From my window...

After 40 years in the UK and now back in my native Jura (no not in Scotland) for the past 7 - yes, we do share much of the wildlife- but the birds we get here are very different to the ones in our UK garden. I do miss our many long tailed tits, and the dawn chorus by our many blackbirds and song thrushes - here we are woken up by the constant nonsense chatter of sparrows!

In winter we have so many of the tit family, including crested tits, but no long-tailed. We also get so many chaffinches, greenfinches (which we also got in the Midlands) but lots of bramblings, which I'd never seen before, and sometimes snow buntings. Red kites and buzzards are quite the norm, tree creepers, all sorts of wood peckers- and so many more.

For mammals- we have a few species that are not so common in Midland Cities, like pine and beech martens, red squirrels which are in fact brown here, lots of chamois and deer- and 2 species which were re-introduced here when I was a kid- and now so successful- Ibex and lynx. Seen the Ibex very often- but my dream is to meet up with a lynx. They are very shy and discreet, and hunt at dusk and dawn- so not very likely. The only one I've seen is the poor female hit by my neighbour's car when he was coming back from a party in the early hours. Poor man was gutted (ouch, pun was not intended- so was the poor lynx).

Ah, Nina, how sweeeet....

Oh that sounds so lovely. I've seen foxes and badgers in the past and felt so happy to think that they live around us. Only fauna on view from our windows today is a noisy class of not very sporty children being taught to play tennis (against their will by the look of it!). Very entertaining though - probably for the wrong reasons. Must go, one seems to be smoking and another is having a wee lie down while the teacher's off for a chat with the nice looking PE master. Who needs the telly?!

Glad your recovery is going well. I am also known as the badger lady, in my road!
I wasn't sure what a merlin looked like, so watched this video and am now sure that I have never seen one. They are rare in Oxfordshire it seems. Your wildlife seems to be similar to that in the UK, we are very lucky aren't we?

It was indeed a special moment- and also a turning point in my recovery as I'd just got to 100 degree bend- which was the intitial BIG goal to reach by then end of next week.

DH was able to photograph the sparrow hawk sitting on a solar lamp in a pot on the patio- right in front of our kitchen/patio door last winter- much larger and with the yellow rim to the eye- just 6' away- and greart spotted woodpecker on the fatballs on the bird house just 3' away.

Always been a keen wildlife watcher- and in East Leics was often called the 'Badger Lady' or the 'mushroom lady' - and worked for many many years with a wildlife hospital, our Police wildlife inspectors and the local Badger Group. Hopefully will be able to go and watch the badger sett in the wood at the back of us this year (May is the best time- with youngsters palying King of the Castle whilst the parents go foraging)- as my knee will be better by then.

We have so many red kites and buzzards here too- and marsh harriers at our local peat bog and lake.

How wonderful there can't be many people who've had that privilege.
I was delighted by a visitor that was right outside my patio doors Thursday evening..........a fox cub, which going by size was only a few weeks old.

Well, every cloud, gj ....... Sounds as though you are having a very interesting time during your knee op recovery. At this rate you will surely make it onto the ski slopes next winter. Do enjoy the wildlife meanwhile. What a great close-up view of a merlin!