After moving here i have seen sooooo many birds in the garden, the last house there was only starlings >:(
It has been a joy to feed them and watch them on the table and the fat balls :)
T*ts, wrens and robbins is what I say to you Shona! ;D We also have every starling in Essex residing on our roof, and what I think are Jackdaws laughing at me when I am hanging my washing on the line! Nerve of them! ;) Am seeing lots of birds of prey at the moment also hovering above fields, but not many blackbirds! Had a family living around the garden in the summer, but really haven't seen many!
Tits to you to ;D
decided as there are so many and they are eating me out of house and home im going to make the fat balls it must be cheaper !! been throught 6 fat balls and 2lb of peanuts in 4 days !!
And nuts to both of you! ;D As that's what I'm going through most at the moment which they insist I break up in the kitchen whizzer first! Spoilt they are ;)
We have a song thrush now visiting the lottie. They are suposed to be quite rare now.
Getting into bird spotting now :) had a lovely little bird up the lottie today which was identified as a Redstart, it was beautilful and was helping me get rid of grubs in the soil and pinching the odd worm if i could ;D
We have a very smart pair of green finch that feed on black sunflower seeds just outside the kitchen window.
And their song is beeuuutiful ;D
Had a Redstart on the table last year but sadly I think he was only passing through to parts sunnier and warmer.
Recently here in the lovely communal gardens to the flats that I live in, I've seen or rather first of all heard - an incredibly noisy bird with a raucous call....it's turned out to be a Jay, who now regularly appears on the ground & pathways in the grounds - what an attractive bird it is.
Because of the huge amounts of tall conifers, big oak & sycamore trees not only in our grounds but edging the grounds - we have masses of pidgeons, magpies & crows too, sadly no so many smaller birds but guess that's because of the pidgeons etc.
It's not possible to put out nuts etc. to encourage the smaller birds as the big ones come & take the lot!!
another recent lovely sight encircling our grounds and generally in the area are red kites, which are so graceful to watch and huge!!...what beautiful birds....
Why not put up something like a tit feeder that the bigger birds couldn't get at?
I have always made my own bird cakes, i.e. melt the fat in a bowl, fill with seed/peatnuts/dry cake, etc/raisin and let it cool down. /When nearly hard, insert a string in the middle - When completely hard, twist it out of the bowl with a knife and hey presto !
Cheap and cheerful I say .. ;) :D
;D ;D ;D Let's hope the rottweiler won't repeat that experience ! ::) We too have lots of sparrowhawks. In fact the other day, one asked if he could shoot around my boat. Shoot the pigeons off the roofs, using my boat as hiding place. Turned out is also has a Harris Hawk (a wonderful beast) whose favourite meal is pigeon on the wing. Needless to say there are none left now and the flat owners are happy .... ???
Hope all is well in your part of the world. Bye for now !
;) :D
RB - you mention putting up a tit-feeder so that the bigger birds can't get at the nuts etc.....but what about the squirrels??
because of the big oak trees - we've dozens of the little devils darting about all over the gardens, pathways etc. here - they get as far as my little patio, if I see them I yell at them or clap my hands but behind my back, they've even buried their acorns in my patio tubs, as I discovered when I 'cleaned out' my summer plants last weekend....
wont they do everything they can to get at the nuts in the feeder?? or are these things 'squirrel proof'?
Has anyone noticed how quickly kites and hawks etc sus just where to go for a quick snack? .....
To all those gardens where lovely lottie people feed their feathered friends ??? :-\ :'(
I have been told that the Red Kites do not eat our small birds unless they are already dead. Kites eat carrion. Now the Sparrowhawk is a different cup of tea but magnificent looking birds. The kestrel (the bird you see hovering over roads) does not go for the wee birds either but live on rodents. ;D ;D ;D ;D
You can get squirrel-proof feeders; some of the shops in Birmingham have them.
Yes, I've seen one very good one which simply slides a cover down when a squirrel lands on it - the squirrel's own weight makes this happen. It's such fun watching them get really frustrated ;D ;D
We bought a squirrel proof nut feeder last year it diden`t stay squirrel proof for more than a couple of days he ripped the base apart, they will find a way in sooner or later. I also make my own fat balls in yogurt tubs i push twigs in while they are warm and put them in the fridge door overnight. We have bought a bird station and its brilliant so many birds at once i love watching them .
Problem there are two very crafty cats in the area and hide under the hedge at the front, i am buying a water pistol tomorrow,to scare them away.
I've noticed the birds are feeding like the clappers this year. Do you think it's a sign of the severe winter we've been promised?
I looked out of my bedroom window the other morning...there were eight balckbirds in my neighbours cherry tree! Billy my garden blackbird was looking on and not looking too chuffed!
I feel really lucky this year because a I have house and tree sparrows,blackbirds (Billy's girls),a robin,blue,coal and great tits and I think I spied a dunnock. Last year a chaffinch gave us a quick visit,hopefully he'll come back. A few streets away there are greenfinch and pied wagtails which fingers crossed will make it to my garden one day. Haven't seen the wren this autumn.
On the bad news front my grotty cat Spook managed to catch a bird. I was very surprised with him being deaf and day-glo white. I managed to free the bird and Spook hasn't been out in the daytime since. The bird,a little female sparrow, took off to a nearby bush and has hopefully recovered from her horrid ordeal. Spook is 4 and that is the one and only time he has caught anything. He was in my shed for ages the other day and I know for a fact there is a family of mice in there...we all saw them...he didn't!
I have a tube feeder hanging on a thin branch of our small horse chestnut tree. I refilled it this morning and just noticed it is half empty again. I haven't seen any squirrels around - could the birds really be eating it this quick? Mind you there is also a lot on the lawn below! Does anyone know if bird seed is treated to stop it seeding in my garden?! :-\ I will be getting little sunflowers coming up everywhere if not!
You'll find all sorts of weird and wonderful things beneath it but if you mow enough you'll be ok!
thanks!
Oh dear Amanda ! the cat on your avatar doesn't look too happy with that "half" lemon on his/her head ! ::) ;D ;D
I have had so much joy watching the birds feeding, i have been and bought some more feeders as there seam to be quite a few fights amoungst them and i want the small birds to get there share without getting hurt :)