# Who is on your bird table today?



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Looked out of the kitchen window and the terrace was a busy place!

1 robin
2 squirrels
3 wood pigeons
2 jays
several dunnocks
several sparrows
1 cock pheasant!

All busy feeding - I have 3 feeding stations on the terrace so there is plenty of choice/room for them to share 

It's always an early feeding frenzy, then the wood pigeons hoover any last morsels up and the birds obviously move on to the next garden


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## loubyfrog (Feb 29, 2012)

I love wood pigeons...I have two regulars who I've named Dumb and Dumber.

Over the past few of days though I haven't seen Dumb (or Dumber) so Dumber (or Dumb) was all alone sitting in the tree looking all sad  and I thought something had happened to one of them but yesterday morning they were together again and I was soooooo happy for them to have been reunited.:thumbup: Maybe they'd had a row but have since kissed and made up.

This morning there are 2 squirrels,2 robins, a family of tits who were born here last year so it's lovley to have watched them grow and flourish and a few brown speckly birds.....like a dumpy version of thrushes.

I love watching them.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Lots of blackbirds eating the remaining of the fallen apples I didn't pick up from the autumn.

At the feeders there are:

collared doves
starlings
house sparrows
blue tits
chaffinches
a robin
dunnocks

& monopolising the feeder at the end of the garden is a lesser spotted woodpecker


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

No birds table here 

The crows have been in pinching the dogs biscuits though


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

rona said:


> No birds table here
> 
> The crows have been in pinching the dogs biscuits though


The parents of crow fledgling I took in earier in the year are still here. Was wacthing them playing in the frost this morning, such characters


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

House sparrows and dunnocks. One blue tit, a robin and a starling. The sparrows are a fearsome gang that don't let anyone else in, but in the hedges we have had 3 goldfinch, a bull finch, a blackbird and an unidentified bird that may be a juvenile starling so far today. Also pigeons in the beech tree, jackdaws on the roof and blackheaded gulls in our airspace.


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## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

Blue Tits. Dunnock, Sterlings, Robin, Long tailed Tits, Gold Finches. 2 Wood pigeons, 2 collard Doves, Blackbirds. 

The two squirrels have their own feeding station but sometimes join in on the bird stations.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Had a small flock of Fieldfare this morning which was lovely to see but yestrday saw a peregrine falcon hunting just outside my house .... 

Ok, technically not exactly in my garden but very close .... it was amazing to watch


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

About 30 goldfinches I think - difficult to count them as they keep moving.
Blue, great, long tailed and marsh tits
3 house sparrows (regulars)
Blackbirds
Dunnocks
Robin
Wren
2 collared doves
Wood pigeons
Chaffinches
Thrush
Woodpecker, eating sunflower seeds which is a bit unusual
All the above are regulars with a visit from the Sparrowhawk from time to time.
Loads of feeders around the garden, good to see so many.


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## mollymo (Oct 31, 2009)

Today we have had at 2 feeding stations 
Blackbirds picking up whats dropped from above them.
2 Regular robins
Lots of the tit family but mainly blue tits and popping in and out of the nest box.
Dunnock
Sparrows in there droves
Starlings pinching the fat balls.
Wood pigeon regulars.

Yesterday there was a new visitor eating between the cracks on the patio a Grey wagtail the first I've seen here in the garden for a long time.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Over the last couple of days the male pheasant (Percy) and the female (Felicity) have been feeding on the terrace. They are often about - and Felicity makes her nest a couple of gardens up, I believe.

There have been quite a few tits about, the wren was darting about in the honeysuckle and I also spotted a little garden warbler too the other day - a rare appearance.

Also spotted one of the thrushes that must be responsible for all the empty snail shells around the garden 

Five magpies in the garden the other day too - they seem to smell the monkey nuts as soon as I put them out - and the Jays usually join them.

Out walking through the lanes this morning, I must have spotted around a dozen different male blackbirds, all singing and sparring - surely still too cold for them to be thinking of all "that malarkey" yet? 

Quite a few seagulls on the fields too - must be pretty wild weather at Southend this morning


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Not many birds here. House Sparrows, Blackbirds, Dunnock, Male Blackcap, Blue & Great Tits, lots of Corvids, Collared Doves, Wood pigeons & a Herring Gull.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

I can now add Song Thrush to my 'so far this year' list.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

A chaffinch! I am so excited - we haven't had one in the garden for many years - our greenfinches and chaffinches all vanished at least six years ago so to get one back in amazing.


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## bordie (Jan 9, 2012)

next doors cat


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

bordie said:


> next doors cat


Did it get a bird?


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

a pair of cardinals, each still coming separately -
but they were paired last spring & reared 3 chicks;

2 Blue Jays, already paired;

5 English Sparrows  [can i send them back, please?]

4 Song Sparrows

a grey squirrel & a solid-black melanistic grey squirrel [neither of them wanted, :lol: ]

Compared to yesterday's 10'F wind-chill, today's 30'F clouds & drizzle felt downright balmy.
I stashed 2 bowls of seed under the shelter of the glass-topped round table to keep them out of the rain;
THAT's where the squirrels got into the seed, as my feeders are carefully squirrel-proof. :nonod:
All my fault!

I wanted to give the cardinals a shot at a meal; the doggone sparrows are pigs & thugs.
I even put an 8-perch bulk feeder out front - the b*ggers still quarrel & fuss! How in H***
can 5 small birds fight over a feeder with 8 portholes, 2 per side?... I think they just enjoy
a good squabble. :thumbdown:

The Song Sparrows, BTW, were a polite & cheery little group - completely different behavior.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

The same vivid adult-male cardinal cock, & adult cardinal hen, were here -
when a younger male in less-vivid plumage threatened the hen at the bowl.
???

The adult pair haven't begun to court yet - when he offers her food - so i do not know
if they'll pair this year, but suspect they're the same pair that reared 3 chicks last summer.

so... i put out my second bowl, which is WHITE pottery in a 2-inch deep, fluted-crust shape,
like a pie-plate. I didn't want to use it, as the bl**dy squirrels were here yest & nicked 2 pieces
of stale white-wheat Italian bread that i'd tossed on the ground, within 15-minutes...
& the WHITE bowl is just an obvious sign. :nonod:

I put it hard beside the solid privacy-fence above the concrete retaining wall, in the hope that the fence
would block the dam*ed squirrels' view...  it seems to have worked.

But then i realized that the cock-birds were sparring, & the hen was being pestered - poor thing,
she hardly gets a look-in, the males chase each other, & the adolescent bird chases her.

so i took my big leaf-shaped rain platter, which goes under the rain gutter to ease the downpour out gently,
& used it as a shallow trough - tomorrow is expected to begin with snow, 4 to 8-inches, turning to RAIN,
& i wanted the poor birds to have a good feed, today; i'm off to regional weekend & won't be back
until after 9 or 10 PM, but the skies are spozed to stay clear till 1-AM.

.
.


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## catpud (Nov 9, 2013)

Today - feasting on some fat balls I have spotted around 12 house sparrows and two robins  

I have only been about for an hour of daylight so that's a fair number of visitors. 

We have a very healthy house sparrow population here so I never quite believe it when people say their numbers are low but apparently they are.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

We had a bullfinch today  Didn't stay long - and looked a bit too closely at the apple tree buds for my liking but he was very beautiful. Also had a blackbird having a bath, refusing to get out for a thirsty sparrow. The BB chased the sparrow off two or three times, and had a really good bath before flying off and letting the poor sparrow drink. Normally everything gives in to the sparrows so he must really have wanted that bath!


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## loubyfrog (Feb 29, 2012)

The "tit" family and a few robins have been again nibbling away on the suet block I put out for them yesterday. 

Dumb (or dumber) was lingering on the fence near the kitchen window earlier,think he was telling me the seed tray is empty so i happily obliged and re-filled it.

In the trees,there's been a big argy bargy as MR & MRS magpies are trying to build their nest only to be bullied and harrassed away by 4 crows. Feel really sorry for them as they've spent hours collecting twigs only for them to be evicted from the tree and their home trashed.

Naughty Crows......Don't normally like magpies but I'm on their side this time,it happens every year.


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## catpud (Nov 9, 2013)

Any ideas on what new food I should try out? 

I seem to get the same visitors to the feeders over and over - mainly house sparrows, dunnocks, and robins with a few wood pigeons, crows and magpies thrown in if I put food on the floor table.

I have seen blue tits hanging around, and have only spotted them on the feeders once, what do they enjoy? 

I also see swallows occasionally and pied wagtails, but I have no idea how to encourage them to feed. 

In the area there are plenty of other bird species that I spot regularly, I just never seem to attract them over the road to the garden let alone to the bird feeders. 

I mainly feed suet pellets and balls with a few meal worms thrown in for good measure at the moment.


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## loubyfrog (Feb 29, 2012)

catpud said:


> Any ideas on what new food I should try out?
> 
> I seem to get the same visitors to the feeders over and over - mainly house sparrows, dunnocks, and robins with a few wood pigeons, crows and magpies thrown in if I put food on the floor table.
> 
> ...


I put out peanuts,suet pellets black sunflower seeds,normal wild bird seed, mealworms and niger seed and a lot of little birds come all day round.

The tits tend to love the suet filled coconuts and blocks while the robins and finches go for the seeds.

I've stopped putting out fat balls....they were just going dusty and falling to bits with old age. the birds weren't too fussed about them but i'm sure if they were the only thing hanging they would have a nibble.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

i've decamped to an elderly friend's house to help her dig out, so arrived on Monday afternoon, stayed thru
the blizzard, & we've had anything from 14-inches to 2-ft of snow, depending where U are.

I put out all my seed, about 4-pounds in addition to what was already out, before i left -
the tube-feeder was 2/3 full, & i filled the concrete leaf & the deep pottery bowl & tucked both
UNDER the glass-topped table, on the chair-seats, to keep the snow from burying them.

There's also a blown-glass bubble feeder & a large pottery acorn, both with squirrel-baffles in the form
of Chinese hats, so the bu**ers can't hop onto the feeder & pig-out.

My housemate tells me they buried the tube-feeder under the snow they shoveled from the parking alley
& the small bricked court that all 4 houses front onto; drabbit! --- I hope it stays very, very cold till i get
back home to UN-bury it, or the seed will get wet, mold, & there'll be H*** to pay; i just finished cleaning
that feeder, it got rain into the bottom third, & was a mass of blackened wads of moldy seed. Horrible design,
it was a real pain to empty & clean; square corners to trap lumps of moldy seed, 4 ports to harbor spores,
& plastic rather than glass, which holds onto dirt as if it were precious. :nonod:

Tomorrow i'll finish clearing away the remaining snow in the morning, & head home after lunch.
Hopefully i'll have the tube-feeder free of snow by 3 or 4-PM, depending on what time i get there,
& how deeply it's buried / how hard-packed the snow. :thumbsup:
.
.


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## Clare7435 (Dec 17, 2009)

Unfortunately the stupid people in the area which I live...(and believe me thee are many) don't appear to know what the word Spay or Neuter means so the only thing I ever get on the bird tables I have had in the past are thousands of stray cats mothered by the cats people can't be arsed to get fixed...many which live on the streets so I don't get to enjoy the beautiful birds we do get round here unless I find them after one of the local idiot folks cats get to them first...I wonder if I attached said idiots to the table and took them to a falconry they might see some sense...sorry....I don't mean to be negative but you never know....if just one idiot sees this post they might just think twice eh


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## lilythepink (Jul 24, 2013)

I don't have a bird table as such cos of my feral cats but I do have hanging feeders all over the place and in places cats struggle to ambush on.

I have 3 robins that are around very often. 

There are wrens that hide in the ivy and in the dry stone walling around the house.

There are tits of some sort...not sure which , some are blue but the others look a bit bigger and are black instead of blue.

Crows and blackbirds, very few magpies around here and there is a magpie I can sometimes here in some trees just in front of my house.

I buy fat balls and a big bag of wild bird seed. I chuck bread etc out for the crows and they really like leftover pasta.

If I find a deer roadkill, we usually put the head so the birds can eat that too.

I cooked some fatty pork last week and stripped the cooked skin with fat on it and hung that up....that was buzzing with so many different birds for a few days.

We get buzzards here but not many kestrels. Don't think I have seen a seagull on the ground here even though we are only 4 miles from the beach.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

catpud said:


> Any ideas on what new food I should try out?
> 
> I seem to get the same visitors to the feeders over and over - mainly house sparrows, dunnocks, and robins with a few wood pigeons, crows and magpies thrown in if I put food on the floor table.
> 
> ...


I started putting Niger seed out last year in an attempt to attract some finches, but it doesn't seem to have worked. I do get the odd Chaffinch, but haven't even seen them for weeks.

I tend to stick to the same stuff, mixed seeds, meal worms, nuts and suet which attracts all the normal birds - and I love them all  - but nothing really special or unusual.

Had a Redwing come in a couple of years ago for the holly berries but again, not seen in the garden since.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

There were loads of seagulls on the field over the back yesterday morning and today. The field is so wet, they probably feel like they are on the mudflats at Southend! 

I've bought some decking and other wood and am going to make a new, posh bird table with a roof. Have bought a large clear plastic bowl to attach underneath, upside down, to stop the squirrels climbing up the post. 

I will make them their own nut dispenser, with the left over wood


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

catpud said:


> Any ideas on what new food I should try out?
> .


Fatblocks  This was my moment of pure joy today. I counted 11 but I think there are only ten in shot.


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Jonescat said:


> Fatblocks  This was my moment of pure joy today. I counted 11 but I think there are only ten in shot.


Wonderful


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Just seen a pair of long tailed tits on our bird feeders this morning, not seen these before in our garden. Also seen some goldfinches. Not particularly rare but again not seen any since we moved here - we used to have loads where we used to live so it's nice to see some again - I think it's because I put out sunflower hearts again.

Our local squirrels have also been monopolising the feeding stations this morning not allowing the birds to get a look in. I don't mind the squirrels, but I do mind that the birds keep away when the squirrels are in place!


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Psygon said:


> ...
> 
> Our local squirrels have also monopolised the feeding stations this morning, not allowing the birds to get a look-in.
> I don't mind the squirrels, but I *do* mind that the birds keep away, when the squirrels are in place!


that's why i use Chinese hat baffles over my pottery-acorn feeder & the blown-glass globe, too -
plus even the spring-loaded wire-framed 8-port feeder, which is squirrel-proof already, has a hat! -
it helps keep the rain off the feeder, & out of the seed.

the wire-framed feeder has maple-leaf silhouettes of metal, which - when a heavy weight lands on the frame -
slide down to cover the seed-ports, blocking them. It works very well. 
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

we got another 12 to 14 inches of very fine, fluffy powder, burying the glass-topped table, as it fell on top of
the previous 24 to 29-inches.

I dug the path out again, uncovered the table, extracted the concrete banana-leaf i've been using as a seed-tray,
& put it on the table when the snowfall SLOWED, so the seed wouldn't be buried.

There have been dozens of Song Sparrows, at least a half-dozen Northern Cardinals [only 1 each of adults,
1 F / 1 M; the rest juveniles, about evenly split for sexes], & the Gang of 5 - English Sparrows, 2 cocks, 3 hens.

Everyone is very hungry; lots of jostling!

