Hobbies and Crafts

Nyger or thistle seed both look the same, tiny little black specks If you have ever seen thistle seeds blow off the thistles you will know what I mean. The feeders are metal and have tiny holes, they usually have nyger feeder written on the label.

At lunch time today I saw a white pheasant in the field at the back of ours:-D I tried to take a photograph but the bird was so far off he/she just looked like a white blur in the picture:-(

Jane our daughter hasn't mentioned that she has had an elephant ride so I guess not, this week she is at the school doing voluntary work and yes she must be enjoying the whole experience of Thailand as she has said she is going to try and change her flight so she can stay longer :-0 not a thought that her travel insurance would have expired or that she would have run out of malaria tablets :-|

Lesley x

I don't think I have heard of a white pheasant, would it be albino? I suspect it would be in danger as it is not camouflaged. Pity you couldn't get the photo Lesley.
Sounds as if your dughter is enjoying herself but it is a bit dodgy to run out of malaria tablts, can she get them there?

No Ann I don't think the white pheasant is an albino but I'm 100% sure.

I'm sure our daughter will be able to get more malaria tablets in Thailand and probably much cheaper than in the UK...the annoying thing about her travel insurance is although she pays for yearly insurance it only covers trips up to 31 days and even more annoying she doesn't think...as I would have done at 23;-) :-D ;-)

Lesley x

Lesley, daughter's don't need to think when they have Mums to do it for them.... perhaps it comes under the job description and is par for the course?
It sounds an amazing experience so she will have lots to tell you when she eventually gets home.

Like Ann, I have never seen a white pheasant, so lucky you and maybe it will come back to visit you so keep your camera handy.

I have googled the nyger seeds and different feeders. All interesting AND time consuming lol Time flies when I'm having fun, but jobs get left undone.

Starlings have come and almost emptied the window feeder so that's not good. We have lots of them but am I the only one who has the starlings in such great numbers?

Dry and bright weather so far here in Yorkshire, looks promising, but could all change like yesterday when I took my eye off the weather and it rained on my bedding and towels. Won't be doing that today!

Lesley ,as you say they just don't think of the important things sometimes do they lol
I don't think you need to worry about the Malaria tabs .Will you have to sort out the extra insurance for her? I'm glad she is having a great time .Its a wonderful experience for her.

The male Pheasant has been this morning and a Moorhen :-D

I don't think I have ever seen a white pheasant either.Keep that camera handy :-D :-D

Have never seen a white pheasant either but in 2007 we had one in our garden that was black with a lighter coloured edge to the feathers where they overlapped. Sorry can't explain it very well but we had never seen one like it. OH took a photo and sent it to the RSPB for them to identify. They thought it had been specially bred for ornamental purposes for a zoo or aviary or similar and had either escaped or been set free.

Seen quite as lot of the blue tit today, it seems to like the peanuts. Also had a couple of starlings in the garden. We are beginning to get a few visitors to the feeders now so we haven't had to wait too long.

You are definitely doing better than us Vera. I am wondering if the sparrow hawk has paid a visit when we didn't see it and that is why the small birds have deserted us. :-(

I have seen a lot of Goldfinch in one of our trees today :-D( I think they were Goldfinch).Have had a look in my 'book' and they look the same :-D.They were doing a lot of chattering :-D

No sign of the white pheasant today :-( next time I see him/her in the field out the back I will try and take a photograph from upstairs hopefully I wont startle the bird from up there and make it go further away like yesterday.

Yes Jane if our daughter does stay longer we will sort the insurance for her, she hasn't mailed me today so I don't know if has been able to change her flight for a minimal charge or not.

Lesley x

Very cold chilly wind this morning here in Yorkshire. The sort my Mum would call "pneumonia winds" that went through you and not around you. So far it is dry, but looks set to change quickly with big black rainclouds overhead.

Usual starlings, fat pigeons, doves but no young blackbird as yet. We seem to be short of hedge sparrows just lately, but we do have our regular Mr and Mrs Blackbird and thrush popping in and out of the shrubbery. Everyone is hungry and emptying the ground feeder and also the back garden feeders hanging in the tree very quickly!

Well it is dark and wet here this morning.It's pretty miserable.
I have only seen a few Blue Tits on the Peanut Ball so far.Which reminds me it is nearly empty and I have run out of nuts.Must add them to my list before I go out.

Miserable and wet here as well. All I've seen this morning is the solitary bluetit. I'm not sure if there is just one that keeps coming or if there are several that come one at a time

The rain has just stopped here now we have bright sunshine and plenty of blackbirds looking for worms on the lawn :-D I say lawn but it actually looks more like a field because the grass is in desperate need of a cut.

Lesley x

We had a sunny morning but since then we have had showers and sun - more like April. :-) And the only birds I have seen are doves and sparrows.

There has just been a rush on food from all the little birds.Proper battles going on too :-S.I think they have finished feeding now but there might one or two late visitors,usually the Robins.
It's pretty chilly now outside and it turned out to be not a bad day.We had no rain after the first bit we had this morning.

Spring has sprung......... well I haven't been outside yet but from inside we are seeing a pale blue sky and fluffy white clouds. It certainly looks very promising so far.

The young blackbird came several times yesterday and at one time he poked his head around the feeder and looked at us two golden oldies watching his every move, then he flew off. It was SO funny that hubby and I both burst out laughing. He is getting brave and cheeky too lol.

This morning he has been back three times already but so have the starlings which I now shoo away as Ann advised earlier. I have filled the ground feeder this morning which has almost been emptied by a load of starlings. That needs to be filled again and I will put a separate one for our regular "guests" Mr and Mrs Blackbird and thrush who live in a shrubbery out of our view but are chased away by the aggressive starlings. They are my least favorite bird!

It's a lovely day here, a bit nippy but dry and bright.

Just before it got dark yesterday a group of starlings arrived in the garden and appeared to be squabbling around the feeder. I was getting quite annoyed with one of them who was sitting on the seed feeder just throwing the seeds out. Evidently I didn't have any he fancied. They can't easily get into the ground feeder. It has a sort of cage over it that small birds can hop through but it keeps out large birds and cats etc.

This morning I've only seen a blue tit on the feeder but there was a robin and a blackbird sitting on the fence for a long while. They both occasionally hopped down into the garden, had a look around and flew back to the fence.

Where we were living before was very rural so there was plenty of wildlife. There were plenty of rabbits of course, but also muntjac, and hares at certain times of the year, and there was a badger sett nearby. Since we moved here four or five months ago I've hardly seen anything though there must be plenty of small mammals etc. around. I have no regrets because we made the right move at the right time but I do miss looking out of the kitchen window and being able to see so much.

Vera you were so lucky to have nature on your doorstep before, although you still have a variety of birds who have found you without having waited too long.
The starlings sound as if they have come from here in Yorkshire. They really are very greedy and aggressive birds, and not even pretty birds to look at.

Vera I too would miss all the wildlife if we had to move.That may happen though sometime in the future.The size of the garden and house might get too much,plus there is a massive plan to build 55,000 houses,schools, etc around us.Eventually we will be looking over housing and not lovely open fields :-S
The feeder has been very busy this afternoon.It seemed as though when the wind picked up all the birds came for a feast :-D