Nature quiz.

Ha ha, it ain't that grand mate I can assure you! And try changing your home insurance and see what happens!

We have feeders in our garden and we have around 75+ sparrows - counted them for the Big Garden Birdwatch (that's coming round again this weekend). We also get blackbirds, robins, great tits, coal tits, chaffinches, goldfinches, greenfinches, magpies, jackdaws, wood pigeons, collared doves and an odd wren. We also get starlings - nasty, horrible filthy creatures - pooh everywhere. Lovely to watch in a murmuration, but dreadful in your garden.

Do alright considering there's a motorway just beyond bottom of garden
Blue,great and long tail tits,wren,robin, blackbird,dunnock,woodpigeon,magpie,. Jay,goldfinch,chaffinch,siskin,frog,hedgehog,fieldmouse and fox oh and sparrows and sparrowhawk

What's the oddest thing you've seen in the garden? We have a beck running though ours and one afternoon a Dipper was hopping around.

Oddest thing my mam saw one Sunday morning when I was younger was me pissed up flat out on the grass with nowt on apart from my quilt.

You see loads of parrots flying around Kirkby Stephen.

Bats, shrews, sparrows, starlings, wood pigeons, field mice, blackbirds are all things our cats have brought in.

Unusual things in the garden:

As said previously my back garden is tiny. Also it doesn't have any grass. Just stone flags and patches of gravel and a a small raised bed. We had made it wheelchair friendly so husband could potter and tend his bonsai and auriculas.

We had some shelves on the wall where 3 particularly nice bonsai were displayed and a blackbird made a nest in one, rearing a chick. Husband muttered a bit about it ruining his bonsai but secretly was as pleased as I was.

A few months ago I looked out the window one Sunday morning and was surprised to see a cock pheasant stood on the raised bed. Nearby on the birdtable two wood pigeons were cleaning up. It could have been Sunday lunch delivered to the door!

Seen foxes and grey squirrels in our garden in edinburgh, and magpies as well, didn't know they didn't use to come this far north

Cat has brought in documentary evidence of mice, in fact I had to fish a live one out from behind the tumble dryer on tuesday, hope it's not feeling the cold back outside.

Never seen a hedgehog though - weirdly I did see them as a kid down in carlisle, but never any of the other animals above

Seen foxes and grey squirrels in our garden in edinburgh, and magpies as well, didn't know they didn't use to come this far north

Cat has brought in documentary evidence of mice, in fact I had to fish a live one out from behind the tumble dryer on tuesday, hope it's not feeling the cold back outside.

Never seen a hedgehog though - weirdly I did see them as a kid down in carlisle, but never any of the other animals above

Speaking of hedgehogs managed to pull this one out of drain gully don't k ow how it got in there but its tiny head was the only thing above water.

There were hedgehogs everywhere when I was a kid. Now it’s a treat to see one, that’s my terrier doesn’t see it first!

Anyone familiar with higher ground will have come across these bonny looking birds .

A Wheatear in Great Langdale .

Brilliant thread this makes a nice change from the boring football stuff :-) anyways I moved house just before Christmas so I’ve been busy sorting the inside out but this thread has inspired me to set up a feeding station etc in the front garden. There’s a park opposite so hoping to entice some feathered friends from over there.
Will be taking the kids to get some food tomorrow morning before the game, I don’t know who’s more excited.

You want your Parrot fancy dress outfit back pal to fit in?

Brilliant thread this makes a nice change from the boring football stuff :-) anyways I moved house just before Christmas so I’ve been busy sorting the inside out but this thread has inspired me to set up a feeding station etc in the front garden. There’s a park opposite so hoping to entice some feathered friends from over there.
Will be taking the kids to get some food tomorrow morning before the game, I don’t know who’s more excited.

I remember you saying ages ago that you had loads of building work done at your place.

Probably like we are now - different house and the problems that you have already remedied previously are needed to sorting out again ffs, good luck in your new gaff

Cheers munchy, yeah at lot of the work I’ve had done needs done again but hopefully worth it, had to move out of the area I’ve grown up in but seeing as nothing looks like getting done regarding flooding, I couldn’t take the risk of having to go through that again.

Got Heaton park 15 mins away biggest municipal park in Europe gonna have a nip down apparently waxwings there at minute and look for a couple of favourite of mine nuthatch and treecreepers

Hope you're lucky. I get nuthatch and treecreepers in the garden quite regularly. There's a litle wood just a few hundred yards from the house, so I think they call on the way to and from.

Never managed to photograph a waxwing though, would love to, very pretty birds.

Well just had a nice hour or so saw nutach,redwings and fieldfares feeding together as well as the usual stuff great blue and coal tits there's a couple of ringneck parakeets hanging around radio tower theregot chatting to a proper twitcher who was looking for a palid swift and told me an osprey had been spotted recently passing over which surprised me I didn't see the waxwings although he told me they are here and best place to find them...must do this more often this thread inspired me to get off my arse

It's a goldcrest really nice photo hard to get decent pics of them as they flit around a lot,rarely still for more than a couple of seconds. Out of curiosity where were you when you took the photo.

I'm no expert but my guess would be behind the camera.

It's a goldcrest really nice photo hard to get decent pics of them as they flit around a lot,rarely still for more than a couple of seconds. Out of curiosity where were you when you took the photo.

Whinfell Forest it was far too busy sifting through pine needles to notice me i must have got my camera phone to within inches of the little thing .
Talking to one of the rangers and he said there's a health population on them in that area .

Alan I go to Whinfell every year spend a bit of time in the hide camera at the ready lol. Always look forward to seeing the red squirrels sadly Carlisle is falling fowl to the greys especially in the Kingmoor nature reserve. Used to see reds all the time but no longer. Good variety of birds in the reserve though and roe deer.

Alan I go to Whinfell every year spend a bit of time in the hide camera at the ready lol. Always look forward to seeing the red squirrels sadly Carlisle is falling fowl to the greys especially in the Kingmoor nature reserve. Used to see reds all the time but no longer. Good variety of birds in the reserve though and roe deer.

One i took in the summer there cant find an exact match but i think its a Bullfinch .

It's a male Chaffinch Alan

Chaffinch mate, male.