RedKite

Chaffinch

The chaffinch is common to most English gardens and there are thousands of them in the UK..  The female is brown but the male has the most beautiful colours.  He is easy to spot as he stands proudly in prominent spots to sing to his mate. They eat caterpillars, insects and vegetation.

Chaffinches are also abundant in Scandinavia but fly to England during the winter months because the UK has a milder climate. 

The chaffinch is easy to spot and it is worth investing in a pair of binoculars to really capture its beauty. These birds like bird tables and will eat most things, so this is an easy way to attract them into your garden. 

 

Red Deer

I was brought up on stories of deer and saw lots of deer in films during my childhood and it has remained one of my favourite animals.  Red deer are actually native to the UK and population numbers continue to be constant because they do not have any predators except man.

They are most notable for their antlers which they shed each year.  They grow more intricate on the older males and represent his standing within the herd.  They mate once a year in an extremely noisy ritual, which usually produces just one baby that has white spots for a few weeks and then Red deer like to stay in the forests and eat leaves and other vegetation

They are a sight to behold as the gather in front of the trees around dusk.

 

Gobi desert

The Gobi desert is one of the smaller desserts and is situated near Mongolia.  It as many sand dunes and lakes although not all the lakes have drinking water.  Other sources of water can be found underground if you know where to look for it, which some of the animals do.

Various types of grasses manage to survive there also there are animals, of course the camel, gazelles, squirrels, horses and sheep.

There are one or two oases and fruits such as melons may grow there  which is nice for the animals to eat.

It is a fight for survival in the Gobi battling extreme temperatures, sparse food and limited water, yet a few animals and insects do prosper in the dessert.  

 

Woodpecker

 

The great spotted woodpecker is common in England and comes into gardens to feed especially on suet.  It is smaller than the name suggests.  A black beak, black crown, white face, white chest, red tummy and black tail. The wings are dappled.

It is famous for drumming on wood in the spring when mating and guarding territory begins.  It eats insects mainly the ones it can find in trees.  The woodpecker likes places where there are lots of trees like gardens and parks, it nests in trees by pecking a hole in the trunk or one of the branches.

These are fabulous birds and it’s reasonably easy to be able to see one. 

 

 

Angelfish

The blue and gold angelfish live on the Great Barrier Reef.   They have yellow faces, with a blue stripe over their eyes.  The rest of the head is yellow with a blue body, yellow tail and fins.  They have lovely eyes and a sweet mouth.

They have some unusual traits.  One  unusual behaviour is that they live in a group of females with one dominant male who mates with all the females.  He guards his territory fiercely against other males and predators.

The second unusual thing is that should he die, one of the other females will change into a male and proceed to dominate the group.

In this way the cycle continues and they flourish.