1. The mystery of the nature area

2. How many types of animals do you think use the nature area?

3. We caught…
8 at least…

4. But what were they?
First spot the animal.. Then guess what it is…

6. Did you see it?
There were two woodpigeons in this picture… In total out of 25 pictures, 5 were woodpigeons, often in pairs. Soon these birds will start “twigging” which means looking for sticks to make their nests. Look out for them on the ground picking up twigs.

8. Did you see it?
There was a female pheasant in this picture… Female pheasants are brown, while the males have bright colours. This is because when the females are sitting on the nest they don’t want to be seen by predators (who want to eat them). The males have bright colours for showing off to the females!

10. Did you see it?
Bit of a blur, it was a grey squirrel… In England we used to just have the red squirrel, that was our native squirrel. That means it has been here since the last ice age. Now most of England just has the grey squirrel which originally came from America! The reds are doing better in some places though.

12. Did you see it?
Right at the front, it was a blackbird. The males are black with a bright yellow beak. The females are (you guessed it) brown! Blackbirds have a wonderful song, which you will start to hear soon as spring arrives…

14. Did you see it?
Right at the front again, a close relative of the blackbird, it was a song thrush. This time males and females are both brown. Favourite food? Snails!

16. Did you see it?
He’s fantastic! It’s Mr Fox! Did you know wolves used to live in this country? Now our largest predators (an animal that hunts other animals) are the fox and the badger. What was he after in our nature area do you think?

18. Did you see it?
No? Let’s have a closer look…

20. Did you see it?
See the shining eye? It was a wood mouse scurrying about. I hope Mr Fox didn’t find him! Mice also have to keep a close lookout for owls, stoats, weasels, and your cats!

21. There was another clue for our 8th creature…

22. Look at the shape…
Little round balls
Bean shapes
Rabbits
Deer

24. Did you see it?
Last but not least, the muntjac deer! This gorgeous girl is another invader – they originally come from China! Our native deer are the red deer and the roe deer.

25. Here’s her lovely bottom!

26. Thank you!
See if you can see any of these creatures yourself at school? (Hint - you probably won’t see the nocturnal ones)