Hobbies and Crafts

I’ve just been sitting by the open conservatory door watching a robin taking meal worms from the ground feeder. I also gave the bird bath a really good scrub out. I hate that job but if I don’t do it regularly it gets in such a state. We have recently had a couple of goldfinches coming to drink from it though I seldom see them on the feeders, so I’d like to be sure the water is reasonably clean.

There seem to be plenty of bees around, as well as some butterflies and a few dragonflies.

Oh Pat poor dog ,I bet she was champing at the muzzle to try and caatch one of the Swallows LOL What a lovely sight though :-D.... We have a few here now .

I think it is the kind of weather where we might start seeing Bats in the evenings.

Vera it doesn't take long for the bird baths to get really mucky again does it? It is the Woodpigeons that turn it into a toilet :-S :-S. We did have a couple of Goldfinch too the other day having a drink which is very unusual. They never feed though from the window feeder.to get on the feeder.
The Spotted Woodpecker is a bit of a bully and keeps all the little birds well away from the feeder . :-S

We actually had four goldfinches feeding on the feeder today, not seen that many for ages. Our Robin is still taking mealy worms to the pile of leaves he calls his nest, can’t hear or see if there is anything in it. Sometimes two of them fly in and out as well .

Well a new one on me!

Sat yesterday afternoon reading, it was hot so an ideal thing to do. I was sat in the sitting room near the patio doors, we have a small patio out front with an hibiscus hedge between the patio and our wall.

I heard a squawk followed by a high pitched squeal which disturbed my reading and I looked outside to see something hit the hedge and whatever it was was dropping through the hedge. :-0

A branch broke the fall and I found I was looking at a mouse clinging to the branch. It regained it's balance and shot off into the hedge and hasn't been seen by us (or the dog) since :-D

Looks like one of the hawks had picked it up for a meal and dropped it when overhead. The mouse was lucky to fall into the only soft thing in that area. Don't know if it suffered any injury or how shocked it was but it's got a second chance yesterday :-D

:-D :-D I am surprised the poor thing hadn't died from shock Pat.
If my cat Thomas had spotted it he would have had it for his dinner!! :-D

It looked alert when it disappeared but I did wonder if it had escaped without injuring or shock. There are cats around here so it's fate isn't known as an injured or dead mouse would have been devoured overnight.

Our dog hasn't been attracted to the hedge so it's gone from there that's all I can say. :-)

Different to the usual post. But fascinating. I am surprised a Hawk would drop the mouse as they are usually clever at clinging on to them. Maybe the hawk was attacked by something bigger. Do you have the small hawks there, sort of Kestrel sized?

Poor little mouse. I hope it was uninjured and managed to find a bolt hole. I quite like mice as long as they are not in the house.

We went on a 90 minute boat trip on the Norfolk Broads a couple of days ago. We saw the usual ducks, geese and swans with young and a couple of grey herons looking like statues at the water’s edge, but we also saw 3 separate Marsh Harriers. They nest in the reed beds and were flying low over the beds and quite close to us. They are beautiful birds in flight. They have a large wingspan and just seemed to be gliding above the reeds. Lovely to see.

Lol fisty cuffs out at the mealy worm cafe this evening. Resident Robin sees the mealy worms as his property, cue two very young sparrows eating them. Robin huffing and puffing literally jumping up and down and flying at them, adult male sparrow arrives and eats Robin flies off in a huff and takes a bath. :-D

The ones we get around here are sparrowhawks so not very big. Perhaps the mouse bit it. May have been a youngster our birds rear earlier than UK. It's 30 C today.

Plenty of insects from March onward. We usually get the swallows and swifts late February and they don't leave until September.

The female sparrowhawk is quite big compared to a Kestrel, the male not so big. Hawks they get in Tenerife are quite small, don't know what they are.

Hello our birds are back gold finches blue tits sparrows .cold tits black birds thrush & feeding four young ones .really busy again good to see them finished potting plants & Hanging baskets so can enjoy my garden now hope you are all okay Barbara

All fine Barbra, glad the birds are back. Enjoy your garden.

Just been watching 2 Red Kites overhead. It is the first time in a while I have seen them over us. There are plenty around here but not right above us for sometime. Nice to see them back again :-D

aaw that was nice Jane. All we have over us is crows and magpies!!

They have been around again today . Always being chased by the Crows :-S

I have had to move the window feeder away from the house because of the mess the Woodpigeons were making all over the patio.It was difficult to walk without treading in Poo :-S :-S . I am really missing seeing my little friends at the window .

That is a shame Jane, hopefully they will soon forget and move on so where else.

Hello hope you are all well today still have birds again .Gold finches are back 4 this morning. Crows are a nuisance we have to shoo them of as they knock feeders of onto the garden. Bright day just now . :-D

Glad your birds are coming back Barbara. Goldfinches are lovely. We occasionally see just one or two drinking from the bird bath but they never seem to use the feeders.

I was surprised to see our seed feeder still a third full when we got back after a week away. Usually the sparrows clear it in a day. The fat balls had all gone and the peanuts had gone down. I refilled them all today and put some mealworms in the ground feeder. It didn’t take the robin long to reappear :-D

Our seeds had not been eaten the week before we came away Vera. I wonder if it is because they are not good for feeding to the babies.