My hanging feeders have 14 to 18-inch tall cones of snow, stacked on their squirrel-domes. 

I'm out of seed, but i won't go shopping in this; tonight will be single digits & a wicked wind, as soon as the sun
falls under the horizon [around 5-PM].
Tomorrow will hit 20'-F, with sun - a relative heat-wave.  I'll get my seed-stock then.
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

This guy - redwing - first one in the garden this year, and he only came because it was frosty. Don't think he will be back as the super-sexed-up-male blackbird chased him away, along with everything else today. The sooner he gets paired up the better!


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

the birds have practically emptied the blown-glass globe;
the pottery-acorn still has a cup or 2 left, & the leaf-tray is down to a thin layer of millet & sunflower chips.

I've put out multiseed toast to hold them over, while i go get a 10# bag - but it's going to be a slog:
the MBTA is having delays in all directions; the 3rd rail of the subway has up to a foot of snow on it,
in places, & crews have been working virtually nonstop since the LAST storm dumped 2-feet on us;
there's a limit to human endurance, & with this additional foot, they're running out of muscle.

The Cardinals, Song Sparrows, & the Brit-bullies are still here - the Blue Jays have gone next door, 
to eat the cat-food she puts out to feed roaming cats.  Not my favorite hobby; most ARE owned,
she's not feeding ferals; one tomcat [yes, owned & *intact*] not only pooped in OUR yard, but hunkered
under the glass-topped table to get out of the rain, & stalk the birds. :nono:

I put broken eggshells on the ground to make that uncomfortable; then the stinkin' b*gger *sprayed*
the neighbor's propane-tank, under their grill - which just happens to be on the retaining-wall, above
our itty-bitty yard, directly opposite the kitchen window. I can easily touch the grill, halfway-up the frame,
standing on the ground in our micro-garden. :huh: The stink, once the cold breaks, will be appalling.

I'll have to invest in a deterrent spray; DoG-dam*ed OWNERS, who let their cats ROAM! :cursing:
.
.


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Not exactly on my bird table, in fact not on a table. 
There has been a Ring Ousel hanging about in a cotoneaster tree in a garden in my village for the last six weeks. The owners of the garden are not birders and thought they had a strange coloured blackbird until recently.
OH saw it yesterday morning, but it was hiding somewhere when we went back with the camera.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

i bought 2 [10#] bags of Kaytee 'Waste Free', the same brand i'd got before - it's all hulled; no seed-hulls
litter the ground, & no raggedy weeds spring-up, either. It's also a quality blend; no bl**dy Milo, that
nothing but Grackles will eat! - that's just a cheap filler that often makes up 30% of cheap seed-blends,
& ends up spoiled, on the ground. Birds throw it aside, to get to the edible stuff.

This is millet, sunflower, peanut hearts, flint corn [cracked], & canary seed. :thumbup:

I've already put over 5# out; filled all 3 squirrel-proof feeders, plus laid about 2# in the concrete-leaf.
SO FAR, squirrels are estivating in the deep cold, & have not emerged to rifle the open seed. Fingers crossed!

Song Sparrows
White-Crowned Sparrows
3 or 4 juvenile Cardinals, both sexes
1 each mature Cardinals [M & F]
possibly a Grasshopper Sparrow - twice the size of Song Sparrows

& one lonely, neat & tidy Dark-Eyed Junco... AKA Snowbird, a hen.
[the cocks have a flush of apricot under their wings, which fades into the ash-white breast on each side].

As it's Feb, i hope that i see some travelers headed north, soon... 
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

I am enjoying your posts L4L - I keep having to look up new birds, which is very nice


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Siskin said:


> Not exactly on my bird table, in fact not on a table.
> There has been a Ring Ousel hanging about in a cotoneaster tree in a garden in my village for the last six weeks. The owners of the garden are not birders and thought they had a strange coloured blackbird until recently.
> OH saw it yesterday morning, but it was hiding somewhere when we went back with the camera.


Ah-ha! I have seen pics of this bird on a well known local birders blog!


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Jonescat said:


> I am enjoying your posts L4L - I keep having to look up new birds, which is very nice.


Did U by any chance look up Blue Jays?
They are a larger species, related to mockingbirds & catbirds, & thus distantly to corvids - crows & ravens.
Like mockers & crows, Jays are very smart; they are also insectivores & will eat meat, along with seeds,
fruit, grain, berries, & nuts; very catholic tastes, indeed.

Like redbreasted Robins [another omnivore species], orphaned or injured Jays can be fed cat-food as
a stand-in for insect protein. That's why the Jays so eagerly snatch kibble from the bowls set out next door,
for any roaming cat. 

There's one unique thing about Blue Jays: their beautiful iridescent blue color is *structure, not pigment.*
If U pinch a Blue Jay's feather in a blue area, U'll crush the light-scattering structure, & the true color
will be seen: *black.* Isn't that amazing? :w00t:

The only things i don't like about Jays - 1st, they're predatory; i've seen them take nestlings of other birds,
smaller species; i've also seen them carry off young squirrels, so young they were still faintly pink thru their
thin hair, chirping in distress, with nearby bird-parents crying out in alarm, as the infant squirrel sounds so like
a baby bird, calling in panic. 

2nd, they're loud-mouthed; if U are in the woods & want to see wildlife, hope U DON'T encounter a Jay.
The b*gger will follow along, shrieking alarm calls, & everything within a mile will flee or hide. :cursing:
The only time U see Jays as silent as ghosts is when they approach their own nests, so no-one else knows
where it's hidden, until the young birds are fledging & start to call themselves.
.
.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

I've had Mister and Missus Cardinal. He's already getting a little redder than he was a few days ago:


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

lorilu said:


> I've had Mister and Missus Cardinal.
> He's already a little redder than he was, a few days ago...


i'm presuming U're in North America, Lori -

have Ur birds paired already?

i'm pretty sure the adult M & F Cardinal here are the same adults that reared 3 chicks, last spring & summer -
in fact, i'll bet that most of the youngsters, at least half, are their kids - possibly all of them, as Cardinals
might be among the birds who can rear 2 clutches in a good year.

but the M isn't courting her with food offerings, yet; in fact, ALL the Ms, subadults, too, are chasing
ALL the hens - adults & youngsters, drabbit. I've got 3 hanging feeders, plus a tray & a deep soup-bowl,
& the doggone cocks are still trying to 'own' them all.

The most Cardinals i've had feeding at the same time were 2 adolescent hens & the adult hen -
1 on the tray, 1 on the bowl, 1 hopping & hunting spilled seed in the snow.

Otherwise, it's one or 2 Cardinals at separate feeders - they can share the tray with smaller birds,
there have been 4 or 5 sparrows eating with a single Cardinal, but even with a 2-ft long tray, they can't
seem to share that space between 2 Cardinals.

12:15-PM *update:*
Eek! - a 3rd cockbird just arrived; so 2 subadults & 1 lipstick-red grown-up.
Good heavens, the poor hens aren't going to get a nibble - & there are now 5 hens; 4 youths, 1 adult.

i can't wait for them to pair off, so the aggro drops a bit & everyone settles down somewhat.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

was a bit of a struggle - my back-door was frozen shut by ice, even tho i salted the concrete when i saw ice
forming; the sun yesterday afternoon melted the snow on the roof, & sent drips from icicles above down to
freeze on the doorstep, the fence, the rain-gutter, & the window-sills.

Yesterday i broke the icicles off the sills & wall, & salted the doorstep after clearing it, but the ice over the cold
night sealed the metal storm-door to the aluminum frame. Once again, the big upper-pane of glass came out,
& i reached thru the door-frame to break up the ice with a metal chopper. This was about 8-AM; birds, mean-
time, were all roosted in the 30-ft volunteer apple tree, to my left, chattering excitedly.

I brought the seed in overnight, because it was spozed to SNOW possibly as early as 5-AM; it was already
flurrying by 7:30, & by 9-AM the table had another fresh inch.

Meantime i parked the tray AND the soup-bowl under the table, on the chair seats, protected from the snow.
It's not a popular choice with the birds, but if the seed gets covered & wet, they won't eat it or find it.
Within 30-minutes, they'd given up on hopping pathetically around on the table, & were swooping in under it
to perch on the bowl or tray, & eat.

Everybody's hungry, & tonight is spozed to be BITTER cold - ambient of 0'-F, plus a wicked wind-chill.
I'll be reloading every feeder, over the day.
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Sparrows have got beaks full of feathers already, but they do cheat and live in their nest holes under the roof all year round. The blackbirds are still a rush of testosterone and are attacking anything that moves - I hope she chooses one soon (3 boys to 1 girl). 

Cold but not really freezing, but we did just run out of mealworms so I may get shouted at by the starlings in the morning.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

i finally put ANOTHER bowl out, with seed - my 8-inch white pottery "pie crust" bowl,
filled with 2-cups of seed & set on a 15 x 24 inch woven rattan rectangle, previously a hamper-lid.

the cock Cardinals were so irascible, they were causing not just the hens but the smaller songbirds to flare off
& fly to the apple-tree every 3 to 4 minutes. What craziness!

The extra bowl finally gave them too many targets, & things settled down.
Now i have 3 to bring in. :lol:

All the birds made multiple visits, today - except the Blue Jays, altho i heard them next door,
or shouting around the neighborhood, now & again. Even the Junco visited a half-dozen times,
& the oversized sparrow - I'll have to look tonite, & see if i can get a solid I-D.
.
.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Yes I am in the Northeast USA. And no they aren't pairing yet, but the birdsong has already changed it's tune, I've noticed in the morning. 

We are deep in snow, frequent snow storms and frigidity, but the increased light and the change in the light's angle says spring is coming...someday. 

But they both hang around all winter. The Missus is very shy usually and I've never been able to get such a good picture of her before. HE practically poses


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

lorilu said:


> Yes, I am in the Northeast USA.
> And no, they aren't pairing, yet; but the birdsong has already changed its tune, I've noticed in the morning.


the earliest i ever heard a spring-territorial song WAS a Cardinal, on January 11, 1978.

but none of the Cardinals within hearing distance are calling, _"*Cheer!*... *Cheer!*..."_


lorilu said:


> ...
> We're deep in snow, frequent snow storms & frigidity, but the increased light & change in the light's angle
> says spring is coming... someday.
> 
> ...


yes, i'm seeing light above my room-darkening curtains earlier every morning.
My bedroom gets morning light, & in spring / summer, that double window gets light ALL day -
hence the room-darkening curtains, to help keep the room a little cooler.

i can't tell the juvenile M Cardinals apart, but one frequently has a lowered crest - or i THINK it's one
bird, maybe it's either of them, depending upon how he feels, :lol: - i don't know.

2 of the juvenile hens are extremely shy & very flighty; the other is bold.
The adult hen is neither bold nor shy, but won't stand up to any of the M birds, adult or juvie;
when the M-Cardinals fly toward her or posture - she flees.
.
.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

No I'm not hearing Cheer Cheer! (Sweet Sweet Sweet!) yet either. It's the smaller birds I'm noticing different sounds. Their morning chatter has changed..it's subtle but I always seem to notice it around this time of year and it always makes my heart lift.

I was just taking some trash out, it's about zero degrees (F), with a windchill of minus 13 (F), a very starry night, and oh man, you ever notice how deep the snow looks at night? There's only about 2 feet out there, but it looks like more.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

lorilu said:


> ... it's about zero degrees (F), with a windchill of minus 13 (F), a very starry night,
> and oh man, you ever notice how deep the snow looks at night? *There's only about 2 feet
> out there*, but it looks like more.


I wish. :lol: We got 26" last week, followed by 14" early this week, & 3-inches today.
So 40-odd, & the last dose was wet & soggy - leaving a 3/4-inch crust of ice before the 2-inches of powder,
on top.

i'm 5'8" - There are piles of snow at street-corners that overtop my head by a foot, or even 2.
I feel like a 5-YO walking beside them - can't see a darned thing, they're MASSIVE walls of snow.

They brought a mass-volume melter, a big machine, to the main Boston 'snow farm', & are melting
the snow, to allow more snow-removal. Many side-streets are one-lane traffic - one lane to park,
one to drive; drivers must take turns at each block, to drive in opposing directions.

They're thinking we may break our 15-million-dollar annual budget for snow-removal, with these 2 storms.
The MBTA is spozed to be severely delayed tomorrow, due to below-zero cold tonite, & bitter cold tomorrow.
The heaters that melt the ice on the 3rd-rail can't cope with such severe cold, & the motors burn-out. 

I need to get to the cheap-groceries / Job-Lots stores, & CostCo - my 'frig is near-bare. The birds have plenty,
but i can't eat bird-seed. 
.
.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

You must be south of me, got hit by that storm last week? We only got about 8 inches for that one. Had a foot this Monday though. But yeah, it snows EVERY freaking night, LOL! If I had a garage maybe I wouldn't mind so much but man I get tired of brushing off my car every morning. Heehee. Oh well, at least we don't live in Buffalo NY. 



> but i can't eat bird-seed.


Well, you could eat the sunflower seeds......


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

lorilu said:


> You must be south of me, got hit by that storm last week? We only got about 8 inches for that one.


Boston - we got clobbered.
I went to Watertown for 3 days & helped an elderly friend stay dug-out during the storm, walk her
2 tiny-toy dogs [a Pap & her Pom-cross son, 3# & 10# respectively], & dig out her corner-lot sidewalk -
snow 6-inches above the crease of my knees, & i wear a 34-inch inseam. 


lorilu said:


> ...a foot this Monday, though.
> But yeah, it snows EVERY freaking night, LOL! If I had a garage, maybe I wouldn't mind so much,
> but *man*, I get tired of brushing off my car every morning. Heehee.
> Oh, well - at least we don't live in Buffalo, NY.


not every night - but it's been every few days for 2 1/2 weeks, now.


lorilu said:


> Well, you could eat the sunflower seeds...


nah.  I'm not particularly squeamish, but they aren't any too delicate about processing bird-food.
I'm willing to trust it for the birds - not for me.

I know the belief is everyone must eat a peck of dirt before they die, but i'd rather not eat half that peck,
in a day or two. :lol:
.
.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Not on my bird table, but OH spotted two bullfinches in a tree in the neighbours garden this morning. We sat with the binoculars watching them for a bit 

Bird table has been decimated by the squirrels - they've stolen the bottom of our peanut feeder (and all the peanuts inside too!). Going to look for some squirrel resistant feeders later  Fortunately it isn't stopping all the finches and tits from feeding through.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Missus Cardinal was back this morning but too quick for me to get a shot. However the Downy Woodpecker isn't shy. It's snowing though, so I wasn't able to get a very clear shot through my window


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

on Friday, the adult Cardinal hen suddenly found her chutzpah, & began chasing ALL the subadult Fs.
:nono: that only adds to the frequent sorties among the adult-M & the juvie-Ms.
He's STILL not courting anyone - "he" being the deep-scarlet adult.

The Junco was here a dozen times yesterday, & snow is expected to begin around midday today.

the Jays were shouting at the cats this morning, shortly after daylight peeped; they haven't been here for about
5 days, which is just as well - they don't let ANYone else eat; it's Jays-only as long as one Jay is eating seed.

