Red and grey squirrels are omnivorous, both eat bird's eggs, nestlings, small mammals and insects.  Greys are not indigenous.  They are a pest and carry diseases fatal to reds, so you can shoot them and trap them.  If you trap a grey you cannot release it and you have to kill it. 

There used to be Red Squirrels around . but haven't seen for a long time. Probably, tree felling... loss of 'pathway' and Pines.
Only seen One Grey... on public property! Not sure what I would do... MAYBE shoot. Would NOT want to... but feel same about Rats. 

Quote from: Heedless Horseman on 25 August 2022, 05:13:15 PMMany assume Squirrels to only eat nuts and Pinecones. Not sure about Reds, but Greys raid bird nests / boxes if able to. Reputedly... may be cannibal in extremity, like Rats... and Humans! 

We had a spate of "bin bag robberies" a few years ago, with nappies being left discarded across gardens...

I spotted the culprit - was a squirrel, running across the big fence at the back with a nappie clutched in its gob!

Tasty!  Last time I checked Hedgehog Houses... the one near street had old crisp packets and sweet wrappers dragged in for bedding!   

About 25 sparrows in the garden each day now, which is great to see, but SWMBO doesn't believe they've had a sharp decline in numbers, when she sees the whole flock together!

Birds are going through Peanuts like mad... a full large feeder in a week! A fat coconut also. Seed feeder largely untouched... maybe plenty natural around.

Cautionary tale about a Hedgehog. Kindly neighbour was given a young pig that someone's dog had got. No apparent injuries and it came out of 'shock' after a while and started feeding. She phoned to ask if she could release into my garden after 2nd day... but didn't. 3rd day, I popped round and it seemed lively... wanting to be out of the good sized bird cage that it was in... but later retreated into shelter and died.
I think it had just 'given up'. Maybe it would have been ok if released earlier? Don't know. 

Shame about the hedgehog.  We had up to five regulars a few years ago but none at all now.  The boxes were not occupied at all over last winter.  Our Sparrow Hawk, I assume there is just the one, had a wood pigeon for its breakfast this morning.  All that was left were the feathers.  We feed the birds and the birds feed the Sparrow Hawk.  Watching a couple of Kites circling.  They have made a real come-back recently.  They never come into the garden but must be looking for food I suppose.  Perhaps I should put out a chicken carcass and see what happens!

Something killed a pigeon in our front garden last week and removed the carcass - don't think it was either of our cats but could have been a sparrow hawk (we've had it happen before), possibly a kite as they are increasingly prevalent round here.

Edward

The hedgehog was in the garden a few nights ago at dusk, which was good to see. The birds are eating the seed like crazy at present, even though Summer is doing its damnedest to hang on here in Bristol. A few butterflies still around which is nice to see.

Not seen many Butterflies this year gone.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63164826
Very few... just odd Whites or Wood browns... but have not really been looking.
Not large numbers of 'outdoor' Moths, either... just the occasional annoying B****r that enters and needs to be captured and put out!

For some reason very large numbers of small Moths in Bathroom... usually dead or weak. Put them out... but probably little chance. No idea where they are coming from! Have not had these before.

Lots of spindly spiders... I would not mind presence, but too much web around!

I do a daily butterfly count each year and certainly a drop in number and species that came to the garden this Summer.

This year's theme for us has been close encounters with raptors. At the Vegan B&B in Kendal recently, a buzzard landed in the garden on some guinea pig pens and just sat there looking around even though we crept closer.

And yesterday twice up close with a kestrel at Brockholes - it was too windy for their usual hovering tactics, so sitting in trees and on posts looking down on the ground was their next tactic - one landed in a tree 20' away from us and stayed scanning the ground a while, then later we saw it on a large wooden post overlooking a play area - I thought it was a carved one at first until it turned it's head.

Saw lots of dragonflys too, and even a butterfly. Which for early October is quite unusual.

Not a vegan buzzard then?

Quote from: Lord Speedy of Leighton on 07 October 2022, 11:44:27 AMNot a vegan buzzard then?

Dunno, I didn't ask him. Certainly showed no interest in the guinea pigs whilst he was there.

Quote from: sultanbev on 07 October 2022, 08:18:36 AMbuzzard landed in the garden on some guinea pig pens and just sat there looking around even though we crept closer.

Stunning bird.  We see them overhead from time to time but not in the garden.  The most common raptor we see is the Red Kite which we see in numbers almost daily, 25 years ago you never saw them at all.  The only raptor we see in our garden is a Sparrow Hawk which takes Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves, sometimes the occasional Blackbird.  The main problem in our neck of the woods is the explosion of the domestic cat population, which plays havoc with the birds, particularly during nesting as they take a lot of chicks and scare birds from nesting at all.  They also foul our flower beds and lawn.  I tried 'Silent Roar - Lion Poo' deterent but it didn't really work.  Any suggestions.  I have thought of Claymores already but nothing, even on Ebay:D