Baby blackbirds

[Mrs Ava]

I have mentioned before about the baby blackbirds that seem to use my garden as a nursery as they are still too young to really be out and about....well....I was upstairs on the computer just before typing this and I heard a commotion in the garden so I shoot down, and the neighbours cat has my latest baby in its mouth!  Fortunately it dropped the baby and I chased the cat out of the garden.  Managed to find baby and reunite her (I like to think of it as a little girl) with her folks.  I AM MAD AS HELL!!!!

Rant over  

[viv]

Fortunately our cats take very little notice of the bird population - every now and then one remembers it is a cat and runs at them but that is about all.  If they do get one they bring it in and let it go - they don't hurt them.  The two younger ones have bells on their collars as a precaution - the old boy wouldn't have a clue.

I am very lucky, no cat I have ever had has been a hunter - in over 20 years of keeping cats I think I have had about 6 dead birds and about the same number of mice.

Now I wonder if that is down to me or down to the cats.............

[Mrs Ava]

Our neighbours cats really do hunt, I watch them as they stalk the birds.  You can imagine I don't watch them for long.  I am not alone at chasing the cats out of the garden, lots of the neighbouring houses residents feel the same as me  , but alas I am aware we are in a minority.  If they just stayed within their boundaries, within their homes, that would be great.  

Climbing off high horse again.  

[Margaret]

Emma,I could still weep at what happened to my beautiful brave lady blackbird at the weekend.For three years she has been around our gardens and would come to me at least twice a day for cheese and sultanas.All through the winter she would wait patiently for me to put food out and in the summer would bring her babies to show me.What is so remarkable is not just that she was so tame she would feed within a foot of me,but that her left foot was so deformed  that she could not put it to the ground and her claws grew long and twisted.I noticed recently her other foot was going the same way.She found it difficult to balance and would often be seen laying down on the grass.This was her downfall,as she started to sleep under the next door neighbours bush.But early sunday morning a cat got her and mauled her something awful.She was dead by the time the neighbour got up and found her.What a horrible end for such a brave creature.

Cats!! though I love all animals I just wish their owners would think more and try to protect our defenceless birds.

[Debs]

I count myself extremely lucky that, very unusually, we have no neighbours with cats but I sympathise with all of you.
If I see a cat any where near, I throw cold water on it... anything to save the baby birds from a cat-induced death.
The babies are really entertaining to watch .

Debs

[Doris_Pinks]

I had a baby Nuthatch sitting on my bean row yesterday! Chattering back and forth to its Mum Made me smile lots!

[Mrs Ava]

Oh Margaret, that is so sad.    grrrrrrr

[aquilegia]

I really shouldn't read things like this when i'm at work