Got erm eating out of my hand

[dc2]

Every year  there so easy to tame  :)

[dc2]

[lorna]

So envious, wish they would visit my garden/feeders.

[dc2]

So envious, wish they would visit my garden/feeders.

The secret is meal worms [live ones only]
Thet cannot resist them .

[lorna]

Got to get some Nyger seed so meal worms on my shopping list for tomorrow ;D

[SamLouise]

Fantastic dc2!  Lovely picture and how lucky you are!

[tricia]

Meal worms from Wilkinsons Lorna! Cost £2.49 instead of £5 plus from most other places for same size container (100g). I don't put them out too often though as the sparrows gobble them up in no time!

Tricia

[star]

Lucky you DC, I love Robins.

Tricia......you got sparrows? Havent seen any round here for a long time :'( :'( :'(

[Flighty]

Star I'm not surprised
.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/mystery-of-the-vanishing-sparrow-1026319.html

[lorna]

tricia unfortunately no Wilkinsons in our area. Wish I had known last week when I was shopping in Bexleyheath.
Plenty of sparrow in my garden so hope they don't eat all the meal worms before any robins visit!!

[Ninnyscrops.]

Well that's me off to the angling shop for mealworms :)

Visited MIL today and she has shed loads of sparrows - her garden is full of conifers and presume they nest in them.

Maybe that's part of the reason for the decline - loads of people got rid of their leylandii (because they couldn't train them). When I lived in London they used to nest in thick privet hedges, but I've not seen many of those around anywhere.

Downtoearth aka ninnyscrops

[dc2]

Thanks all  :)
I only find that live meal worms interest them and the dried one are said to have far less protein in them .
As for sparrows I had a small number all the time until the neighbor cut a large dense bush down where they used to hang out now I rarely see them  :(
Still I have a pair of wrens nest every year for the last 7 under my wishing well .
2 fledglings this year  :)

[Emagggie]

Great photo dc2. You must have a steady hand, or did someone else take the pic?

[dc2]

Great photo dc2. You must have a steady hand, or did someone else take the pic?

Great photo dc2. You must have a steady hand, or did someone else take the pic?

No  I took the pic and expected the robin to fly off with the sound of the shutter clicking but it just looked straight at the lens  :)

[Emagggie]

I bet he's out there now waiting for you ;D

[lorna]

Great photos

[carolinej]

Tricia......you got sparrows? Havent seen any round here for a long time :'( :'( :'(

I had a gang of 7 in the summer. They always arrived and left the garden together. I called them Sclub7 ;D

Now they are down to 4 :'(

cj :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

They're blaming the decline of the house sparrow on a lack of insects due to tarmacking over gardens, people tidying them up and growing non-native species, and pollution. They're probably going to be affected by modern building styles which don't allow them to nest under the eaves as well, but they need a lot of insects to feed the chicks, and at the moment they're hatching, but not surviving. I think the moral is that we need to grub up all the tarmac, paving, decking, etc, and let the weeds grow!

[tricia]

This summer I got a great deal of pleasure watching mother - and father - sparrows feeding their fledglings who perched on the bars of my feeding station chirping away to be fed. There were often as many as five families being fed at the same time and the parents always knew which fledglings were theirs. It was so cute to watch. I was surprised at how long the parents continued to feed the babybirds. I also had over a dozen goldfinch this year - including babies. Yesterday there were only four so I guess the rest have migrated. I now have about 8 or 9 sparrows, innumerable tits (great, coal and blue) 4 goldfinches, two greenfinches, a robin and a blackbird which come regularly to the bird feeders and the ground below them.

There is a tree-lined lane beyond my garden wall where all these birds spend their time, but where they all nest is a mystery. I've 4 nesting boxes up but in five years have never had anything nest in any of them  :(.

Tricia

[nilly71]

Loverly pictures.

The two over my plot are getting closer as i work, the're not bothered about the noise when hamering either.

The sparrow tends to stay near the edge of the bushes and is the only one i have seen over there.

Neil