# Country Life Can Be A Pest But...........



## Alas (Jun 18, 2006)

Raging against my broadband speed for the last 3 months as it has been a massive 0.4 mb/s :threaten: The joys of living in the country.

However there are more advantages than negatives. Opened my kitchen blinds the other morning to be faced by this. No zoom as he was about 10 ft away. Obviously not cutting my grass was a big hit. His buddy in the last picture is a regular too.

Its not all bad this country life :yes: 



















Lots of colourful birds which I really like. Couple of examples.



















And someone else who really likes the colourful birds. :tongue2: :tongue2:










Please excuse the pic quality. I could give you the technical reasons why but basically I'm crap at taking pictures.


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## taffyman (Apr 26, 2011)

Couldn,t agree with you more .I was born in the country and lived the country life for the past 80 years .Yes its has its drawbacks, sometimes but i wouldnt have it any other way H :taz:


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## MerlinShepherd (Sep 18, 2011)

Thanks for posting! We don't get such great wildlife here on the outskirts of Brighton, but lots of foxes, rabbits, crows, blackbirds, magpies and squirrels!


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

MerlinShepherd said:


> Thanks for posting! We don't get such great wildlife here on the outskirts of Brighton, but lots of foxes, rabbits, crows, blackbirds, magpies and squirrels!


Maybe not quite as impressive as that seen by OP, but I'm always surprised at just how much wildlife we have in Brighton (I'm only 1/2 mile from Merlin!). In our garden (and pond), loads of frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies, mayflies, foxes, wood pigeons, tits (ooh err) of all types, humming bird moths, tree bubblebees (Bombus hypnorum), ground bubblebees...

...but the highlight for me this year has been a pair of nesting Jays. We've always had Jays but they're rarely seen although you always hear them. This pair is very different! They're attacking all the cats, seagulls, magpies etc...they obviously have young. We've even had them them feeding from our bird feeder which is very unusual for a Jay.

Not my photo....but same as this:


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

Our birdfeeder draws some unexpected visitors.

This bear.










These wild turkeys.










Also my DSL speed is 5.0mb/s. 

Later,

William


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## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

William_Wilson said:


> Our birdfeeder draws some unexpected visitors.
> 
> This bear.
> 
> ...


Great pictures everyone, I live in right in the town center and have done pretty much all my life so never see anything like that at all. But bears are a walk in the park compared to the giant killer seagulls we get, even Bill who is usually keen to have a go at anything animal on legs shies away from them when we are out in the morning.

:lol: :lol:



> CONCERNED residents are in a flap after being repeatedly attacked by swooping seagulls outside a sheltered housing complex.
> 
> Residents say they canâ€™t leave the building without the large birds plunging down and pecking at horrified passers-by.
> 
> ...


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

BondandBigM said:


> Great pictures everyone, I live in right in the town center and have done pretty much all my life so never see anything like that at all. But bears are a walk in the park compared to the giant killer seagulls we get, even Bill who is usually keen to have a go at anything animal on legs shies away from them when we are out in the morning.
> 
> :lol: :lol:
> 
> ...


Reminded me of this story: http://www.telegraph...ull-attack.html

Later,

William


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## Caller. (Dec 8, 2013)

Yup, country life is good. I moved from London 5-years ago. I regularly see various deer and also Badgers - the latter sadly as roadkill. But never seen a fox or squirrel here, bit weird, that one.

Also so many different species of bird and watched a kestrel enjoying his lunch in my garden the other week - at least I've been assured that's what it was. Apart from feathers and a beak, there was nothing left of the bird it had devoured. I love seeing birds of prey, it's quite scary how large they can get, just wish I was better at identifying them.


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## artistmike (May 13, 2006)

Having spent my youth in Kent and having seen the concrete and tarmac slowly proliferating I moved down here to the westcountry some thirty years ago. Like you I also have a broad band that only just beats the Post Office's snail mail but with the moors, the sea, the wildlife and village life, life is good. If having fast broadband means having to live without all this, I'd rather give up the computer, except of course it's very handy for shopping as we haven't any shops either...


