Hobbies and Crafts

Echoing what Kandj said and wishing Ann and her husband a wonderful anniversary day .

I bet you are not the only one missing your little birds Jane - it sounds as though Thomas is missing his mid-morning snack too.

At the moment I am not filling the seed feeder after OH had to vacuum all the seeds up. I did refill it once but carefully laid a bit of black plastic under the tree where it hangs and, sure enough, next morning all the seeds were on the plastic and the feeder was empty. OH had a look at it today and said it seems to be missing an inner ring so the slots to release the seeds on to the tray are twice as big as they should be. Something heavy would be able to swing it enough to tip a lot of the seeds out. Today I have seen a pigeon sitting in that tree and looking at the feeder so I think he may be the culprit.

I have two other seed feeders but will probably buy another one. In the meantime the sparrows have taken to pecking at the suet balls and the blue tits are going for the peanuts. I also saw a great tit on the peanuts today.

Sending Ann and hubby Congratulations and very many Happy 58th Wedding Anniversary wishes to you both. xx

No Hedgehogs seen here ,although I am sure we will have one somwhere in the garden. Probably down the bottom of the garden near the compost containers.
How nice though to see one collecting leaves like that Ann.

I am missing my little birds since taking down the window feeder. It's soooo quiet .The good thing is we haven't seen Thomas with a bird since.I will put the feeder back up later in the Autumn. Yesterday we had 2 Buzzards flying very low over here.Normally it is the Red Kites so that was unusual .

Ann
I can't remember the last time that I saw a hedgehog around here, although they used to be frequent visitors.
They could feast on the enormous slugs which have set up home in our compost bin, where they must have gone seeking moisture this summer.

Just a seen a lovely large hedgehog in the garden, we are so pleased, it seemed to be collecting leaves so maybe it is going to hibernate in the garden, it headed for between the shed and the fence, nothing can get to it there.

Cats are hunters, it’s in their genes, and Thomas seems to be Chief Supreme Hunter :-(

We’ve never had a window feeder but when we had a cat who would shin up trees to get at the birds on the hanging feeders OH fitted a tray to a tall shiny steel pole and sited it away from the trees. The birds flew on to the tray for the food and the cat couldn’t climb the pole to get at them.

We had a few laughs watching her try to climb the pole and sliding straight down but she soon realised she was fighting a losing battle and gave up.

Ann the trouble with the feeder is that the Blackbirds especially chuck food out all over the place so nothing underneath would make any difference :-(
I am now looking at an empty window :-( :-( whereas yesterday there would be a real flurry of activity going on. One good thing is that the birdbath has been well used by the young Bluetits today and that is just a few feet away from the window.
Thomas is catching and eating plenty of mice but no Bunnies at the moment (as far as we know) . There are lots of Foxes around so they may be eating all the Bunnies .

Bells don't really work that well on HUNTER cats !!!. We did try it . He could move without making a tinkle LOL

Maybe if there was something fixed under the feeder to stop seed etc dropping to the ground it would deter Thomas. He has only recently started doing it though which is strange. Has he got a bell, I think you can get a special type to warn birds. OH is going to have to toughen up a bit, softie!! :-D :-D

Oh dear Jane, I felt the same when I made the decision to take the window feeder down but not for the same reason that you have with your bad cat, naughty Thomas.

I reverted to using the ground feeder but I'm very careful to make sure it's empty each night...... I still have a real dread/phobia about MICE......... ugggghhhhh!!

Ann he has just had another bird so the feeder is down now. Haven't told OH where it is (BUT) I have stuck it on one of the windows of his Greenhouse :-D :-D.
I have had to draw the curtain as I can't stand to see the birds flying to the window thinking there is food there :-(.. I know I am a bit of a softy but they have been such a pleasure and I have got to recognise some of the bigger birds . Hopefully they will find their way down to the Greenhouse now and that Thomas will behave. I do think that it is just the movement the birds make on the ground under the feeder that makes Thomas think it might be a mouse. I did read somewhere it is the cat seeing a sudden movement that makes them pounce(no matter if it is a mouse bird or whatever)
OH seems quite upset with all the bird kill today.He never used to be like this.he doesn't want to speak to Thomas again today LOL

You might have to take it down to break Thomas's habit. They won't starve but hopefully they won't get caught by Thomas either. They are obviously too slow to get away from him.

I think I am going to have to take down the window feeder as Thomas is catching too many little birds :-( :-( OH said he has had to dispose of the remains of 2 already today and it seems to have really upset him. My fault for feeding the birds :-S :-S
I have suggested moving the feeder down to one of the Greenhouses but not sure how he feels about that. He thinks I should not feed them until later in the year as there is plenty of food about for them now. I feel a bit of a stand off coming on :-S

Oh I missed your Birthday Ann. Belated Birthday wishes to you xx

Thank you Kandj yes I had lots of lovely cards and mostly money presents as people know I like to buy craft making stuff. Had a very good day thanks.

A squirrel does seem to have got the majority vote Vera?? I had to smile reading of your OH outside with a hoover!!

Ann, I hope that you have enjoyed your Happy Birthday today with lots of nice cards and lovely presents too.

Jane you do have a nice variety of birds in your garden. I still have the usual starlings, blackbirds, sparrows and the pigeons who make a big mess in both bird baths daily!

It does sound like a squirrel doesn’t it, but I cannot work out how it could have emptied all the seeds out without unscrewing the base or at least knocking the feeder out of the tree. Whatever did it has more brains than me because I can’t do it.

The Culprit sounds very much like a Squirrel to me Vera :-D

I am sure you know the type of feeder I mean. It’s a clear plastic tube with a few small cut outs at the bottom end which screws into a little tray with a few perches around. Some seeds come through the cut outs onto the tray and as the birds eat them some more drop down.

I can’t see how it could be a cat. An animal pushing it in some way would only knock out the seeds in the tray bit. I can’t empty it without unscrewing the base or the top lid that hangs from the tree but it had been completely emptied. It’s a real mystery :-S

Lol Vera. It could be a squirrel but I think it would have eaten most of the seeds on the flour if it was. Strange could a cat have gone after a bird and pushed the feeder?

I have a question for you clever people - what could have tipped all the seeds out of a feeder and left the feeder hanging from the tree intact?

I filled the bird feeders quite late yesterday evening. When I looked out this morning the feeder with the wild bird seed was empty. I thought all the food had gone very quickly but went out to refill it. I then saw that all the seeds were on the ground under the tree - not just a few, a whole feeder's worth. But the plastic feeder was still hanging in the tree and screwed tightly into its top and base :-S.

Pigeons have occasionally swung on it till they manage to unscrew it and the seeds and part of the feeder drop to the ground but I don't think they could have emptied it and still left the feeder in one piece. OH suggested a squirrel but the same thing would apply to them and I think they would have been more likely to go for the peanuts.

I am really puzzled. Any ideas folks?


EDIT: I forgot to say that OH didn't want all the seeds germinating in the warm, damp earth under the tree so decided the best way to get them up would be with the vacuum cleaner. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get a snap but I do wonder what the neighbours thought if they saw him vacuuming among the flowers