Garden Visitors

I love walking around our garden, but I have to admit I'm not the one who does the work out there. It's my husband who mows the lawn, trims the hedges and trees and does all the other things like digging ponds—because he loves it. Come rain or shine, he is out in the garden at the weekend and on most of his days off. (The rest of the time he's at the golf course!)

We met at college where we both studied Botany and Zoology and we've always been interested in wildlife and nature. During the early years we were together, before the kids came along, we'd spend many hours out bird watching. I only knew the names of the most common birds before I met my husband, but I soon learned to recognize most British birds.

We both still love seeing the wildlife in our garden and my husband has done all he can to make the garden wildlife friendly. He's created a woodland in one corner where we often hear the cawing of Jays, and we have an owl box that is regularly used by Tawny Owls.

There are lots of bushes with berries and plants with seed heads around the garden for Goldfinches and Bullfinches.

He built a pond with a little island and duck house that is used every year by Mallard Ducks, so we're treated to the sight of fluffy ducklings trailing around after their mother.

We have two bird feeling stations offering peanuts, sunflower seeds, fat balls, grain and sometimes appropriate leftovers. Here we see many different small birds including Robins, Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Great Tits, Green Finches, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Sparrows . My favorite is the cute Long Tailed Tit.

Unfortunately for the small birds, the bird feeders also attract Sparrowhawks, although they aren't interested in the grain or peanuts. They want to eat the birds! They swoop through the garden like jet fighters and snatch Sparrows or Blue Tits or other small birds out of the air. I hate it when this happens, but I guess this is the way of nature and the Sparrowhawk has to eat too.

We also have Pheasants in the garden, although these aren't wild birds. They are bred and released on a nearby shooting estate. We love when they find our garden and take refuge from the guns! Unfortunately, Pheasants are really bad at raising their babies and although they often have large broods of chicks, the poor babies last only a few days before a fox finds them.

We also have badgers, foxes and rabbits that regularly pass through our garden, but we don't often see them as they are nocturnal.

What sort of wildlife do you have in your back yard or garden?

Helen lives in South West England near Plymouth in Devon between the windswept expanse of Dartmoor and the rocky Atlantic coast. As well as her wonderful, long-suffering husband, she shares her home with a Westie and a burmilla cat. Helen has one of her Army Doctor stories in the Hearts & Kisses boxed set. (This set includes both sweet and steamy books.) Find Helen on FaceBook and Twitter, or visit her website.