?

I noticed them when I heard the fly buzzing. It stopped quite quickly.

Continuing the deer theme, DH and I were walking through a field in Dorset once, heading towards a wood that led to a beach. All of a sudden a handsome pure white stag appeared from the trees and just stood there looking at us. It was utterly beautiful, it looked like it was a legendary creature. Also pretty scary as it was so big and powerful. We retreated a bit then silently watched him run off through the field, not quite believing our eyes.

Seeing dolphins on a near daily basis where I live now.
Lots of Orca action further north…what a summer for them.
Bats flying above our heads in the garden in the late evening.
A little tiny spider had taken to coming for a drink every time I switch the garden tap on to fill the watering can.
Sparrowhawk using our garden to collect ‘lunch’ every now and then.
Seeing buzzards flying when I drive to work.
Watching deer run across the grass at my workplace.
Different types of bees on the borage in my garden.
Hedgehogs leaving ‘gift parcels’ on the garden path of a morning……….
oh….and seals……hundreds of them in the estuary and watching you as you paddle in the water…..they sing into the wind as well…..they sound like dogs…….
Love the wild electricity of thunderstorms and lightning………..and seeing the northern lights (aurora borelis) lots last year ….stunning colours, the best silent fireworks.
Great thread OP…. The world needs so much more nature…….

Nature is beautiful.
i live in New Zealand and we have birds called fantails.. native to us and their tails are like fans . They love hanging around people .. the colloquial term is “bushman’s friend”. I live in a rural area with native bush and there are several in my garden… they hand around and flitter in the trees around you .. I love them .

I used to work in an office that overlooked Covent Garden piazza and they had wonderful murmurations of starlings right in the middle of London at dusk.

What a wonderful thread - thank you op.

I don’t have anything outstanding to post, unlike others, but I’m in awe at the majesty of the natural world.

A hedgehog in the garden. Another hedgehog that looked in dire straits which we patiently fed water to until it recovered.
Seeing the bees and butterflies around the cottage garden plants that have come into bloom this year in my garden makes my heart swell.
A herd of cows munching in the garden of a rented cottage in Ireland when my son was 3 months old and I was up early for a feed.
Seeing pilot whales and dolphins up close on a boat trip in Tenerife.
The absolute beauty of the night sky, and the realisation of how tiny and insignificant we are.

One night out walking, in London (pissed as a fart), a fox decided to keep me company. He strolled with me for a good half hour, or perhaps even longer!

Looking out, and there was a muntjac deer, and a rabbit, in the garden.

Looking out the kitchen window, and there were at least four pheasants in the garden!

Looking across the way, and there was a sizable herd of wild deer making their way across the field.

Seeing a kaka fly out the undergrowth in New Zealand.

Seeing a huge kereru (native wood pigeon) settle on the post in New Zealand.

Seeing a humming bird in San Francisco.

Spotting a woodpecker pecking in Canada.

Seeing a badger amble across the road.

Watching a mare give birth to a foal as I was out running.

The power and might of the Niagara falls.

Oh, Luna, another piwakawaka fan! And tui - I love the tui, and their song. And bellbirds! These are some of what I miss most about New Zealand, and treasure the sight and sound of most, when I go home.

And the pukeko. I love pukeko! And weka!

What a lovely thread ❤️

For me, curious seals popping up around us while we sit on our paddleboards, watching the various nests around our garden, the blackbirds are my favourite, watching hedgehogs and bats come out to feed at dusk. Waking up in my tent having paddled and camped on the bank of a deserted Loch to an unusual barking sound and opening the tent to find a arge group of deer a few meters along the beach.

My first camping trip in Australia. I saw wild kangaroos literally a metre from me, and 2 days later had the young ones eating from my hand. Also saw a bird wild life so diverse and incredible, I couldn't take my eyes off them.

Also in Australia, the first time I saw the Great Barrier Reef. We drove from Sydney, with a couple of night stopovers, and for the last 700 kms it rained heavily. Just as we took the turn to Airlie Beach, the sky had a spot of sunshine and I saw for the first time the waters of the reef. I'd never in my life forget that moment, it took my breath away.

It still does. Whitsundays is my favourite beach holiday in the whole wide world

I know them, I used to live there and one fantail got inside of my house while I was baking a cake once. I also love the colourful parrots, they often came to my garden. My favorite is tuis, they are so unique, I miss hearing their calling. I sometimes play bird sounds on youtube while closing my eyes imaging I am back to NZ.

In the UK and just recently - hearing a Nightingale singing just yards from the runway at Gatwick. Turns out there are seven known territories in the area which the birds return to every year.

Abroad - a leopard snoozing in a tree in Sri Lanka and swifts playing chase-me-Charlie round a piazza in southern Italy. And the Grand Canyon during a thunderstorm!

Lovely thread OP.

Heavens above, everyone!!!

I’m getting lost in every single story. Thank you all ❤️

As it happens, my evening turned unexpectedly sour, so all your beautiful vignettes are especially lovely and helpful right now.

Keep em coming! X

Cat

I came across a slow worm once on a forest path. Type of small snake. He was fascinating and I watched him for ages. He was really shiny, almost metallic looking.

For the last 15 years I've holidayed twice a year at the same coastal town on the East coast of Yorkshire. It has a beautiful Blue Flag beach, a long part of which allows dogs all year round. I've occasionally seen Harbour Porpoise leap out of the water but they've been quite a distance off shore. A few years back, I was walking my dog on a quieter part of the beach, she was chasing her ball and I was paddling at the waters edge as it was low tide. I suddenly caught sight of something close to shore which was quite large and had appeared from nowhere. It was the head of a Harbour Porpoise which had come to the surface to have a look around - "spy hopping." The sight of it had me mesmerised and rooted to the spot. It wasn't there for long before it slipped back beneath the waves. Apparently, unlike dolphins, Harbour Porpoise are shy creatures so to see one spy hopping is a real treat. I think of it every time I'm walking on that part of the beach and of how lucky I was to see it. It was beautiful.

A weasel had a litter in my garden as a child. A neighbours cat caught the mother and my sister and I raised the babies. 45 years later there are still weasels in my mums garden now.

I live rurally and regularly see owls, badgers, foxes, deer, muntjack and fallow, every early dog walk. I live in the fens and see marsh harriers, storks and many beautiful birds too. In my garden, jackdaws come every morning for food, leave "gifts" and then leave the seed feeders for the little ones. A green woodpecker turns up twice daily.

During the lockdown, I was deep in the fen with my dogs, and I saw flocks of swans, geese and others feeding peacefully with deer alongside and not a person in sight. And I thought- the planet should be theirs, really. Since then i've doubled down on environmental work in my home and made my garden as wildlife friendly as possible, encouraging insects, composting everything, and recycling and reusing as well as planting for bees and our new climate. Ihonestly think the future is in animals.

What a lovely thread.

Recently, bees have been flocking to a pile of car mats left in the garden for washing. No idea why, possibly sticky drinks spilled on the mats? I have been putting sugar water out for them as well (the bees, not the car mats).

Another bee story, my young son with a bee drone in his hand for almost half an hour. Drones don't have stings and they are rarely seen as they die quite quickly after mating with the queen.

Hedgehogs in the garden. Snuffly, snorting things and so endearing.

Such a wonderful thread.

I loved your post @phlebasconsidered. Your, 'the planet should be theirs, really.' brought a tear to my eye. I make my garden entirely for wildlife. It's such a rewarding thing to do.

A moth that looked like a hummingbird - like seeing an actual fairy.