Temps are more than 10-degrees warmer than last night - but that's not 'warm'; last night, ambient was
3'-F minus 18-degrees of wind chill [meaning it felt like -15'-F].
I still need to go get groceries, & parts of the Orange Line [light rail] are shut down to prep for the snow.

The Song, White-Crowned, & Brit-bully Sparrows are still arriving regularly;
the possible-Grasshopper Sparrow only comes 1 to 3 times in a day.

============

The other Big Development:
a new squirrel that i hadn't seen before came out of estivation yesterday, was alerted by the bird activity,
& found the pie-pastry bowl of seed, sitting on the rattan tray to keep it from sinking in the waist-deep snow.


He's had a rough life: he's missing at least 3-inches from his tail [the males fight & chase, & try to BITE
one another's tails; when they succeed, the thin tissue around the bony tail often dies, & everything past
the bite-injury, falls off]; both his ears are notched from other bites / fights. His right ear is missing about
1/4th, in a deep curved notch.

But he's in good body-condition, & i won't have him carrying off an ounce or 2 of seed to stash somewhere,
plus rummaging thru the seed to find his favorites & flinging the rest; so i spent half my day rushing out
to chase him off, flinging icicles to bang on the privacy fence, & smacking the house siding [which scared him,
but not the birds].

It's 9:30 & he hasn't shown, yet; typically, squirrels try to avoid the bitterest cold & stay curled indoors until
at least double-digits. I hope he's gone back to estivating!

EDIT: "*double digits*" = 10-am or after.
.
.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Psygon said:


> Not on my bird table, but OH spotted two bullfinches in a tree in the neighbours garden this morning. We sat with the binoculars watching them for a bit


Bullfinch was back so grabbed the camera this time. Such a striking bird... even at 40x zoom


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

a Purple Finch hen, & a long-billed, short-tailed WREN came by -

i don't know the exact species of the wren, but i got a very, very long look at the bird,
as s/he wrestled with a peanut on various surfaces - moving it about & trying to hammer it, including on snow,
which didn't work very well. Finally s/he parked it on the rattan screen, & whacked it smaller & smaller.

The bill is long, at least as long as the skull, & curves slightly downward.
The tail is about half the length of the body - between 2 & 3-inches long.

Purple Finches are actually native to WESTERN North America; unscrupulous ppl began trapping them,
& sold them as 'Hollywood Finches' as cage-birds -- to be pets. :nonod: This went on for decades; at last
the Federal govt outlawed taking or harming migratory birds & "non-pest" resident species, & they began
arresting the wild-bird dealers... who would set all their stock free, if they thought they were about to get
caught, so they wouldn't have any 'evidence' of a crime.

As a result, these high-plains & desert oasis & river-bottom birds of California, New Mexico, & other
western states, became an 'introduced species' on the East Coast. So now they're here... for good, or ill.
They do migrate, altho in a mild winter further south [Pennsy, Md, NC / SC...], they may stay over.

So BOTH of these birds are definite new-arrivals from the South - like the Song & White-Crowned Sparrows,
they're not year-round residents in Boston. :thumbup: YAY!...
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

given that we had an all-day, lightly falling snow-storm, i was amazed to see a large Northern Robin & starlings -
thank Goddess, the starlings only visited me sporadically & in small numbers! - 2 or 3 at most, as the flock was at least
3 to 4 dozen birds, who could easily have monopolized all the feeders & emptied them in short order.

As it was, the Starlings preferred the crackers & bread & cat-kibble out next door, & the Robin tried to make do
with the seed in the pie-pastry-rim bowl. I offered him raisins as well, often popular with Robins, but he didn't seem
to know what they were, & while he picked up a few, it was only to toss them out of the way... luckily, not into the snow,
just moving them off the seed.

This Robin was so enormous, compared to the southern birds i saw for so long, who were like etiolated plants,
long & skinny, with orangey terra-cotta breasts, light brownish-grey backs & wings, & slatey caps on the cocks.
EDIT: they were actually built on the body-plan of a Mockingbird, long narrow tails & long slim bodies, a very
different silhouette from the classic plump & sturdy Robins of my Pennnsylvania childhood.
I think we have a clearly-developing Northern & Southern TYPE within the species, which will eventually become
different species - long after i'm alive to see it, but that's my opinion.

This fella is deeply pigmented, with a brick-red breast, slatey back, dark-charcoal primaries, & BLACK cap;
the dots decorating the white throat-patch are vivid, crisp black.

All the birds swept in & out of the yard like a scarf in a high wind, all day; the Song, White-Crown, & English
Sparrows were often in a mixed flock, which is unusual - the Brit-thugs are so argumentative, they usually travel
as a group on their own [5 or 6 birds, always 2 cocks & either 3 or 4 hens].

The Wren came back, too - s/he is a slow learner. :lol: Kept taking peanuts from the hanging tube, then flying
down onto the snow, & trying to HAMMER the nut... which promptly submerged; then the bird would get
another one... & another... So i put a TRAY under the tube-feeder, & the little dingbat quit feeding there. 
Went back to the leaf-tray & 2 bowls under the table, only one of which has a convenient hammering surface:
the rattan hamper-lid that keeps the pastry-rim bowl from submerging in the fluffy, 30-odd inches deep, snow.

We got another 6 to 10-inches over yesterday & overnight; i have to go shovel, & most likely i'll need to pull
the storm-door's glass pane again, to get into the back yard & retrieve the buried bowls.
The snow was swept under the table by the winds.

We're expecting another 6 to 8-inches today - then a break, & more snow Thursday & possibly Sunday.
We've already broken Boston's record for snowfall in a 7-day period; this winter may bust Boston's snow-
removal budget entirely [$15-M usa], & winter runs into MARCH; we have a long, long way to go.

off to shovel...
.
.


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

Someone is happy this morning


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

isn't singing yet, they've a very recognizable lilting song, but his alarm or territory call was frequent, yesterday -
_'Kleep!... Kleep!...'_

He was probably anxious about the cats, who luckily can't get around to OUR yard for now, due to the very-deep
snow, but come next door for free food. :nonod: I do wish cat-owners would keep their pets indoors, or at least
on their OWN property; cat-pee & cat-feces don't win them any fans. 

As dusk was falling around 5:15-PM last night, the Robin was a riot - he was half-sitting, squatted in the pie-crust
bowl with his feet spread widely, & his feathers fluffed, looking so much like a setting hen, i had to laugh. :laugh:
Every 5 to 10-secs, he'd pick up ONE seed, & swallow it. In between, he just... hunkered. His crop was clearly
visible, & he was stoking for the overnight cold while he'd be roosting.
I thought it was a riot - never saw that before!

He's so big, he makes the Cardinals look like Sparrows, & the Sparrows look like bee-sized Hummingbirds.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

5 to 1-PM, & i just got back in from struggling to A, get the doggone DOOR open,
& B, un-bury the 2 bowls & the leaf-tray.

The hanging feeders aren't enuf to host all the hungry birds, as 2 are single-bird feeders.
The 8-port only gets used by 3 to 5 birds, as they simply can't seem to tolerate one another so close,
even for the sake of food, even for a few minutes - the Song Sparrows do pretty well, the Brit-thugs
can't occupy more than 3 of the 8 ports without someone being chased off.

I couldn't get the &%$#@! door open, as the snow had packed the bottom, & the wet soggy stuff
that fell at 3-AM could be clearly heard to DRIP - it froze the storm-door PANE in its frame, so i couldn't cheat
& pull it out, to shovel the base of the door free from inside. :yikes: I had to wrestle the ice-chipper out thru
the crack of the door, awkwardly shove the snow away one-handed - which promptly fell back in, being virtual
powder - & finally slide sideways out the slightly-wider crack, to shovel, chip ice, & find the invisible bowls.

I cleared off the glass-topped table, & then spread the snowy seed from the top of the deep soup-bowl,
& snowy seed from the leaf-tray, on the glass table for foraging. That was instantly popular, i was still chipping
ice - a noisy process! - just 8-ft away, & birds were on the table & at the hanging-feeders.

thank Goddess, we're between 2 rivers, & the birds can find open water within flight distance -
there's no electrical outlet in the yard, not even on the house-wall, on this old house, & i would never be able
to keep the water replaced quickly-enuf to have it fluid for any length of time.

I need to dry my clothes & stop sweating before i go back out & refill everything, but hordes of birds
are swooping into & out of the yard, including - Drabbit! - some starlings. 

I know they're handsome, smart, & cheeky, but the dam*ed Starlings are cavity-nesters who are human-tolerant
& will damage houses to make nests, plus they compete with native birds very aggressively. They also are good-
sized birds, with near-Robin sized bodies despite their short tails, & eat like locusts.

I'm going to eat some pasta, & then refill all the feeders - including the still-not-retrieved pie-crust bowl, buried
on its rattan tray.
.
.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Yesterday afternoon I heard the Cardinal singing Cheer Cheer Cheer (but no sweet sweet sweet). This morning, amidst the snowflakes of our blizzard I saw a robin as I was watching the birds. I had juncos, cardinal (Mr and Mrs) nuthatch, chickadee, sparrows, finches, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker and then...a robin.

What on earth does a robin eat in the middle of a snow storm? And what is that robin doing here already?


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

lorilu said:


> ...
> 
> What on earth does a robin eat in the middle of a snow storm?
> And what is that robin doing here already?


the same thing this one eats, i imagine - anything he can find. :nonod:
The fella here is eating sunseed chips & peanuts - not millet; i was surprised he didn't take the raisins,
most robins LOVE them, but he's not into them or doesn't know what the heck they are.

[Wild grapes dry on the vine almost every year, & are more-popular as dried fruit than as ripe - 
they're so *big* when fresh, & hard for smaller birds to consume, plus they're mostly H2O. Drying concentrates
the sugars & pulp, & eliminates the pesky water, making them smaller & easier to eat..]

I'm out of freeze-dried mealworms, or i'd put some out. As it is, i'm between jobs & can't afford to buy
mealworms, at the moment. What i have on hand will have to do.

As for what he's doing, the cockbirds come ahead to scope out the best nesting territories, & make nests -
some will construct 3 or 4 in different locations, so that if a hen doesn't like this one, he has alternates to show.
His skill at nest construction & finding a food-rich territory are key to convince a hen he's daddy-material.

She does the lining of the cup to her own satisfaction, with his help ferrying fine grasses, etc; he does the part
that's coarse twigs for strength, & MUD as masonry to tie them together - the mud cups usually last thru winter,
& gradually deteriorate in the repeated rains of the next spring.
.
.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

I don't put out anything but sunflower seed and a suet cake. Nothing a robin would want. Perhaps he was just browsing.. I've never seen one so early here before. I've been in this apartment for 18 years and I've never seen a robin before mid-March before!


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Hmm, another nominee for the 'ignore' list. :yesnod:

What were U saying, JonesCat?...
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Not a lot. Working funny hours this week so all I get to do is fill the feeders in the dark! Can't see what is eating them but I expect it is the usual crew. I have moved a couple round the corner a bit so that the sparrow gang can't control all the territory, and it seems to be working for the longtails. Also had a wren move up from the pond for a brief sortie at the weekend (she hops up the inside of the hedge and around the pond plants but doesn't usually come out).


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## kaz_f (Mar 8, 2009)

Not on a bird table but I hang up lots of feeders. Today I had lots of bluetits and greattits, robin, dunnocks, chaffinch, blackbird, greater spotted woodpacker, nuthatch, bank vole (I know... he jumps from a low branch and clings to the peanut feeder). Also, despite having a whole feeder full of yummy niger seed, I had one solitary goldfinch at the peanut feeder! How weird is that? Never known them to prefer peanuts over niger seed


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

We got an added 6 to 8 inches ON TOP OF approx 43-inches previous snowfall, & the storm-door to the back yard
[where all the feeders are] has finally frozen shut.  The aluminum door has frozen solid to the concrete slab,
outside, & both metal-framed glass panes are FROZEN TO THE DOOR FRAME, so i can't take them out.

This is a problem. :sneaky2: The vent-pipe for the gas-furnace is also buried in snow, on the opposite diagonal
of the basement kitchen... & the "vent" above the cooktop doesn't GO OUTSIDE, it's just for show. :huh:

I moved the CO-monitor / alarm downstairs from the living-room, to monitor the air; the bathroom vent is
covered by sheet plastic, but it didn't work the last time i tried to turn it on, anyway. So, aside from opening
the WINDOWS - from the top, as the sills outside are UNDER snow - we're stuck.

I'm going to defrost the back door with a hair-dryer on low heat, so i don't risk cracking the glass - just to melt
the ice at the bottom of the door.

But we have rehearsal tonite for 3-hours, from 7 to 10-PM, & i have to be ready to leave by 5-PM; it's 3:30.
With the temps dropping, i doubt i'll get out there tonite. I can only get started on it. If i defrost the lower
pane carefully, i can possibly take out that one to defrost the concrete AND the door-sill. We'll see.

Also, the washer broke; a repairnik will be here between 10-AM & noon tomorrow. I have to empty the
storage area behind the washer, so he can access the axle if he needs to remove the back cover. 
It never rains, but it pours... What a week.

The MBTA [public transit] shut down last night at 7-PM, & only a limited schedule of buses is running -
no subway / light rail, NO commuter rail. That's how i get around - & i need groceries.

So do the poor birds - the only bowl i can see is almost empty. I MUST get back there tomorrow.
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Crikey! I hope they appreciate you.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Jonescat said:


> Crikey! I hope they appreciate you.


i have absolutely no doubt the birds appreciate the food - i doubt they comprehend the source. 
Even tho i've taught the local residents that when i whistle, it means the feeders are refilled. :lol:

But the sheer AMOUNT of snow, right now, is stunning; the piles on street corners are now so high,
i can't fling my shovel-full ONTO the top, but hurl it INTO the side, so that 1/4th or 1/3rd slide back down.
It's like building a sand-dune, there's constant slippage.

The heaps are 8 to 9-ft tall, now, & as long as a 3-seat-plus-cargo SUV, on average. U cannot possible SEE
past them; all corners are blind.

I'm increasingly worried about the townhouse's flat roof; the Governor specifically asked residents & all
businesses to SHOVEL all flat roofs before the next snow - tomorrow. My housemate [who owns the house]
is fatalistic, & says if it falls, it falls.  Personally, as everything i own that's worth keeping is under this roof,
i'd rather hire someone to shovel the doggone thing.  But as i'm between jobs, i have no $$ to offer anyone.

Water from the roof is now dripping thru the left-hand window's frame, onto the sill, in the basement kitchen.
Water damage on a house can be enormous, & termites are invited by any dampness in wood. This house is
over a century old; i don't want to be a witness or a contributor to its destruction.

I'm going to get creative, & find a way to get that bl**dy snow OFF that roof.
.
.


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

Too many starlings here 

I never used to get starlings and now suddenly, in the last 3-4 days there's a flock of up to 30-40 birds turning up every day. They strip all the feeders bare by midday and by crowding around the feeders the exclude all the other birds.

I've never had to exclude any birds before - I feed Wood Pigeons, Carrion Crows, Magpies etc. I even feed the squirrels too, but I just can't afford the amount of food these starlings are taking and they are pushing out the other birds.

Makes me feel sad but going to have to get some starling proof feeders...


