Hobbies and Crafts

We had a sparrow hawk last year. It was sat on the garden wall when I opened the blinds. I frightened me and it just sat peering at me through the kitchen window.
I could clearly see the curve beak and speckled front and the long tallons..... scarey!!
This was the first and only time he has been in the garden. I had to google to see what bird it was.

No snow either Vera, in fact it has been bright and dry today but very very cold.

Hope Jane has had a good day with her daughter. The museum/St Pauls sound good.

Still liking Luke on your Avatar Ann. Has the new baby arrived yet?

It is a Red Kite causing all the Hooha.It has been around a lot of today too.
We do have a Sparrowhawk sometimes.it actually flew so low the other day when OH was in the garden.He said it whizzed past him at just a few feet away !!!!!

No snow here but darned freezing.I am off to London tomorrow to have the day with my daughter visiting the Crime Museum and St Pauls Cathedral .Difficult to know just what to wear.I have decided on a thin top ,and warm coat.I just get too warm in these museums and places .I will probably freeze though standing on the platform waiting for the train :-S

We had some snow this morning though it didn't settle and eventually turned to rain. Very cold and windy. The bird food isn't going down very fast at all. I am going to check on it in a minute because I think it might start to go mouldy if it hangs there in the rain much longer.

Hope your bird of prey has disappeared Jane. In our old house I had a sparrow hawk swoop down in front of the window where I was standing and grab a young starling from the grass. Seeing it so close, just the other side of the glass, gave me the shivers - it looked so big and vicious. I know it is all part of life's pattern but I don't ever want to see it so close again.

sounds as if it could be a sparrow hawk jane, hope all the little birds were safe in the end. :-(

Kandj we have bright sunshine here today so far but very cold. Quite pleasant though compared to the weather we have had. Just one lonely goldfinch on the feeders at the moment. :-)

Very dark,and cold, and we have sleet here all morning. Poor birds ate all the food and I have been and filled the feeders up again (how brave is that?).

That nasty bird will clear your garden Jane. Hope it disappears soon.

Another scratch pole is needed then ........ Thomas will be in bad books soon!!!

We have some kind of Bird of Prey around at the moment causing mayhem !!!!! It is making such a noise.All birds have gone into hiding :-S.It is quite eerie .I could see the bird in the top of a tree in a neighbours garden but can't make out what is is as it is dusk now.

Just noticed a few scratch marks on a wall in the lounge :-S I haven't told OH (am hoping he won't notice them) :-)

Thanks for the bird watch reminder Ann. I am like Vera and usually have the same old birds here. Nothing nearly as interesting as everyone else, but still welcomed.

Jane, try a scratch pole for Thomas in places where he scratches the wallpaper. They have to be a lot cheaper than having the decorator in!!

All I do Vera is just keep the window feeder topped up.We are surrounded by trees and fields so probably why we get so many visitors .The Gt Spotted Woodpecker has been a regular these past couple of weeks on the feeder :-D

Yes Thomas has a big scratch post in the lounge.The wall paper he scratches is by the back door.So I might get another scratch thing for him near the door .It is amazng to see how high he has actually reached on the paper !!!!!.He must have been having a big stretch when he scratched :-S.I have noticed a few other spots around the house with scratch marks (But haven't mentioned them to OH :-D.)Hopefully he won't spot them.
OH found the remains of a rabbit in the garden today.Not sure if the culprit was Thomas or the Sparrow Hawk? that has been around.
I had forgotten about Bird Watch.Not sure I will be able to do it as I will be in London with my daughter for part of the time.

Yes, don't give up. the last two days of January is the Bird watch weekend. I think they like you to do it even if you don't get many birds to show how some species are getting fewer.

The feeders are definitely high enough Ann. I do have a ground feeder as well that is supposedly only accessible to the small birds but I stopped using that as the starlings were managing to get in it and steal all the food before any other birds got a look in.

We do see other birds but it tends to be one occasionally. I had hoped more might have found us by now. We have been here over two years. Maybe I expect too much. Like Jane we lived in the country before in a tiny hamlet. We were surrounded by farmland and woodland and the garden was always full of birds of all sorts.

Oh well, I shall just keep putting the food out and hoping for the best.

You seem to be doing everything right Vera, I expect they just need to find you, maybe if it gets colder they will, they are creatures of habit and will be going to other gardens in the area where they are used to going. Are the feeders near any bushes that the birds can hide in? And high enough off the ground?
You can only keep persevering. I think Jane dos well with the birds because she is near open countryside.

How do you do it Ann and Jane? A couple of blackbirds and a pigeon on the ground and one starling on the fat balls is all I can muster this morning. :-(

I've got out bird seed, Niger seeds, peanuts, fat balls, and suet nibbles with dried mealworms plus water. What am I doing wrong?

Coaltits, blue tits and great tits on the black sunflower seeds, Goldfinches on the niger seeds, starling and blue/coal and Great tits on the fat balls and blackbird routing around on the ground. confirmation that the temperature is dropping I think. :-( :-(

Has Thomas got a scratching post Jane? He is scratching at the wallpaper to blunt or sharpen his claws or to stretch.

Too right Kandj Lucas will be in very bad books I think if he breaks anything else!!

Glad that the vet has now confirmed that the black cat is Lucas. He sounds to be settling back but will be in the bad books if he keeps breaking things Ann.

So Thomas is back out and on the hunt then Jane? Good job that you stopped him getting into the house or you would all be chasing a mouse about yet again.
Scratching at the wallpaper isn't good either. Is this "normal" for cats?

He sounds just like Thomas.A proper hunter and roamer.......I just managed to shut the back door in time to stop Thomas waltzing in with mouse in mouth :-S.So he had to eat it on the patio.He has now gone off again :-S :-S

He was kept in for two weeks before he was let out and took off jane. He has now been kept in for another two weeks, he is a hunter and loves to roam, unfortunately he is not used to being surrounded by gardens, especially those with barking dogs in them ( next door to daughter and next door but one.)

Ann I was told when moving to keep my cat in for 2 weeks!!.Not easy when they are climbing the walls.At least you know now for sure it is Lucas :-D :-D.
I have found more scratch marks on wall paper today :-S...Haven't told OH yet :-D.I might just keep schtum and hope he doesn't notice :-D :-D..The culprit in sleeping with everything akimbo like butter wouldn't melt :-S

Daughter had cat scanned and he is definitely Lucas. Vet checked him over and he is fine. she said if he'd been hit by a car it would have healed by now anyway, and to keep him in a bit longer as once they have wandered off they are likely to do it again!! :-(

Apparently Lucas has now got his second wind and has been running andjumping around the house and is in disggrace because he broke one of daughter decorative glass perfume bottles.

glad you liked the photos. Actually normally changing your avatar is easy. When it appears to be working again I will tell you how. I have e mailed support re the problem so we shall see what they have to say.