Hobbies and Crafts

I usually do it LG and our food is always stocked up but not sure if I am going to have time this weekend. Possibly like you Sunday. :-)

The birds round here had almost cleaned me out of food as it has been so cold. I put ot some grated cheese that was just past it's date and the starlings have woofed that down :-D

Morning LG. I always used to do it at our old house but when we moved here 3 years ago I stopped. First we were completely digging up and rehashing the little garden at this house, then it took forever to entice any birds in. Now we get a few, mostly sparrows, but they are now turning their noses up at a new feeder I bought.

I don't feel like standing at the window for an hour to count half a dozen sparrows.

I might change my mind on Sunday if I have time and it's a bit warmer :-)

My garden has always been wildlife friendly . We moved here 32 years ago and it was all neat and tidy, regimented borders etc. I soon ripped most of it out and planted up with things that nature loves.and son builta very large pond.It has paid off as we get all kinds of beasties from crested newts to hedgehogs and bllack squirels

LG How far are you from the pond in the village (as the crow flies) Maybe you get beasties migrating from there. All the time we lived there, the only black squirrels we saw were in Letchworth. :-D but we always had a lot of birds in the garden there including bull finches which we never see here.

I have pm'd you Ann.

I can't remember ever seeing a black squirrel.

In our old house we had a very large garden, fairly wildlife friendly, with a very big pond. We were surrounded by farmland and had lots of woodland nearby. The garden was always full of birds and I really miss them, particularly the jays and the green woodpeckers as they are so colourful.

Not in our garden but overhanging it was a very old, large walnut tree and the grey squirrels used to bury the walnuts in our garden. It would only take them seconds to pat them down into our hard clay soil but we used to get fed up with pulling up walnut seedlings everywhere.

It was a shock to the system when we moved here as the garden is very small and was just a scraggy bit of grass with a large dark brown shed and a dark brown fence and no sign of any wildlife. 3 years on we are now getting a few birds and butterflies, some frogs, plenty of insects and occasional dragonflies in the warmer months :-D

EDIT Just changed the avatar to show witchhazel just coming into bloom in a corner of the garden. We have a copper coloured one as well but that is always a couple of weeks behind.

Pretty Vera, bet it looks lovely and cheers you up.

The only time I have seen Black Squirrels was in Canada.I didn't even know there were Black ones.
What a miserable day to do the Bird Watch. I just did my count this morning with the birds coming to the window feeder. I had 3 Robins, 2 Blackbirds,3 Gt Tits,2 House Sparrows,3 Blue Tits,and I saw 5 Goldfinch in the tree. :-D :-D. It has all gone a bit quiet now ,but will be busy again a little later.So I might do another count then :-D

we had 3 blackbirds, 4 sparrows. 2 great tits, 2blue tits, 3 goldfinches and 2 blackcaps. And an hour later OH saw 2 long tailed tits. (too late to count those.

We did well then Ann :-D :-D

yep you did better than us.

It's getting busy again now Ann.There will be more battles with the Robins and Chaffiniches :-S They can't half go for each other !!!
I don't think I can sit for another hour to keep watch,so my first count will have to do.
I have noticed a Moorhen in the garden a few times the last few days.Just the one.It must come through from next door as they have a small 'lake' ,BIG POND.It is a natural water feature .Not man made.

Did the site work for everyone?

After the first hour, I got "sorry an error has occured please try again" Same thing again. I then started again and sat for another hour, but still received the error comment, plus an email link to report the problem.

So my birds haven't been included. Not sure their absence will affect any results though.

4 sparrows; 4 pidgeons; 2 blackbirds; 2 blue tits; 1 robin; 1 great tit and 1 carrion crow.

Hi Christina, nice to see a new 'face' on this thread. I think you might still be able to send it if you try again. But I had a bit of a problem with it and thought it had not gone. Then I got an e mail saying thanks you from RSPB. I think they are a victim of their own success and crashed under overload.

The form is still there if you go into RSPB birdwatch 2017.

Or they say "If you'd prefer to send us your results through the post, you can download a printable Big Garden Birdwatch survey form instead. It's available in Welsh, too."

Sorry Ann, I've only just seen your reply. (Hadn't clicked on watch thread).

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll go onto the site again and look for that form.

My form is going in the post tomorrow :-D. It is the first year I have actually managed to do a proper count. I have just noticed the window feeder is empty again !. They are a greedt lot at the moment :-D

Great suggestion Ann. I've just been back to the Bird Watch site, and my results have gone through.

Thank you. Not two hours wasted after all.

Great Christina,mwell done. Come and 'see' us again

Hallo Christina. As Ann said, it is nice to "see" someone else on the thread.

Still nothing going for my new seed feeder. I have seen one bluetit land on the perch, look at the seeds and fly away again.

As well as the usual sparrows, blackbirds and pigeons, there have been a few bluetits, a robin having a good old splash around in the birdbath and a little group of long tailed tits.