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

leashedForLife said:


> i have absolutely no doubt the birds appreciate the food - i doubt they comprehend the source.
> Even tho i've taught the local residents that when i whistle, it means the feeders are refilled. :lol:
> 
> But the sheer AMOUNT of snow, right now, is stunning; the piles on street corners are now so high,
> ...


Saw all the snow in Boston on the BBC news yesterday - you are having it tough over there!

We have been really lucky with our weather here, so far.

The birds are still enjoying the food I put out, but are not having such a hard time as your wildlife.

Had the 3 jays down again this morning and the wren is flitting around quite a lot too.

The wood pigeons are starting to flirt - hope they don't nest too early.


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

That sounds awful, Leashedforlife. 

And here's me worrying about a few starlings.

Hope the weather breaks soon for you and your house comes through without too much damage.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

I just wasted 45-minutes & damn'near deafened myself, trying to free the large pane in the back storm-door,
with the hair-dryer; i got the ice rippling over the pane to sublime, in large part, but the bottom LEDGE where
the pane seats in the frame, is still sufficiently frozen that i *cannot* lift the doggone glass. :incazzato:

I even slipped olive-oil [my precious EVOO... :cryin: ...] into the frame-edge with Q-tips, hoping to make it slippery.
No dice; i can't lift it at all.

Meanwhile, the birds are near-frantic, & i simply can't get back there; the big pottery acorn has about a cup
of small bits, but all the large seeds are gone; the bottom 2 ports of the tube-feeder still have seed, the glass globe
is empty, the pie-crust-rim bowl is empty; the soup bowl & leaf-tray are BURIED by 6 or more inches of snow.

My snowshoes are in my storage unit, but bus-service is spotty, with long waits for standing-room only.
If i can persuade our neighbors to let me access the yard via their back-stairs, outdoors, THRU their house,
that's my next option. There's no other way to do it. :yikes: I'll go get my snowshoes after i get the OK,
because without it, i can't get there. Our back-gate opens INWARD, & has about 4-feet of solidly-packed snow
behind it; it's impassible & impossible.

I'm so frustrated - & worried. :nonod:
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

*finally* i got into the backyard, with more seed.  My God - last night i ran a ceramic space-heater
for 2.5-hrs, oscillating, so i wouldn't break the glass from thermal shock; that detached the heavy layer of ice on the
bottom [smaller] pane, so that there was AIR between it & the door panel; it slid down onto the ground, on a slant.

But the ice outside is so thick, it's taller than the door's lower edge; I still couldn't open the bl**dy door. :mad2:

I ran the heater again today [shut it off whilst we were abed], & the upper pane at last came free of the track;
meanwhile, i'd run an ad on Craigslist asking for bids to clear our 20 x 25-ft roof of snow, & got 2 finalists,
1 as back-up; then i got the OK from Ginny to ask one to do the job. He's a neighbor, & could walk over - a nice
perq, as we have a shared driveway for 3 households, & ATM, there's only ONE car-space; the rest of the drive
is a massive snow-pile.

He arrived at 10-AM, climbed a ladder to the skylight, & while struggling to lift it, bumped his head... the plastic
dome, weakened by a couple decades of sunlight, broke. :yikes: But he was unhurt, & the important part was to
clear the roof... which he did, finishing about 1-PM. It took another 30-mins to repair the hole in the skylight;
i taped the 4-piece jigsaw puzzle together on the floor, where i'd laid out the old shower-curtain, covered by 3
old bath-towels to catch the snow that fell in when the skylight was opened, overhead. Once i'd duct-taped them,
i slipped the assembled plaque in a plastic grocery-bag, slid the roll of duct-tape over the broom-handle, & put
the handle up where he could reach it, while i stood on the ladder, below. He taped it into the skylight, plus the crack
that ran from the "pointy end" [the other was curved precisely like his skull, which was what had broken it], & came
down inside, to stand on the ladder & tape the INside - hopefully, no water will come in. [The shower-curtain & a dry
towel or 2 will be staying there, until the skylight is replaced, when the weather breaks.]

He told me they had the same problem at his office - UV eating the plastic into eggshells - & he'd replaced
his plastic skylights with glass ones, about $350-usa apiece, which i didn't think bad, for tempered glass.
They'd also be better insulation - i have to cover the box-frame of the skylight with taped-on plastic, as it bleeds
heat outside in cold weather, & COOKS the 2nd floor when it's over-65'-F; it's amazing how doggone hot that
bubble gets!

Anyway, so that was 1:30-PM; i paid him [Ginny said she'd gladly cover his wages, & added a bonus, too],
& went downstairs to eat some lunch - i'd stayed upstairs while Dan was on the roof, in case he needed anything.
After i ate, i finally pulled the tall pane from the storm-door, stood on a chair, lifted another out thru the frame,
stepped out onto that one, & filled the tube-feeder with 2# of seed [a kilo].

Then i waded over to the buried glass-topped table, found the 4-inch deep soup-bowl under it, put a pint of seed in it,
swept off part of the tabletop, & set it there; waded to the shepherd's-crook, filled the 2 hanging feeders [emptying
my 10# bag]... & began banging icicles off the house. The windows had over 15# of inches-thick ice on them, the
carriage-lamp by the back-door was coated 3-inches deep with ice, 6 to 8-ft spears hung down the back wall on the
vinyl siding, the fence & the rain-pipe beside it were a solid mass of ice over a foot thick... i cracked it with a sharp
spade-edge, & knocked it down as high as i could reach.

I spent TWO HOURS banging ice off the house-parts. :blink: My arms are actually tired, from swinging that
blasted spade overhead to smash the edge into rock-hard ice buttresses.

Meanwhile, this is what's coming, Saturday into Sunday - Boston Weather - AccuWeather Forecast for MA 02108

*a blizzard; possibly 14-inches of snow in Boston, & temps as low as -35'-F.

That's frostbite-warning: no exposed skin for more than a few minutes, goggles over eyes, 
scarfs AND neoprene masks over faces, double-layers of pants, triple-layers of shirts & coat,
double-gloves for me - gloves under insulated mittens, as i frostbit my fingers & toes
sometime before i was 12-YO, & they don't function well if they get cold.*

The only birds who've visited before dark arrived were 3 Cardinals [1 adult M, 2 hens], & 2 Song Sparrows.
:nonod: I hope the Robin cock & the others are still alive.
.
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Might be as well to look after yourself first L4L. We need you to be able to type! Stay safe.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Well, I've yet to discourage the squirrels from coming, they are getting more acrobatic. I like watching them 



We've been getting work done and the garden has been a tip.. but fortunately the birds are still coming to the feeders. The people fitting our windows were really surprised at how tame the birds seem.



WAs trying to get a picture of all the tits on the feeders this afternoon, but came out too blurry. There were 20 tits and a robin all trying to get in some dinner before the sun went down.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

so many of the birds who were regular visitors before my 3-day enforced lapse, have not returned. :nonod:

so far, 3 cock Cardinals, but only 2 hens;

ONE white-crowned Sparrow hen, & ONE cock - 
the others, including the gimpy one-legged cock, have not been seen.

the Junco hen has been. :thumbup:

ONE Song-Sparrow has been.

the presumed-Grasshopper Sparrow is missing.

the cock Robin is missing.

No starlings...

the Gang of 5 [or sometimes 6...] is still very-much alive.  [Brit thug Sparrows.]

the neighbors behind dumped about 1/4th of the snow from their roof into our tiny postage-stamp yard;
i have to go rescue the JUST-re-buried leaf tray & soup-bowl, before tonite's major storm.
The birds need every bite.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

just came IN from un-burying the tray & soup-bowl, & stashing them under the table again...

& JUST after i removed the inside chair [my step-stool], retrieved the outside chair [my stile],
& put the large-pane back into the storm-door...

guess who showed up to eat?... _the one-legged cock bird!_ :thumbup: :thumbup1: :thumbup: :thumbup1:

I was so worried, i thought his body was long-since buried under snow somewhere, lifeless.
I'm really pleased to see him wobbling & eating cheerfully. :001_smile:
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Pied wagtail in the drive today - don't often get them 
Dunnock checking out nest sites in next door's hedge. Sparrow count has gone up to 20 and they don't half make a racket when they are lined up waiting for their dinner.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

it's 4:50-pm, & the wren is here! - 
went to all 3 bowls under the table, flicked to the pottery-acorn & slipped inside,
came out & went to the tube-feeder, & finally ate in the tray, under the tube-feeder. :thumbup:

I'm just thrilled. Wrens are insectivores, & i was anxious about this itty-bit of fluff.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

The snow is down to flurries, but the _WIND ~~~~_ is crazy, & rising fast; 40 to 50-mph gusts, the powdery
snow goes airborne & flies like scarves or sheets in a breeze.

the bird visitors:
*the Robin cock was here!* :thumbup:

All but the White-crowned Sparrow cocks [with the exception of the one-legged male] have come back; the Starlings
are visiting the neighbor's cat-food buffet, which is just as well - there's been another 14 to 16-inches of fresh, fluffy
snow ON * TOP * OF what was already on the ground; no kitties will be traveling in this, it's too deep & too soft
to support them, they'd just fall in & be stuck.

the endless shoveling:
We shoveled the brick forecourt, the driveway, & dug out my housemate's car; the snow-piles are crazy-big, nobody
can see to safely pull out at street-corners -- the drivers just pull forward dead-slow, & hope no-one is coming! 

This was the backyard LAST week, on Feb-6th... when i could still open the back door, :lol:.
Ah, the good ol' days!








the glass-topped table is now capped by approx 2-ft of snow, with 3 bowls of seed under it -
the birds were lining up to enter the 'tunnel' like subway passengers in rush-hour. 
.
.
.


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## Pasuded (Feb 13, 2015)

Yesterday I had:

8 Common Loons
8 Canvasbacks
8 Semipalmated Plovers
9 Great Black-Backed Gulls
9 Olive-Sided Flycatchers
9 Veerys
10 Nashville Warblers
10 White-Winged Crossbills

10 Eastern Tiger Swallowtails
10 Eastern Commas

10 Virginia Opossums
1 Northern River Otter

1 Jefferson Salamander
1 Eastern Milk Snake

I have the following plants in my yard:

1 Atlantic White Cedar
2 Poison Sumac
2 Wild Raisin
2 Bicolor Lespedeza
2 Red Mulberry
3 Virginia Rose
3 Pigweed
3 Plantain-Leaf Pussytoes
3 Late Boneset
4 Balsam Groundsel
4 Frost Aster
4 Perennial Pepperweed
5 Lamb's Quarters
5 Panicled Tick Trefoil
5 Parrotfeather Watermilfoil
5 Cheeses
6 Standing-Cypress
6 Hoary Vervain
6 Chinese Silvergrass


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Hmm...how cheerfully and unseasonably exotic, but then global warming does funny things to migration. 

It's been tipping down here and nothing much flying at all.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Jonescat said:


> It's been tipping down here and nothing much flying at all.


Been raining a lot here as well so haven't seen many birds. I did stand and watch two seagulls dancing in the grass for worms at work earlier though, which made me smile. The rest of my day at work was fairly awful so it was nice to have something to smile at!


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

The fields have been so wet around here lately, I am often seeing flocks of seagulls on the ground.

We are not that far from Southend, so I think they fly inland when the weather is very harsh on the estuary.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

I told Pasuded to, _"Either sober-up or go away"_, because - rather obviously - if s/he is indeed in
Cambridge, Mass., then - just like me! - s/he's currently coping with over 60-inches of snow,
which fell in the past 3-weeks. It was 3-degrees Fahrenheit last night; it soared to 15'-F today. 



Pasuded said:


> Yesterday I had:
> 
> 8 Common Loons *[require fresh water; can't walk on land but a short distance]*
> 8 Canvasbacks
> ...


I wondered why Pasuded complained about the _"rude mods"..._ here on PF-uk.

Her / his response to my tart remark was,


> _Either put down the crack pipe and appolgize for being a jerk or leave me alone!_


:lol: Praps that explains why the mods are, shall we say, less than thrilled.
BTW, it's spelt 'apologize'. :001_smile:

- terry


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Mass. Audubon reported sightings, Boston Globe for Sunday, Feb-15:


> _Rockport:
> At Andrew's Point -
> 2 common loons, 8 horned grebes, 2 red-necked grebes, 2 thick-billed murres, 2 razorbills,
> 2 black-backed guillemots, 3 black-legged kittiwakes.
> ...


.
.


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## Pasuded (Feb 13, 2015)

Today I saw:

3 Red-Throated Loons
4 Brants
1 Killdeers
10 Bonaparte's Gulls
3 Eastern Wood-Pewees
2 Hermit Thrushs
8 Canada Warblers
8 Pine Grosbeaks

7 Black Swallowtails
6 Question Marks

3 Northern Short-Tailed Shrews
7 Fishers

6 Blue-Spotted Salamanders
6 Northern Water Snakes

This is what I saw on my property (the snakes have yet to come to the feeder)


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

The sun is out - everyone is back. 

Do you get daily sightings in the paper then L4L? We have to be much more devious and got through county recorders and websites to get that sort of information.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Jonescat said:


> ...
> Do you get *daily sightings* in the paper, then, L4L?
> We have to be much more devious and go through county recorders and websites,
> to get that sort of information.


the Globe runs a small block of recent updates from Mass-Audubon [almost] every week, on Sunday -
but they use it as a space-filler, this past wkend it was in the 'Addresses' [real estate / home issues] section,
often it's in Metro section, but it wanders.  A bit like finding an African cattle egret in Florida. :lol:

There are, of course, also birders' clubs, migration websites, state conservation pages,
& Heaven only knows who or what else - there's a website that tracks Monarch Butterfly sightings,
both for migration & caterpillar instar / pupae / flight dates; the Monarch migration is endangered,
as GMO-agriculture & the massive use of Round-up / DDT-related herbicides is wiping out milkweed spp
across the USA; herbicides drift, so that YOU didn't spray doesn't mean YOUR property won't be 'sprayed'.

Also, the forests where the monarchs overwinter in Mexico & Central America are being cut - for lumber,
for farmland, for villages, for coffee or other plantation-crops.

I once counted over 200 Monarchs passing overhead in one day, while i lay on a blanket near the Student
Union Building on PSU campus... so hearing they are so decimated is very personal, for me. :nonod:
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

La Bourre center is offering CNA certification classes, & there's an orientation.

I'm setting up my stile to climb out & fill feeders; we're expecting another 1 to 3-inches of snow,
so i have to stash the bowls under the overhead again. The tube-feeder is down to 2-inches of seed;
there is a cone of snow 2-ft tall on the squirrel baffle! 

it's still bitterly cold, but the wind is not gale-force anymore. :thumbup1:
I'm not going to shovel; just post-hole thru the yard - i'll shovel later, gotta get my lunch packed,
change to 'nice' winter-wear.  I'll still be sporting snow-pants, tho.
.
.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

The weather has been warmer this week so far, and our bird table has been kind of empty.

I did see our first roe deer of the year this morning, grazing in the field next to our house. However, the best thing I saw today is a crow that lives in our village who I've not seen for a couple of weeks. I was worried something had happened to him as he has a broken wing and can only flap up to short heights. But he looked very healthy bouncing around by the bus stop this morning.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Psygon said:


> The weather has been warmer this week so far, and our bird table has been kind of empty.
> 
> I did see our first roe deer of the year this morning, grazing in the field next to our house. However, the best thing I saw today is a crow that lives in our village who I've not seen for a couple of weeks. I was worried something had happened to him as he has a broken wing and can only flap up to short heights. But he looked very healthy bouncing around by the bus stop this morning.


