Hello everybody.
I've just found this forum and decided to join as it looks like a really friendly place with everyone being fellow nature lovers.
I'm Gill, 37, married to Neil and have been obsessed with the natural world since I was about five years old - if not earlier!!!
I grew up watching David Attenborough programmes, Animal Magic and the Survival series and spent every spare moment I could outdoors. I was a fanatical collector of caterpillars and reared them to see what types of butterfly/moth they would become ( it drove my mother crazy having dozens of jars in my bedroom with various bugs and beasties in them - especially when they escaped LOL ). I also kept Three-spined Sticklebacks and was, and still am, fascinated by their behaviour.
Then at the age of 13 I obtained my first pair of 'real' binoculars ( 8 X 30 ) and they totally opened my eyes to the natural world.....and I've never closed them since!!!
I'm interested in ALL aspects of the natural world - birds, mammals, flowers, insects - EVERYTHING is wonderful, and intensely interesting, in my eyes....it's impossible to suffer from that modern-day affliction called boredom when you have an interest in what's going on around you.
I grew up around Newcastle in the North-east of England and spent many years living in the centre of urban life but last October we moved to a cottage on a hillside in Northumberland close to the Cheviots. I set up a feeding station in my front garden to see what bird species were around and have had some real stunners that I could only dream of in the centre of town....Yellowhammer, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Red-legged Partridge, Tree Sparrows and dozens of House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Greenfinch amongst many others!
And mammals which live around here, and which I see on a regular basis ( especially at 5am when I'm driving to work!) include Roe Deer, Brown Hares, Rabbits, Foxes, Badgers and, especially in my kitchen, Wood Mice!!! Only this morning ( Tuesday ) I had one run over my foot and disappear underneath the washing machine whilst I was making a cup of tea!!! I don't mind them sharing this cottage as they aren't causing any damage and I frequently catch them in live traps and am able to empty the trap into a small clear plastic container to get fantastic views of them ( they are incredibly beautiful creatures close up ) before releasing them two miles away in a local nature reserve.
Now that I have left urban life I can't imagine EVER going back....being in the middle of nowhere is absolute heaven! * even if Neil IS almost comatose with hayfever right now!*
What is especially rewarding is being able to set up a feeding station and know that 'my' birds are in no danger from being caught by cats ( which WAS a big worry in town) and I have endless inspiration for my sketches and paintings - since moving here I have rediscovered art and now try to do something each day - even if it's only a quick sketch or doodle.
Gill