Hobbies and Crafts

More pics on the blog:o)

jude :o)

Jude the flat is coming along nicely, the decorating is all done and the carpets are being laid on Monday. Hubby has just set off now to the flat as the cooker is being delivered and fitted tonight. I can't do anything by myself so will have to wait while Sunday to go back and finish cleaning the drawers in the kitchen, everything else is done. We need some help in packing though if anyone is offering.
I noticed yesterday that if I look down from our lounge window, the flat to our left underneath has some feeders out on the beech hedge, I might be lucky and see something. I really will miss my birds, that's the only downside of the move.

Caz xx

l'd come and help but me thinks you're too far away:o((

jude
xx

Hi Folks how are we doing.

Great pics Jude did you enjoy going to Wisley I went there many moons ago,
Caz sorry I cant help I am just a bit to far away, but I do hope that everything is going to plan.
Birds are not eating as much food now as we have been having quite a few hatchings of flys with the warmer weather creeping in.

Peter Rabbit has not been back for a couple of days he must be getting to fat to get through the fence lol

Hi Everyone,
We've been away to Shropshire for a while - left a good neighbour to fill the feeders - she got through a whole sack of seed - well the birds did. She tells me she filled them three times every day?
I saw a pair of Redpolls while away, that was a first for me.
Pleased to see most of my birds were still around, and very busy. My Song Thrush who has been here all winter, disappeared before I went away, and is still not around - maybe she has gone to nest in nearby woods. Today I had a pair of Nuthatches on the feeders, whereas I've only ever had one before.
Also saw a Red Kite again today -circling over the cliffs.
I gather reading the postings that Dormouse is home. Should you read this Dormouse, I am so pleased to know you are getting better - keep taking the Warfarin - I do every day.

Best wishes everyone
Tec

Today I hate birds!.....they have poooed all over my car.......tomorrow I may love them again.....who knows!.....but today!.....I have to wash the car :-(((((

Hello Susan with numbers:o)
Do you love the birds this morning?? lol....hope your car is ok?

Hello Tec....wondered where you was :o)
Never seen a Redpoll, we think we had a pr of nuthatches some days ago and we now have a pr of reedbuntings, the male visited this morning:o) Otherwise its the usual blackbirds, starlings, jackdaws, w/pigeons etc ....we have'nt seen so many chaffinches this week, wonder where they are.

Bell....Oh yes Wisely was lovely, my nephew and his partner are members so we got in free:o) l would have bought some plants but we still had quite alot of driving to do and not much space in the car, so we'll have to do the garden centres this way, a really good one at Chepstow:o)

York Caz....hopefully you'll see some birds feeding and perhaps you can fix something up at your window. Have you moved yet??

jude :o)

Jude where is the good garden centre in chepstow?

Susan, I know the feeling, across the road our neighbour feeds the crows with loads of bread on her front lawn, after picking it up they fly off to the trees over our car!!!!! And the birds I feed enjoy sitting on our guttering and 'offloading' over our conservatory roof.
Shall be away for 2 weeks from tomorrow in case anyone wonders where I am.

Still got the three goldfinches, a lot of greenfinches and chaffinches, a pair of blackbirds and a pair of doves, numerous starlings, crows and jackdaws and a little wren.

Ann
glos
Ann
glos

Hi Folks,
Hope that you are all enjoying this good weather, birds are not eating as much at the moment as there seems to be a lot of fly hatchings going on. and the farmer is still muck spreading what a pong.
Went to daughter house to tday and sat listening to the lambs and the woodpecker. also see a sparrow hawk and 3 buzzards and a fox but chased him away as he was eyeing up the lambs and they are not very old.

Hi there:o)

Ann...have pm'd you.

Bell...we have the lambs here, but not as many as usual, don't know why that is. The fields are usually full...mind you one of them is now show ground so perhaps they have limited its use to the farmer!!

On our way to Dorset last weekend we saw 6 dead badgers, how sad:o((

Vic saw 2 buzzards this afternoon whilst walking Madoc, they were in the middle of a field....usually they are being harassed by seagulls and crows!
Madoc came home from a walk yesterday smelling of foxes, yehhh he had rolled!!!!...straight in the shower, fortunately he's very happy to get in and jumps in the bath:o)) Another thing he does and loves is carry my shopping in from the car....as soon as we get back we open the front door, then the boot and place items on the drive, he loves it and is very gentle. l can even give him meat to carry. He's the same if l go to the garage freezer, infact he'll pester me until l give him something....how cute:o)

jude :o)

Jude
Madoc sound just like my old dog you could give him the eggs from the hen runn and he would take it to the house and not break it a very soft mouth. These a badgers set not very far from me and we see the babys dead on the road quite a lot. and I have asked for a new mobile phone one with a camera init so that I dont miss all the good pics.

