Back Garden Zoo

[adrian1963]

I was having a chat to an old zoo keeper (best not say his age) and he was explaining to me how everyone who has a garden, is actually in charge of there own private zoo. Silly I thought untill I started listening to him, so here we go.

How many different kind of mammals, reptile, insects and birds do you have visit your garden on a daily basis and do you ever leave food out for animals.

Do you keep your lawn cut very short or do you let it grow a little, have you like me got many weeds in your garden (to attract wildlife, my excuse and sticking to it).

Do you have a pond and if so what wildlife uses it.

Do you have a compost bin or do you store the dead plants and other stuff in an open area, if so what animals have you seen by it

Do you have a bird table if say how often do you refill it and which birds use it

Have you got any old wood or logs lying around if so which group of animals do you see around it or even using it.

The list could go on forever as the old gentleman put it.
I now understand what he was saying about our own little back garden zoos.
So please let me know what you, have in yours or why not take time to have a good look this week while the weather is warm and make a list.

I will post my list as soon as possible as am still doing it.

 

[Panthera Puss]

I've got a small section at the end of the garden that's allowed to grow wild and just cut down with shears to keep it under control. I put down old wood & plants, it's amazing what insects it attracts in a short time; it's very easy to look after and you get a good return for little effort. I don't know what's out there, but I've had frogs, toads, hedgehogs, bats (not dwelling but hopefully going after some of 'my' insects), the odd snake / slow worm off the top of my head. My zoo does similar with its grounds where possible and gets loads of native species.

 

[bongorob]

I've had stoats, bats, foxes, rabbits, hedgehogs, voles, frogs and toads. Lots of beetles, butterflies, moths. Millipedes, woodlice and other invertebrates. A Robin has just started to visit.

I do try and keep the weeds down, next door have enough for both of us.

My garden backs onto a disused railway line so there is a lot of wildlife. It is re-opening within two years but the rail company have a huge job on clearing the trackbed, so I expect they won't bother too much with the embankments other than to make the passage of trains safe.

 

[Gavin123]

I live in the suburbs of a large city on the southcoast near a golf course and wood so i do get a fair bit of wildlife in my zoo

Habitats i have are: -

Log pile, Compost heap, a pond of about 4m sq, Bird table and feeders, stinging nettles(great for tortosieshell and peacock caterpiller), as well as large range of herbacious perrenials (cottage style plants) that flower through spring, summer and autumn to extend the season for bees buterflies and the like. I also created something i cant remember the name of! But bascially its hardcore covered in earth with alpines planted over the top, the idea being that reptiles and amphibians can hibernate within it.

To anyone that hasnt got a pond get one, the range of birds, insects, amphibians and mammals it attracts is stunning, nothing like sitting by my pond on a hot summers day with a can of beer watching damsel and dragon fly bombing around.

Species in my garden include: -

Blue tit, great tit, long tailed tits, starlings, house sparrows (nest in eaves), greenfinch, chaffinch, wren, robin, blackbird, song thrush, crows, herring gulls, woodpigeon, collared dove, and racing pigeons that frankly i could shoot for eating my seed and once a sparrow hawk used my bird bath.

Common frog, smooth newt and one female great crested newt (!).

Slow worm

A range of insects inc dragonfly, damselfly, peacock, tortoiseshell, red admiral, cottage white butterflies as well as the usual insects.

Badgers the once and bats fly in and out

I also get alot of Red foxes that i feed anything that i forget to eat and goes out of date!

 

[Maisie]

I confess to not being much of an expert in insects or mammals. I do know we have hedgehogs, various types of bee and wasp and a few species of butterflies. We're on the edge of town between a packed housing estate and proper countryside, so the mammals tend to stay away, but our garden is definitely a bird garden.

We have (most of these visit daily):

- somewhere in the region of 100-150 starlings (we had our own personal murmuration in the hedge every evening for a fortnight a few months ago)
- approx 40 sparrows
- approx 30 greenfinches (who live in the front garden cedars with their own supply of sunflower seed feeders)
- 10 or so blackbirds
- 10-15 chaffinches
- 10-15 jackdaws
- 2 regular rooks
- a pair of occasional magpies
- approx 10 blackbirds
- at least one robin pair
- a couple of wrens
- blue tits
- great tits
- coal tits
- a very occasional bullfinch pair
- seasonal reed buntings
- occasional long-tailed tits
- greater-spotted woodpeckers from time to time
- some goldfinches who like to hide in the cedars, so they're hard to count
- 40-50 collared doves (who enjoy colonising the pine tree in the back garden, occasionally forming a nice deli counter / rotisserie for a passing sparrowhawk)
- 4-5 woodpigeons

We've also had the odd one-off visit: everything from a redpoll, turtle dove and pheasant, through racing pigeons, to zebra finches, parakeets, budgies and even a diamond dove!

This is in addition to 4 aviaries in the back garden and 3 birds in the house as well as the world's most rubbish cat.

There is rarely a quiet moment either in the house or garden, and there's always something interesting to look at. It's definitely a zoo (that or some sort of circus ) here. At the moment the noise from the fledgling starlings is deafening.

If you're interested in wildlife gardening and maintaining a range of habitats, take a look at the Cheshire Wildlife Trust's Wildlife Garden scheme:

Cheshire Wildlife Trust, Wildlife Friendly Garden Awards

Even if you're not in Cheshire, it's interesting to see how many items you can tick off on their checklist.

 

[Bubbles]

We recently put a bird feeding station in our garden and have had a rook, a magpie, couple of jackdaws, couple of collared doves, couple of wood pigeons, a black pigeon, starlings, a couple of blackbirds, sparrows, a blue tit and a dunnock so far.

 

[JamesB]

My main species in my zoo is... Cat! So many around here. I do get the odd hedgehog, fox and squirrel however. As for birds we have a regular robin who is very tame and loves to sing to us, theres also great tits, blue tits, starlings, pigeons, magpies, sparrows and wagtails (off the top of my head)

I did have a bird feeding station but it never got used so I gave up with it and especially with the local cats I don't think the birds wanted to stay long anyway. I do have a birdhouse up and I've seen a few birds inspect it but apparently its never met their standards, maybe I built it wrong?