Hobbies and Crafts

If I do the Birdwatch survey ,I won't be able to keep up with our number of birds LOL
I still am astounded at how aggressive the Chaffinches are.They are really quite nasty.

At the end of the month we are going to Suffolk for a couple of nights.If the weather is ok I hope to go back to Minsmere the RSPB reserve.I have a new pair of Binoculars that OH bought me for Christmas so am hoping to get some use out of them there.

My word the wind is certainly picking up here now...No snow though.

I have a male Pheasant now mooching around under the window feeder !!!..They are getting bigger .The little birds, Rat, Moorhen and now a whopper :-D

He will hoover up all the bits so they don't attract the rat hopefully Jane. I noticed we had a pair of doves back today so either it is the same pair reunited or he/she has found another partner.

Ann I haven't see Ratty for a while.(maybe I just haven't been looking out at the right time)
We also have some lovey doves .They seem to be liking the big Ash tree in the front garden .There do seem to be an odd number though at the moment.Maybe 2 males and a female? One always seems to fly off.2 is company 3 a crowd :-D

3 Moorhens visiting today :-D..Seems like the word is getting around ..place to go lol

Still not getting many birds, just a few starlings and a couple of pigeons, but we have seen one bluetit and one robin. Hadn't seen the robin for several weeks so it was good to see he's back. Now that we are getting some hard frosts here I'm going to put my ground feeder back out as the robin prefers it. It has a cage over it that is supposed to keep out bigger birds but the starlings still seem to get in it :-|

I got some freebie berry flavoured suet cakes a while ago but I still have the first one on the feeder. Even the starlings won't touch it! OH says they have been spoilt by my home made fat cakes :-D

Had the female black cap (she has a reddy brown cap) on the apple tree and eating bread off the lawn this morning. Other than that just seen one lonely starling (the starlings seem to have abandoned us but I wonder if the large flock we had in autumn were the ones that only visit in the summer/warm seasons and fly South for the winter. We also have a regular pair of Great Tits and a few blue Tits that visit. Not seen the Robin for a while. However, with this cough I have been getting up late so probably miss the early birds. :-D

Jane, our patio was so wet again last week I am surprised we didn't have ducks or Moorhens.

The drainage and relaying of the slabs, didn't seem to make a lot of difference, but then we did have an awful lot of rain in a very short time and at one point instead of pretending to be a pond, for a short time it was a lovely skating rink.

Just what you need when you step out of the back door !!!

Lots of birds today, Mr and Mrs Blackbird and another Mr B. The Thrush, dozens of Sparrows who all had a moment and started creating and flying out of the Holly, so I suspect the Sparrow Hawk had flown in for a snack.

Several Magpies, who were seeing if they could make more racket than the Gulls and the jackdaws, a couple of Blue Tits and a Robin and I think I saw a Wren, something very small was rustling about in the Ivy.

Then there are the Collared doves, like Jane's there are three but they swap about so there are never more than two sitting together, lots of Wood Pigeons that are getting so fat they can hardly waddle about and still the huge flock of Racing type pigeons.

Nothing terribly exciting but certainly more at one time than we have had for a long time, probably because everything is frozen outside.

Next doors chickens woke us up at 3.30 this morning, the fox was probably about, no sign that he got any if them though, they make such a row, frightens us to death in the middle of the night.

M.

I had a mad moment and put this on the garden thread by mistake so have done a c & p here. Don't think my brain is in working mode at the moment.

I have put my ground feeder thingy out this morning and am waiting to see if the robin or other small birds get to the food before the starlings do. I don't know how the starlings get in and out as the mesh on the cage is fairly small but I suppose they are quite slim birds. At least it keeps the fat old pigeons away.

Vera I was thinking about a ground feeder but I daren't as it might encourage the R***
(don't look Kandj)
We are getting a couple of R** boxes tomorrow as we have had 2 around :-S :-S

Oh The sound of Chickens Squawking in the middle of the night is just horrendous isn't it Maryanna :-0 :-0.When next door had a load of Chickens it would often happen when a Fox was about.It made me feel quite sick as they carry on with the noise for SO long ands sound so distressed :-(......Then I would imagine a slaughter :-S :-S

Ann your cough is going on.Is it like the one you had a year or so back when you had to sit up to sleep?I hope not.

I am very happy to report I have at long last had a Long Tailed Tit again on the feeder :-D.I hope there are more to come.

Worse than the one I had about two years ago Jane as it has gone on longer, but daughter has it and a couple of the grandsons (we all caught it off daughter) and OH has had it about a week. It is hanging on but not sleeping upright now, haven't been for two weeks, still woke coughing in the night last night but it soon stopped.

Ann it is so wearing having that kind of cough.You must feel exhausted.But at least you can sleep lying down now.So many people seem to be suffering from the same thing at the moment .Touch wood we don't have it.So far so good :-D

Oh Ann, I know when I had that one a couple of years ago that went on for over six months, I was exhausted. Cracking a couple of ribs didn't help either.

The only good thing about being so poorly for so long was that I lost loads of weight without trying. Soon put it back on though.

:-(

M. :-)

Good grief Maryanna, I hope mine doesn't last 6 months!!! :-(

I was in Tes** today and there was a lady who had such a terrible cough ...she was actually sick :-S :-S

We now have 4 Moorhens .So from just the one it is like a little tourist group lol
Rat Stations in place now this afternoon ,so hopefully we might be rat free again soon.

Oh that wasn't very nice Jane, sounds like she should not have been out. That is almost like whooping cough.

We have had more birds than usual today, a couple of blackbirds, a robin the usual sparrows and starlings and a wood pigeon. :-)

Dry but VERY VERY cold here in Yorkshire. I might send a cold icy blast and help to clear up all the bugs so all who have coughs and colds can get them killed off. Keep warm everyone and get well soon.

Jane please keep your r*ts well away from Yorkshire, I'm cringing just reading about it.

We have a lot of Gulls swooping around and taking the food that the Starlings usually get to first. I have run out of the mealworm pellets and so had to fill the window feeder up with bird seed. The little Robin keeps coming and "bob, bob, bobbin along" like in the song ha ha.

We had the gulls too Kandj, I suppose they have to eat too. If there weren't so many of them in Gloucester I would quite like them but theya re a nuisance. No, scrap that, it is the lazy people in Gloucester who cause the nuisance with their take away bits and pieces left around that attract the gulls.

We have had a lot of Great and blue tits feesin today plus a blackcap and blackbird.

I see lots of Gulls here .But flying over,or in the fields across the way.Luckily not in our garden.It always amazes me to see how many there are,considering we are in the middle of the country.
That is one thing I do miss though.When I lived in Devon by the sea.The sound of the Gulls Cries.Echoing around the cliffs.There is something so lovely about that sound.
I'm making myself feel all homesick now lol

No worries Kandj..We will get rid of the you know whats before they reach Yorkshire :-D :-D

It must be Birdwatch time - the birds have almost vanished.