Wildlife in your backyard

Stefka

Stefka

Well-Known Member
Hie guys,
didn´t find a thread for garden wildlife and since "my" Hedgehog has showed up in our garden again, fresh and rested after his winter hibernation, I was wondering - what wildlife do you get in your backyard? Do you have some pictures or videos of your garden visitors? And what do you do to make your garden more "wildlife friendly"?
 
Stefka said:
Hie guys,
didn´t find a thread for garden wildlife and since "my" Hedgehog has showed up in our garden again, fresh and rested after his winter hibernation, I was wondering - what wildlife do you get in your backyard? Do you have some pictures or videos of your garden visitors? And what do you do to make your garden more "wildlife friendly"?
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Well, I am sure that someone will point you to some thread or the other where this was discussed before ad nauseam, but I'll give you a list of wildlife off the top of my head that I have more or less seen:

Blue tongue lizard

Red back spider

Ringtail possum
Brushtail possum
Flying fox bat

Tawny frogmouth
Barn owl (my neighbour said she saw one on my fence at 2am once, so it counts :D)
Indian mynah
Noisy miner
Metallic starling
Eurasian blackbird
Red wattlebird
Spotted dove
Magpie

Rainbow lorikeet
Musk lorikeet
Eastern rosella
Crimson rosella
Red-rumped parrot (they live in the park 200m away, so surely they must fly overhead :D)
Galah
Little corella
Long-billed corella
Sulphur crested cockatoo
Yellow tailed black cockatoo

I make by garden more wildlife friendly by having lots of trees and flowers, and by putting out a bowl of drinking water - which the sulphur crested cockatoos appreciate.

I'll post pics that I take with my new camera, starting with the attached.
 

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I have just bought a flat very near the coast of South Devon: there is a communal garden between the blocks. I have only spent a few days there while planning refurbishments, but so far I have seen many of the common garden birds, plus a pair of mallards, two peahens and a bat (in broad daylight, photo in the Gallery) - perhaps a serotine. Unfortunately the noisiest and messiest inhabitants are herring gulls.

Alan
 
Though personally I've not seen a lot of what I mention, others in my family have so I assume that counts:

Common garden birds
Frogs
Foxes
Badgers?
Grass snakes

I don't see an awful lot, but then again I don't pay much attention to the garden. We try not to attract foxes in anyway as we have a rabbit :)
 
Have any of you Poms seen parrots in your backyards? (The introduced ones - not the Norwegian Blues that you get in your pet shops.)
 
nanoboy said:
Well, I am sure that someone will point you to some thread or the other where this was discussed before ad nauseam,
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I´m sorry. I knew it´s got to be somewhere, I just didn´t find it.

Anyway, your garden is pretty wild, isn´t it? :-) If I compare it to my tiny urban garden, where one hedgehog counts as a great success.. :-)
I do get lots of different birds on my birdfeeder, but never any unusual or rare ones.

How are the possums perceived by people there? Is it common to have them coming to your garden?


And I totally envy Javan Rhino for the foxes and badgers. I know that some foxes live in the area, but they don´t come to gardens, they rather visit bins in shopping centres :-(
 
Stefka said:
And I totally envy Javan Rhino for the foxes and badgers. I know that some foxes live in the area, but they don´t come to gardens, they rather visit bins in shopping centres :-(
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If I've seen a fox it was many years ago, but think my mum's heard them in a morning before and she may have seen them :)

I like badgers, probably one of my favourite native species. Our house backs out onto farmers fields, past which are large expanses of woodland :D
 
Ever since I got my dog, I haven't seen as much wildlife in my backyard, but here is a list of what I have seen here over the years:
White-Tailed Deer
Red Fox
Coyote?
Gray Squirrel
Groundhog (Not anymore, they're too scared of my dog)
Wild Turkey (They used to come a lot, not sure what happened)
Eastern Box Turtle
American Robin
Blue Jay
Eastern Cottontail
Frogs
Red-Tailed Hawk
An unknown bat
Turkey Vulture
House Sparrow
American Crow
American Goldfinch
House Wren
Common Garter Snake
Frogs
 
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That´s very cool, BeardsleyZooFan! Have you encouraged them to come to your garden somehow, or did they "just come"?
 
Stefka said:
Anyway, your garden is pretty wild, isn´t it? :-) If I compare it to my tiny urban garden, where one hedgehog counts as a great success.. :-)
I do get lots of different birds on my birdfeeder, but never any unusual or rare ones.

How are the possums perceived by people there? Is it common to have them coming to your garden?
Click to expand...

Do you get any parrots? You lot are aware that there are thousands of ringneck parrots in London at least right? I am curious as to where else they are popping up.

Possums are cute, but a lot of people see them as a pest as they are plentiful and raid your garden. They are like American raccoons I suppose. They make nests in your ceiling and scare you at night, especially if they drop on your roof from a branch. :D It's a love-hate relationship because they will eat your fruits and vegetables if given a chance. My wife was growing one solitary strawberry plant that had one solitary strawberry on it. A couple days before we picked our prize, a possum claimed it first. :mad:
 
The grass is always greener on the other side. :D

I don't think I have ever seen a badger or a hedgehog in the flesh!! You folks are lucky. Neither a coyote or blue jay. I was super excited when I saw a raccoon in a Hong Kong Zoo for the first time.

