Hobbies and Crafts

Kandj there would have been another Magpie there somewhere :-D for sure. I always count them too when I see them.
I think the birds must have exhausted themselves yesterday after all the fighting.It has been fairly quite today.Mind you the rain might have had something to do with that.

We too are lucky to have 3 loos in the house.One downstairs ,which I call the garden loo. It is just inside the back door and so is mainly used when anyone wants to use it when outdoors.I don't like guests using it as there is often a bit of mud and grime.But it is very handy. Then we have the main bathroom and our ensuite upstairs.
I remember as a child and my parents bought a New Build detached house and we had a downstairs loo. Everyone thought we were 'posh'
:-D

That is great Humphrey is still around Vera :-D.. He is obviously a permanent resident :-D :-D.

We are away from tomorrow morning till Monday afternoon so I have just been out to refill feeders before it gets too dark. I've filled them to the brim with seeds, peanuts and fat balls but I expect they will be empty when we get back.

Not many birds about today. I think they are all tucked up in the warm somewhere, though OH saw a wren this morning. The snow we had earlier has disappeared but, by golly, there's a bitter wind out there. We had planned to go to Eltham Palace on Sunday but the forecast is for heavy rain all day. If we go I certainly won't be doing the gardens. I suppose we can't really complain if we get wintry weather in the middle of winter but somehow it always comes as a shock.

Enjoy your few days away Vera,whatever the weather :-D
We had snow this morning.It came down really hard and fast for a while but has now gone.The window feeder was a bit of a frenzy for a while.But like your birds ,I think they have all gone to find a bit of comfort and warmth in their nests.

Yesterday a collared dove was doing an amazing skating balancing act in the frozen bird bath.He /she looked really perplexed and kept pecking at the ice in hope of a drink. I went out and put in some warmed water to melt the ice. A lot of birds use the water for drinking or bathing.
A gloomy dark day of misty rain and very cold air today.
There have been few small birds feeding, but an enormous crow had taken charge of the feeding block this morning and eventually flew off.
I watched for a while, then later noticed a small bird emerge from behind the feeder and was delighted to see that it was a nuthatch, which clamoured up the wide branch of the tree before flying away.
I haven't seen one of these in the garden for years, so will have to watch out to see if it returns.

Pretty certain we have not had a nuthatch in our garden Gwyn, how lovely.

I am not sure if I have seen a Nuthatch . I must have a google and see what they look like. We do have a sweet little Wren that loves to forage around in the window box amongst the Pansies.
The food in the window feeder is still disappearing speedily.I looked in the food tin this morning and it was almost empty ,so I had to go out and restock.

I have seen a nuthatch but not in the garden.

The sparrows are getting through the bird feed at a great rate but we are not seeing much else, apart from pigeons and the occasional blackbird.

Jane, how is Thomas doing these days? Did his accident leave him with any ill effects? We are still dithering whether to get another cat or not. OH isn't keen but says if I want one, we'll get one. I do miss having a cat around but we do go away quite a bit. We live in a little close and none of our neighbours have pets or seem particularly keen on animals, so our cats have always gone to the cattery when we are away. The one we preferred was quite a little way from us and travelling back and forth was a bit of a pain and over the year the cost did add up to quite a bit. Yet...........I do miss having a cat.

Vera,Thomas is absolutely fine. You wouldn't know that he had had such a big op. He still hunts :-S and can run like the wind.The Vet had said that he could have a permament stiffness in that leg,but there seems no sign of that at all.
GO ON ,get another cat.You know you want to :-D.
I have had to find a new cattery for Thomas as the lovely place he went to has closed :-(.. This one is about 12 miles away ,but I went to have a look a couple of weeks ago and it is really good.They even have a purpose built play room !!! with all sorts of climbing equiptment in,and a walkway tunnel thing to a big tree where they have made a tree house !!!.Only one cat is allowed in the playroom at a time.(It is all outdoors).So the owners have put an awful lot of thought into the place.
I too have neighbours who I wouldn't ask to look after Thomas .So it has to be a Cattery.I think it is costing just under £9 per day.It is worth it though just so we can go away :-D. When I think back a couple of years ago and we had to have our lovely dog put to sleep,we said we wouldn't have any more pets..THEN THOMAS TURNED UP !!.Now I would hate to be without him. :-D
Lots of cats needing homes Vera ;-) :-D :-D

My goodness, the birds round here are fussy. I bought a new seed feeder yesterday - quite a nice one. The seeds are well covered so they shouldn't get wet but there is easy access for the birds to get at them. I filled it with the same seeds I usually use and hung it up in the same tree. The sparrows usually clear the feeder of seeds in a day. They won't go near the new one. Instead they are lining up to take turns on the fat balls. I could have saved my money.