I see a crow with a broken wing nearly every day on my way to work, him & his partner hang around a certain section of road I drive on. I noticed him about a year ago & worried he wouldn't be able manage but he seems to be doing great.

But I'm the same, if I don't see him one day I worry about him


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

I was getting large numbers of starlings hogging and striping the feeders. I had reluctantly decided I'd have to get some starling-proof feeders to exclude them.

However, I changed my mind and instead I decided to tolerate the starlings and deal with them dominating the feeders by putting up lots more feeders in different places and a wider range of foods.

As a result of the extra feeders, this morning I had Greenfinches and Goldfinches turn up! I've been trying to attract both for two years without success.

This brings the number of bird species I've seen in my garden to 21! 
Thank-you, Starlings!

Hope you're OK, leashedforlife. The effort you are making to help those birds is incredible.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

ameliajane said:


> ... I decided to tolerate the starlings, & deal with them... by putting up lots more feeders in different places,
> and providing a wider range of foods.
> 
> As a result of the extra feeders, this morning I had Greenfinches and Goldfinches turn up!
> ...


:001_tt1: WOW - 21 species! That's incredible.

our itty-bitty yard is so small, we can see a dozen small birds at all 5 feeders, with another dozen lined up
on the privacy-fence for their turns :lol: but i can't imagine getting 21 different species, even over *years*.
Congratulations!

yes, putting out a wide variety of foods is key; freeze-dried mealworms are great, so are orange-halves,
or a small dish of grape jelly, cherry jam, or similar; safflower seed will delight grosbeaks & other large
finch types, & it's healthier [less fat] than sunflower.
Peanuts in a screen-cylinder are good - birds can peck the whole nuts while clinging to the screen.

In winter i like to take opened pine-cones [those that have "bloomed" so that the leaf-like bracts part]
& pack 'em with peanut butter - UNsalted, 100% peanut; not 'hydrogenated oils added', 'sugar added' junk -
that i've mixed a batch of small *hulled* seeds into: hulled millet, sun-seed, poppy, & such. I can also
add cornmeal, or finely-rolled oats [not the big coarse disks, just quick-cooking rolled oats]. Raisins are good,
too - or dried cranberries, dried blueberries, etc.
I wire the cone before i stuff it with florist's wire to hang it; they last for months, even in snow & rain.

Meteorologists predicted 3 to 6-more inches of snow this Sunday, but the latest rumor is that it will hit *40'-F*
on Sunday - which could mean rain, freezing rain, or soggy, heavy, sloppy snow.  I'm hoping plain old rain.

We got the roof shoveled for the 2nd time, & a nice mild rain would get rid of that scary ice-dam that sent water
into the window-frames & ceiling edges; that would be a genuine blessing.
I do hope the house isn't much damaged - the broken washer [main bearing :nonod: - an $800 to $1K repair]
will have to be replaced, which means removing the window in the basement kitchen that were weeping,
anyway, to get the bl**dy washer into this narrow old townhouse - U'd never get one down the stairs. :001_tongue:
So i suppose the washer dying is good timing, anyway; the windows can be pulled, checked, & replaced, with better
draft-proofing & caulking, once the weather breaks & temps rise / the wood dries out.

I must admit that removing the storm-door pane & clambering out isn't my favorite activity :blush2: but it's literally
the only way to get back there, now. The snow in the [former] PATH is now deeper than the seat of the chair!...
so when i set my 'stile' up, the chair is sunken. :lol:

It's 2:30 local time, sunny, & 20'-F, so I'm hoping the window isn't frozen in place, as it's that time again.
Otherwise i'll have to run the oscillating space-heater for an hour or so, before i can pull the pane.
Wish me luck...
.
.
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I feel a bit guilty :blush:

I wander onto the terrace each morning, in my pyjamas and refill the bird feeders!

You are amazing L4L - :thumbup:

Hope those birdies appreciate all your hard work


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Greenfinch on a lightning visit again today. We are up to 17 species seen in our garden this year. I do cheat slightly and include "airspace" violations for certain species so it ought to go a little higher with swallows and martins in the summer, and probably buzzards. If it gets cold again (but nothing like -40!!) that may bring something new as well. We may get a sparrowhawk popping in for dinner but going over 20 would be an event!

Is this a normal winter for you L4L?


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Lurcherlad said:


> ...
> I wander onto the terrace each morning, *in my pyjamas*, and refill the bird feeders!
> ...


Gawd, i wish! :ihih: Of course, winter isn't forever, & i do feed birds the other 7-months of the year. :lol:
but they really, really need it, now.
of course, Lad, the key thing is that U *do* fill them. :thumbup: Wardrobe isn't really important. 

BTW, i heard a half-dozen different mating songs this morning - YAY! - the dawn chorus is starting, again.
After 90-inches of snow this winter, & with the streets WALLS of snow in every direction, it's wonderful to hear
that promise of another spring... soon. :yesnod:

I had to go to hospital last nite, had a strange light-headed spell on the risers at rehearsal with erratic pulse
& BP all over the place; i was discharged at 5-AM, had to borrow a charger for 30-mins as my mobile was dying
[& that's how i find buses for transit], & got home at 7:30-AM, fried.
Then got up at 10:45 to let in the nice man to shovel the roof, again; even shoveled our next-door neighbor's,
he said "I've known the family all my life".
He finished at 1:15-PM, & i pottered around, ate soup for lunch, fetched in the recycle-bin [they bashed in another
corner, dam* it - duct-tape! --- to the rescue], watched the early news from 4 to 5-PM, & went back to bed. :blushing:

Yesterday, I parked a former litter-box, with an inch of waste-free seed in it, atop the big drift outside the back-door;
at 11-AM when i came down for decaf, water had dripped into it from the ice-dam, above, & the seed was flooded.
 So i overturned it onto the drift, to let it drain - they'll just have to pick it out of the snow, drabbit.

I got back up at 9:30-PM, well-rested & feeling human again; i'll be abed by midnight, for an early rising.
Tomorrow we're going on a road-trip: a luncheon to celebrate BB's 80th birthday [our former director,
who devoted 36-years to Boston Skyline Chorus]. I can't wait... i've got a pair of comfy shoes for her, i often
felt horribly guilty during rehearsals, as she would be visibly suffering while standing in front of us, & never
complained. Her feet are long & narrow, & she has great trouble finding shoes to fit, let alone feel good.
These have 4-way stretch & can be tossed into a front-load washer; i really hope they give her some relief.
They're Stretchies, in a beautiful peacock-blue.

I'll load the feeders in the AM - i cheated this morning, i just wanted to lie down!  But with the pound
in the tub, which i dumped on the drift, they had plenty.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Jonescat said:


> ...
> Is this a normal winter for you, L4L?


no - at this point in the winter, NORMAL temps would be 25'-F, not "3".

Last night, Boston picked-up 1500 truck-loads of snow, to be taken to melters [running 24 / 7], dumped in the ocean,
or emptied onto snow-farms.

We're now within a foot of reaching or surpassing the all-time record for snowfall in a single season;
we've already broken the record for snowfall in a single month. That's why i was so astonished at Gov Baker,
criticizing Beverley Scott for _"not doing her job"_ as head of the MBTA. These repeated weekly snows
are not a few inches; we had two BLIZZARDS in 3-weeks!, & both were historic in sheer depth, duration,
& wind - Ms Scott isn't responsible for the bl**dy weather, she's just another human being. I thought Baker was
being a complete twit, & showing his highly-political colors by laying blame on someone else for past history:
failure to invest in public transit, instead diverting billions to the Big Dig for automobile infrastructure.

We don't even have SWITCH HEATERS on the rail-switches, & when one freezes, they dispatch a crew
of 4 or 5 ppl with shovels, picks, & sledgehammers to literally unbury it & then smash it free of ice. 
This is one helluva way to run a railroad, in the current day, for the city that's the economic engine of all
of Massachusetts. The MBTA has over 200-miles of track in the city proper, & 600 miles of outlying light rail
& commuter rail, plus freight lines.

This was Ms Scott's news-conference, 2 days after Governor Twit lambasted her to reporters:





I thought she was forthright, clear, & factual.
Reporters [mostly male...  ] characterized her as "angry" & "defensive" - i didn't get that impression at all,
she's inherited an underfunded, aging light-rail system in a HISTORIC winter. As she said, even spanking-new 
systems would have been brought to a standstill, by these storms.

We have subway cars that came into use when Nixon was in the White House. There's a $3-B debt
from the Big Dig crushing the MBTA - automobile infrastructure, being paid for by public transit monies.

I thought the MBTA performed heroically, under the circs. That doesn't mean it ran well, but how could they?
All the job enthusiasm in the world doesn't change ferocious cold freezing the 3rd-rail, & drifts 6-ft deep.
Those are just facts; no one can throw a switch on the weather, & shut-off the snow.
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

The dawn chorus is building here in the mornings too. Spring is definitely a-springing in the eyes of the birds!

We don't really have much in the way of snow down in the south of the UK, but when we do the whole place usually comes to a stand still.

There are those (like me) who just shrug our shoulders and get on with it - and there are the others who complain and moan cos their train is late, or the roads are messed up.

People start pointing the figure at those that have failed to spread enough grit, etc. but TBH it's not really a major drama. People love a moan! People just need to learn to adapt 

Last time, a couple of years ago, our local buses managed to keep going and the council workers were out shovelling snow and spreading grit - to me, they did a great job. I actually emailed both organisations and told them so - everyone is so quick to complain and moan - credit where it's due! 

As I type, I have just seen a clip about some orphans in Africa, sleeping in the local dump and surviving on scraps from the garbage - so really, we don't have much to complain about here! 

Hope you get a break from this weather soon!


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Lurcherlad said:


> Last time, a couple of years ago, our local buses managed to keep going and the council workers were out shovelling snow and spreading grit - to me, they did a great job. I actually emailed both organisations and told them so - everyone is so quick to complain and moan - credit where it's due!


I was working for a local council a couple of years ago in their comms and marketing department. We used to be really happy when someone contacted us to say thanks about the way they dealt with gritting and snow etc. Mostly it was just complaint after complaint after complaint. I used to dread it snowing just due to the amount of issues we'd have to deal with from residents. 

Back on the bird table... squirrels trashed one of my feeders yesterday, even though it was empty!

Our neighbour told me that she has stopped feeding the birds as much because we seem to be over run with squirrels, so I guess that's why they've all turned to eating off our bird tables and feeders.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

A woodcock this morning! Had one a few years ago but hadn't seen one since. Didn't want the dogs scaring him away so let them out the front this morning


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Cleo38 said:


> A woodcock this morning! Had one a few years ago but hadn't seen one since. Didn't want the dogs scaring him away so let them out the front this morning


A woodcock?!?! Fantastic. Sparrows, a robin and the starlings as usual here.

Squirrels - have you tried chilli? Birds ignore it but the squirrels are mammals and can taste it - supposedly. You can get bird seed with chilli in it I think.


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## witchyone (Dec 16, 2011)

Not on the bird table but a brief visit to the tree outside my living room window, a lovely spotted woodpecker. Seen the common green ones before but never seen a spotted one before  I feel honoured


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

witchyone said:


> ...a brief visit to the tree outside my living room window, a lovely spotted woodpecker.
> [Only] seen the common green ones before ... I feel honoured.


Woodpeckers adore suet-blocks, or peanut-butter blocks - if U add seed, be sure it's hulled, not whole;
the vinyl-coated wire boxes that house suet-blocks are their own 'perches' - the birds cling & peck.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

we were spozed to get 3 to 6-inches of snow on Sunday; that's changed.

Now it's some unspecified amount of sloppy, heavy snow, followed by either sleet or freezing rain,
then just plain rain.  Oy!... i hope it's mostly JUST rain, skip the heavy wet snow, & deffo skip sleet
& freezing rain --- we've had multiple roof collapses over the past 2-weeks, i don't want to think what will
happen when roofs with 4-ft or more of snow get SOAKED with wet-snow, followed by rain!

however, it's spozed to reach 45'-F, which *hopefully* will greatly reduce our own personal ice-dam
on the back edge of the flat roof, over the back-yard, & possibly melt some or all of the heavy ice
encasing the downspout for the eave rain-gutter. :thumbup:

Hope springs eternal - 45-degrees sounds like a balmy day in June, after the 20-degree DROP today.
We'll be in the single-digits overnight, & only 15'-F for a "high", tomorrow.

Pleasant dreams, y'all. :001_smile:
.
.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Jonescat said:


> A woodcock?!?! Fantastic. Sparrows, a robin and the starlings as usual here.
> 
> Squirrels - have you tried chilli? Birds ignore it but the squirrels are mammals and can taste it - supposedly. You can get bird seed with chilli in it I think.


He's back again this morning ... along with the usualy crew (sparrows, balck birds, starlings, collared doves & robin).

Wonder why he's suddenly turned up?


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

They do migrate so he could have just arrived from Northern Europe. Its a bit late but maybe the winter was mild where he came from.


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

We've had a few blackbirds, sparrows & goldfinches plus a coal tit up to now.


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Jonescat said:


> They do migrate so he could have just arrived from Northern Europe. Its a bit late but maybe the winter was mild where he came from.


I keep bumping into them in the woods. They usually move on about now


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

this Mass. Audubon list of sightings is from CAPE COD only, for the week ending June 4th, 2014:

* Brewster:
Wing Island banding station banded 1 Philadelphia Vireo & 1 Blackburnian Warbler.

* Eastham, Coast Guard Beach:
along the bike trail, a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Falmouth, 4 locations:
Crane Wildlife Mgmt Area -
2 Grasshopper Sparrows, 1 Northern Harrier

John's Pond -
worm-eating warblers, multiple [continuing]

Elaine Avenue -
1 Chuck-will's Widow [continuing]

Peterson Farm -
1 Yellow-throated Vireo
___________________

* Harwich -
2 Barred Owls, 2 different locations

* Provincetown:
offshore from Herring Cove - 1 Long-tailed Jaeger

* Sandwich power plant -
3 Common Ravens

* Scusset Beach state reservation:
near the bathhouses, a Territorial Clay-colored Sparrow

* Stellwagen Bank seabird survey:
1 Northern Fulmar, 2 Parasitic Jaegers, 10 Red-necked Phalaropes, 1 Cory's Shearwater, 6 Sooty Shearwaters

Wellfleet -
1 Virginia Rail, 12 Marsh Wrens, 5 Saltmarsh Sparrows, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

along the Herring River -
3 or more Clapper Rails [continuing]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those birds aren't migrating, it's June - they've long-since arrived.
I think it's an amazing variety of residents & visitors, quite a few rare.

I can't wait for the early migration, there's a cemetery that's very famous as a beautiful park,
which doubles as an even-more famous birding hot-spot, due to the varied cover & food plants.
I can't wait! :thumbup:
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

the big, strapping cock Robin has a smaller, obviously-younger rival -
the 2 of them are having airborne dogfights in the backyard :lol: - it's a riot.
They chase & swerve & dive-bomb, wasting lots of precious energy on pointless drama.

