Hobbies and Crafts

Maryanna ,what a good idea to keep a diary :-DI have not thought of doing that (especially for birds).OH does a daily dairying has dome for years.
He is now writing his memoirs :-D
I have seen that 'HAWK' today.I think it must be a Sparrow Hawk.It all goes deathly silent when it is around :-S.All birds must dash into their shelters.Must be a bit like the war everything diving for cover.

How rude of people not to reply to your invitations.Even if they can't or don't want to come to your celebrations they could at least have the good manners to answer.I sometimes think manners have gone out the window :-S

We have an extremely noisy bird at dawn..It goes PEEP PEEP PEEP non stop for ages.I don't know what it is.Thinking maybe Greenfinch.I must google the sound.

Jane, I thought I saw some in Somerset yesterday morning. I looked in my diary for last year and I had noted that I first saw them on the 13 th April.

Back in Surrey now so will be looking skyward today.

There were a pair of Gooldfinches flitting about earlier. Himself came in and told me he had seen some Canaries in the garden !!! He isn't a great one for bird or plant identification !!!

I can't say how,any birds must be nesting in that Holly tree, every bird and his wife seem to be in there, all nose dived every so often by one of the enormous wood pigeons, who still seem to be adding to their nest. Mind you, most of it seems to end up on the little paved area that is under the Holly., I think the twigs they are bringing in are so big they can't squeeze them through the prickles so they end up dropping them.

The Magpies seem to be spending a lot of time in the Blackthorn that is next to the Holly, chattering and flapping. Horrible things.

Party is in under three weeks, still have eleven people who haven't answered, I sent most of the invites by email, they almost all replied straight away.

Seven were sent by post, only two have replied. Odd isn't it.

M.

I hope your hawk isn't after any early young birds Jane.

We drove to Maldon this afternoon and walked by the river, then stopped at an outdoor cafe for a cuppa only to be surrounded by.............starlings. On the notice board showing birds you might see by the river starlings were top of the list with a note "They might steal your chips" .

We did see black headed gulls, terns, a couple of godwit, various ducks and a pair of swans building a very big, scruffy nest :-D :-D

We have just seen 2 Swifts/Swallows fly over the garden !!!!!...Also OH saw some type of Hawk fly really low across the garden ,just a few foot off the ground.It came down at the side of the Patio and then flew through the Trellis Arch.

LOL Vera :-D :-D
We had 2 Starlings on the lawn last night.They weren't at all bothered about me standing very close.They were just too busy pulling worms or insects out of the grass.
I haven't seen my Moorhen today :-S

We seem to be living in a bird free zone again - apart from starlings of course. They think I am running a hotel just for them. The other birds are probably keeping out of their way. I expect they feel like I did when our party of four arrived at our small hotel in Holland and found we were sharing it with a youth football team and their hangers-on! Starlings and young footballers both seem to make a lot of noise and kerfuffle :-D :-D

They are probably stamping their little feet Ann asking where "Mum" is lol
There is a Gt Tit here and when the window feeder is empty it stands on there and bangs it's beak on the rubber strip.It makes quite a racket .In fact it behaves a bit like a woodpecker hammering away !!!
It has been a bit quiet today.But I think the dreadful wind has probably kept some of the birds away.They were getting blown all over the place :-S

Wondering how our great tits are managing without us. :-(

Just been watching a stand off on the window feeder.One very nasty Chaffinch trying to dislodge a little Blue Tit that was trying to stand its ground.I had to go and flap my arms near the window to get them both to fly off(to save little Blue Tit)

Still only the one Moorhen :-(

Exciting and busy time ahead then Maryanna :-D.Congratulations <3

Congratulations Maryanna, hope all goes well for both of them.

Well would you believe it !!!???

Looks like we have a couple of Easter Chicks !!!!

Eldest Son and daughter in law made the announcement on Easter Day, which was her 30th birthday, baby due 1st October.

Daughter then says, " well, in that case, you had better hear my news ". Baby is due 2 nd November.

Two for the price of one. Very exciting, makes it an even bigger year. Big birthday, big anniversary and two new grand children.

Big sister / cousin will have two little people to boss about as well as Grandad. She wants them to be called Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, let's hope they are both girls then ...........

Not much else happening bird wise except for the Gulls and a pied Wagtail. Oh and I can hear a Blackbird getting in a state.

M. :-)

Hi Lesley :-D
No sign of the Owl again Ann.Well not that I have seen anyway.I'm sure it will be back as that dead tree 'stump' is a perfect place to just sit.The Wood Pidgeons use it all the time too :-D
What a lovely day it is.Sun all the way,but I think the clouds are gathering a bit now so reckon we have had the best now although but it still keeps popping out :-D

And to you Lesley, good to see you. do hope all is well with you. <3

A belated Happy Easter to everyone <3

Lesley x

Any sign of the owl. We have been watching the great tits going in and out of their house. I hope they survive while we are away for 2 weeks.

It is getting darker now .I am going to keep my eyes open in the hope of seeing the Owl if it should be here again.OH says he often sees an Owl sitting on the top of that dead tree trunk.

We seem to have starlings back again and we have a pair of blackbirds who feed and bathe in the garden. we also think Great tits are nesting in the sparrow box. Stills eeing Goldfinches but very few sparrows and blue tits.

I do envy you your owl Jane.

No don't fancy starling pie thanks Vera.

Hope Kandj looks in sometimes. We are all thonking of you Kandj

I think I might just pass on Starling Pie thanks Vera :-D....Enjoy :-D
Isn't it strange that we have no starlings at all in the garden.I dod see lots of flocks of small birds which I think are Starlings though.

Last night as it was dusk I could hear Owls.So I went to the back door to have a listen and just as I stepped outside an Owl took off from the dead tree trunk(probably 25ft high) just maybe 30 feet away from where I was standing.It flew across the garden into a big Fir tree.I don't know what kind of owl it was.

Thinking of Kandj and OH. <3

The starlings are out in force this morning. The garden seems to be full of them, together with four collared doves and two very fat pigeons. I think they are keeping the smaller birds away. I can hear them twittering but they are not coming into the garden. Two brave little dunnocks did land on the grass under the feeder but a couple of starlings flapped their wings at them and they flew away. I think I'll invest in a shotgun. Anyone for starling pie? :-D

Are you getting used to your varifocals yet Maryanna? I have strange eyes, one long sighted and the other very, very short sighted yet I had no problems with varifocals. OH couldn't get on with them at all and had to go back to having separate glasses for reading and distance. Horses for courses I suppose.

I hope Kandj's OH is improving and we see her back on the boards again soon