h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm surrounded by wildlife.

I've never seen so many small birds in the garden, on our feeders. We have robins, black caps, great tits, blue tits, coal tits and sparrows. There are also pigeons, collared doves and woodpigeons who pick up the stuff the other birds drop on the ground, and blackbirds and magpies who ignore the feeders and hunt for worms and stuff.

On my way to work each morning I see our local crazy cat fighting with a magpie. The magpie has a nest, and distracts the cat away from it by attacking him and getting the cat to chase him up another tree.

I had to stop the car twice in the last week because of stupid squirrels standing in the middle of the road. And I saw a fox with cub beside the motorway the other night at about 1:30am.

Meanwhile on the canal, I see a mother duck with her babies. The number is now down to 6. Last week she had 10. I wonder at what point she notices the number is diminishing. But the chances are that some of them will survive. Another duck has five "teenagers" in tow, so she's won the battle to have her children survive.

We have a lake on our campus, so there are ducks and geese everywhere. It's been quite recently because there have been lots of ducklings around. Some are still tiny, some are quite large. I saw a few yesterday that had a mixture of down and feathers.

Wearing a duvet, in effect.

There is a duvet surrounding the lake in my local country park I noticed today. I was thinking of collecting all the feathers, but picking my way through the goose poo put me off a bit.

You're lucky to live somewhere like that Gnomon - being in the burbs I don't get a huge variety - although I do sometimes get two or three finches once or twice a year since I planted the teasel. They only come into the front garden though, which I think is weird, because normally any food in the front is ignored.

I live in the suburbs too!

Private gardens are the largest nature reserve in Britain (and Ireland I'm sure), with the greatest variety of habitats and accompanying species.

The work of organisations like the RSPB have resulted in people really making the most of the opportunities to support wildlife in their back yards.

So many rural habitats have been lost or are under threat, that for many species (particularly woodland and hedgerow) gardens are the natural alternative

I've been a lot more aware of the wildlife this past wee, having been over at my Fathers, which is a lot more rural than here in the centre of town/city. Always supprises me the first few nights there, at just how loud the dawn chorus is Woke me up at a rediculus hour of the mornin the first three nights back Was so nice at night, laying in bed heading off to sleep hearing the owls and such like over hunting on the large gardens and fields behind the house, that unmistakeable screetch... and the ocasional loud twittering of other birds disturbed during the night probably by cats or some such... And the amusing site of a blackbird in the front garden with a beak absolutely stuffed full of worms (just after the rain), and another black bird later on in the week settling down on a log in the log pile only to fall off it and look quite supprized when the log rolled over The most weird thing though was the flying beatle which decided to comit suicide on the window whilst we were sitting out on the patio late at night... It contineually beat itself against the window... and the next morning was laying dead on the paveing stones I think it was what they call a 'july bug'.... quite large and rather noisey Didn't get to meet with the foxs that live down by the railway track and venture across our path (to the pub) by the river this time though

Maybe we don't get anything exciting because Essex is 75% farmland. Perhaps they're all on the farms.

Doesn't stop me feeling as if I live in a concrete jungle though.

I saw an interesting sight a while ago. There were two woodpigeons sitting on the garage roof, watching the garden. There were a lot of starlings in the garden, rummaging for food. A couple of town pigeons flew in, and the woodpigeons flew at them and chased them away, but left all the other birds alone. Is that mating competition? Seems the most likely to me.

I love my gardens, such a variety, the more you look closer, the more you see! I've already seen a tiny blue butterfly which I reported last year. Lots of ladybirds. Caterpillars galore. A big spider black front part, red bulgy bottom half!Ants
Birds - won't feed from my feeders (except the fat balls) but they come for the bread I put out. I've seen a blue tit, hanging from one of the tall flowers, a wren, thousands of starlings, the fledgling blackbird chick which is now as big as its parents but still expecting to be fed lots of sparrows, the local fox, several neighbouring cats which I have to keep shooing out, lost count of how many ring-neck doves and there's a big blue dove/pigeon the size of a duck who spends ages washing himself in my birdbath. There's a male blackbird on every rooftop, singing out their territorial markings.

Did the town pigeons have bowler hats on?

No bowlers, no. I could tell the difference when I put music on though. The town pigeons responded best to Slayer. I think it must have reminded them of the foodfest each morning when the city council are emptying the bins. The woodpigeons didn't respond until I put some bluegrass on, whereupon they instantly lifted up a piece of straw in their beaks and started stamping one foot.

Did I mention the four deer I saw, on two successive nights, grazing beside the motorway, in broad daylight, at the turn-off to the big, new Tescos?

And round my way, Foxes are more common than cats...which makes me think...

It's just when you said it it made me think of that Aesop's fable 'town mouse and country mouse'.