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Post by questionable on Feb 19, 2021 13:13:33 GMT
Since I’ve been working from home I’ve taken great pleasure in watching the wild birds in our gardens to the extent we’ve spent money on different types of foods in an attempt to entice a multitude of various types of birds, we’re up to thirteen different varieties now.
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Post by Dutchpeter on Feb 19, 2021 13:49:01 GMT
Since I’ve been working from home I’ve taken great pleasure in watching the wild birds in our gardens to the extent we’ve spent money on different types of foods in an attempt to entice a multitude of various types of birds, we’re up to thirteen different varieties now. I was out for a walk last weekend in the freezing weather. I sat down for a sandwich and was immediately surrounded by a variety of small wild birds, the ground was so hard I think they’ve been struggling to feed and were hungry enough to get close to me for my bread crumbs. So that’s lovely to see you looking after them in your garden 👍 |
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Post by murphthesurf on Feb 19, 2021 13:49:37 GMT
Since I’ve been working from home I’ve taken great pleasure in watching the wild birds in our gardens to the extent we’ve spent money on different types of foods in an attempt to entice a multitude of various types of birds, we’re up to thirteen different varieties now. There's loads of interesting 'Wild Birds' stuff on the 'Sweet and Fluffy' thread, Quez, if you fancy having a scroll through it. You've done brilliantly with them in your own garden. An on-line place called 'Garden Wildlife Direct' is the one I use, and it must be one of the best bird foodstuffs places, and they're way less expensive than a lot of similar places.
🦚 🐧 🐓 🦢 |
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Post by questionable on Feb 19, 2021 14:20:54 GMT
It’s funny now as when we open the blinds in the morning there’s birds waiting on the lawn for their food, well seems that way.
We’ve got buzzards very close by absolutely majestic things and rooks everywhere.
The local farmers have set something up that keeps banging like a shot gun to keep the birds of the seeds I presume, which is good as we get them in the gardens then.
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Post by marylandstoke on Feb 19, 2021 14:57:11 GMT
It’s funny now as when we open the blinds in the morning there’s birds waiting on the lawn for their food, well seems that way. We’ve got buzzards very close by absolutely majestic things and rooks everywhere. The local farmers have set something up that keeps banging like a shot gun to keep the birds of the seeds I presume, which is good as we get them in the gardens then. Had my first woodpecker at my front feeder this year. Our mockingbirds were hoofing the berries down really early which is a supposed sign of a bad winter. They were wrong, till yesterday that is. Ive seen more bluebirds this year than ever before, and more sparrow hawks. We regularly get one screaming through on a drive by but actually got up close to a couple. Magnificent birds. We always get a lot of vultures (turkey buzzards) one of nature’s finest creatures. The ‘bin men’ of nature they have stomach juice stronger than battery acid and are happy to clean up all the road kill. Hugely misunderstood birds, the old wives tails of snatching up dogs and cats and babies just isn’t possible, they don’t have feet that work in that way. There will be an osprey update in the spring. This years baby will be back to live with Mama and Poppa Osprey. He will do one more year before he heads out on his own. I have woodpecker blend, cardinal and just plain old mix (which I wish the squirrels would stick to) the pecker food is savage expensive but does also draw tree creepers and tit mice. If I can ever get this site to let me upload pictures again I will put a couple up in the fluffy thread. |
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Post by questionable on Feb 19, 2021 18:07:38 GMT
Just fetched the washing off the line and there’s a bird of prey hovering over, not a buzzard as there was a V shape in its front wings, sure buzzards wings are straighter and it was to large for a kestrel or a sparrow hawk. Amazing what you can if you stop and look
OK so it was a Red Kite apparently
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Post by franklin on Feb 19, 2021 18:32:42 GMT
I opened my kitchen blinds a while ago to see some kind of bird of prey on my decking eating a pigeon alive ! However the pigeon fought back and got away minus loads of feathers and some of its flesh. It took a while to wash the blood away and I caught it all in video on my phone.
