Hobbies and Crafts

That's a really good comparison Gill! :-D. We get so much pleasure from our birds mostly in the morning on the bird table/feeders. Mostly bluetits especially the babies who are so busy and bossy!! We have a little Jennywren who spends a lot of time running up and down our tall fence looking for spiders and little beetles etc,! Watching them is a real time waster!!! In the summer it's the swallows!!

Sad news from Kandj today. Her lovely big Sister sadly passed away on Sunday with Kandj by her side. She has asked I let you know and she wishes ot thank everyone for their kind words,thoughts and prayers. It has been a great comfort for her.
She is obviously very sad ,and exhausted and will be back again at a later date when she is feeling able to. Much love Kandj <3 <3

Such sad news. Sending dear Kandj and her family condolences and love <3 <3

So sorry to hear this Kandj, thinking of you and sending love <3

So sorry to hear Kandj's sad news, thinking of your Kandj <3 <3

I too am very sorry to hear this extremely sad news, and send condolences.

Sincere condolences to Kandj <3 <3 <3

Too wet most of the day for there to be many birds around, though the sparrows and the robin that accompanies them flew in a few times between downpours.

I was sitting in our conservatory talking on the phone when there was a loud thud and a collared dove appeared to drop out of the sky and land on the path by the conservatory door. It was clearly badly injured so, being a wuss where birds are concerned, I yelled for OH and took myself off to another room.

By the time he got downstairs and out to the garden the poor thing had died. OH said its neck was broken. It must have flown into something but I don't know what. There are only two upstairs windows that it could have hit to land where it did and neither of them have any marks on them. Later I saw a single dove just wandering slowly round the garden so I think it was looking for its mate :-(

Oh Vera , I hate it when you see a bird looking for its mate :-(. I have the imprint on my bedroom window where a Wood Pigeon hit it the other day. The noise was horrendous but it flew off.Hopefully it survived. I shall have to wait for the window cleaners to come next month to wash off the pattern of the wings :-S. The rain has had no effect and we can't get to it.
There is not much to report on bird life really. We do get Blackbirds have baths in the Birdbath and the couple of Robins around. I must get the window feeder back up again .It is still on the Greenhouse window and I think the Squirrel is eating all the food :-S

Sorry to hear about the pigeon Vera, it's so sad when you see it's mate wandering around.

I know what you mean about the bird imprint on the window Jane, we had one on our kitchen window the other week, luckily I could get to it to clean it off. All I kept think is how the poor bird was. We have a large window in the living room which is behind me and sometimes the birds fly into it, it does make me jump when it happens.

We have lots of birds in our garden and I was going to buy some bird feeders but have noticed lately there are a couple of cats around so I'm not sure whether to buy them now, or if I do where's the safest place to put them out of the reach of the cats. I have lots of bird nuts that I used to feed the squirrels with but they stopped coming around so now I'm left with them and I don't really want to put them on the ground with the cats around. I'll have to have a think about the safest place to put them.

I'm also thinking of getting a bird bath as Sandra (my daughter) loves to watch the birds washing themselves. We had a few birds in a large pot we had that didn't have good drainage, the pot collected water and the birds loved washing themselves in it, of course Sandra loved watching them to. The plant died in the end so we don't have the pot anymore, so a bird bath would be ideal. Although I still have the problem of the cats. I want to keep the birds safe not put them in danger.

Gill have you got a tree with branches that stick out to hang a feeder from. Conversely, I don't know how much they cost but you can but wrought iron stands with hooks for feeders. I am sure, in the winter, that Sandra would love to watch them feeding. But if you put a feeder up be prepared to wait a while before it is used, birds take quite a time to get used to new feeders. Which is why it would be a good time to start now. Jane had a lot of success with a feeder that stuck to the window.

Gill, we've got a stone bird bath on a stone stem (I'll send you a pic) which the birds love and we have put it out in the open, well on view so that cats can't creep up unseen!! We haven't actually got any cats round here as we live right in the sticks with the nearest neighbour 1/4 mile away!! But when we lived in a village and had our own cat, and positioned it in the same way, the birds stayed safe while enjoying their bath!!
I definitely saw the Robin this morning on the bird table, again while we were having breakfast! He had a few crumbs, then shot onto the fence and flew off into the field opposite!!! The bluetits are as bossy and busy as ever, jennywren still pottering about purposefully!! All is well! :-)

We bought a wrought iron bird feeder station when we first moved here. Prices seem to range from about £15 to about £100. I think ours cost about £40. We stopped using it once we had planted a couple of trees and could hang the feeders from the branches. The feeder stations are fine but they are quite exposed and the birds seem to prefer the cover of trees.