Meanwhile the larger adult has discovered our neighbor's cat-food buffet of kibble, so he's defending BOTH
the scattered seed on the drift-top, AND the cat-kibble stash in the next yard, from the younger male Robin
& all the Starlings - i don't think he's suicidal, so i doubt he'd try to bully the much-larger Blue Jays, but with
all the testosterone being pumped out, ya never know. :laugh:

The missing White-Crowned Sparrow cocks have returned, but i can't get a decent count - they arrive
singly or 2 or 3, feed, then leave alone, or with every bird, dozens of birds, taking wing in panic, & i can't tell
if they're all here.

The gimpy cock with the dragging left leg is still with us - he's the only one i can ID definitively.

The Cardinals, M & F, adult & juvie, are all - but one hen - accounted for; one juvenile hen hasn't been here
in a week, that i know of; of course, she may have visited when i wasn't looking, or wasn't here.

I haven't seen the short-tailed Wren in 3 or 4 days. 
For the life of me, i can't find that bird in on-line images! - s/he was distinctly red-brown,
had a long, thin, definitely down-curving beak with a slow taper, a short tail, minimal countershading
on the breast & some vertical stipples, & the beak appeared black or charcoal grey - very dark.

Berwick's Wren has too long a tail; Carolina Wren has a shorter beak which is countershaded [light below],
& not much curved.
Rock Wren is light in color - Canyon Wren is long-tailed & a western bird.
Drabbit! - this is frustrating.

Wrens | Wren pictures | Wrens of North America | North American Wrens | Birds

.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

The little wren in my garden in the South East of England is very like the House Wren in your pictures, only the tail is about half the length. Such a sweet little bird.

She (?) started to build a nest the other year, in a little hanging house in a tree on my terrace, but I think she abandoned it because it was too close to the door - probably too much traffic in and out of the house for her to feel safe.

Think she has decided that the very thick tangle of clematis, honeysuckle and ivy is the best place to reside 

And, it's a short hop to the spillage from the bird table for a sneaky snack


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## 8tansox (Jan 29, 2010)

Not on my bird table, but I had a Redwing in the garden earlier. I have never seen one before let alone 8 feet from where I was sitting. I'm sure they've been around but not static, and not eating bugs and worms in-front of me! I was very chuffed. 

Oh, and a Sparrowhawk swooped down after one of "my" wood pigeons last week, but it missed....:crazy:


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Jonescat said:


> Squirrels - have you tried chilli? Birds ignore it but the squirrels are mammals and can taste it - supposedly. You can get bird seed with chilli in it I think.


I've just put out some new food covered with some chilli powder, so will see how I get on 

Just been watching two robins have a bit of a scrap over the seed trays. OH was asking me about the sparrows we have in our garden earlier - had to point out they were dunnocks and not sparrows 

Does anyone else here feed Flutter Butter?

We've been putting it out since before christmas and the birds go mad for it... the great tits are constantly squabbling over who can have some.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

OH saw a flash of green this morning and we were hoping to see some greenfinches - but no luck.

Just came home and put some plants outside and again, saw some green flashes but they were moving so fast I couldn't identify what bird they were.

I don't normally have greenfinches in my garden so it would be great if they have decided to grace out bird table. Shall have to keep my eyes peeled


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

of the local snowscape... ;-D








Note the 9-ft snow piles -
The dark blip in the snow-wall past the recycle bins is the left-side mirror of a buried car.
This is what passes for "sidewalk" if U're a pedestrian.  turn sideways & slide thru the gap.
If U're pregnant, too bad, honey - walk in the street [which luckily is one-way... like most of Charlestown].

Below is the same street - from a walking perspective, in the traffic lane.
Feb-17th -- Lots of room for peds & vehicles! ... right?








this is how we save cleared parking spaces in Chaztown: with distinctive bits of furniture or other doo-dads.
Anyone who clears an on-street pkg space "owns" it for 48-hrs after the snow stops. Then it's free to anyone.








The "subway tunnel" beneath the glass-topped table in the yard - note the narrow slot -
there are 3 bowls under there, out of the wind & protected from drifting or wet.








This is the pottery acorn - it's a foot long, loop to base. The blown-glass globe is on the other hook.
That's a 6-ft long cast-iron shepherd's double crook - note the snow-depth relative to the its height,
I just dug down 2-ft to free the lower half of the kitchen window from the snow drift.








.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

the tube feeder beside a 6-ft privacy fence -
this is AFTER i moved approx 10 cubic-yards of snow, this afternoon.









then i went out front, & moved a 2-ft high, 18 to 20-inch wide strip of snow on the right side of the driveway -
the drive slopes from right down to the left, as our cul-de-sac is on a hill, & if ALL the snow isn't removed,
it melts, runs across, & the footpath to the right of the parked cars becomes a solid-ice skating rink.
very un-cool for walking.

Then i shoveled the brick court [again] & swept off the steps, went to the grocery store, walked back,
& made tracks in yet-more snow that fell while i was gone. :lol: Tonite it will switch to freezing rain -
i'll try to get some pretty pix of the crystalline trees, before the glaze melts. 
.
.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Coating the bird feed mix in some chilli powder appears to be a success. I've just watched one of the local squirrels inspect each of our tray feeders, attempt to eat something from each one and then run off.

So fingers crossed :thumbup:

Now all the blue tits, great tits, coal tits, chaffinches, dunnocks and blackbirds are getting quite a feast in! :thumbup:

(weirdly I do feel a bit guilty though, OH looked at my face as I watched the squirrel unable to eat anything and suggested I make a squirrel feeding station... I probably will  )


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

Must admit I do feed the squirrels. 

And the crows, magpies, wood pigeons and flocks of starlings 

I keep saying I can't afford it and will have to stop but when i think of them hungry and able to see the food but unable to eat it, it breaks my foolish heart...

I do find, if the food is spread around lots of hanging feeders in different places plus a ground feeding area of very easy access for the bigger birds and the squirrels, everyone gets a look in and at least some of the hanging feeders are usually available for the smaller birds. 

I now soak a handful or three of dog biscuits overnight for the crows and magpies, provide cheap pigeon food for the woodies and a good handful of peanuts for the squidgies


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

Psygon said:


> Does anyone else here feed Flutter Butter?
> 
> We've been putting it out since before christmas and the birds go mad for it... the great tits are constantly squabbling over who can have some.


Never heard of this before. 
Something else to try.
I'm going to be broke...
but as long as the birds are happy


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

My sister knows someone who feeds peanut butter to pine martens....


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Jonescat said:


> My sister knows someone who feeds peanut butter to pine martens....


Pine martens help control grey squirrel populations (or so I read...)


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## witchyone (Dec 16, 2011)

I have a flutter butter hanging in the tree, the blue tits love it. Its specially made salt free peanut butter just for birds.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

It snowed and we have two new birds. One female blackcap, which we have had before and two greater spotted woodpeckers which we haven't! :thumbsup:


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

Oh wow - that's fantastic!

I'm very jealous! I had a male Black-cap come the last two winters but it hasn't showed up this year. 

And I've never managed to attract Greater-spotted Woodpeckers although my neighbour swears he saw one in the garden a few years ago. They are top of my current wish list...

I'll swop you one Woodpecker for 30 starlings... 

Deal..?


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Awesome on the woodpeckers. We had one on our feeders a few weeks ago, but I've only heard them since and not seen them.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

ameliajane said:


> Oh wow - that's fantastic!
> 
> I'm very jealous! I had a male Black-cap come the last two winters but it hasn't showed up this year.
> 
> ...


No deal! We have starlings of our own. I'd take a siskin or two though...


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

_Emma Lazarus  
'Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore...' _

well, on Saturday afternoon, a new bird arrived - some variety of sparrow, with a light grey throat & small
black chin... And s/he is blind in the right eye. 

I'm beginning to wonder if the birds, like hoboes during the Great Depression, might be leaving signs for others -
_*'Disabled birds, FOOD HERE -->> '*_ :w00t: :lol: There are maybe 3-dozen
birds feeding here regularly, & 3 are disabled - a permanently-extended leg with curled foot on a White-crowned
Sparrow cock, a White-crowned hen with 2 toes missing on one foot [probly frostbite / possibly predator],
& now a one-eyed sparrow.

Obviously, the sight of other birds arriving to dine or departing, or sitting in the 35-ft apple tree waiting,
is a clear attractant, but i can't help but wonder if there isn't something i can't see, posted as a billboard!

And too, birds who CAN see with both eyes, or perch & walk or hop with both legs, or have all their toes,
can find wild food more easily than birds who are disabled.
A one-legged bird can't perch & hang on a reed, cattail, milkweed pod, or other seedhead, & peck seeds -
the one-legged cock always lands on the ground or any flat[-ish] surface, as he can't perch properly.

Weather:
we're back in the deep-freeze again, as low as -15'-F overnite & about 15'-F ambient // 10'-F with windchill,
during daylight tomorrow. Everything that melted yesterday is solid ice today; i chipped thru 4 solid inches
of ice to free the neighbor's DOWNSPOUT yesterday & let the accumulated water rush out thru my chipped
6-inch wide, 4-inch deep channel to the street, & removed over 3 cubic feet of solid ice from a storm-drain
at the next street intersection, so the thawing snow had somewhere to discharge.

Black ice is everywhere; walking is hazardous, as all of Charlestown slopes one way or another - it's all hill.
Water running across streets & sidewalks flash-froze, & much of it is a glass-slick glaze less than 1/4-inch thick.

Ppl are still forced to walk on streets, as snow-piles haven't been removed & many sidewalks aren't cleared.
A 13-YO boy was struck by a taxi-cab in Quincy & has serious head-injuries; a 21-YO woman was hit by a plow,
& killed - both walking in the street, perforce. :nonod:

Fire-hydrants are freezing solid & fires can't be stopped, or the time needed to get WATER to the fire is greatly
increased when they must lay more hose to more-distant hydrants. One man died of smoke inhalation when his
house went up in flames, & the nearest 2 hydrants were frozen solid.

I melted the ice from the top of that massive drift by the back door, full of flooded seed, strained the seeds out,
& baked 'em in the oven. :lol: That will prevent mold / mildew; they'll go into the leaf-tray tomorrow.

The birds are avidly feeding in the cold; i'm down to about 3# of seed from 20# of waste-free [hulled] seed,
in less than 3-weeks. I picked up a suet-block today, & a wire frame to keep the dam*ed squirrels out of it.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

happy to see the Junco hen back - she's been either here when i wasn't, or MIA since Friday morning,
& with the density of roaming cats, I worry about predation, plus the bitter cold, & accidents happen.

When it's bitterly cold, U cannot TOUCH metal with bare flesh - skin will stick to it, & the birds here are quite
accustomed to perching on wires, pipe banisters, & other metal objects. I can't help but wonder if now & then,
a bird isn't trapped by skin frozen to a metal surface.
It's not uncommon for waterbirds to need rescue, such as ducks, geese, & swans frozen in waterways -
i think the terrestrial species may run some of the same risks, in this intense cold.

she arrived *very* hungry, & literally did nothing but eat for almost 10-mins, so wherever she's been,
she wasn't eating much - but she's in decent body condition, just hungry.

The Starlings, Blue Jays, & Robins are mostly patronizing the neighbor's cat-kibble buffet - fine with me!, :lol:
i can barely afford to keep up with the species i'm feeding, as it is, & one flock of northbound Starlings could
easily clean-out every feeder i've got in my yard. They travel in groups of hundreds on long flights.

*I spoke too soon.* :blush2: Both cock Robins are here, & eating seed like fire eats dry grass. 
But it's so nice to see healthy birds up close, i just can't regret their visits - tho they do pack-away 4x or more
what the Song Sparrows & Junco do.
I'm hoping to see a Robin hen, soon - March is approaching apace.

The hardware-store was out of vinyl-dipped cages for their suet blocks, but i bought a nifty expanded-metal
insert, a rectangle, that i can adapt - I'll have to "stitch" 3 open sides with florist's wire to close it, but i'm sure
it will serve nicely. I'll put that out this afternoon. :thumbsup:
I have an empty cast-iron hook on the privacy-fence that usually holds a potted plant - good location. :yesnod:
.
.


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## bingolitle (Dec 6, 2014)

L4L you're doing sterling work there. I'm sure the birds have a little bush telegraph somewhere that lists all the places they are likely to find some decent tucker :thumbsup:

Ameliajane and Jonescat - are your winter starling numbers up to normal? I don't think mine have arrived this year :001_unsure:
The summer ones were in residence as usual but as soon as they went, we've been a bit quiet ...


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

There's a garden a few doors away from me that has the most enormous conifer. It's the roosting and nesting site for a colony of Starlings. 

I've only lived here for 2.5 yrs and the Starlings have apparently never before noticed my feeders. They only started coming this winter. I'm still not sure this is a good thing! Although they are beautiful birds and I love to see them thriving, they descend on my feeders like a plague of locusts and are eating me out of house and home... 

As far as I can tell, the numbers of Starlings in the colony seems about the same for the last two years


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## bingolitle (Dec 6, 2014)

Good to know thanks  They're a noisy bunch, but it seems rather empty without them 

I think it's extremely bizarre that our summer starlings migrate south for the winter and another bunch migrate to here. 

If here is OK for overwintering, why migrate at all? How on earth did that notion evolve?


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

All six of ours are here! They forage in the garden during the day and return some distance to the roost at night.They'll be off to breed soon though.


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

Six!!! That's not enough. They must be terribly lonely. Are you sure they wouldn't like some new friends..? 
I can spare at least a couple of dozen. 

I'd made a new batch of pastry balls with sunflowers and mealworms today.

The Starlings got through whole the lot...

Three separate feeders filled with pastry balls emptied.

By lunch-time...


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Jonescat said:


> *All six of our Starlings are here!* -
> They forage in the garden during the day & return some distance to the roost at night.
> They'll be off to breed, soon, though.





ameliajane said:


> *Six!!!* --- That's not enough. *They must be terribly lonely.* :nonod: Are you sure they wouldn't like
> some new friends..? I can spare at least a couple of dozen.
> 
> ...


I agree, A-J - Jonesy's starlings must be dreadfully lonely. :nonod:

I'll be more than happy to send some from Massachusetts, *free -* shipping included!
Think of the stories they can tell - it'll keep the whole roost entertained. 

Unless, of course, U'd like them fricasseed, oven-roasted, or pickled en gelee, rather than alive?...
I could do that, too. :devil: Ur choice. How many would U like?
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

ameliajane said:


> ...a garden a few doors away from me has the most enormous conifer. It's the roosting and nesting site
> for a colony of Starlings.


really? - they *nest* there, too? - that's amazing.
In the USA, they're cavity-nesters, so dryer vents, range vents, any small hole in a soffit or eave, vent pipes
from toilets, chimneys, etc, are popular nesting sites for Starlings. They damage houses, foul the spaces
inside walls or floor-joists, can lose an egg or have a nestling die inside the walls or ceiling, creating awful
stenches that are difficult to trace or remove, etc. :nonod: Spring phone-calls to the WRI-hotline were H*** -
ppl demanded that we come & REMOVE them, immediately, & i tried to explain that wasn't our mission -
they'd have to hire a contractor, or a wildlife-pest specialist.  I often got an earful!...

