Hobbies and Crafts

It sounds like there are lots of birds around for everyone at the moment. I've just been watching a Robin on our feeder. Now almost all of the outside work is done on next door's extension the birds have started coming back, although there doesn't seem to be as many Starlings lately, just one or two at a time, plenty of blue tits though which is lovely to see.

I had a smile when you said the Blackbirds like the cake flavoured rainwater Vera. The Blackbirds around here only eat what's been dropped underneath the feeder, I've never seen one fly up to the food.

I didn't know you could have Goldfinches as pets Annx, my nan used to have a minor bird who copied everything anyone said, it was really funny to hear sometimes. I should imagine you would never have any secrets with one of those around.

We had a budgie when I was little and my dad used to let it out of the cage to Jane, he would fly to his hand and sit there for ages. My mum wasn't so keen on caged birds either, but I think that's probably because of all the mess under the cage as she was the one who had to hoover it up every day. The one we had was very noisy to. Funny the things you remember isn't it?

I've not seen a Magpie attack either AnnG, but I've heard them trying to get into other birds nests, it sounds awful, especially when you can see the Blackbirds flying around, trying to stop them, of course the Magpies always win. I found half an egg shell on the patio the other day, but didn't know what type of bird it came from, it was only small and white, it was quite upsetting to see. A few years ago I saw a baby blackbird on the grass along the hedge, he couldn't fly so must of been very young, I wondered then if it had been knocked out of it's nest, there was an adult male feeding him. The baby walked under the hedge and I never saw him again, I often wonder what happened to him.
Sandra loves Canaries and loves to go to Waterworld, a water feature place near us, as they have lots of animals and birds there, which she loves to see.

The poor Jackdaw Von, I'm pleased to see he got away from the Magpies in the end.

I haven't actually seen a magpie attack other birds although I know they go for the small birds and nests. However, when I magpie flies over the garden I too have seen other birds fly off the seed containers. magnificent looking birds but not noce!

Good to see you on here Von. :-)

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I haven't posted for a while. This morning there were 2 Jackdaws and a Blackbird minding there own business foraging on the lawn. A Magpie flew by and I was surprised to see the 3 other birds leave PDQ. :-0
However, less than 5 mins later another Jackdaw on the lawn was attacked my a Magpie and was soon joined by another Magpie and they viciously continued to attack the Jackdaw. I thought it was a goner but luckily it managed to free itself and flew away :-D :-D
Never seen this happen before usually they all play nicely only the squirrel manages to scatter the birds ;-) ;-)

I am not keen on seeing birds in little cages,I think the same with Hamsters /Gerbils etc. When we have been to Italy I have seen many cages hung on the outside of a house with Canaries in.Enjoying the sunshine and singing away.
My Uncle Jan used to have a Budgie called Joey and he would let him out of the cage and Joey would sit on his head for ages.I know that they can be wonderful company especially for housebound and elderly.
Annx your Goldfinch Joey certainly knew what he liked :-D :-D. The birds that use the window feeder always eat the suet pellets first and when they are gone have to make do with the Sunflower Hearts. Bits that are chucked out onto the ground are eaten up by the Sparrows and Wood Pigeons. The ground around the feeder is all white with poop and will need a good hose down . The Bird Bath has has a good clean out this morning.It was so filthy.But soon the Wood Pigeons will use it and use it for a toilet too :-S Dirty Birds. Have they no manners ! :-D

No need to worry Vera. Magies are still with me :-S

I also knew someone who used to keep finches though I am sure he didn’t have a goldfinch. He did have one without any feet. I wonder if he was born like it. It was strange to see but it didn't seem to worry the bird at all. He balanced on the perch on his stumps quite happily.

We parked in a town car park today and as I got out of the car I could hear a bird singing away beautifully. I looked around and eventually saw a robin in a tree singing his little heart out. I guess he was trying to attract a mate :-)

My OH's Dad used to keep finches (cage bred). That was in the 60s/70s. They seemed happy enough and of course we keep budgies in cages. I suppose it wasn't cruel if they were not captured from the wild. Not sure that he had goldfinches though. They used to sing. I think he had canaries as well.

Ann, when I was aged 15, I inherited my grandfather's pet Goldfinch, Joey. (the bird was ringed and aviary bred, but grandfather that side of the family was descended from travellers a few generations before and I expect the things they were used to lived on through a few generations!). Apart from the Niger seed in his finch mix, which he loved, Joey's absolute favourite seed was the large, round Hemp seed. He would empty his seed pot, scattering seed all over the place, ignoring the rest of the seeds till he had found every one and polished them all off!

'our' blackbirds do that in the dish on the patio table Vera. Funny aren't they. Not quite so many blackbirds in the garden now I think ours are getting territorial.

Strangely enough we saw a goldfinch in the garden yesterday. Perhaps they are making a bit of a comeback. Our goldfinch was on the niger seeds and later we saw one standing on the edge of the birdbath. Of course it might have been the same one.