There have been a couple of bluetits on the peanuts today.

The bird bath was a solid lump of ice again this morning so I had to do a bit of defrosting. I had a look at our tiny pond while I was out there. That's more sheltered so only had a thin sheet of ice on the top and through the ice I could see 3 frogs and there could have been more in hiding. Humphrey has clearly invited all his friends to stay

:-D

Give them time to get used to it Vera. We added a new one over a month ago and they are only just tentatively approaching it.

Yes Ann, I thought I might have to leave it up for a while for them to get used to it. The pigeons are looking very puzzled. 2 or 3 wait on the ground under the feeder to hoover up all the seeds the other birds throw out or drop. I keep seeing them look up as though they are wondering why there are no seeds coming their way.

:-D :-D We have a blackbird that depends on the other birds being mucky eaters!!

Our River Dance Blackbird is our muckiest feeder LOL.He is always so desperate to get as much as he can ,half of it ends up in the ground,which is great for some of the little ones :-D.
Yes I am sure your birds will soon get used to the new feeder Vera.They just might be a little unsure of it at the moment .Checking it out :-D

I feel really bad as I forgot to thaw the bird bath :-S :-S..It was seeing your post Vera that has just made me realise I haven't done it today.it is solid too just like yours.That will be my first job in the morning :-)

I managed at last to de-ice the bird bath so I gave it a good scrub out and refilled it with clean water. Do any of you know of anything I can clean the bird bath with, something that can't harm the birds? I can get rid of most of the gunge with plain water, a scrubbing brush and elbow grease but there are a lot of black splodges that look as though the birds have eaten berries that have gone in one end and out the other. I'll have to google.

Had a few bluetits and one great tit having a go at the peanuts and the suet balls and the sparrows are eating everything except the seeds.

Still no takers on the new feeded Vera?

RSPB
You should clean your birdbath regularly and change the water. A layer of algae, dead leaves or bird droppings will soon build up, so give the bath a thorough clean every week or so. Scrub the sides and bottom to remove algae and other dirt.
You can use dilute household disinfectants, but make sure that you rinse the bath out thoroughly to remove any traces of chemicals.
There are two non-toxic products on the market, Enviroclens and Crystal, which can be used to clean bird baths.

Also from a few sources
To clean a bird bath...
1. Dump out any old, stagnant water. ...
2. Use a disposable rag or the scrub brush to remove any large deposits of spilled seed, feces, debris or other contaminants. ...
3. Use a solution of one part chlorine bleach to nine parts water to scrub the bath thoroughly

Thanks for that Ann. I've been a bit wary of using things like bleach but it looks as though it would be OK well diluted and rinsed afterwards. In theory I can lift the bath off the pedestal to clean, which would make it easier, but it is very heavy and I am frightened of dropping it. With my luck it would land on my foot.

No interest in the new feeder yet :-S. I'll leave it for a few more days as there is plenty of other food out for them to tuck into.

I was surprised that bleach could be used too.

Sooo we are having the kitchen flooring done tomorrow. So today the fridge and microwave have to be moved, the fridge emptied first of course, and then it needs cleaning before moving into the dining room where it now blocks the door. And everything then put back in the fridge. (We did a shop yesterday so it is pretty full.) Then the floor under the fridge is disgusting so that needs washing next. And all the kick boards on the units have to come out, looking at them goodness knows how they will ever go back in. That includes the one with the electric fan heater attached, so that has to be unplugged, the plug being behind the drawers so they have to come out to get at the plug. He'd better arrive to fit the stuff tomorrow or I am not going to be best pleased. :-( :-(

That is good info for cleaning the birdbath. We usually hose it out with a hard jet of water and give it a good scrub with a brush.I would never have thought of being able to use bleach.

The fog is dreadful here today and it hasn't lifted at all all day.I'm surprised the birds have found their way to the window feeder lol. Battle of the Robins is still going on. We seem to have so many,that it is difficult to tell how many there actually are.Lots of dive bombing each other :-S

Good Morning all, who is taking part in the big garden birdwatch this weekend ? I have stocked up with all the tasty titbits they love and some extras besides. I am observing ours on Sunday as it is when I shall have the most time to spare.