Wow, loved your wet weather squirrel story, Shirley - I can just picture him - so cute! :-) Sounds like your wood pigeons have migrated to my garden - it seems there never fails to be at least one and sometimes several in my tiny suburban patch! I don't really mind them (although they do eat a huge amount!) as long as the other birds also get a look-in which they seem to! In the past couple of weeks I've seen loads of starlings, collared doves, at least a couple of robins, dunnocks, blue tits, one coal tit once and a huge flock of long tailed tits passing over, some of whom stopped by on their way through while I was standing not three feet away from the feeder - wonderful! I didn't dare move until they'd gone though! :-)
We put our compost bin on a concrete surface as this is the only way to ensure that rats won't burrow into it. Wire mesh is another good idea, plus it allows drainage and access for invertebrates.
I love watching the squirrels in the garden, even though they can be cheeky rascals, especially when they chase each other round and round the oak tree trunk. It is amazing they don't get dizzy and fall off! I, too, have pictures a squirrel inside an allegedly squirrel proof feeder.
Now the weather is getting colder the birds are coming back to the feeders in numbers.
Whilst doing my autumn tidy up and putting the garden to 'bed,' I looked up to see the jackdaws perching on top of my neighbours chimney pots. They love to skip around the top edges of the chimney pots, stopping every so often to peer inside them - sometimes all you can see is their tails bobbing about as they dip into the pots. Are they searching for insects?
7.00am yesterday morning from my window were six cock pheasants and seven moorhens enjoying their early morning breakfast on the lawn. The sun was rising and the cock pheasants looked so colourful. A couple of pigeons flew in to join the feast. My husband called me to the other window where we saw a greater spotted woodpecker on the bird feeder. Haven't seen the green woodpecker for a few weeks. He came everday and enjoyed the insects beneath our lawn. Later, while walking in adjoining fields watched two buzzards circling overhead. They have been around all summer - hope they managed to breed some young.
I moved to Scotland from Yorkshire just over a year ago. This must be the best place on earth for seeing wildlife in the garden. There are too numerous to list, red squirrels, rabbits, red and roe deer, buzzards, pheasants, slow worms, stoats, toads, and many different types of bird life, and the views are amazing. I feel privileged to live here, even though the roe deer ate all 45 of my spring cabbage last year! As for global warming one day last January the warmest part of the day was -11. brrrr!
I have had the pleasure of coming across my first rat in the compost bin - whilst trying to empty my dalek compost bin using a garden fork to prong the contents from the top, I disturbed a very well fed rat who scuttled off at great speed! My mulch was great - full of worms but quite damp - perhaps I should put more paper in?
I have a regular visitor to my garden. A beautiful deer. I know they can cause damage but I think it is so rewarding to see these amazing animals up lose and personal!
Still plenty of birds around at present. The blackbirds especially are enjoying the variety of berries that surround the garden - in particular my grapes which are small and not so sweet! rather gave up 'thinning out' as would have spent all my time dodging the summer deluge! Robins still vocal and numerous blue and great tits visit the bird table. Have been unable to encourage the goldfinch into my garden - my mum had 19 in one sitting this week! Happy Autumn all gardeners.
Hello! Although I'm a bit far away from you all, we still live in the same planet... My house is a very old and isolated vicarage settled in the top of a hill, at 60 km north of Barcelona city.
I'm happy to say I still share my days with:
- a whole family of bats(squatters in my basement; apparently they love my cave!!...although they don't drink the wine, I thank God for it) -happy snakes (found a hugue one in the kitchen a couple of days ago) - some dangerous vipers, mostly in the grass (uf!) - lots of bees (I have had pannels in lots of windows) - astonishingly beautiful ladybirds in both swimming pool and pool - all sizes frogs outside - all sizes spiders inside (I simply adore them, great architects!) -mice and rats have definetly left the home after I bought a home cinema with sensoround sound a couple of years ago...(not a joke, there were plenty of them and they suddenly vanished; I presume the vibrations of the cinema sound scares them) -we still have plenty of birds coming, bathing in the pool and eating most of our fruits.
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I love watching the squirrels in the garden, even though they can be cheeky rascals, especially when they chase each other round and round the oak tree trunk. It is amazing they don't get dizzy and fall off! I, too, have pictures a squirrel inside an allegedly squirrel proof feeder.
Now the weather is getting colder the birds are coming back to the feeders in numbers.
As for global warming one day last January the warmest part of the day was -11. brrrr!
Although I'm a bit far away from you all, we still live in the same planet...
My house is a very old and isolated vicarage settled in the top of a hill, at 60 km north of Barcelona city.
I'm happy to say I still share my days with:
- a whole family of bats(squatters in my basement; apparently they love my cave!!...although they don't drink the wine, I thank God for it)
-happy snakes (found a hugue one in the kitchen a couple of days ago)
- some dangerous vipers, mostly in the grass (uf!)
- lots of bees (I have had pannels in lots of windows)
- astonishingly beautiful ladybirds in both swimming pool and pool
- all sizes frogs outside
- all sizes spiders inside (I simply adore them, great architects!)
-mice and rats have definetly left the home after I bought a home cinema with sensoround sound a couple of years ago...(not a joke, there were plenty of them and they suddenly vanished; I presume the vibrations of the cinema sound scares them)
-we still have plenty of birds coming, bathing in the pool and eating most of our fruits.
Warm regars from sunny Spain!!
Dolores