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## greasemonk (Oct 4, 2012)

hi all,having been brought up a farmers son in a country village i had a wonderful childhood being able to roam for hours on end in the countyside.i learnt many skills from the village poacher,some which i use even now.as a young man i was a prolific shooter but gave away most of the rabbits hares etc i shot .most folk were only to grateful for these free healthy meals, not so nowadays.this lead to a lifelong passion of gun collecting,an expensive hobby!.i now live in another bedfordshire village in our bungalow in its quarter acre plot which backs onto woodland,we see all manner of wildlife including badgers foxes and munjuic deer.the latter are very, very tasty.have not as yet seen any bears william.i still shoot on the family farm but only at the request of my brother the farmer if there is a rabbit of fox problem.i am semi-retired at 58 and now generally just enjoy the countryside, but i do lament that the old country skills such as calling foxes ,reading woodland signs etc have all but died out..the photo,s in the previous posts are beautiful, even more so because they are natural undisneyfied shots.yes atlas my broadband is pi** poor too but i can live with it..greasemonk..


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## artistmike (May 13, 2006)

greasemonk said:


> but i do lament that the old country skills such as calling foxes ,reading woodland signs etc have all but died out..


I was taught how to call foxes when I used to shoot regularly back in Kent, mainly used for clearing areas where the fox population had got out of hand and was causing problems. A group of three of us were regularly called out for that and to assist farmers who were having problems with pigeons damaging crops.. I still love traditional country food, there's nothing like a good rabbit casserole, pigeon pie or fish that you've caught yourself... Beats anything from the supermarket and yes I agree, nothing like venison that you've shot yourself too, wonderful quality food....


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## MerlinShepherd (Sep 18, 2011)

Paul is right, there are more species than I mentioned earlier. We had pied wagtails and earlier this year (and I have pics to prove it) a solitary pheasant in the garden. Plus a terrific insect population.


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## Foxdog (Apr 13, 2011)

Caller said:


> Also so many different species of bird and watched a kestrel enjoying his lunch in my garden the other week - at least I've been assured that's what it was. Apart from feathers and a beak, there was nothing left of the bird it had devoured.


Chances are it was more likely a Sparrowhawk, they are more than happy taking small birds in gardens (especially if you have bird feeders hanging around!) The females are often mistaken for kestrels because of their brown plumage did you manage to notice its eyes sparrowhawks have lovely bright yellow/orangey ones. Kestrels though they will take small birds occasionally, more usually feed on small mammals like voles and mice plus beetles and worms though I've only ever seen this on 2 occasions when I was younger.

Hope this helps.

To see any bird of prey in your garden is fantastic, hope you get to see it again. :icon16:

:fox:


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## Caller. (Dec 8, 2013)

Foxdog said:


> Chances are it was more likely a Sparrowhawk, they are more than happy taking small birds in gardens (especially if you have bird feeders hanging around!) The females are often mistaken for kestrels because of their brown plumage did you manage to notice its eyes sparrowhawks have lovely bright yellow/orangey ones. Kestrels though they will take small birds occasionally, more usually feed on small mammals like voles and mice plus beetles and worms though I've only ever seen this on 2 occasions when I was younger.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> ...


It certainly did help - many thanks - and I'm sure you're right. I tried to identify it by using various bird identifiers on the web. It was the size that confused me, which made me think of the kestrel. A little after I saw a kestrel at a show and put 2+2 together. But it was great to see.


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## Alas (Jun 18, 2006)

Caller said:


> Foxdog said:
> 
> 
> > Chances are it was more likely a Sparrowhawk, they are more than happy taking small birds in gardens (especially if you have bird feeders hanging around!) The females are often mistaken for kestrels because of their brown plumage did you manage to notice its eyes sparrowhawks have lovely bright yellow/orangey ones. Kestrels though they will take small birds occasionally, more usually feed on small mammals like voles and mice plus beetles and worms though I've only ever seen this on 2 occasions when I was younger.
> ...


