Topic: Someone's been busy today!

[Jayb]

Forgot to say still 4 eggs at 6.15 this morning.

I've also had a very friendly male blackbird in the garden for a while. I think he has been training me to feed him on demand! It was a bit startling at first having a bird fly straight at me from what ever tree he was sitting in, but he just lands at my feet or the stable door and waits to be fed. He used to really shout/screech at me but he is much more polite now. He lands on the car sometimes too but finds it all a bit too skiddy particularly when its wet.

I guess it should have been no suprise to have found out he is the daddy of the polytunnel eggs   ::) ;D

[manicscousers]

With all the messing around we have had this year, we never got around to sorting the garden raspberries so they were like a thicket. Went to sort them last week and we have a blackbird nesting in there, they shouldn't go short of food, then  ;D

[Ellen K]

Yes, you often hear people say that they have a tame blackbird in their garden - actually it is us who have been tamed to provide a year round food supply, defend their nests etc..

[Jayb]

I guess my counting may be slightly out as I don't know when she started sitting, but still no sign of hatching. Hope they are alright.

Lol, the black birds here are a menace when it comes to fruit not protected, uncovered favourites seem to be cherries and autumn raspberries and most years I have to net the greenhouse and polytunnel as they savage ripe tomatoes too  :o Then they compete with the wasps for apple destruction  ::) Love wildlife! But I'm hoping to keep the blackb's so well fed this year they leave my tomatoes alone......

[Ellen K]

My girl is still sitting too and the male has stopped feeding the young.  Saw a juvenile on the lawn yesterday so they have at least one survivor.

But other local BBs are feeding their nests like crazy and I seem to be contributing 500g of sultanas every day to their efforts.  Hope this is satisfying their fruit eating appetites !!

As you might have already spotted, I am a big fan of blackbirds.

[manicscousers]

Ours are on feeding duty now. There are a couple of magpies on the prowl so the dog has been chasing them, she hates them  ;D

[galina]

I guess my counting may be slightly out as I don't know when she started sitting, but still no sign of hatching. Hope they are alright.

Lol, the black birds here are a menace when it comes to fruit not protected, uncovered favourites seem to be cherries and autumn raspberries and most years I have to net the greenhouse and polytunnel as they savage ripe tomatoes too  :o Then they compete with the wasps for apple destruction  ::) Love wildlife! But I'm hoping to keep the blackb's so well fed this year they leave my tomatoes alone......

Yes they peck tomatoes here too, especially yellow cherry varieties.  They also confuse butternut squash with pears (which they peck mercilessly).  Luckily bird pecks on butternut seem to heal over fairly well.  No soft fruit is safe from blackbirds here either.  :(

Keep us updated about the eggs/youngsters hopefully ....

[Ellen K]

JB any news?

My girl is still sitting though the first nest she built this year has blown down intact - it was lined with coir from my hanging baskets, grrr.   At least yours is sheltered but it must be terrifying for her, sitting there.

[Jayb]

Sadly my girl has quit her nest  :( I'm not sure why, I haven't seen any cats about and I'd been keeping my distance to give her peace and quite. I did notice some magpies hanging around but they were up in the trees and not that close? I also wondered if the sparrow hawk had taken her but happily I notice her this morning (well I think it was her) when she came in for food. The male blackbird was quite close in a tree and they flew off together. I know it was always a risk being so close to people but I wonder if this is what she does builds a nest, gets them nearly hatched then.....hopefully next time she will be more successful.

[Ellen K]

 :(  Perhaps the eggs weren't going to hatch so she gave up.

Checked on my girl: looking up through the wisteria I could see her beak on the nest then turned round to see the male bird looking at me "please don't hurt it".  It's a tough life being a BB.

Their one survivor so far this year, soaking up some rays yesterday:

[jesssands]

After I started feeding the robins, I got Mr & Mrs Blackbird arriving on the window sill. Mr has gone off at the moment but Mrs B is around and almost demanding food. I got some fat from the butchers which I wrapped in parcels of cling and froze, so I can get a bit out as I want. Been putting out fruit too.
Today I went out with a saucer of stuff and she was hovering around me waiting for it.
I watched as I was working in the garden, she kept going to the bushes/tree behind my shed and when she got there I could hear the babies squeaking.
Last Friday, I had the back door open and she flew in the outhouse, landed in my parsley on the sill, had to rescue her! Think she was telling me I hadn't fed her yet!!

[Borlotti]

What a beautiful view you have from your window.  Just love it.

[jesssands]

thanks.. yes its a great view x

was lying in my bed at 7:30 as off this week and had to get up and feed mrs B. Shes outside, sitting on the fence shouting!!

all is now quiet, while shes busy transporting food!!
 :D

[Jayb]

Fab pictures  :)
It's really making me smile reading about all these  BB's, what clever birds they are  :)

[jesssands]

Well.. I found that Mrs B's babies are actually quite big already. She has made a good job at hiding them but today whilst hanging out washing I caught her feeding one in the hydrangea bush, then I saw another in the tree. They are at least two thirds the size of mum. I saw one in the tree yesterday but decided I didn't know what it was...lol (it kinda looked like a BB but no tail and it was chubby and moved about as much as a koala bear!)
Today she has taken a little saucer of chopped fat, some dried meal worms, a whole apple in 2 hits, a strawberry and the crumbs from my cream cracker box. She don't like cuecumber btw!!

Here's pics of babies x x

[Ellen K]

^^ they are beautiful but the wonder is that any survive at all.

Something hatched in "my" nest earlier this week but perhaps only one egg as not much food going to the nest.  And they were buzzed by a bird of prey yesterday evening - the noise they make.  The female left the nest and screeched from an nearby tree and the male bird was trying to take the predator on though it seemed only interested in the nest.   Well how could I eat with that racket going on?  The Bird was chased off (a male sparrowhawk I think) and the parents eventually calmed down.

So not looking too good for this one  :(