My kid's always been wildlife crazy and we've started doing some serious wildlife watching the last few year.
I work in a college that used to be an agriculture one. There's loads of land and a lake. There's still some agriculture type work going on but they've gone very environmental friendly the last few years. New woodlands planted, native hedging, various meadows. The RSPB and Ulster Wildlife have both become involved.
Anyway, we did a bit of spotting yesterday for an hour at lunch. Came across the following in the lake, over 100 mute swans, 50 or so Canadian geese, a couple of Greylag geese, a few moorhens, a heron, over 30 cormorants in flight, a few mallards and a diving duck that was just too far away to identify.
In the woodlands and hedging, at least a dozen goldfinches, 30+ starlings, 20+ thrushes (too fast to know what type), a small flock of long tailed tits, a couple of willow warblers, loads of reed bundings, a sedge warbler, meadow pipets, 2 tree creepers and the normal bluetits, robin, wren, great tits etc. There were a few birds that we just couldn't identify, too fast.
It's amazing how nature flourishes when there provided with habitat that then has no interference from humans except for the mowing of paths.