GARDEN WILDLIFE

by Alex White

PART FOUR – JACKDAWS 

Jackdaws are pretty common birds and because of this they are easy to ignore, but if you look closely at their bright blue eyes and purple sheen to their feathers, they are quite stunning.

Jackdaws are also interesting to watch, they strut around our front lawn first thing in the morning, chattering away to each other.

Jackdaws recognise human faces and get used to certain humans being around. There are also many stories about people adopting abandoned fledglings who then stay close to that human for a long time after growing. Both my mum and dad have stories of people they know having friendly Jackdaws.

PART FIVE – LADYBIRDS 

Very short blog today as I’ve been really busy with college work, but did manage to get out in the garden to take a couple of photos of ladybirds.

There are 46 different Ladybird species in the UK. 27 of those actually look like what most people think a ladybird looks like.
Ladybirds are small to medium sized beetles (Coccinellidae).
They are usually round or oval, they are brightly coloured and patterned.
The most common is the 7 spot ladybird.
Ladybirds always have the same number of spots, they don’t grow more spots.
They are brightly coloured as a warning to predators.
The horrible yellow liquid you find on your hands sometimes after holding a ladybird is called reflex blood, it smells and contains toxins that may put off a predator.