creatures in my garden

[Linda frost]

Yesterday i was sitting on my garden wall overlooking a field and forest watching all the dragon flys, i spend ages watching and waiting and then i crawled along the ground slowly to try and take a photo, my Turkish farming neighbours watched in disbelief they really cant make me out!!

[Susie]

Hehe! Hullo Linda, I can just imagine you doing that! I am pleased that you are still seeing dragonflies, I haven't seen one for weeks.

I am spoilt rotten now with wildlife in the garden. I get the most amazing birds plus some great butterflies. There were Red Admirals throughout the winter months, Comma and Peacock in early spring, then Orange Tip, Brimstone, Large, Small, and Green Veined White, and in the summer I was pleased to see Holly Blue, Small Copper, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood, Silver Washed Fritillary, Purple Hairstreak and, cream of the crop, BROWN HAIRSTREAK!

Now all I need to find is a Purple Emperor sitting in my oak tree and I will never leave my gardens again (and it is possible because they are in the woods nearby).

The moths have been disappointing though.

Like the rest of you I am doing my best to make the garden attractive to wildlife and it will be interesting to see what turns up over the next couple of years.

[SweetRocket]

Originally Posted by Linda frost

Yesterday i was sitting on my garden wall overlooking a field and forest watching all the dragon flys, i spend ages watching and waiting and then i crawled along the ground slowly to try and take a photo, my Turkish farming neighbours watched in disbelief they really cant make me out!!

It can get very embarrassing being a wildlife watcher. Like when on holiday with a large group of people and my eye caught sight of a beautiful moth, the group thought I had lost the plot as I scrambled into the very formal flower gardens to capture that special picture. I got some very funny looks from the group but luckily for me there was a bird watcher with us and he understood completely.
Another time in a DIY store, deep in conversation with a friend, I spotted another beauty of a moth, it flew away very quickly and I instinctively ran after it because I wanted to identify it. I wasn’t successful as it was too fast for me but my friend was left feeling that was I somehow not right in the head.
I wont go into what the neighbours think about my exploits in the garden at night with a torch!!

[tufftie]

Originally Posted by ron1863

I love sitting on the decking in my back garden and looking out over the small river, which runs past our back garden, I regularly see herons, dippers, wagtails, mallards and the usual assortment of wrens, blackbirds and especially wood pigeons.
The only two birds I would really like to see are Woodpeckers and Jays, and though I know they are in my region I very rarely see them.

For jays you need to be feeding peanuts and as they're quite shy they also need lots of cover - big hedges and trees etc. Woodpeckers tend to come to the fat feeders in winter, again they seem to dive for cover at the slightest thing