Hobbies and Crafts

Hi Everyone
Sitting watching the bird staion at lunchtime and the very welcome golfinch had been feasting on the sunflower seeds, also the robins, blackbirds, dunnocks, wood pigeons as usual. The magpies have found they get a good feed off the fat balls nobody else seemed interested in, then I noticed a smaller bird really tucking in to the fat balls..... it was some long-tailed tits and I don't know how long it is since I've seen any of them. Then we had greenfinch back too.
So a busy garden today. But pretty cold here today and no sunshine either.

Linda xxxx <3 <3 <3

Linda,I could share some our Long Tailed Tits with you.I have a whole bunch of them.Love them to bits.Even my son (26) has said they are his favourite bird visiting our garden.I love the sound they make too.It is quite different from the other Tits.

I haven't been on much as we were away in the Lake District all last week. Our daughter was on her third week of recuperation from the radio therapy and we went up to keep her company. Sadly the weather was not good most of the wek, very misty, the worst sort of weather for seeing all the lovely views, still we enjoyed the break and got some retail therapy in.

Also managed a visit to the craft shop at Kendal whichw as useful.

Has anyone seen about the proposed cull of the Canada geese on Windermere. I do wonder if it is really necessary.

Morning all
Yesterday we had a kite down so low that it felt like you could touch him/her.

Today we have 3 buzzards calling high up in the sky overhead.

The goldfinch and tits are feeding fast and furious, having to refil their feeders almost every day.

Linda xxx <3 <3 <3

I have been in and out of the garden all day. When I last went out I was so sad to find a female blackbird lying under my little cherry tree on the patio. She moved slightly, but I could see she was dying. Then I spotted a male just a yard or so away from her lying dead, but still warm. Apart from the female having a slightly blood-stained beak, there is no evidence of any injury on either of them. When I first saw the female one, I thought perhaps she'd flown into the conservatory glass, but now I'm mystified as to what could have happened. :-(

Oh Wend! :-( :-( That seems very strange.I wonder what on earth has caused this??Blood stained beak? Hopefully someone may come up with reason.Poor little things :-S :-S

How strange Wend. Any cats around that could have frightened them to death. Birds do die of shock. Or is it possible somebody has put out poisoned food for some reason. Do you have a wildlife centre near you that you could phone and ask if they have any ideas?

That's a definite possibility Ann - we do have a cat that prowls round our patio, looking out for mice I think. Maybe the female did fly into the glass in fright and, as you say, her mate could have died of shock. If only I'd been out there - I might have stopped it happening. I did think poisoned food could be a possible reason too. I lay the male next to her for a little while and they looked so sweet together. R's office overlooks the patio and he said he's often seen them out there together lately, obviously preparing to build a nest etc. Very sad.

I noticed today that we have ducks nesting in our garden they must have been there since Sunday/Monday as they have laid 3 eggs already, last year we had a pair that laid 11 eggs, I obviously don't know if it's the same two but they have nested in exactly the same spot just outside the porch window between the peonies and the house, it's a perfect spot for me to watch them hatching.

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How lovely Lesley .I hope you can get some nice pics :-D
I was sat in my friends garden this afternoon ,and in the clear blue sky watched 3 Buzzards just floating around on the thermals.They looked so graceful ...Just brilliant :-D :-D

Lovely Lesley and convenient if you can take photos.

Jane, graceful birds when they glide aren't they considering their size.

I will try but I will have to clean the windows first.

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The results of the recent bird watch are in:

In total, over 70 different species were recorded in 285,440 gardens across the UK over the weekend of 28 and 29 January.
Starlings at all time low

Sadly, the counts revealed that starling numbers are at an all time low since the survey began more than thirty years ago.

Though still at number two on the results board, starlings were seen in fewer than half the UK's gardens. In the first survey in 1979, the average number of starlings seen in UK gardens was 15. This year, that number fell to its lowest ever with an average of just three starlings seen per garden.

These declines are being mirrored across much of northern Europe too, and because of this drop in numbers, the species is red listed as a bird of high conservation concern.

We've been monitoring this decline and research is already underway to find out more about the disappearance of these birds. Possible reasons could include changes in their feeding habitats and changes beneath the soil reducing their insect food.

The unmistakable flash of the glossy purple green starling is a familiar sight for many, but sadly it seems their numbers have dropped even further in this year's survey.

As well as being garden favourites, starlings are also famous for their amazing winter displays known as murmurations. At dusk they gather in huge groups above roosting sites, flying in patterns before settling down for the night.

Despite these murmurations involving hundreds of thousands of starlings in some places, numbers in these spectacles are also dropping.
Going for gold

Thankfully, it wasn't all bad news. Goldfinches are up one place at number seven this year. This colourful bird has been steadily increasing in UK gardens and first reached the top ten in 2008.

Blue tits overtook blackbirds to take third place, with an overall increase of 21 per cent since the first survey in 1979.

Blackbirds and long-tailed tit numbers have both dropped since last year. This is most likely due to milder weather, which enabled them to find food out in the wider countryside.

We tend to notice when it goes really quiet in the garden & invariably it's not a cat scaring the little birds (the presence of the dog keeps them away)- there's a pair of Buzzards swooping around.

We usually go & watch because they are stunning birds to see in flight, however, t'other day the Buzzard was circling at a great rate of knots persued by a Red Kite...it was a truely amazing sight.

It also explains how a Wood Pigeon vanished off the hedge at the back leaving a few feathers scattered on the ground... :-0

I'm sure the other day somebody else said about a Red Kite chasing a Buzzard, maybe it is because they both hunt the same food. I have seen crows chasing Buzzards though. Mainly near the crows' nests.

The pair here regularily get mobbed by crows. There were a pair of crows last year in the woods where people take their dogs for walks & the crows were mobbing the dogs-it was rather Alfred Hitchcock!

I keep meaning to add about the birds that were in Westonbirt Arboretum when we were there. Well we could hear the blackbirds and a robin but not see them. We did see several nuthatches runing up and down the trunks of trees, and a couple of long tailed tits, I think there were more but we could only hear them they were very high up.

Spied a pair of robins in the garden this morning, they are probably nesting our Laurel hedge again.
Glad son cut it back when the weather was good , they won't be disturbed now.
I usually prune it, and always find used nests in it, but as it was such good weather and son was on leave he took the electric cutter to it , there were no new nests...I checked beforehand.

aaw, baby robins are so cute like little pom poms on legs.