Please everyone remember the wild birds in this horrid weather.
Daily food and water now will ensure they sing for us on summer evenings.
If you put bread out please remember to soak it first or it could cause
choking.
fat balls are best removed from the netting in case little feet get stuck.
I felt sure I spotted a young Blackbird yesterday if so it will be lucky to
survive, I have flung out mealworms when the adults are around but so
far today I have not seen it.
Ann x
Well said Ann!
We have a (well used) bird bath but we have had feeders out for the first time this year and, apart from knowing that we are helping the birds to survive, we have had such pleasure watching them. Like many of us I guess, I spend a huge amount of time sitting and I love to see the birds from where I sit. blackbirds, starlings, sparrows, greenfinches, chaffinches, blue tits, coal tits, great tits, greenfinches, very occasionally a songthrush, and, in the past couple of weeks, a black cap and a pair of siskins! We have a small garden and are surrounded by other houses so have been amazed at the variety of birds that visit.
I too have seen some young birds in the past few weeks - sparrows mostly, and a couple of young chaffinches I think. I hope that your young blackbird survives Ann.
Tillyx
Great reminder, thanks. I'm loving watching the birds, they're constantly fascinating. Someone bought us one of those feeding stations so they have a whole menu of things to choose from!
We have had so many birds come in as we have had just about constant snow here. We have even had grouse, pheasant, lots of varieties of tits,the usual robins and sparrows but also sadly but nature can be, a beautiful sparrow and gorse hawks!!! They have taken very few birds but actually got the blooming magpies , they used to get a lot of the songbirds. They keep eyeing up our well fed huge wood pigeons but then they see how big they at and they sorta go....no!! No babies here yet though as constant snow, roll on spring.
Great reminder to everyone Ann,
We have fed the birds for many years now and continue all year round (not so much food in summer though). We have all the birds already mentioned and pleased to say we have seen the hedge sparrows grow in numbers here as they are a threatened species.
We also have woodpeckers, green and lesser spotted, gold finches which I find fascinating because they all arrive together, feed franticly and fly off together, they are usually followed around by chaffinches who feed below them on the ground.
My favourite birds are the long tailed tits, they also arrive on mass usually 10 or so, they are also very shy and never stay for very long but so wonderful to see.
Overshadowing all the birds in our area are the sparrowhawks who swoop down from the trees sometimes and carry off one of the smaller birds from time to time.
My husband has always been a bird enthusiast, but never more so than now because he is more or less chairbound and he sits right by the window, they give him so much pleasure.
P.S If you don't know already, there is a disease which is wiping out a lot of the Greenfinches. A tiny mite is the culprit which gets into their throats and makes it swell so that they can'not eat or drink and they eventually die. We lost 5 last year in our garden alone, so vigilance is the key word, the first sign is fluffed up feathers and lethargy. It is important to keep all feeders clean as it can spread to other finches.
I hope you are keeping well Ann and painfree too. June xx
I have long tailed tits on my bird table x
I love the Long tails they are so pretty and the chattering is delightful.
So sad to hear the poor Greenfinch is suffering from a disease, now you mention
it June I have not seen any for some time. We would get quite a few coming from
the fields over winter now none!
The Sparrowhawk took out a Wood Pigeon last week, they usually take a collared
Dove but when it snatched a large mature Woody I began to fear for the chickens.
When the Hawk is near birds vanish and all is still untill the danger is over.
I too love to just sit and watch the birds, I was given a decent camera last year so
enjoy taking close ups of them.
My friend has put up some more nest boxes today in the hope of enticing more birds
to visit. The German Shepherd has been given a good groom and the hair has been
put to one side ready to be put out once the weather is better. Last year we saw
several nests lined with warm Hero hair bless him.
Ann x
I had environmental health round because one of my neighbours reported a rat. They demanded I stop feeding the birds, to which I said no not gonna happen! I wouldn't mind but I live in a rural setting with fields out the front and back, and in this location you can expect to see the odd rat! Especially as the farmer has just ploughed and seeded!
It's made me very angry and frustrated, as I'm trying to do my bit for conservation, and I'm being stopped over 1 rat and a jobsworth! I get a lot of different species in my garden including a red legged partridge, pheasants, coal tits, long tails, stock doves and have exstensive photographic library of them, and now it appears I have to stop but my neighbours do not!
Sorry for the rant but I am quite angry about it!
Mel x
New P.I.P. Forms are misreading.
Acute infectious synovitis
Here is the news
Still fighting the nhs regarding work problems