If you look at my first post the hawk pictured is a male sparrowhawk with the pink/brown breast as opposed to the much darker breast on the female. She's about 4" bigger than him at 15". We get them both in the garden but he's here more often and is not really scared at all. He actually takes birds off the feeder although I have it beside bushes to give the birds a chance. It depends which hunting point he uses. Did a list for the RSPB and have over 30 small breeds of birds visit regularly. Plus crows, shitehawks, etc . Missed pics I regret are a young buzzard, tawny owl and a Hen Harrier. Spotted me straight away and flew off.


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## lewjamben (Dec 4, 2007)

Fantastic pictures. I think opening the blinds to see that deer would've knocked me over!

I found this in my house last week. I've not seen anything like it this, well... big! Anyone know what it is?


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## Caller. (Dec 8, 2013)

That's amazing, isn't it! I did a google image search and it appears to be an Elephant Hawk-moth!

http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=60

Also worth looking here as it's photographed on someone's finger and gives a good indication of it's size (scroll down the page a little and there's also a 2nd photo).

http://www.wallwork.me.uk/garden.html


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## artistmike (May 13, 2006)

I get Hawk-moth caterpillars in my garden, this rather large specimen caterpillar is of an Elephant Hawmoth before it sprouts wings !


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

lewjamben said:


> Fantastic pictures. I think opening the blinds to see that deer would've knocked me over!
> 
> I found this in my house last week. I've not seen anything like it this, well... big! Anyone know what it is?





artistmike said:


> I get Hawk-moth caterpillars in my garden, this rather large specimen caterpillar is of an Elephant Hawmoth before it sprouts wings !


Yep...that's the Large Elephant Hawk Moth....one of our prettiest moths, resplendent in pink and olive green. We also have a much rarer Small Elephant Hawk Moth with similar colouration. As mentioned above, the catepillar feeds on Fuchsia, but more commonly on Willowherb. The common name has nothing to do with the adult moth and derives from the fact that the caterpillar (larva) when in the normal feeding mode looks remarkably like an elephant's trunk.....










In Mike's pic (above this one), it is in the defensive mode, where it draws the head back into the thoracic segments, thus expanding and excentuating the 'eye' markings on the thoracic segements, hoping to scare off a predator. This is the usual brown coloured larva, but they can also appear bright green.......

A beautiful and quite rare sighting.....well done for capturing it on camera.


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## Alas (Jun 18, 2006)

Further to the boy below appearing in the garden he's now a regular visitor and now has a ladyfriend with him most days. Tried to get a photo twice but she is too alert and is off straight away. He is obviously too lazy, thick or dozy as he still hangs around. I'll get a piccie yet.


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## Tugwell Gibson (Mar 17, 2014)

i live in Bexley. which used to be kent, but now comes under greater london. we are right on the borders of country and town.

we moved house two years ago, and specifically looked for a property that bordered fields or woodland. I wanted to move further out into kent. But the wife

doesnt drive and said she would feel isolated, wanted to reamin near family and friends. I think she was right. i viewed this house alone at 8pm one winters night in the dark and rain,

the gaden was overgrown and appeared tiny. especially in estate agent photos. I pushed thru all the trees and veg and grabbed the fallen down chain link fence and folowed the perimeter.

best !0 minutes work I ever did.

garden before:










Garden after a few changes and a year or so:

see the drain on the floor for reference.


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## Tugwell Gibson (Mar 17, 2014)

we took down some overgrown conifers and a dying fir tree. but tlef the natural trres that match the ancient woodland behind. we left the overgrown bit on the right on purpose

so the woods allways seems to be spilling in. its also a great place for the bird feeder.


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## Tugwell Gibson (Mar 17, 2014)




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## Tugwell Gibson (Mar 17, 2014)




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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Great shots, Tugwell (really?... :lol: ). The Nuthatch is a real treat, as are the Great Green and Spotted Woodpeckers, and the Long Tailed Tits...rarely seen by most people. The Chaffinch study is particularly delightful...thanks for posting.


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## Tugwell Gibson (Mar 17, 2014)

Thank you for commenting roger. Much appreciated. the nuthatch is a real character. He will see any bird off and stand his ground

Against all comers lol


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

You can see him just daring the approaching Robin to land in your first pic...... :lol:


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