Folks, please list your "common garden birds". Remember, they are exotic for readers that don't live in your country, and we will be envious. :D
 
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Stefka said:
That´s very cool, BeardsleyZooFan! Have you encouraged them to come to your garden somehow, or did they "just come"?
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Nah, the animals I mentioned are just coming by to give me a visit:p. However, there are a lot of stuff that I didn't decide that brings the wildlife here:
White-Tailed Deer come because of an apple tree in the backyard (Plus a good amount of woods right behind my backyard). However, the bad news is apple trees attract Yellow Jackets too (It's NOT FUN to have them in your house.)
Turkey Vultures came once because a dead deer was in my front yard. It's a pretty cool experience to see like 20 vultures waiting in your backyard, while another 10 are taking their turn at the deer.
I didn't see the coyote myself, but I know they're there because I've heard them. The Coyotes and Red Foxes enjoy the abundance of birds and small mammals.
Red-Tailed Hawks and Turkey Vultures frequently fly above my house, looking for prey and carrion.
I also saw a Virginia Opossum one night right across from my house right next to my neighbor's house. And although nobody saw it, I know Raccoons visit my backyard because I set up a trail camera in my backyard once and got a pic of a raccoon.
There also might be Bobcats in the woods, but I can't be positive.
Does it also count if my neighbor's 2 German Shepards come onto my yard even though they're not allowed to?
 
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nanoboy said:
Do you get any parrots? You lot are aware that there are thousands of ringneck parrots in London at least right? I am curious as to where else they are popping up.
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I´ve seen them in London, luckily, there are no introduced parrots in Ireland and I hope it stays that way. The grey squirrels are big enough problem now...


nanoboy said:
Folks, please list your "common garden birds". Remember, they are exotic for readers that don't live in your country, and we will be envious.
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You´re right :D
Ok, here´s the list of species I recorded on my birdfeeder during the Garden Bird Survey Winter 2011/2012:

Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Robin
Blackbird
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Magpie
Jackdaw
Rook
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch

(There is the "European" or "Common" prefix in front of almost all of them :D )
 
Well, I live in a very suburban area in Omaha, Nebraska, but manage to get a few birds, and a few dozen butterfly species. My bird list is only around 75 species (knowing others with over 200 species), but some highlights are ruby-crowned kinglet, sandhill crane, nesting great horned owl, 7 semi-regular woodpecker species, and a very out of place ferruginous hawk! But only about 30 species do I see as regulars.
 
Javan Rhino said:
I like badgers, probably one of my favourite native species. Our house backs out onto farmers fields, past which are large expanses of woodland :D
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They are the coolest, aren´t they? :D Hey, I´ve read they´re gonna get the BTB vaccine in Cheshire as well, congratulations!
 
I will come up with my list sense living in michigan
eastern tiger salamander
mudskipper
many frogs
eastern toads
gray tree frog
painted turtle
snapping turtle
red eared slider
blue racer
eastern garter snake
corn snake
multiple species of crayfish
leeches
bluegill
minnows
lake sturgeon
robins
red winged blackbird
orioles
mourning dove
blue jay
pileated woodpecker
goldfinch
ruby throated hummingbird
an out of place pelican
sand pipers
trumpeter swans
mallards
wood ducks
Great blue heron
Sandhill Crane
common crow
raven
redtailed hawk
bald eagle
peregrine falcon
barn owl
screech owl
turkey
spruce grouse
any species of mouse possible
grey squirrel
red squirrel
flying squirrel
chipmunk
woodchuck
muskrat
north american porcupine(one week we had five walk straight through the yard.)
striped skunk
pine marten
raccoon
bobcat
black bear
coyote
red fox
timber wolf
cougar(possibly, it use to walk up and down the river which was a half mile from our house)
virginia opposum
little brown bat
water vole
white tailed deer
& we also saw a moose on the river about a mile away
 
JBZvolunteer said:
I will come up with my list sense living in michigan
eastern tiger salamander
mudskipper
many frogs
eastern toads
gray tree frog
painted turtle
snapping turtle
red eared slider
blue racer
eastern garter snake
corn snake
multiple species of crayfish
leeches
bluegill
minnows
lake sturgeon
robins
red winged blackbird
orioles
mourning dove
blue jay
pileated woodpecker
goldfinch
ruby throated hummingbird
an out of place pelican
sand pipers
trumpeter swans
mallards
wood ducks
Great blue heron
Sandhill Crane
common crow
raven
redtailed hawk
bald eagle
peregrine falcon
barn owl
screech owl
turkey
spruce grouse
any species of mouse possible
grey squirrel
red squirrel
flying squirrel
chipmunk
woodchuck
muskrat
north american porcupine(one week we had five walk straight through the yard.)
striped skunk
pine marten
raccoon
bobcat
black bear
coyote
red fox
timber wolf
cougar(possibly, it use to walk up and down the river which was a half mile from our house)
virginia opposum
little brown bat
water vole
white tailed deer
& we also saw a moose on the river about a mile away
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These are all animals that you have seen in your yard (or on your property)? Awesome!!
 
Well it's not my yard precisely, but there was a moose calf on the playground of the elementary school down the street this afternoon.
 
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