All things Nature

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

This is a new thread to chat about all things nature.

Birds, bees, other flora and fauna. Noctilucent clouds, the Aurora Borealis. The sky is (literally) the limit.

Welcome!

I've just found the nature section! This is so lovely. I love our insane overgrown garden as we get so many birds and foxes passing through. We had a nest of bluetits in a wall cavity a year or two ago and it was amazing to see the parents flying straight down under the kitchen window. We have at least two pairs of blackbirds and a whole flock of sparrows, dunnocks, wrens, a pair of robins, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, a pair of woodpigeons and a pair of collared doves, plenty of pigeons, magpies and about three squirrels, song thrushes, bullfinches, goldfinches, finches. Occasionally a flock of long tailed tits flies through and they are so amazing to watch and listen to!

Sounds like a lovely garden @rivierliedje you lucky thing! 😊

Since March I've been recording the birds in or visible from my garden. Up to 40 species now. My favourites are the goldcrest that. I hear nearly everyday but only managed to spot occasionally and the greater spotted woodpecker who has been feeding it's young by the feeder.
We get mammals as well. We fight a constant battle to spot and mend the places the badgers get in. Not only are they escape points for one of our dogs but they have wrecked a shed door to get at the metal bins where we store bird food. dH put up a trail camera and caught them getting into and back out of a bin we thought was secured with a strong bungee! Last night there was a very vocal muntjac in the paddock next door.
Anyone else got a lot less swallows /martens/ swifts this year? We've noticed a decline over a few years and hardly seen any round here this year.

We've seen more swifts but tbh that's because we have put swift boxes up, which were never there before. It's amazing how they will find new nest sites if you play their call!

@countrygirl99 could you fence off a bit of your garden for the dog? Badgers can be determined, and of course very strong! You're lucky to have them but it must be a worry with the dog.

The badgers come in on 3 out of 4 sides of a large garden so we just have a boundary check every morning. We managed to find most of them before the dog. We also now leave the shed door open to avoid further damage. I'm pretty sure they are raiding my gooseberry bushes as well now as I'm having to fix a hole in the netting every morning. I have to race birds, dogs and badgers for all my soft fruit.

I found a baby slow worm this week and I have a birdbath full of succulents doing something wonderful

Succulents

I live in the south east and drive through my local country lanes to get to the stables every day. I keep seeing glimpses of a lovely bright yellow bird which google tells me is probably a yellow wagtail which is apparently quite rare. I get quite excited whenever I spot one! I also saw a woodpecker fly across the road in front of me the other day.

Garden birds had deserted my garden due to my rear neighbours taking down a huge conifer a couple of months ago I think the disruption was too much for them. I put some bird feeders back up the other day and the pigeons and starlings have made a return so hopefully others will too! I have a very heavily planted fish pond in my garden and when the frogs laid eggs in it earlier in the year I very hastily dug a pond for the spawn to go in. I now have my first baby froglet in there with lots more to come!

😂😂 that sounds a bit stressful! I admire your dedication and tolerance. I have all but given up on getting any soft fruit for us humans!

I had my garden renovated from a pebbled wasteland with artificial grass three years ago, to a lawn with lots of borders and raised beds, and I can’t believe the difference it’s made. It’s absolutely glorious. So many bees, birds and other creatures hanging around. I say to DH, it’s their home, and I just get to sit in it sometimes!

I’m another Merlin fan, and I’m getting better at knowing the different songs now. It helped me spot a long tailed tit the other day, and I got so excited! I also have a friendly robin, who seems to have made the garden his territory. He comes and checks me out occasionally, especially if I’m digging.

My main nature excitement right now is that I’m growing my first ever second-generation beans. That is, they’ve come from seeds I harvested and saved last year. They’re Cherokee Trail of Tears, and I love being part of that history.

Beautiful @vdbfamily 😍

Such a shame about the conifer @DustyTangerine they are so valuable for birds. Hopefully you've got space for some shrubs which might help.

I'm trying to persuade DH that a pond would be a wonderful addition to our garden...

I'm sitting outside eating my breakfast. Sparrows chirping, the chaffinch has just stopped as has the wren, the woodies announce their existence now and then. Just heard either a rook or a jackdaw. I can also hear a nest of chicks squawking - possibly blue tits as they get very irate sometimes when I hang washing over there.

I know we need rain, but the sky is the most beautiful clear blue this morning, like something out of a Renaissance painting.

My pond is my happy place. There is no filter. The snails seem to keep it clean. After a long day at work I just sit beside it and count the fish and baby newts. There is a little frog who appears on a lily pad occasionally. The lilies are stunning at this time of year. It attracts birds and dragon flies and crane flies. Will add a photo when out of bed but would recommend to anyone. Such therapy.

Merlin has just identified a skylark! That’s a first!

I saw this picture yesterday. Birdsong.

Could be a yellowhammer. They are hedgerow birds and we get a lot in our area around the arable fields.

I'm off checking dormouse nesting boxes today. Unlikely to see one but we generally spot other interesting stuff like woodcock. This reserve is really good for butterflies and I've not been there before in summer so hoping to see some unusual ones.

We used to have a small pond but the nice but misguided neighbour puts far too much food on the ground in her garden and for a while we had a rat problem, including them boldly drinking from the pond during the day. With a dog and a child at that time, DH filled it in - it’s a sort of bog garden now.
So instead I’ve now got some barrel ponds on my patio. The water gets too warm to be good for wildlife tbh but the birds enjoy them for bathing and drinking, including this baby robin this morning

Hi to all again!

My thrilling-to-me update is that today I have spotted several peacock butterflies in my garden, after 5ish years where I’ve had a massive drop in numbers! It’s basically because I realised a buddleia was growing out of one garden wall and couldn’t be arsed to remove it thought I’d leave it in this summer for the pollinators… and they’ve come for it! Procrastination pays off this time

I love my pond. We’ve got frogs and nests and it makes me so happy seeing them in there.

I thought I'd take one for the team last night
There were a couple of slugs mooching about in my back yard last night .
I haven't got a garden so they don't bother me but one of my neighbours has loads of lovely pots with alsorts growing in them so to stop the slugs trooping of to munch on her plants I gave them their supper in my yard , they were quickly joined by loads more.

So I hopefully have a happy nighbour, ( temporarily) happy slugs , then happy birds .

Circle of life
seems like a win-win - some of the slugs will evade the birds, and those that don’t will have died happily replete.

That's my thinking too , what surprised me is that slugs like the fleshy bit of peppers bit not the skin , it was picked absolutely clean but the skin was untouched.
I am kinda curious as to what else they do or don't like .
Is a slug buffet going to far 🤔

I know it's been very hot and dry and we need the rain , but please can somebody turn the rain off between 11.30pm and 12.30 am or I am going to get washed into the canal on my way home from work .
It's absolutely chucking it down here !