What a privilege! Unusual things in our gardens.

Sparrow hawk preparing a pigeon for lunch in my garden. Feathers everywhere! I have a video but GN seem to have removed the upload facility. Anyone else noticed this?

Not in the garden, thank goodness, but wild boar and sheep by the side of the road and outside the supermarket.
We used to have badgers walking across the road too.

nanna8

Tonight I saw an eastern barred bandicoot in the garden at our holiday house. They were declared extinct on the mainland a few years back but were re introduced on fox free Philip Island and have bred up. I was so excited to see the little thing just hopping around under a tea tree.
Anyone else seen anything unusual in their gardens?

Having a tea tree would be unusual in the UK too, nanna8 although I know they're everywhere in parts of Australia.

Allira

Not in the garden, thank goodness, but wild boar and sheep by the side of the road and outside the supermarket.
We used to have badgers walking across the road too.

Whereabouts do you have wild boar Allira?

Lovely thread. We have a fox that visits most nights and sometimes he /she has a mate/friend. Also have seen a Badger on our camera. Muntjac deer happily chewing on my shrubs but not recently. Also have a grey squirrel. As for birds, all sorts from the usual sparrows, tits, starlings and blackbirds. Occasionally will get a Kestrel or Sparrowhawk trying his luck. Came round the corner of the house one day to find a Heron in the pond. Luckily he had only got a couple of fish. (Pond netted now). I spend alot of money on bird food and fox food but get so much enjoyment out of the visitors to the garden.
The cats will bring in mice occasionally, and rarely young rats. Usually deceased.

Lots of parakeets in my park Witnessed a sparrow hawk eating a pigeon just outside my gate. An amazon delivery stopped to look.

Rome is full of green parakeets. Apparently, they were introduced to scare away the masses of pigeons but instead they made friends and live together in great harmony!

GrannyGravy13

I think I saw the sun in my garden the other day 😹🌞

Really? Must have been an illusion!

Not currently, but in the 1950s, a house across the road was well known for the lion kept in the garden and taken for walks.
In fact there were three lions😳

granto3

I don't think parakeets are unusual these days. In London there is quite a colony of them (I know it is probably a flock) Anyway, if you look it up, they have overtaken the cockney sparrow

It’s many years since I’ve seen a sparrow anywhere around here!

Not very exotic, but I am so thrilled to have hedgehogs in our garden. I put food out for them every night, and have a hedgehog house too. We back on to fields, but there have been a lot of new houses built down here in Ramsgate. I'm just hoping that the farmer behind us doesn't sell up to the developers - if he does I think the hedgehogs will leave.

pascal30

Allira

Not in the garden, thank goodness, but wild boar and sheep by the side of the road and outside the supermarket.
We used to have badgers walking across the road too.

Whereabouts do you have wild boar Allira?

In Gloucestershire.
Wandering past the pub too 😁

Witzend

granto3

I don't think parakeets are unusual these days. In London there is quite a colony of them (I know it is probably a flock) Anyway, if you look it up, they have overtaken the cockney sparrow

It’s many years since I’ve seen a sparrow anywhere around here!

They've moved to our garden.
Most other birds have moved away.

NanTheWiser

Delila

Does my sister’s unusual sighting count? This morning she saw a green parakeet in her garden on the Dorset coast.

I get those all the time! On the borders of London and Surrey, and opposite the local park, where they breed. Flocks of 20+ fly over regularly and are extremely noisy!

Also here in France, terrible if you park your car under their tree.

Some cows!
Lived on an estate near edge of town, they had got out from a field across the road. They crossed the road and were eating my grass.

Allira

pascal30

Allira

Not in the garden, thank goodness, but wild boar and sheep by the side of the road and outside the supermarket.
We used to have badgers walking across the road too.

Whereabouts do you have wild boar Allira?

In Gloucestershire.
Wandering past the pub too 😁

That sounds amazing.. do they live in the Forest of Dean? sorry don't wish to be too nosey but I used to see them in France..

Quite a few Tulip trees around here, a few Monkey Puzzles as well. Nothing unusual in my garden today, but a few days ago I had a greater black backed gull cruising magestically across. We get gulls here in NE Hants but never seen a black back gull before. Our green parakeets hopped over the border into Surrey a few years ago but these days we have a pair of kites constantly circling and calling. Hopefully chicks will follow.

Three deer are often just outside and my son saw an eagle recently. At first I doubted him but he was correct. Town nearby has at least one kookaburra (I believe at least two escaped from a wildlife park that used to be there). They must like the climate in SW Scotland!

pascal30

I have a fox which visits most evenings..

So have I. She comes every evening for her supper and I’ve named her Lucy.

My sister feeds a fox (vixen) she calls her Emilia.

NIMBY but local people nearby have recently had a pair of white egrets in their gardens. That’s very unusual for Scotland! They seem to mix quite happily with the local ducks and heron. Everyone is hoping they’ll breed. 🪺

I also had a large rat in my garden all last Summer. No matter what I did I couldn't get rid of it. Luckily it's gone now. I divorced him!!

It wouldn’t be unusual for everybody. but we had a nuthatch on the fat ball feeder this morning - along with the usual dozens of tits (blue, great, long-tailed).

Love this thread, and it's wonderful to hear what sort of wildlife is around your areas. I had to look up a hoopoe, and they're lovely!

Not in our yard, but from our window we can see eagles, great blue heron, and from late December to early Feb we saw many humpback whales in the harbour. We could even hear them snorting as they breached.

I put out suet cakes in winter, but we had too many starlings (invasive species) swoop in in large groups making a mess, so we have stopped. The humming bird feeder stays up all winter, and we have a resident Anna's hummingbird that defensively guards the feeder.

How wonderful to see the humpback whales, Canadiangran!

I've only seen a whale 🐳 once, it swam alongside our ferry on the crossing
(Pentland Firth) from John o' Groats to the Orkneys. Magnificent creature.