Bellblair....now thats a lovely idea, thing is with my mobile photo memory fingie is....its full, everynow and then l send them to my email box then l can delete. It only holds about 24:o((
Not tried Madoc with an egg.....his bottom pointed teeth are very blunt cause his previous owners let him chew on stones!!!!(so the vet thinks anyway)
Aw poor badgers!!
Nothing to report re the birds as we've been away, apart from whilst we were in Birmingham at the Nature Centre this morning (which was bloomin closed), checking on opening times we saw loads of longtailedtits on the big tree trunks, the ones that are all lumpy bumpy, pecking away at l presume insects! Grandson saw them and was fascinated, he just loves all animals and plants.l picked abit of bloosom for him and the smile on his face was a picture. He'll look out of the window watching the sky, birds and tree's for ages:o))

Nite nite

jude :o)

Hi Folks,

Jude - You are fortunate that Madoc takes so readily to water. My faithful old black lab won't go near water - hates it - cringes in the rain, walks carefully around puddles etc. His sister was so different, she loved it. Couldn't get her out of rivers or the sea once she was in. Sadly, she broke her back when she was two, and died. Thankfully my dog likes the birds, and never attempts to chase or disturb them - just lies in the garden watching them - actually I think he is too lazy to bother - until he sees a cat, that's a different story.

I've never seen reed buntings. It's interesting that the people that post here live in various parts of the UK, so see birds that frequent their areas.
Buzzards are an every day sight here, and the red kites are frequently seen.
Today I spotted two cormerants sitting on a rock just off the beach, and a few oystercatchers. The other day I saw something that puzzled me. I saw what I thought was a buzzard flying just off shore, which in itself is unusual, when suddenly it dropped like a stone, wings folded, and grabbed a large fish in it's talons off the surface of the water.
So - did I see a buzzard? or did I see something else?

Susan - My car is zapped every day by seagulls and jackdaws - I've given up. My next car will have white splodges painted all over it!

Tec

Hi Tec,
I think it must have been something else, but cant guess what. have you tried googling and see what comes up.

The deer have returned to the field must be getting near for the young to be born. Batteries are charged and ready.
Not many birds feeding at present but a lot of nest building.

Hi Bellblair,
The only bird I know that "fishes" in that way, is the Osprey.Although I'm sure there must be others. There are Ospreys nesting forty miles from here - the nest is under constant surveilance by the RSPB - there is a public viewing hide at a discreet distance.
I'm fairly sure what I saw was not an Osprey - it wasn't big enough,
but I've never seen a bird of prey take a fish out of water before.

How nice to have deer as neighbours. I have a friend who has deer visiting her garden fence in the winter - she hangs bales of hay over the fence, they seem to enjoy it.
I've discovered a hedgehog eating the birdseed underneath the feeders the last few evenings after dark.
Not many birds today - they must be busy elsewhere, but there have been about six starlings around for a few days. We don't often see them here.

Tec

Evening all:o)

Tec...thats really sad about your dog.
Madoc brought the cheese in from the garage earlier and made no marks:o)
He likes water but no to swim in, he still loves to get a large stone, but we make him leave it after about 20 - 50 yrds. But yeh he loves the shower. They are all so different are'nt they. Our neighbour has a rottie (can't spell) named Jake, he is frightened of sqweeky toys, a real wooss (sp), hides under the table!! lol

Ref the bird of prey, why not ask the rspb, they will probably have a message board, or go to this site:

http://www.birdforum.net/

l used to belong to this site, still do but not used it for a few yrs.
Nothing to report on the bird front today been packing the kitchen up, we have a new one being installed next week:o))yehhh

nite nite

jude

Hi Folks,

Jude - Thanks for Birdforum site - I haven't looked yet, but will take a look when I get a minute. Been up to my neck in muck and bullets tiling the bathroom - 22sq mtrs - only half done.
Good luck with the new kitchen - I can imagine the chaos at the moment.

Yes - it was very sad what happened to my dog - one of the saddest days of my life - she was beautiful - funny and inteligent.

Only everyday visitors at the feeders today - doves - sparrows - chaffinches - greenfinches - bluetits.
Robin singing it's head off in the apple tree tonight in the dark - yesterday I heard an owl hooting in the middle of the afternoon. ???

Tec

Afternoon Folks and how are we all today,
Its bright and sunny here but the wind is very strong, not many birds about today, the buzzards are calling each other and they sound just like a child calling.
Been for a drive into the hill this morning what colours and guess what not a camera between us lol.

A kite or buzzard has just soared past my bedroom window!!!Beautiful sight.

Hello Bellblair and Helen,

Pleased to read you are both seeing buzzards and kites.
The buzzards do sound strange - I always think it's like a cat mewing.

It has been colder here today with a stiff breeze, and I've noticed the birds seem to be hungry again. Filled the feeders twice today.

Spotted the badger down by the river again tonight. I see on the news they are planning to shoot a thousand badgers in Pembrokeshire.
How barbaric that is, especially as it is not proven, only suspected, that they carry TB to the cows.
In England they are going to vaccinate the badgers against TB, much more humane.

Tec