Wildlife

[Selby White]

One of our local nature reserves (Skipwith Common) have long horned cattle roaming free. Was up there recently and came across a few.

[johnh]

Funny you mention woodpeckers ANS, actually saw earlier today at the Cemetery (was there watering plants).

We get an abundance of birds in our garden so quite fortunate with location.

Yeah. Plenty of ducks in the local pond and tiny lake and they supposedly used to visit here a lot but I think they've probably learned some harsh lessons over the years, too many cats and possibly foxes after them. Forgot to mention we had two wrens nexting in holly tree next to the downstairs patio window, lovely singers! Red kites increasingly common too.

Do any of you get parrots? Quite common now at a friend's neighbourhood in Upminster but also up here there were two on the loose in LS26.

Yes, we get parakeets. They go in the silver birch in next door's garden. Noisy little blighters they are.

[Sniffer]

I live on the first floor of a large block of apartments set in communal gardens. Beyond the garden, about 20-30 yards from my window, is a long disused and well-overgrown Victorian quarry that has become something of a wildlife sanctuary as nobody can get in there. Beyond that is a road and then The Downs, a large green partly open, partly wooded space for the people of Bristol to enjoy. As a result there are lots of foxes. A family must have a den just inside the quarry as you can often see them padding through the garden or playing on the grass at dusk and daybreak.

There is at least one pair of Jays too as I've seen them in the tree opposite. I've yet to see a badger here, though. Plenty of squirrels but no badgers. In fact there were half-a-dozen squirrels scratching around on the grass and flowerbed this morning, usually it 's just one or two.

There are no parakeets here yet but there was a flock based in a local park when I used to live in Twickenham that would sometimes visit our garden.

[Deleted User 728]

There are no parakeets here yet but there was a flock based in a local park when I used to live in Twickenham that would sometimes visit our garden.

A friend of mine lives in Weybridge and they see them all the time.
Must be the same flock.
Apparently someone let some out of a cage and they survived "wild" in the area, bred and are now indigenous

[Barlow Boy]

By the way BB, not sure about where you live, but badgers tend to have a bad reputation here, due to old wives tales about them not letting go when they bite, unless they hear a bone snapping!

Rubbish of course. They are determined defenders of their set and family, but really a beautiful solitary creature. Enjoy them (from a distance ).

All of my dog walking friends love the wildlife where we live, it’s partly why we all moved here in the first place.

As far as I know everyone likes the badgers too, we all know where their sets are, but never divulge any information for obvious reasons. I’ve never heard any bad reputation, I used to find the odd dead hedgehog on some of our lawns which had strayed into the path of a badger, and they do rustle up the garden borders sometimes, but that’s about it.

As mentioned, we get adult badgers every night, but never had the babies like we did last night. Not stopped thinking about it all day

[Sniffer]

There's a fox in the garden at the moment. I've spent the last 15 minutes talking to him from my window. He was about 22 yards away plus the height to the first floor. He wandered through the garden at about 4 o'clock looking quite skittery and a bit lost. I'm guessing he's a young male as there was a family group earlier in the year. I've no idea how fox families work or if the young leave the family group or at what age...

He's curled up under a tree at the moment.

[Deleted User 728]

There's a fox in the garden at the moment. I've spent the last 15 minutes talking to him ...
He's curled up under a tree at the moment.

You're either the Fox Whisperer or the reynardian equivalent of Uncle Albert and he just fell asleep through sheer boredom