At one time we had a real hunter of a cat and OH made a bird table which he fixed to the top of a steel pole. It was low enough for me to be able to put food out but too high for the cats (or squirrels) to jump up and they couldn’t get a grip to climb the steel pole.

Like Liz we have a stone bird bath on a stone pedestal. It looks good and the birds seem to like it, but it is very heavy and I can’t easily lift the bath from the pedestal so I have to clean it in situ. If you have pigeons you will be constantly cleaning it!! They seem to use it as a drinking vessel, a bath and a toilet.

Whatever you decide to do I am sure Sandra will get a lot of enjoyment from watching the birds.

I didn't think to buy a feeder on a stand, that would be a good idea and could be put in the open with a bird bath like Liz suggested. I didn't realise the pigeons use bird baths for toilets.......yuk, but I suppose that's nature for you. So long as both the bird bath and feeders are away from all the plants the cat can't go creeping around ready to pounce without someone noticing.

You reminded me of a bird table OH and Sandra made together when we first moved in here, when you mentioned the way your OH made yours Vera and I don't remember the cat going anywhere near it. That was on a pole type piece of wood and also had a little roof on it. Maybe they could make another one together Sandra would love that.

Thanks for letting me know it takes a while for the birds to get used to anything new Ann. Now would be a good time to get things up and running so they know it's there and safe in time for the winter.

I like the idea of having a feeder on a window especially if it could go onto Sandra's bedroom. Mind you I don't think she'd like them feeding at silly o'clock in the morning. She definitely wouldn't like the noise that early.

She would enjoy watching them feed throughout the day though so I will take a look at a feeder on a stand as we don't have the right type of trees to put one in there. We only have conifers and they are quite thick near the middle so she wouldn't see anything.

The weather has brightened up and the sun is trying to come out so I've just suggested to OH and Sandra if they'd like to make a bird table, so that's what they're going to do now while I'm insulating her bedroom. You should of seen the big smile on Sandra's face when I mentioned it........bless her. I already have some nuts so they can go on straight away. I won't need to buy the feeder now, just a bird bath.

How lovely to see the Robin again Liz. I've not seen the one around here for a while, maybe when I start putting some food out it may come back. We've not had as many birds around this year compared to last year, maybe it was all the hot weather. We have a few blue tits and of course the usual blackbirds and pigeons, but apart from that not much else.

A good tip for robins and blackbirds Gill, they love Meal worms.

Apparently if you soak them they become particularly juicy and apertising!!!

Thanks Ann and Liz, I'll stock up when the bird table is finished. OH and Sandra are getting on with it and the sun has come out so it's nice and warm. They both look like they're having a great time.

I had to put a bit of filler on the walls so I'll have to wait a bit before I can put the insulation on. I was hoping to have it finished today but my mum and sister came around to visit so it'll probably be finished tomorrow now.

Strange you should mention meal worms as I have just come in from the shops with a pack.

I have decided to put the ground feeder out again. It’s a rectangular tray for the food with a wire mesh cover that is supposed to only let in small birds but I had to stop using it because the starlings were managing to get at the food. A small flock of starlings would clear it really quickly and the birds like robins didn’t stand a chance.

I’m hoping for better luck this time.

A tiny bird managed to get in through our Kitchen window this morning (I wasnt here) .
OH said it was a Blue Tit but I think maybe not as I havent seen them .It was a window that opened outwards from the bottom (tilting out) so how on earth it managed to get in there I just dont know. Luckily OH mananged to get it out the same way but it was a bit stunned and sat on the windowsill for a while.But then was able to fly away :-D. I am glad I wasn't here.
The Green Woodpecker has been busy too today on the lawn :-D

Oh the poor little bird Jane, it must of wondered where it was and what was going on, I'm pleased your OH managed to get it out okay and it flew off, with hopefully no harm done.

Your ground feeder with the wire mesh sounds a good idea Vera. Although you're right about the starlings they are greedy things and the pigeons to, the little birds just don't stand a chance do they?

Well, OH and Sandra have finished the bird table, but they cheated and had one given to them from next door. The stand on the one they were given was rotten but luckily they had already made a stand so just attached the bird table to it. They pretended they'd made it themselves and I believed them at first until Sandra started laughing. OH has painted it now so Sandra is looking forward to putting some food on it tomorrow. I just hope she has the patients to wait for them to eat off it. I have explained it could take a while so hopefully she'll be okay and won't mind waiting. I must admit it does look good now it's all painted and in place.

I never got around to doing the Insulation today so we've just put her bed back and I'll do it tomorrow instead as it's getting to late to start it now.