I've never seen Starlings build a nest in a tree - ANY tree. Roost, yes - but not nest & raise young.


ameliajane said:


> I've only lived here for 2.5 yrs, & the Starlings have apparently never before noticed my feeders.
> They only started coming this winter. I'm still not sure this is a good thing!
> 
> Tho they're beautiful birds & I love to see them thriving, they descend on my feeders like a plague of locusts,
> & are eating me out of house & home...


Feed stuff they won't eat. 

Niger seed for the finch family, in a sock-style or fine-slot feeder that won't let their big beaks in.

Safflower seed for the grosbeaks - in the tricornered white shell, not hulled seed.

Don't put out kitchen scraps - bread, crackers, pastry crumbs, stale baked goods, etc.
Starlings love the stuff - as do pigeons AKA rock doves. it will also attract rats at night, & roaches
in warm weather.

Starlings are ground feeders by preference - if they MUST, they'll perch, but only if they have to perch.

A "squirrel-proof" pole feeder with an adjustable counterweight can easily foil them - just keep lowering
the weight it will hold, until the metal cover comes down over the seed tray when a Starling lights on
the perch.  All lighter birds can still eat.

Feeders that require the bird to cling with both feet, sideways or even upside-down, are not easy
for Starlings to use, & in the case of "upside down" [as for nuthatches & other woodpecker types], so far
as i know, that's impossible for a Starling.

Suet feeders can be made for upside-down use - for Woodpeckers & related birds, this is no challenge. :thumbsup:
.
.


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

I assume these are the same type of Starling?

Yes, they do nest in the tree, although I gather they are predominantly crevice dwellers. It's an enormous, thick, evergreen conifer. The colony lives there all year round. In spring the tree is overflowing with young Starlings, all scrambling about the tree and hanging off the ends of the branches like Christmas baubles, screaming at the parents returning with food. I'll have to try to get a photo.

In the UK there is serious concern over the decline in the number of Starlings - they've fallen by something like 80% in the last 20 yrs and the RSPB has them on their Red list, as a bird potentially at risk. I used to regret that I did not have starlings in the garden and was really pleased when the first couple turned up. I think it's a case of 'Be careful what you wish for..!'

As for not perching - these manage to partially perch, keeping their balance by vigorously flapping their wings, on the little perches on my seed feeders - which are filled with sunflower hearts and suet pellets.

And they have no trouble at all clinging onto the wire cages that the pastry balls are in.

I think it is really the pastry that attracts them. I'm loathe to stop putting it out as all the other birds love it too but the cost is now getting a bit ridiculous.

I hate to exclude any bird and I've never done it before but I think I will have no choice soon...


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

leashedForLife said:


> Unless, of course, U'd like them fricasseed, oven-roasted, or pickled en gelee, rather than alive?...
> I could do that, too. :devil: Ur choice. How many would U like?
> .
> .


When I read through what I'd posted I realised I'd described the tree as the Starlings _roasting_ site and quickly edited it.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has evil fantasies about the darling Starling


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Excuse me - Six is more than we used to have and it is a very small garden. Small area but tall boundaries - trees and a tall house. No fricassees thank you very much, I'll take them in the post after all. 

Do you have namby-bampy sparrows round yours then? Mine wouldn't let anything eat their seed and chase everything away, they just aren't that fond of fat.


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

We have a flock of about 15 sparrows and they _love_ the pastry, they get really excited about it! It was for them I mainly made it but unfortunately they are no match for the increasing number of hungry Starlings. The poor sparrows are now forced to stand back and watch forlornly as the Starlings strip all their beloved pastry feeders


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

A goldcrest, Mr and Mrs Blackcap. I don't get it at all, but it is wonderful here at the moment. I'll have to have a look outside my garden for a change and see what has changed in the neighbourhood to bring all these lovely birds in. Bird count now at 20!


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

You have clearly stolen my birds. 

The last two winters I had both a Blackcap and a Goldcrest and this winter I've had neither.

Now I know why.

Please return them at once.




Actually, that's fabulous! Congratulations! It's so exciting when a new species shows up! Hope they stick around.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

I found a woman in the neighborhood, sitting in her totally snow-covered SUV with the engine running;
i'd just swept off my housemate's car, & still had the dustbrush in my hand. So i uncovered her passenger-side window,
waved & smiled, & brushed off the rest.
When she got out, she said _'My car's wheels are frozen to the paving',_ which seemed odd - the car was in a "pen"
of 18 to 24-inch deep walls of mixed ice & snow, on all sides, but aside from being surrounded, the tires looked fine.

I asked if she had a chipper; she said no - so i went & got ours, plus the metal grain-style shovel, came back & dug.
It took an hour & a half to get her car out, & the parking-space still had another 3 or 4 cubic-yards of snow to be
removed, to clear the back-end & the curbside to the ground.
By that time, i desperately needed to pee - it was almost noon! - so i asked if she wanted the chipper, or needed
the shovel anymore, & she said no.

She paid me $40 -- plus gave me the phone-# of a neighbor who runs a temp-staffing agency. :thumbup1:

So... last night i went to a discount store; i bought *5# of mixed nuts, seeds & fruit; a new LARGE 3-tube feeder -
15-inches across*, with 3 pie-shaped plastic bins, 18 feeding ports, metal top & bottom to bar the squirrels, plus
metal 1-inch welded wire cylinder to protect the plastic bins from gnawing teeth.

I filled 2 of the 3 bins with the coarse nut / large seed / fruit mix; I hung that this morning, where the smaller tube
feeder USED to hang; i moved that one to the hook to its left, where the snow is higher. The new feeder is a full
2-feet tall by 15-inches across, so i daren't get it too close to the snow surface.

The smaller tube-feeder still has the small-bite, WASTE-free seed blend: sunflower bits, Spanish peanut,
millet, canary seed, ... The large new feeder has dried fruit, & both hulled AND whole seed, so it's going to
generate some waste [hulls, sprouted weeds, etc].

I also bought 2 high-quality seed-nut-&-fruit LOGS to hang; they're 8-inches long & 3-inches square, with peanuts,
sunflower, blueberries, cranberries, cherries, safflower, & cracked corn.

I still had 3# of waste-free seed blend; i added 2 Tbsp of pure cayenne this morning, 1 spoonful at a time,
& carefully tipped the bag back & forth watching to be sure it was thoroughly blended. The cayenne-coated seed
went into the 3 bowls under the glass-topped table [3-inch deep soup-bowl, 2-inch deep x 8-inch pie plate, & the
2-ft long x 10-inch wide leaf tray]... all 3 bowls were down to a few Tblsp of seed & many light, tiny millet skins.

That was all done by noon - so far, the birds have been flooding the hot-seed blend in the bowls, happily gone
to the relocated 3-inch square tube feeder, & both hanging feeders [with unpeppered seed under squirrel domes];
by 1:15 PM, they still hadn't TOUCHED the spanking-new feeder, nor the hanging seed / fruit log.

It's 3:45, i'm going to see who's there & what they're eating... 
No one has discovered the hanging-log, nor is any bird feeding at the new feeder, despite it being in a well-
accustomed place.

Patrons include the Cardinals [5], the larger of the 2 cock Robins, Song, White-Crowned, & English Sparrows,
& TWO Dark-eyed Juncoes [both hens]; the Starlings & the smaller cock Robin are eating at the cat-food buffet.

The Jays were here this morning, but i haven't seen them since 10-AM.

The one-eyed Sparrow turned out to be yet another Brit-thug :nonod: however, with his handicap, he's much
more mellow & less pugnacious than his fellows.

I'm going to need another squirrel-baffle to protect the hanging-log from not just squirrels, but rain - so it won't
spoil, nor fall apart & go to waste.
The large silo-feeder has thistle-feeding slots that flip up, allowing larger seed to be eaten thru a 1-inch square
opening; i'm going to use the slits, flip the doors down to keep the fine seed in, & fill it with Niger seed. The finch
family will love it. 

I wanted to get freeze-dried mealworms last night, but the store i went to doesn't carry them. Nonetheless,
i was thrilled with my success - as i also got $10 WHITE straight-leg pants for chorus, & my lovely new feeder was
only $25; the wonderful seed / nut / fruit mix was just $7 for 5#.
I looked for a heated water-bowl - no such luck.

Later in the spring, i'll deploy a jelly feeder, & a nectar feeder - both for Orioles; plus orange halves,
if i get any Orioles to come by - AND mealworms.
In summer, i'll put out the nectar feeder for Hummingbirds.
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

American birds rescued in nick of time! Hurrah!

We have some niger out to tease me with the idea of goldfinches. I put it at the other end of the garden so that the sparrows didn't intrude, and the coal tit has started having a little nibble. We have two - one is partially leucistic so I can tell them apart 

I may have stolen AmeliaJane's birds, it is easy done. I'll just play with them for a while and then send them back ok?


----------



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Jonescat said:


> ...
> We have some niger out to tease me with the idea of Goldfinches. ...
> 
> I may have stolen AmeliaJane's birds, it's easy done. I'll just play with them for a while,
> & then send them back - OK?


I *love* Goldfinches. When i was a kid, we only saw them spring & fall,
so it was just brief encounters with vivid birds of passage, & I thought their characteristic flight - 
quick, fluttery swoops - & clear, piping whistles, were just charming.

I think U & AJ can trade them, back & forth - the Black-Caps & Goldcrest would probly enjoy switching
foods & cover, every few days or so. :thumbup1: Variety is such a nice thing, & i'm sure U both have different
trees, shrubs, hidey-holes, food goodies, & so on - right?
.
.


----------



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

various locations:
several Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers [very-much out of season!]

*Black-headed Gulls* in 3 locations:
Orleans - Pochet Island
Hyannis - Ocean Avenue
Osterville - Dowse's Beach

Barnstable:
Sandy Neck -
1 Northern Shrike
1 Black Guillemot

Dennis:
1 Brown Thrasher [another woodland bird in the thrush family, from the forest floor]

Eastham:
Coast Guard Beach -
1 Northern Harrier
1 Killdeer
6 Horned Larks
5 Eastern Meadowlarks

1st Encounter Beach -
5 Thick-billed Murres
1 Ipswich Savannah Sparrow

Fort Hill -
1 Ruddy Duck
1 Seaside Sparrow
1 Eastern Meadowlark

Harwich:
1 Barred Owl

Orleans:
Nauset Beach -
135 Brant
1 Bald Eagle
1 Harlequin Duck
1 Peregrine Falcon
2 Northern Harriers
17 Black-Legged Kittiwakes
650 Black Scoters
5 Ipswich Savannah Sparrows

Town Cove -
1 Northern Pintail
2 Iceland Gulls

elsewhere in Orleans: 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers

Provincetown:
1 Ovenbird in a backyard - 
the largest North American species of the thrush family; a distant relative of the familiar Redbreast Robin,
Ovenbirds are shy; found in open, mature woods with lots of leaf-litter, they noisily shuffle & rustle, hunting
for bugs, arthropods, worms, & other insects, or soft-bodied small critters.
As soon as they're aware of humans or other predators, they freeze watchfully, or fly silently.

Provincetown harbor, on MacMillan Wharf:
1 Snow Bunting [relative of the Junco]
1 Peregrine Falcon
2 Black Guillemots
at least 2 Thick-billed Murres
1 Greater Scaup
1 Ruddy Turnstone

Sandwich:
1 Bald Eagle

Truro:
at High Head - 2 Bohemian Waxwings

Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary:
100 red-winged Blackbirds
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
3 Field Sparrows
3 Fox Sparrows
2 Swamp Sparrows

for more from other parts of the state, see Mass Audubon
.
.


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## 8tansox (Jan 29, 2010)

I have, as I type, the tiniest Wren hopping about on the patio searching for grubs in-between the patio slabs.... 


Had a lesser spotted woodpecker on one of the trees yesterday too, seemed to be around for a long time, nice to see and does sound like Woody the Woodpecker IMO !!!


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Only seen "our" woodpecker once or twice this year - usually they come in regularly when the weather is very cold to feed off the fat balls/nut feeder.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Am working from home today so can see out in to the garden where there's lots of activity .... a couple of pheasants having a nosey round!

Toby is dying to get out & see them off but I've stopped his fun 

Apart from that all the usual lot are here; the starlings are monopolising all the feeder, the blackbirds are still eating the last old bits of the fallen apples & I also have a couple of wrens flitting in & out of the honeysuckle


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Nobody that i've seen has even PERCHED on the nice new silo-feeder.

The tube-feeder beside it has been so busy, only the bottom 2 ports have seed - the upper 6 are empty,
there's just an inch of reservoir above the bottom ports.

But after a full day of neglect, the hanging-block was lying in the snow, yesterday morning... very odd.
I hung it back up - & 2 hours later, it was in the snow again. ???
Around 4-PM, i saw the culprit, :lol: - the bigger of the 2 Robins SAT on the top of the block, rather than perch
on the iron hanger & lean down to peck it, & it fell to the ground. [well, truthfully, onto 5-ft of snow.]
He flew down from the fence-top after a moment, pecked it a few times, & left.

I'll have to wire it properly - the cheap plastic hook molded into the seed-block is obviously not gonna work,
not with Godzilla sitting on it. 

All the regulars have visited frequently - other than the Wren, & i've concluded he's a Carolina -
he just has an unusually curved beak, & it's also darker than the usual.
But the red-brown coloring & markings are spot-on, as is the shorter, wider tail.

The Cardinal cocks are calling frequently - _'Cheer!... Cheer!... Cheer!...'_ - but rarely sing, & any song is brief.

The Starlings are singing - they, the Jays, & the Robins are all cat-food addicts.
.
.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Been in the garden today sorting out feeder arrangements. I've now added a squirrel baffle to the main bird feeder, as the chilli wasn't 100% successful. I've moved it as well so it's not in easy reach of the tree - but close enough to cover so that the tits can dart back and forth from the bushes to the feeders. 

I also added a new feeding station in our back garden too as I thought I'd see if I can attract the finches I've been watching in our neighbours garden into ours as well. Not sure if it's polite or not to try and entice the neighbours birds into our garden, but I've done it anyway 

Also moved our bird tables and added in a feeder for the squirrels. I've tried to put it in the line I see them coming from so that they get to that first before they reach the bird feeders... 

Not sure how successful it will be as all the changes seem to have confused all the normal birds. The only lot that were totally unfazed were our 4pm flock of long tailed tits (there are 7 of them who are regular as clock work) and our robins, who are in full on aggressive mood at the moment. We had 4 in the garden earlier dive bombing each other.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

i was awake at 4-AM & gave up / got up at 7...
at 9:15-AM, i looked out the kitchen window & saw 2 White-Crowned Sparrows sampling the new silo feeder! :thumbup:

but no one else has ventured near it, that i've seen - the bowls under the glass-topped table
are down by half, & *So Far* no squirrels have been by to try the peppered seed.

Psygon, did U use chili-powder or Cayenne pepper?
Unless it was exceptionally-spicy Chili Powder, it's unlikely to work - U need bright-red Cayenne, which is much
hotter, with a higher oil content.

The birds have been quite unbothered by the spiced seed, here - but i haven't seen the reaction of any
mammals, as none have been by, yet.

None of the birds have tried out the beef-suet cake, either - it's got cornmeal, peanuts, & berries in it.