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Feb 19, 2021 18:33:38 GMT
I opened my kitchen blinds a while ago to see some kind of bird of prey on my decking eating a pigeon alive ! However the pigeon fought back and got away minus loads of feathers and some of its flesh. It took a while to wash the blood away and I caught it all in video on my phone. You know the rules Franklin😏 |
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Post by franklin on Feb 19, 2021 18:35:23 GMT
I opened my kitchen blinds a while ago to see some kind of bird of prey on my decking eating a pigeon alive ! However the pigeon fought back and got away minus loads of feathers and some of its flesh. It took a while to wash the blood away and I caught it all in video on my phone. You know the rules Franklin😏 I know its all on my Facebook page but I'd have to reveal my true superhero status. |
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Post by dexta on Feb 19, 2021 18:35:55 GMT
Love feeding the birds got a feeder station... bird table and two bird baths for them tbh spend a bit of money on all varieties of food for them.. Sparrowhawk got a sparrow last week in garden while the sparrow was on lawn munching away.. But that's just nature last summer a fucking magpie kept visiting a starlings nest waiting for the chicks to hatch think he ended up having the lot of them. Don't do magpies wankers
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Post by questionable on Feb 19, 2021 19:10:08 GMT
I’m becoming a bit of a snob as when we get wood Pigeons on the seed we want to see something a bit less common.
We get Coal Tits quite often and a gorgeous song from them, there’s also owls at dusk t’wit wooing opposite to us
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Post by chuffedstokie on Feb 19, 2021 19:37:50 GMT
It’s funny now as when we open the blinds in the morning there’s birds waiting on the lawn for their food, well seems that way. We’ve got buzzards very close by absolutely majestic things and rooks everywhere. The local farmers have set something up that keeps banging like a shot gun to keep the birds of the seeds I presume, which is good as we get them in the gardens then. Had my first woodpecker at my front feeder this year. Our mockingbirds were hoofing the berries down really early which is a supposed sign of a bad winter. They were wrong, till yesterday that is. Ive seen more bluebirds this year than ever before, and more sparrow hawks. We regularly get one screaming through on a drive by but actually got up close to a couple. Magnificent birds. We always get a lot of vultures (turkey buzzards) one of nature’s finest creatures. The ‘bin men’ of nature they have stomach juice stronger than battery acid and are happy to clean up all the road kill. Hugely misunderstood birds, the old wives tails of snatching up dogs and cats and babies just isn’t possible, they don’t have feet that work in that way. There will be an osprey update in the spring. This years baby will be back to live with Mama and Poppa Osprey. He will do one more year before he heads out on his own. I have woodpecker blend, cardinal and just plain old mix (which I wish the squirrels would stick to) the pecker food is savage expensive but does also draw tree creepers and tit mice. If I can ever get this site to let me upload pictures again I will put a couple up in the fluffy thread. If you have a quick look on the post a photo thread maryland I've got a shot of the woodpecker that's arrived at my place. 👍 |
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Post by questionable on Feb 19, 2021 20:20:04 GMT
It’s funny now as when we open the blinds in the morning there’s birds waiting on the lawn for their food, well seems that way. We’ve got buzzards very close by absolutely majestic things and rooks everywhere. The local farmers have set something up that keeps banging like a shot gun to keep the birds of the seeds I presume, which is good as we get them in the gardens then. Had my first woodpecker at my front feeder this year. Our mockingbirds were hoofing the berries down really early which is a supposed sign of a bad winter. They were wrong, till yesterday that is. Ive seen more bluebirds this year than ever before, and more sparrow hawks. We regularly get one screaming through on a drive by but actually got up close to a couple. Magnificent birds. We always get a lot of vultures (turkey buzzards) one of nature’s finest creatures. The ‘bin men’ of nature they have stomach juice stronger than battery acid and are happy to clean up all the road kill. Hugely misunderstood birds, the old wives tails of snatching up dogs and cats and babies just isn’t possible, they don’t have feet that work in that way. There will be an osprey update in the spring. This years baby will be back to live with Mama and Poppa Osprey. He will do one more year before he heads out on his own. I have woodpecker blend, cardinal and just plain old mix (which I wish the squirrels would stick to) the pecker food is savage expensive but does also draw tree creepers and tit mice. If I can ever get this site to let me upload pictures again I will put a couple up in the fluffy thread. Seen a few kingfishers by us last year, have to be really quick though as they’re that fast, colours are staggering |
