Something that is missing from this forum

[Millymollymandy]

Is discussions about wildlife. Am I the only person who lists and counts the bird varieties in my garden, owns a pair of binoculars, loves trying to identify butterflies and wildflowers, etc etc?

This is as big a part of my life as gardening and all part of doing something to help the environment - they are our environment! So I'd love some discussions on this subject as a change from talking about parsnips or leeks!

There is a good new series on BBC2 which started last Friday, just before Gardeners' World, called Hands on Nature. Lots of birdies and wildlife in the UK.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/handsonnature/

[woolcraft]

I am also a nature nut and love encouraging birds and other wildlife into the garden. I missed that programme but will watch out for it this week. Thanks for posting it. Sue

[nick]

I enjoy watching native birds around home. like to point out different birds to the kids so that they can learn to identify different species. the kids love butterflies, even the cabbage moths ................ try to learn as much as possible about species and how they relate to the environment. have a lot of green frogs around and they are meant to be pretty sensitive.

[Shirley]

good point MMM

I love nature too - and love seeing the birds in the garden and all the other wildlife around the place.

Isn't it sad that many children nowadays don't know the names of our native plants and birds... criminal I think.

[Shirley]

woooo MMM - you have passed your 1000 post mark.

:sith:

[Millymollymandy]

I missed that - must have been the excitement of getting back on the forum!!

[shiney]

I'm a bit rubbish at birdwatching. I did notice that for a couple of years tho, our bird population dropped like a stone and I got worried. I guess it was a glitch, because even though we have more cats in our area than average, the birdies are back!

Go on MMM, inspire me to get watching!

[Andy Hamilton]

I do like a bit of wildlife, like watching the mass of starlings or seeing an urban fox or my favorite seeing a badger.

Do we need another section M3?

[gunners71uk]

i find hen partys interesting in the native habitat of black pool lol

[ina]

GUNNERS!!!

I do have binoculars, and every time I try to use them to identify some strange bird in the garden, I realise that I desperately need to clean the windows...

I love to watch wildlife, but I'm rubbish at names, whether animals or plants. I do have books, though, and I am trying to improve...

[Millymollymandy]

Andy - I don't know if we need another section (we've got tons already) but sometimes it would be nice to just chat about the wildlife with anyone who is interested. You Aussies too - tell us about your kookaburras!

Anyway I have 50 birds on my list now - but I recently found out that the exotic Mandarin ducks that come on my pond occasionally come from the other pond in my hamlet which is full of all sorts of interesting species and has lots of little floating nesty boxes, so they are obviously semi-tame!!!

[Andy Hamilton]

Andy - I don't know if we need another section (we've got tons already)

cool I was reluctant because of that reason. This is half the reason that I try and ensure I merge of delete a section if I create a new one.

[ina]

Anyway I have 50 birds on my list now

Are you a proper twitcher then? I met some in Shetland - they'd gone all the way up there from Cambridge just for a few hours (one day in the train, one night on the ferry, about 8 hours in Shetland, and then the same journey back). And all that to see a bird, if they were lucky, that hadn't been seen there for a few years. They were very nice guys - all of them male, mostly clad in green and bearded , but as they said themselves, a bit weird...

[Wombat]

Hmm, gotta be careful of blokes with beards!

Nev

[Millymollymandy]

No, absolutely NOT a twitcher! The thought of travelling hundreds of miles to see some rarity (which I've probably never even heard of!) and then hanging around for hours on end leaves me cold. All twitchers are interested in is ticking off rare birds on a list rather than watching birds in general, even the 'ordinary' ones like robins and blue tits.

I should have said that the 50 birds are the ones spotted in my garden. We haven't found the time to go out for a birdie walk since we bought this place, but then there are plenty here to keep us occupied!