Is anyone else interested in wildlife?Watching wildlife can be a real help if you have anxiety or depression.

[Kkimm]

Hi

I know many others on this site are interested in wildlife. It would be great to hear about wildlife anyone has spotted in all different parts of the world.

I live in the south east of England on a peninsular with salt marshes and creeks within walking distance on one side and sandy beaches on the other. I can bird watch along the creeks and see oyster catchers, shelduck, sand pipers, lapwings, avocets, teals, and curlew amongst many others.

On the sandy side there are black headed gulls, black back gulls, oysters, herring gulls oysters, mussels, crabs as well as sanderlings and turnstones which run along the promenade in little groups when the tide is in.

We also feed the birds in our garden and often see gold finches, green finches, long tailed tits blue tits etc on the bird table as well as marsh harriers flying overhead and have mallard and moorhens on our pond. We also have frogs, newts and the occasional grass snake. There are beautiful butterflies to spot such as peacocks, red admirals and orange tips at this time of year.

It would be great to hear about more English wildlife but also from our American friends about what they see in their gardens, cities and countryside as well our European friends and infact friends from anywhere in the world. Posting photos is wonderful for everyone to see.

I find spotting, observing and photographing wildlife so therapeutic and would encourage anyone who has never thought much about it to consider it as a new hobby. Encouraging wildlife is also a great way to contribute to the protection of our environment.

Kim

[Laniben]

Sounds lovely Kim, all we have round here are sparrows magpies crows and the odd fox at night. I saw a woodpecker once years ago but none since

[Kkimm in reply to Laniben]

Thanks Sam

A wood pecker sounds cool. Was it black and white in which case it was probably a Great spotted wood pecker or was it green in which case you guessed it, a Green wood pecker. Both have read on their heads.

We see both in our garden but I forgot to mention them. I have found it difficult to post photos, you did it once, how did you do it?

Kim

[Laniben in reply to Kkimm]

I think it was green was a long while ago though

[Laniben in reply to Kkimm]

I’m Sitting in the garden and I’ve been watching the birds fly over for the night. There was a small flock of tiny little ones earlier not sure what they were, sparrows maybe? Some of them are playing in the trees so cute

[Kkimm in reply to Laniben]

Sounds lovely.

Have you had a good day?

Kim

[Laniben in reply to Kkimm]

Yes I have thank you Kim

[sue-1]

Hi Kim, sounds like you have quite a lot of wildlife living near you. I'm English living in Georgia, USA. I love the wildlife too! I feed the birds here in my backyard and see many types of birds, like Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees, bluebirds, finches, woodpeckers, nuthatches and hummingbirds. In the evening around dusk I set up a chair in my garden and watch the bats darting around in the sky feeding on insects whilst listening to the symphony of Cicadas....such music to my ears! Your right observing wildlife is a wonderful hobby and I find so calming and peaceful!

[Kkimm in reply to sue-1]

Hi Sue

I was so pleased to get your reply thank you so much!

It conjures up a beautiful picture for me and so I will read it whenever I feel down.

Could you tell me what your chickadees are like, such a sweet name! Also what are Cardinals like, and what colours are they?

We have nuthatches and green and great spotted wood peckers. What sort of wood peckers do you have or if you are not sure what colours are they?

How beautiful to have hummingbirds, I would love to see that. What colours are they?

I have travelled in the USA a couple of times once to California and saw hummingbirds there near Lake Powell. I have also been to the Everglades and saw a huge range of beautiful water birds.

Sorry to ask so many questions but it would be great to hear more and perhaps keep in touch about what wildlife you see. I will try to post a few pictures from time to time, not sure if you are able to.

I love the image of a hot evening when you sit outside watching the bats swooping and listening to the music of the cicadas, it sounds so beautiful.

We have a big wildlife pond and sit in the shade of our pink hawthorn tree after an alfresco lunch and watch swallows swoop over the water to get a drink and see dragon flies dipping down to lay their eggs on the reeds just below the surface. The varieties we get most often are Broad bodied chasers which are yellow and brown, rather like a giant elongated bumblebee and Emperor's which are torquoise, green and blue and can be two and a half inches long.

Is your climate tropical? I love the tropics and travel there whenever I can afford to which is once every few years. Last October I did a three week wildlife holiday in Sri Lanka where we did jeep safaris, treks in the rain forest and cloud forest and camped in the dry forest. We saw such amazing wildlife including leopards and crocodiles. I developed GAD and depression 2 years ago after 2 life traumas in quick succession and for the first few months was frightened to leave the house so the Sri Lankan holiday was a goal I worked towards and was able to achieve. It was the trip of a life time which I thoroughly enjoyed but ofcourse had its challenges.

Do you travel much, you live in such an interesting place for wildlife already so you will be able to see alot locally.

Very best wishes.

Kim

[primrose81]

What a wonderful post - you describe things so vividly and really have a gift. Thank you! x

[Kkimm in reply to primrose81]

Thank you so much Primrose.

That means such alot to me. Since developing GAD two years ago and finding my way to recovery, I have started to feel life is too short not to try to achieve our potential. I am beginning some tentative steps towards doing some writing. I do not expect anything to come of it but want to feel I have tried as I love to read and have often thought of writing but never done anything about it until now.

Very best wishes.

Kim

[Hidden]

I live in middle America( Missouri) in a rural area. Our closest human neighbor is a mile away. We are surrounded by cows as our closest neighbors.

I too love watching animals of any type. I love to sit on our yardswing, usually with a dog or two. I watch the squirrels playing in the tree branches. Lots of different birds talking, they take turns stealing the dogs food in a bowl on the porch. We have two barn cats that like to go hunting in our field. It is fascinating watching them crouch before they pounce on an unsuspecting mouse. The wrens do nose dives at the cats if they get too close to their nests. We also have 4 horses and an old mule. Watching them and their pecking order is interesting. Every once in awhile I will see turkeys and deer wander across the horse field. At night I can usually hears the coyotes howling and our dogs howl back at them. It is refreshing to see and hear Gods creatures busy living their lives.

[Kkimm in reply to Hidden]

Hi Hoski

I loved your reply, so interesting.

It reminded me of a book and film I love with Meryl Street and Clint Eastwood called The bridges of Madison County. I have googled and seen that infact your State is just south of where most of the film was shot in Iowa.

What is your climate and forest like, I would be interested to hear more. Do you grow your own produce? I have a big garden and am harvesting, broad beans, globe artichokes, asparagus, black currants, raspberries and strawberries at the moment.

Apart from the mice you mentioned do you see any birds or wildlife in your garden?

Very best wishes

Kim

[Hidden in reply to Kkimm]

Our climate is hot humid summers(90-100degrees), winters usually a few snow falls and 20-40 degrees. Spring and fall are my favorites. Our forrests are beautiful in the southern part of the state especially, lakes and hills. I dont garden. I was a city girl growing up and married a farm boy but we never got in to gardening. Trail riding and camping with the horses took our time when younger.

[Kkimm in reply to Hidden]

Sounds amazing, I would love to hear coyotes calling. Trail riding sounds like a great adventure. You would need to be a good horse rider I guess.

Kim