The sparrows seem to have got used to the change of seed feeder at last and are now using it. The blackbirds and thrush seem to love the big shallow dish I put on the patio table. Originally it had stale crumbled fruit cake, then it was the stale end of a granary loaf in crumbs and today they went mad for a couple of crumbled up cheese scones. The blackbirds are quite funny. They fly down to the dish and if it is empty they keep bobbing their heads up and down, looking first at the dish, then at the house as if they are saying “Come on, get some more food in our dish” :-)

The trouble is the table is now decorated with bird poo and needs a thorough scrub :-|

Jane, can you please keep the magpies in your area. We seldom see them here and I’m happy to keep it that way.

Fingers crossed Jane they are usually picky eaters though and really only go for niger or thistle seeds.

I might have seen a Goldfinch :-D. But not totally sure it was.It was a little too high in my tree but it did look like one.I hope it was:-) Still have the blooming Magpies :-S

There seem to have been lots of blackbirds in the garden today, though they were almost all male. I can see a few squabbles breaking out over the couple of available females ;-)

The blackbirds have been making us laugh today. They have been pecking at the suet balls that are in a feeder hanging from a tree and they look so ungainly, clinging on for dear life. I have never seen them on there before. They are usually pecking around on the ground underneath the tree.

They also seem to have taken a liking to the large shallow dish I put the cake crumbs in for them. After they had finished almost all the cake but before I could get the dish in to wash, it poured with rain. Since then they have been drinking from this bowl rather than the bird bath they usually go to. I think cake flavoured rainwater must be some sort of blackbird delicacy :-)

No Lovey Dovey things going on yet in our garden yet Ann.Although the Woodpidgeons seem to be around a bit more now so no doubt our Trellis Fence will soon become the courting and nooky spot for them :-D. I am never quite sure how they manage to balance when at it !

Small birds don’t like the wind do they. Although the goldfinches seem to feed while clinging on to the feeder for dear life.

We had two very amorous collard doves in the apple tree today. Although I imagined the female was thinking ‘I only wanted breakfast’! :-D

I saw the egret in one of the water channels which drain the marsh.
They have such long thin beaks, which it was using to probe the mud.

I must have passed that spot dozens of times over the years, but never seen one.I have seen a heron, a few years ago, but they do frequent this area, especially if people have a well stocked pond.

Suet block has obviously been tackled by something, when I've not been looking...probably starlings, as I haven't seen many other birds lately, but there is still a fierce, howling wind blowing, so the smaller birds are probably sheltering.

We haven't seen many birds lately, but did see a few blue tits on our new bird seed feeder. We had to get rid of the fat balls as they had gone mouldy, the birds didn't seem that interested in them from the start, so they've been replaced with more seed which the blue tits love. It's quite funny to see them bobbing from the Red Robin to the feeder then back again, they are quite quick to. The birds didn't like the fat balls but do like the fat cake, strange I thought, as I'm sure they're both the same.....maybe they're not and they just prefer the taste of the fat cake instead.

I find the birds, especially the Starling love meal worms Ann, it sounds like they've got the best of both worlds at yours with having meal worms in the fat cakes, I've not seen those before, mine are just plain ones. They still eat it though, so it must taste okay.

I'm the same as you Jane and think the Magpies are just bullies, the little birds don't come near when they're around. The Starlings seem to like the meal worms and have a good old fight between themselves to get to the food, it can be quite amusing to watch. It also tickles me when the Blackbirds go underneath the feeder and eat the food that's dropped on the floor rather than take their chances on the feeder with the Starlings.....they're not daft are they?

We saw an Heron fly over the other week Gwyn which is similar to an Egret, do your neighbours have a pond, maybe that's why you saw one as they are water birds. We don't see the Heron very often so was surprised to see it, OH thinks it's because we'd just put a water feature in and the Heron could possibly hear it. Maybe that's what's happened with the Egret. They're lovely birds though and nice to see aren't they?

I don't think there would be any chance of seeing Egrets here. Are they Water Birds?
Still have the Big Black and White horrors :-S. They can be so intimidating .They are like Giants compared to the normal little garden birds. I think the awful weather has kept many of the birds in hiding today.It's been a really dreadful day with all the wind and driving rain.

Strange Gwyn, OH was playing golf last week and two white egrets flew overhead.

The birds seem to like our fat cake but it is on a ground feeder, it has mealy worms in it.

No takers for the solid suet block I have hanging in the garden.
Whether this is because of the weather or they do not like the fruit base, I don't know.

I have lived in this area for many years and today saw a bird I've never seen locally. It was a little egret. It was plodding around in a reeded drainage channel and didn't seem at all bothered by me standing watching it.

How lovely having all those birds in your garden Vera after so long not seeing anything.

I did smile when you told us about the Blackbird Ann. He must of been very hungry to hang around waiting for you to fill the food up.

We bought a new feeder yesterday to put more seeds into, we're going to hang it where the fat ball are as they have gone mouldy with the birds not bothering with them. The various tits love the seeds so having two feeders with seeds in should make it easier for them to feed off. Having said that, the weather is so wet and windy today we haven't seen any birds venture out. Mind you there are more workmen mulling around next door so that's probably putting them off too.

So you're giving your Magpies away Jane? I'm not keen on them either, they are bullies and the other birds don't get a look in.

Going to watch call the midwife now, I put the TV on an hour ago but there was a programme OH wanted to watch, so I've had to wait.