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Garden Wildlife


Doc Holliday
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We've had quite a year this year with wildlife in the garden. A pair of Blue Tits set up nest in the box that had been up and unused for several years. It got cleaned out every Winter in the hope someone would occupy it. I think the female laid somewhere around 14 eggs but we only saw one fledgling. Strangely, there was only one adult towards the end feeding the young and so we weren't entirely sure what happened to the other.

We also had a pair of Robins also take up residence in the adjacent nest box which had been up as long as the Blue Tits box, but her eggs were predated by something, possibly a Magpie. I then moved the box to somewhere a little less exposed after she had deserted it, cleaned it out and saw that they had decided to raise a second brood. 5 or 6 eggs were laid and hatched but none of the young survived. Mrs H found 2 young on the ground, either fallen out, turfed out or pulled out. One was still alive and so she put it back in but only to realise all the others in the nest had perished.

We had a pair of Hedgehogs mate in the back garden. I kid you not, for such a small animal you would not believe how much sperm he could deliver and most of it was over my block paving. Apologies if you're having your tea when you read that but there really was a lot and I think he must have slept very well when he got back to bed. 

We had a Sparrowhawk terrorise all the other garden birds when it landed on next door's shrubbery which had a pair of Blackbirds nesting in it.

We get loads of feral pigeons, Sparrows and Starlings, several Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons so it's always a pleasure to see & hear the Goldfinches when they come around.

Lastly, Mrs H recently saw a pair of birds in the garden that she had never seen before. It turns out they were a pair of Grey Wagtails.

Edited by Doc Holliday
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We've got about half a dozen blue tits that visit the feeder regularly, they were joined by a great tit last Monday, first time I'd seen it there.

A wren came and took a few crumbs off the floor below on the same day, then a robin came along and chased the tits off. Most mornings are the same like that till around 9.30/10.00 when they all clear off.

The rest of the garden is frequented by both species of woodpecker, plenty of woodies and magpies with buzzards never far away. I like the feeder where it is because it stops the bigger birds coming in and gobbling all the food. 

It's funny, alot of people seem to think that because I shoot I'm anti wildlife. You then have to explain to them you do the things you do to promote and protect the garden birds as best you can. 

Some you just can't educate. 

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Yes, we feed the birds and get great pleasure from seeing them come into the gardens. Down in here Wales at the moment and we have multiple Goldfinches, greenfinches, Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Robins, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Blackbirds, Red Wings. The Red Wings and Blackbirds prefer the Hawthorne berries on the trees. Collared Doves and a Cock Pheasant hoovering up the bits dropped from the feeders. Since I’ve been removing the Grey Squirrels from the area over a few years we only have the odd one re-appearing and the small bird population have expanded dramatically. I’m going to make some armoured bird boxes for next year as each of the tit boxes were destroyed by the Woodpeckers predation.In Lancashire we have pretty much the same bird population visiting the garden, but it is a semi-rural setting on the edge of a village. In Lancashire we have hedgehogs, but in Wales we don’t, too many Badgers which will easily feast on them. Before the Badgers became established there were plenty of Hedgehogs here in Wales. Yes, we control what needs to be controlled but this allows for diversity- that’s Conservation. 
 

image.jpeg.9d49266f31ff2e96d684f2928be22840.jpegimage.jpeg.781889748da7077f5ca627f8512a40c6.jpeg

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2 minutes ago, Fisheruk said:

Yes, we feed the birds and get great pleasure from seeing them come into the gardens. Down in here Wales at the moment and we have multiple Goldfinches, greenfinches, Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Robins, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Blackbirds, Red Wings. The Red Wings and Blackbirds prefer the Hawthorne berries on the trees. Collared Doves and a Cock Pheasant hoovering up the bits dropped from the feeders. Since I’ve been removing the Grey Squirrels from the area over a few years we only have the odd one re-appearing and the small bird population have expanded dramatically. I’m going to make some armoured bird boxes for next year as each of the tit boxes were destroyed by the Woodpeckers predation.In Lancashire we have pretty much the same bird population visiting the garden, but it is a semi-rural setting on the edge of a village. In Lancashire we have hedgehogs, but in Wales we don’t, too many Badgers which will easily feast on them. Before the Badgers became established there were plenty of Hedgehogs here in Wales. Yes, we control what needs to be controlled but this allows for diversity- that’s Conservation. 
 

image.jpeg.9d49266f31ff2e96d684f2928be22840.jpegimage.jpeg.781889748da7077f5ca627f8512a40c6.jpeg

Great pictures there 👍

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