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Post by murphthesurf on Feb 19, 2021 20:22:19 GMT
I opened my kitchen blinds a while ago to see some kind of bird of prey on my decking eating a pigeon alive ! However the pigeon fought back and got away minus loads of feathers and some of its flesh. It took a while to wash the blood away and I caught it all in video on my phone. You know the rules Franklin😏 François. Thx. |
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Post by murphthesurf on Feb 19, 2021 21:07:35 GMT
It’s funny now as when we open the blinds in the morning there’s birds waiting on the lawn for their food, well seems that way. We’ve got buzzards very close by absolutely majestic things and rooks everywhere. The local farmers have set something up that keeps banging like a shot gun to keep the birds of the seeds I presume, which is good as we get them in the gardens then. I hope you won't mind me asking, Quez, but I'm not sure if you're completely new or not to caring for garden birds? It's lovely to hear that you're now enjoying watching them so much, & now they've identified your garden as a good feeding place they'll continue to really depend on you. I wanted to ask you if you've got them a bird bath? They need to have access to fresh water, even in the depths of winter & you have to keep it unfrozen as best you can for them. For quickness a large plant saucer set on a table or raised item of some sort, as the bath needs to be off the ground, would do the trick. Whole peanuts should never be put out loose, eg. on bird tables, as smaller birds can easily choke on them - so whole ones should only ever be put out in hanging feeders or, if loose, chopped into tiny pieces. If fatballs came in (that vile) plastic netting they should always be removed from it, and the plastic netting never be put out as birds tend to land on it but get their feet caught in it & they then stay trapped. Terribly sorry if you are already aware of all this, but folks who are completely new to caring for garden birds often don't know this sort of stuff & I'm not sure how you're fixed on this. |
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Post by questionable on Feb 19, 2021 21:28:36 GMT
We live next to a canal and there’s a stream close by but have two birds baths that the previous house owners kindly left for us, as it happens I’ve googled only a matter of hours ago what types of food certain birds favour and learned that there’s two different beak types and what food to put out for them, fascinating stuff and great rewards if you learn what to do.
New to this type of stuff but intend to spend money to get it right for the little feathered ones
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Post by danceswithclams on Feb 19, 2021 22:09:12 GMT
I used to date one who was into stimulants and who used to demand that I choke her during sex.
Edit: Just read the rest of the thread. As you were.
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Post by murphthesurf on Feb 19, 2021 22:10:38 GMT
We live next to a canal and there’s a stream close by but have two birds baths that the previous house owners kindly left for us, as it happens I’ve googled only a matter of hours ago what types of food certain birds favour and learned that there’s two different beak types and what food to put out for them, fascinating stuff and great rewards if you learn what to do. New to this type of stuff but intend to spend money to get it right for the little feathered ones Excellent! I've often mentioned on here that an on-line place called 'Garden Wildlife Direct' is the one I use, and it must be one of the best bird foodstuffs places, and they're way less expensive than a lot of similar places.  Hang on, because they've just EMd me!  |
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Post by murphthesurf on Feb 19, 2021 22:15:37 GMT
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Post by henry on Feb 19, 2021 22:17:56 GMT
We had 6 Penguins in our cupboard the other day.
