What a privilege! Unusual things in our gardens.

Driving by fields this morning I saw an unusual group, four “teenage” cygnets and an Indian Runner duck, all relaxing in the sun. The two adult swans weren’t far off, nearer the river.

Red kites sound beautiful, very special. We get Brahminy kites which sound similar but not where we live, they are further north in the tropical regions. They get some wonderful wildlife up there ( including crocs which you wouldn’t want)
It is very hot again today - 35C. Have to admit I’m over it now.

gulligranny

We have been adopted by a red kite - it first came to us several years ago when it was quite young. It perches in our beech tree and we do feed it (there are lots of them in our area so there isn't too much natural food around); it always knows when I have something in my hand for it and we have an excellent throwing/scooping routine. It also comes when I'm working in the garden with nothing to give it. It sits quietly and watches me, sometimes it snoozes especially if the sun is shining. Today I actually saw it come down and drink from the birdbath, and that is quite a sight.

We feel very privileged to be able to see this glorious creature up close.

I love the red kites! When I first moved to this Oxfordshire village 25 years ago, I looked them up in my old Reader's Digest bird book, which said they were extinct, so was delighted to discover that the re-introduction had been so successful. When they swoop for food, they move so fast it seems that they miss, but they never do!

We have been adopted by a red kite - it first came to us several years ago when it was quite young. It perches in our beech tree and we do feed it (there are lots of them in our area so there isn't too much natural food around); it always knows when I have something in my hand for it and we have an excellent throwing/scooping routine. It also comes when I'm working in the garden with nothing to give it. It sits quietly and watches me, sometimes it snoozes especially if the sun is shining. Today I actually saw it come down and drink from the birdbath, and that is quite a sight.

We feel very privileged to be able to see this glorious creature up close.

Sparrowhawk, woodpeckers and a couple of years ago a young pheasant stayed for nearly a week…

I used to feed badgers, along with deer and foxes, every evening in my garden. If I was late putting out the peanuts they would press their noses against the French window!
Unfortunately the nuts attracted rats, which nested in my shed only a couple of metres away from my back door, so I stopped feeding birds and animals.
Apologies for poor picture, copied from old photo.

nanna I love your picture of the cockatoo.

My cousin lives just outside Sydney and she sent me a picture once of a koala sitting her GCs paddling pool. The night had been very hot and she found the little chap cooling off when she came down first thing in the morning.

I have not only seen, but held, a sparrow hawk three times in my front garden when it dive-bombed sparrows in the hedge and then got stuck. I rescued it and was thrilled to see it close-up. It was tiny and fragile and very beautiful. It flew off unharmed, and often hunted in my garden, as I had a huge resident flock of sparrows. They seemed fewer in number last year, but this Spring they’re making a comeback.

I had an adder in my back garden a few summers ago.
I heard, but not saw, a woodpecker somewhere very nearby last week.
We get deer wandering around here.

I've just Googled images of them!

OMG I'm so in love! They're absolutely gorgeous!

That's just brilliant vegansrock
It shows what can be done in an urban area.

That sounds absolutely blissful Vegansrock

I used to get cows in my garden. The houses were newly built next to farmland and the cows used to get confused when going back to the farm for milking.

I live in sunny south London with a small garden set in large communal gardens so it’s a bit of an oasis for urban wildlife. One of the neighbours has a tally of over 40 bird species seen. We have bird boxes , bat boxes and hedgehog boxes in the grounds, log piles for stag beetles and small water holes. We have foxes, squirrels, hedgehogs , bats among our residents and smaller rodents somewhere no doubt. We have a colony of ground bees which visit in the autumn. We have a pond in the garden which is heaving with frogs and spawn at the moment. There will be dragonflies and mayflies over the summer. We won an award from London in bloom for a neighbourhood community garden and the judges were very excited about the biodiversity we’ve encouraged. We saw bumbarrels (long tailed tits ) the other day and regularly get wrens, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and yes, parakeets among the many visitors on our bird feeders.

Our hedgehog is now out and about each night. We put out food and water for him. We have a night camera set up and love watching him snuffling about. He looks nice and fat and healthy.

This cheeky one visited this morning. We don’t usually get the white ones.

I saw my first Brimstone Butterfly of the year today, always a real treat! With the wonderful sunny weather we’ve been having all week ( in Surrey) I was really hoping to see one.

Bees!! Loads today, humming away - around the winter honeysuckle and winter clematis. Bumbling into the greenhouse by mistake.

A greater spotted woodpecker has been visiting our peanut feeder all winter. I haven't seen it lately, I suppose they are getting ready for breeding season.
I haven't seen but have heard a tawny owl most nights. It seems loud so must be sitting on next door's roof.

How could I forget the evening I investigated strange noises in a previous garden... 2 hedgehogs mating. That was a new one on me.

This week I've had the privilege of being visited by a group of 4-5 wrens nipping in and out of the bottom of one of my hedges, wonderful. Sparrows nest in it every year and feed on the lawn and flower beds morning and evening along with blackbirds and starlings.

I'm often visited by blue tits, the odd goldfinch, and robins. over the years I've been visited by a couple of frogs, a fox and once saw a jay. Once, in a split second, a sparrow hawk swooped down and flew off with a sparrow from inside a very spiky shrub. Love to see it all, especially bees and butterflies.

Just my seagulls x

Yesterday there were two frogs mating in my pond. No spawn has been laid so I think they were two gays!

Yesterday I was oiling the garden seat and a sparrow hawk flashed in and caught a pigeon, but panicked when he saw me and flew off releasing a happy pigeon.

We have had badgers in the past - before dh blocked a hole in the fence to stop a visiting friend’s little Westie from charging off.

One evening I had made a bread and butter pudding, and had put a lot of buttery crusts out on the lawn (garden is very small) for the birds in the morning.
Not long afterwards we were amazed to see two large badgers woffling around the lawn, hoovering them all up!

On the only other occasion, I was sitting in the garden after dark, just listening to fairly quiet music from indoors. A solitary badger appeared and wandered around, coming within just a few feet of me. I had thought that badgers have an excellent sense of smell, so was surprised that s/he evidently wasn’t at all bothered by the smell of human so close by.