cm holes in my lawn and dead grass

badgers.

or foxes or birds-but perhaps a lot more information is required before giving a definite answer

hello all sorry i should have said that to begin with, i think my garden is too enclosed for badgers and foxes i have a six foot solid fence around my garden and i cant see any holes in the fence or trenches under it where larger mammals could get in although saying that i am aware that foxes are good climbers but no evidence of foxes has been found yet

birds is a possibilty as i have starlings that like the garden at times

i have just read that a picture facilty is being introduced to the forums soon so as soon as i can i will upload some pics of my garden to illustrate the problem

thankyou for your replies, damien 

You can upload pictures now-click on the tree icon- next to ABC- on the message bar

Sounds like bird damage -looking for grubs

Going to have to back track-that looks look like a lot more damage than birds would do

It may be animal damage -perhaps rodents,rabbits -any signs of droppings?

I think it's birds or possibly squirrels - the smaller holes look as if birds have been getting grubs out of the lawn.  The bigger hole could be where birds have been scrabbling amongst the thatch to find grubs - there's a lot of thatch (dead grass) which needs raking out, it wouldn't have taken much  scrabbling by a bird to make that mess - or it could've been squirrels  or jays burying nuts.  Or it might possibly be hedgehogs looking for worms, beetles etc, and gathering the dead grass for a winter nest.

But that lawn would really benefit from a good raking very soon - otherwise next year all you'll have is dead grass and moss.

i am afraid not no dropping at all and it seems to be localised to the top half of the garden that gets the most sun the bottom is mostly normal

 their is a difinitive colour change from green too dead but where i used to have the bird table the patch of clover is growing normally

hello dovefromabove a raking and some grass seed will certainly help, the dead grass is litterally peeling away from the surface, thankyou

You probably won't need to use any grass seed if you give it a good raking now, get rid of all that thatch, and then mow it regularly (at least weekly ) when it's growing.  I can see you like a BBQ, and obviously spend some time fishing, but a weekly mow will and an occasional rake will sort that lawn out without spending a lot of money  

Last year we took over a lawn  which looked worse than yours, as much dead grass as you have plus lots of weeds, but having raked it hard one weekend (better than going to the gym) and convinced my other half of the necessity of a weekly mowing (I bribe him with bacon baps) has created a lovely green lawn (stilll with some clover in for the bees) for nothing more than the cost of a pack of bacon once a week 

that is brilliant thankyou dovefromabove i will do that and hope for the best

Show us a picture of your lawn next summer 

i will do thankyou again

If the lawn has some moss in it, give it a good spiking all over with a garden fork (a good 6 - 8" deep, all over, the same distance apart (more good exercise) just make sure you don't stick the fork through your foot like my brother did!  It will improve drainage, help the grass roots breathe and discourage the moss which smothers the grass.