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Post by henry on Feb 19, 2021 22:21:50 GMT
There was also a Woodpecker in the fridge
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Post by murphthesurf on Feb 19, 2021 22:58:20 GMT
We live next to a canal and there’s a stream close by but have two birds baths that the previous house owners kindly left for us, as it happens I’ve googled only a matter of hours ago what types of food certain birds favour and learned that there’s two different beak types and what food to put out for them, fascinating stuff and great rewards if you learn what to do. New to this type of stuff but intend to spend money to get it right for the little feathered ones And now, for your delight and delectation...... Live Mealworms! Highly nutritious, and you can get them live or dried. We've talked about feeding birds with live mealworms ages ago on the 'Sweet & Fluffy' thread and if you use live mealworms you have to put them on a birdtable in something like a steepish-sided dish, so they can't crawl out & escape. Companies usually supply them in a strongish brown paper bag, and you keep them in a fridge for up to about a week and put a quantity of them out for the birds each day. Whilst you're keeping them in the supply bag, you have to feed them, to keep them fat & juicy, so you just drop in a shredded lettuce leaf or two, or some small pieces of fruit and leave them to it. Although usually tiny, about an inch long (though you can get them in different sizes!), mealworms do have really vicious little jaws and could literally injure a bird by biting its mouth whilst being eaten. So - the really fascinating thing is that the birds know this & know how to deal with it - they'll pick one up in their beak and smack it down hard and sharply on the edge of the bowl or bird table, thereby breaking the mealworm's jaw & rendering it unable to bite back. The adult birds are especially careful to do this if they are feeding the mealworms to their tiny chicks. If you set a dish of live mealworms on a birdtable sited close to your window you will easily be able to watch them doing exactly this & it's really fascinating. A live, juicy grub is a great treat for them. I haven't checked YT, but there will no doubt be numerous clips of this on there. |
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Post by dirtclod on Feb 20, 2021 3:42:23 GMT
OH...I thought this thread was going to be a list of women and phone numbers...
Anyway, I saw a red-tailed hawk Tuesday afternoon. It was hunting in a field nearby as all the little field mice were hunkered down no doubt. And the Cardinals were out yesterday, it was a male and female.(They always stick close together) The males get the fancy red coat and the females only get the drab grey.
That expose on the mealworms is fascinating! Both the bird and the worm have "elevated their game!"
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Post by murphthesurf on Feb 20, 2021 11:14:46 GMT
Quick mention as reminder to self to fill in more info later b/c signing out now...... NEVER USE MAGGOTS, eg. those used for fishing bait, as wild bird food. Laters....  |
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Post by questionable on Feb 20, 2021 11:20:14 GMT
Popped into Morrison’s and grabbed fat balls, suet cakes, suet logs and sunflower hearts and have a bird table as present in the garage for the wife’s bday tomorrow.
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Post by alsagerstokie on Feb 20, 2021 11:40:31 GMT
For those of you in USA quite jealous. In my opinion the Blue Birds and the Cardinals are some of the most beautiful ones around.
There is a couple of threads going round also Nature Outdoors thread.
If you visit post a photo you will see my Kingfisher shots from this week. I'm hoping to get better with the camera. So many beautiful birds around. My next goal is to capture a decent close shot of bird of pray and try get owls on film.
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Post by danceswithclams on Feb 20, 2021 12:40:47 GMT
Popped into Morrison’s and grabbed fat balls Last time I did this I got escorted from the premises and ended up on a register. |
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Post by heworksardtho on Feb 20, 2021 12:48:15 GMT
When I was kid I use to catch goldfinches , green finches , bull finches , linnets , siskins etc , used bird lime that my pikey mate use to make and we would sell them , but now obviously it’s against the law , had barn owls , magpies , jays , kestrels as pets growing up , we have a sparrow hawk who regularly nails sparrows on my bird table ,
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Post by felonious on Feb 20, 2021 12:53:44 GMT
We live next to a canal and there’s a stream close by but have two birds baths that the previous house owners kindly left for us, as it happens I’ve googled only a matter of hours ago what types of food certain birds favour and learned that there’s two different beak types and what food to put out for them, fascinating stuff and great rewards if you learn what to do. New to this type of stuff but intend to spend money to get it right for the little feathered ones Have you been visited by any cute little rats yet? Do your best to keep the stuff off the floor although the bastards are quite capable of climbing up a bird table. |
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Post by marylandstoke on Feb 20, 2021 13:02:34 GMT
We live next to a canal and there’s a stream close by but have two birds baths that the previous house owners kindly left for us, as it happens I’ve googled only a matter of hours ago what types of food certain birds favour and learned that there’s two different beak types and what food to put out for them, fascinating stuff and great rewards if you learn what to do. New to this type of stuff but intend to spend money to get it right for the little feathered ones Have you been visited by any cute little rats yet? Do your best to keep the stuff off the floor although the bastards are quite capable of climbing up a bird table. Not had that but we do get possums. Evil looking bastards, pull the curtain back and see one of them the other side of the glass  |
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Hang on, because they've just EMd me! 
