Hobbies and Crafts

Thanks everybody. You're all very kind to think about me and it's really appreciated.

Not in a good place at all. GP suggested Bereavement Counselling for 10 weeks and I went for first session earlier. Suffice it to say that I have poured a large glass of wine!!

I am trying not to ignore the birds but have taken the window feeder down. Too painful.

Ann it is pretty gross having to pick up after he has eaten the head. But the weird thing is that it is so clean No gore and Thomas is as clean as a whistle !!!! With his white bib I would expect it to be red or at least dark pink,. But he is a clean eater . I just wish he would give up this hunting lark.
I did look up about Barn Owls in the daytime and it can be quite normal.So i won't worry about it now :-D
We have just had a little Moorhen pottering around in the garden :-D

Oh yuk Jane to Thomas just eating the heads and leaving the rest!!

that is unusual to see the barn owl in the daytime isn't it? I wonder why, maybe he/she is nesting and feeding young so has to work extr hard.

Vera fingers crossed ratty is gone for good.

Kandj <3 <3

Hopefully Ratty has been dealt with Vera.I hate it when I see one here. The last one I saw a few weeks ago hasn't been around (at least not when I have been looking out) .We too have the courting Pigeons .They have their favourite place on the top of the trellis .Lots of billing and cooing going on and the rest LOL. I have been hearing Woodpeckers again today but haven't seen them.There are Pheasants somewhere close by as I can hear them too.
Thomas is still busy catching and eating bunnies :-(. Baby ones :-(. I know my neighbours will be pleased which is fine,they just don't have to dispose of what Thomas leaves :-S. He just eats the heads and leaves the rest :-S :-S
Horrible wet Sunday here. No chance of getting in the garden.

OH decided to leave approaching our neighbours about the rat till after Easter as we thought they had visitors and didn’t want to embarrass them.. He was going to see them on Wednesday but then we realised we hadn’t seen it for 3 days. We’ve been keeping a good eye out for it but it has been about a week now since we last saw it so I think they may have dealt with it without us having to say anything.

Not a lot of bird life around at the moment apart from the courting pigeons. I did watch a starling coming into the garden, picking up bits of twig and straw, disappearing and then reappearing for another beakful. I guess they must be nest building somewhere nearby and the garden will be full of squabbling starlings in a couple of months.

I think a little suggestion to the neighbours over the back to pop one of those 'safe' boxes with poison in might be a good idea Vera. Rats do love to nest under sheds as Ann said.. I could always lend you Thomas :-D :-D although he prefers mice and Rabbits LOL .I don't think Rats are quite so tasty.
I keep seeing a Barn Owl in the daytime here.It flies across towards the field opposite and then back again over to some tall trees in my neighbours garden a few doors down. I worry as it is not normal to see an Owl like that during the day. :-S

Vera, rats will nest under sheds if there is a gap and not a solid base as it is warm. Hope the neighbour can get rid of it.
Aaw the cat didn't work???

we are seeing a few more birds but not many.

Yes, I often think of Kandj as well.

Jane, how lovely to hear the nightingales. I have only ever heard recordings and have never heard one in real life though that is my own fault. For 26 years I lived within a 15 minute car journey of an ancient woodland that was an RSPB reserve with plenty of nightingles. I never managed to get myself there at a time they would be singing. I believe dawn was the best time to hear them and I am not good at getting up early :-(.

Apart from the pigeons billing and cooing on the fence, there have been very few birds around, probably because it seldom seems to stop raining.

Yesterday I saw a rat again and watched it for some while. It was running out from under some epimedium growing by the back fence, coming across the patio and then going back to the same place. It did this several times so I told OH and he went to look behind the epimedium. We think the cheeky thing had gnawed a little gap in the fence and was coming in from the garden over the back. The people there have a shed up close to our fence and OH thinks this rat is nesting under the shed so he is going to have a word with them. He managed to completely ignore my suggestion of getting another cat :-P

thank you for news of Kandj Jane, I do miss her on here. Think of her often and wonder how she is getting on <3 Kandj

Yes randy pigeons everywhere, who'd be a female pigeon? :-D :-D

Can you believe it is April already !!! I hate the way each year seems to go by so fast.

We seem to have so many Robins here today and all very feisty and squabbling .
I didnt hear the Nigthingale last night. I hope it hasn't decided to move off elsewhere .There are some noisy Pheasants about although not in our garden. The Woodpigeons are 'doing the business' ;-) on every fence and tree branch they can find LOL . It is 'Chase me ' time again :-D
I am in touch with Kandj often ,and although she is still finding adjusting to life without her lovely Hubby so difficult ,she is doing ok. Lots of support from her Daughter and family. <3 <3 Kandj

How lovely Jane, we get blackbirds singing away well into the evening, but not heard a nightingale.

We have a Nightingale :-D :-D. Last night and tonight it has been singing it's head off in the big Conifers just outside our back door.It is just a shame it is too dark to actually see it. It has been 2 or 3 years since I last heard one here.

Jane - we had to look it up as well. I thought at first it was a green finch or something like that but it's quite small and distinctly green with yellow markings and black head. :-D

Vera - blackbird with a white head. How interesting.I hope your husband sees it again.

Vera must admit it was OH who took the photo. We keep the camera set up on a tripod so it's ready. :-D

What a cracking pic Von. I wouldn't have known the little one was a Siskin. Now I know :-D
I have never seen a Blackbird with a white head, just the odd white feather. That will be an easy one to keep an eye on Vera :-D
The Goldfinch here never seem to feed from my window feeder . I think I must get a hanging feeder again for the Niger Seeds.I love Goldfinch.
It has been a beautiful Spring day today and so warm in the sun . It would be great if it stays like this but I see possible wintery weather again later next week :-S. I hope the forecast is wrong :-D

Ooh if the blackbird with the white head visited your garden regularly you would be able to keep track of him. I wonder if he will have other birds attacking him because of it.

We have got 3 goldfinches back visiting regularly and a few sparrows, two male blackbirds, one of whom is the table visitor for mealie worms, a robin, a few starlings (although the fat ball feeder is empty and they have disappeared at the moment, and just one great tit. We did have loads of blue tits and great tits but they have disappeared since we were away for a week :-(

Lovely photo Von. I am very impressed - when I try to take that sort of picture I generally just end up with a blur where the bird has decided to fly away just as I press the button :-(

The sparrows are back now I have started putting seeds out again, and we often get a few starlings and one or two blackbirds, but blue tits, robins etc are only occasional visitors and the goldfinches only appear once in a long while. We do get a fair number of long tailed tits but they don’t hang around for long. I am not sure what I can do to attract a bigger variety of birds.

When OH was out a couple of days ago he saw a blackbird with a totally white head. I know it’s not uncommon for blackbirds to have white patches but the whole head was pure white. It apparently popped out of a hedge right in front of OH and gave him quite a start.

Oh lovely Von, I have to admit I would probably have thought it was a bluetit. :-D

Two little siskins joined the goldfinches yesterday. :-D

https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/keepsafe/asset/edit/69615542

It is still busy here Ann, but not as frenetic as it has been. I think now the weather has improved the birds aren't as desperate for food. The Squirrel is being a bit of a pest though and making a right mess on my windowsill :-S