.
.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

leashedForLife said:


> Psygon, did U use chili-powder or Cayenne pepper?
> Unless it was exceptionally-spicy Chili Powder, it's unlikely to work - U need bright-red Cayenne, which is much
> hotter, with a higher oil content.
> 
> ...


I used extra hot chilli powder, I got it from a local asian supermarket. The chap behind the counter asked me why I needed such a big bag of chilli powder and hoped I wasn't giving it to dogs... which was kind of odd. When I explained what it was for he gave me some tips on keeping slugs out of my garden too.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

I've just watched with amusement as a long tailed tit landed on our window ledge and then hopped along seemingly staring in our window. It was amusing as on the other side of the window was a very excited cat who thought all her christmases were about to come at once.

Sadly for the cat the tit flew off. 

But it was a nice close encounter


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

expected 3 to 6-inches in Boston, falling between 4-PM today & 4-AM. Thankfully, nice normal snow -
no blizzard, no gale-force winds, no terrifying low-temps. *Cold,* yes - but not scary-cold.

I realized on Friday i can actually tell the diff between the 'original' Junco & her conspecific: the bird who arrived 1st
has a 'deeper' grey-area, it literally runs in a 1/4-inch deeper curve down onto her breast & under her primaries,
whilst the later arrival has her ash-white breast free of grey, & no grey shows below her closed wings, as she forages.
Interesting. :001_smile:

The newcomer is much-hungrier than the hen who's been here several weeks - on Friday, the recent-arrival ate so much,
her crop was visible above her feathery bosom, & she was still hopping about, picking & choosing in the snow -
not stuffing herself at the bowl, but still foraging steadily.

I think she's rebuilding lost muscle-mass, & lost fat, too - to breed, just like human females, birds need not
just to be fit, but to have maternal fat. [Women who are extreme-athletes & whose body-fat drops below 17%
often become amenorrheac (sic) - they have no menses, & can stop ovulating - they're functionally sterile.
Once they reduce their activity to rebuild body-fat, their menses resume & ovulation begins again. Women under
tremendous emotional or mental stress can also cease menses & ovulation - Ex, imprisoned women who are
being tortured, under 24 / 7 lights, living nude, threatened or harassed by guards, zero privacy / constant
observation, may have menses cease & may not ovulate, even if their body-fat ratio is normal - 15 to 25%.
This is a distinct advantage, because if they are raped during their imprisonment, they won't get pregnant.
That's a common form of torture for imprisoned women, & giving birth in a jail is high-risk.]

I'd hoped to avoid another seed-buying trip for a few days, i'm down to the nitty-gritty as i haven't worked
since Dec-1st, but i really need to get more Waste-Free stocked. :nonod:

I will start my CNA classes March 20th. I've GOT to make some $$ - none of my CraigsList ads have gotten
any replies, drabbit. I'll be shoveling this week... anything legal, physical or intellectual, i don't care.
.
.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Adding in a feeding station in our back garden seems to be working.

Looked out this morning and saw a pair of jays on it, also saw a couple of sparrows and we never see those on the feeders on the other side. I also spotted our greater spotted woodpecker again while I was watching the jays. 

The bullfinches I had spotted a few weeks ago in our neighbours garden are also starting to venture into our garden to check out what's on offer. 

Really pleased 

Oh and the squirrels are mostly sticking to the food I've put down for them rather than scoffing all the bird food since I added the squirrel baffle. Hurrah!


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Great spotted woodpeckers have been at our feeders quite a few times over the last few days. This one seems to love the peanuts, the other one we see prefers our seed/suet balls





Spotted our first wren this weekend.


Weve also been visited for the first time by some goldfinches and some starlings so been quite an eventful weekend.

The squirrels are being very absent as well, at first I wondered why and then while doing some bird watching this morning I think I found out the reason



Only three houses where I live and as far as I know we are the only ones with cats (indoor only) so not sure where this fellow has come from. Pretty cat, doesnt seem to be scaring the birds away but does seem to be having an effect on our squirrels.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

much-more birdsong, but only a few species, as yet.

The smaller perching birds began feeding at the big silo feeder regularly about 3-days ago.
I don't know why the Cardinals & Jays skip it - but they do.  they want the bowls filled! -
but the squirrels will be out & about soon, it's been close to 40'F for 2 days, now. I'll need to cayenne
the seed, again - or it will evaporate, & i can't afford it.

All the regulars are attending - EXCEPT the wren, whom i haven't seen in a week, now. Song, White-Crowned,
& Brit-bully Sparrows; Cardinals, both sexes / adults & sub; Starlings & Jays - next door, feasting on cat-food;
the Robin cocks patronize both buffets. 

Overnight, we had our annual Spring-Forward [daylight-savings time, put the clock forward an hour] -
i went to bed early, as i have for a week to get ready - it whacks-out my biological clock something fierce,
for about 3-weeks, if i don't ease into it.
To bed at 8:30, reading; asleep by 9, awake at 5:15-AM. OOps... which was of course, 4:15-AM.  Read some more,
back to sleep, *woke to birdsong* at 8:15-AM. :thumbup1:

the deep snow is still blocking cats from our yard - thank God for small favors.

Last Wed [trash day] I saw a skunk cross the next street, in broad daylight, around 10-AM; this isn't always
a bizarre thing, Jan / Feb is their breeding season, & she might be a mum with kits, foraging.

However, HE might be a rabid animal, too - so i told every dog-owner i met, & a few non-dog folks, too.
Thankfully, no skunks have come to the yard. :thumbup: Nor raccoons - blessedly.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Psygon said:


> The squirrels are being very absent as well... think I found the reason
> 
> 
> Only 3 houses where I live - as far as I know, we're the only cat-owners (indoor only); not sure where
> this fellow came from. Pretty cat; doesnt seem to scare the birds, but does seem to [spook] our squirrels.


got a bit too-much foreface to be a typical female skull, but the backskull's not as blocky as a typical male.
Could be an under-6-MO-neuter male, or just a F with more bone than usual.

Have U seen her / him spray? - Both sexes & all genders [intact or desexed] can spray, once past puberty.
Kittens under 6-MO can't spray, yet.

Do U have a live-trap? -- Or can U borrow one?
In the U-S, many cities' ACC departments will lend live-traps to capture cats [or pest wildlife - 'coons,
skunks, etc].
If s/he were here, i'd live-trap & take the cat to the ACC, which would give the owner about a week
to locate their lost pet; then, s/he'd go up for adoption.

If U don't want to trap, another option is a Scarecrow water-spray on the garden hosepipe -
they work very well, are motion-activated, & aren't dangerous to invading animals.

A more-costly but highly-effective option is a cat-proof fence or topper, added to existing fence.
That bars cats, but birds sail over it safely [sadly, so do squirrels - can't have everything].

BTW, what's the name of the blooming creeper - light purple to the left, & white to the right?
And is that nasturtium way-down at the edge of the creeper, on the left? Scalloped leaves, rounded?
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Psygon is off line but I think the purple and white plants are heather (Erica).

The other plant is unlikely to be nasturtium at this time of year in the UK. It's more of a summer annual usually. I'm not sure what it is - hopefully Psygon will be able to tell you later (and correct me if I'm wrong on the heather! ).


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Psygon said:


> Great spotted woodpeckers have been at our feeders quite a few times over the last few days. This one seems to love the peanuts, the other one we see prefers our seed/suet balls
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Great pictures!

I still haven't seen our woodpecker


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

leashedForLife said:


> Have U seen her / him spray? - Both sexes & all genders [intact or desexed] can spray, once past puberty.
> Kittens under 6-MO can't spray, yet.
> 
> Do U have a live-trap? -- Or can U borrow one? In the U-S, many cities' ACC departments will lend live-traps to capture cats [or pest wildlife - 'coons, skunks, etc].
> ...


Not seen the cat spray, I was trying to work out earlier if it was male or female and couldn't get a good enough look. It's not particularly shy as long as I don't get too close, but couldn't get close enough to have a good look.  It does look young though, me and my OH reckoned it was about 6 months old. I will ask our neighbours first before deciding whether to trap it. They only moved in last week so it seems unlikely that they'd have got a cat and started letting it out within a week of moving (they already told me they don't have a cat when they moved in... but I suppose things change. They did suggest they'd like to get a cat now they live in the countryside).



> A more-costly but highly-effective option is a cat-proof fence or topper, added to existing fence.
> That bars cats, but birds sail over it safely [sadly, so do squirrels - can't have everything].


We've been investigating cat proofing for our cats already, and since we don't have full fences around (mostly hedgerow) and quite a large space it would be far too costly for us to cat proof our property. (We're going for an enclosure near our house for our cats).



> BTW, what's the name of the blooming creeper - light purple to the left, & white to the right?
> And is that nasturtium way-down at the edge of the creeper, on the left? Scalloped leaves, rounded?
> .
> .


The blooming creepers are heather. Not sure what the other one is - I'm not very good at identifying plants


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Psygon said:


> ...
> Spotted our first wren this weekend.
> 
> 
> ...


Ur buds are much-closer to bud-break than ours... :cryin: The snow-line on the retaining wall in the backyard
dropped about 6-inches yesterday, as the SUN hit it directly for the 1st time this year. :thumbup1:

Everything is still blanketed in white - or it *was* white; the sides of snow-walls higher than my head
facing traffic along the roads, are now grey flecked with black bits, windblown leaves, & small bits of litter
that the wind picked up & plastered there, & it froze in place - gum wrappers, soda-cup lids, cigarette butts...

They finally removed the massive 8 to 9-ft tall, 14 to 15-ft long *L*s of snow, piled on all 4 corners
of the intersections above & below our itty-bitty alley. The streets are one-way, the vertical downhill & those
cross-streets go respectively left above us, & right below - So... now, approaching vehicles can SEE
one another as they approach the corner in daylight! -- Yay! :thumbup: Before, U knew if another car
was coming only at night - as U could see their headlights, but not the vehicle.
.
.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Beautfiful pics of the woodpecker Psygon :thumbup1:

In my garden there a Lesser Spotted woodpecker who monopolises the peanut feeder at the bottom of the garden, he will even sleep on it whilst clinging on. 

Wish I could get a pic of him but he is too far away ..... & I take crap photos!!


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Goldfinch singing in the garden today 

Also not the birdtable but the house - sparrows nesting, and it looks like we need to do a bit of maintenance up there....


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Cleo38 said:


> Beautfiful pics of the woodpecker Psygon :thumbup1:
> 
> In my garden there a Lesser Spotted woodpecker who monopolises the peanut feeder at the bottom of the garden, he will even sleep on it whilst clinging on.
> 
> Wish I could get a pic of him but he is too far away ..... & I take crap photos!!


You are lucky to have a lesser woodpecker, aren't they reasonably rare??

Every morning at the moment we are hearing woodpeckers 'singing' - the sound of beaks tap tap tapping on the trees by our house. It's a really nice sound.

My new latest spot... buzzard! (at least I think it was... had the right wing shape, seemed about the right size).

Not quite in my garden, or on my bird table - but in the trees just on the edge of our property where a little wood starts.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Jonescat said:


> Goldfinch singing in the garden today
> 
> Also not the birdtable but the house - sparrows nesting, and it looks like we need to do a bit of maintenance up there....


Sparrows look like they are making themselves right at home there


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Psygon said:


> Spotted our first wren this weekend.


This bird isn't a Wren, Psygon, it's a Bunting, probably a Corn Bunting & if in your garden you are very lucky because they don't often visit gardens, they are farmland birds.
It's also a very good photo.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Valanita said:


> This bird isn't a Wren, Psygon, it's a Bunting, probably a Corn Bunting & if in your garden you are very lucky because they don't often visit gardens, they are farmland birds.
> It's also a very good photo.


:O I'm kinda new to this bird watching thing  I've been a city girl all my life and only recently moved to the countryside. Our garden (where this pic was taken) is really close to farmland (that bush is next to our road, across from that is one of the local farmers fields).

I'll update my list of birds I've seen 

Thanks!!


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Psygon said:


> :O I'm kinda new to this bird watching thing  I've been a city girl all my life and only recently moved to the countryside. Our garden (where this pic was taken) is really close to farmland (that bush is next to our road, across from that is one of the local farmers fields).
> 
> I'll update my list of birds I've seen
> 
> Thanks!!


Keep watching you seem to have a lovely variety of birds there.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Valanita said:


> This bird isn't a Wren, Psygon, it's a Bunting - probably a Corn Bunting,
> & if in your garden, you are very lucky... they don't often visit gardens, they are farmland birds.
> 
> It's also a *very good* photo.


Hurrah! -
i wondered about the beak shape & general body contours; our N American wren species have long beaks,
narrower than that smaller near-finch shape, but yes, indeed, s/he? does very much [except for *color* ]
resemble our native Indigo Bunting, a tropicene summer resident.

Thanks so much, Val, for the clarification, & to Psygon for, YES, a lovely photo. :thumbup:
All i have is my Virgin Slow-bile, & it takes poor-quality snapshots only. 
.
.


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

I can never get photos and don't have a bird table - the neighbours do though 
In the past week we've had the usual sparrows, starlings, blackbirds and robin but also a heron in the tree at the end of the garden and a hawk of some kind in the same tree a few days later- he'd gone before I had chance to get a good look . We've had a wren in her usual spot in a camellia bush by our patio and blue-tits and long tailed tits ( my absolute favourite of the small birds) in the hedges.
The neighbours have also had a large rat around their bird feeders :w00t:


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

This is our Wren.
Not my photo.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Psygon said:


> :O I'm kinda new to this bird watching thing  I've been a city girl all my life and only recently moved to the countryside. Our garden (where this pic was taken) is really close to farmland (that bush is next to our road, across from that is one of the local farmers fields).
> 
> I'll update my list of birds I've seen
> 
> Thanks!!


If you haven't got one, get yourself a good bird guide. Collins do a good one.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

lymorelynn said:


> I can never get photos and don't have a bird table - the neighbours do though
> In the past week we've had the usual sparrows, starlings, blackbirds and robin but also a heron in the tree at the end of the garden and a hawk of some kind in the same tree a few days later- he'd gone before I had chance to get a good look . We've had a wren in her usual spot in a camellia bush by our patio and blue-tits and long tailed tits ( my absolute favourite of the small birds) in the hedges.
> *The neighbours have also had a large rat around their bird feeders* :w00t:


We sometimes get rats as well. They were here before these houses were built & haven't really been a problem.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Valanita said:


> If you haven't got one, get yourself a good bird guide. Collins do a good one.


Will have a look, I also want a book on gardening for birds and wildlife if anyone has any recommendations? Our back garden is quite a blank canvas at the moment and would like to make it a bit more wild.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Psygon said:


> You are lucky to have a lesser woodpecker, aren't they reasonably rare??
> 
> Every morning at the moment we are hearing woodpeckers 'singing' - the sound of beaks tap tap tapping on the trees by our house. It's a really nice sound.
> 
> ...


Apparently tthey are now, this is the only one I ever seen so I am lucky to have one as a regular visitor 

This morning I was watching the pair of crows that have inhabited my garden for the past few years rebuild last years nest & were taking advantage of the stuffing from a cushion that was strewn everywhere (my puppy's work!) - saves me picking it up!


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Valanita said:


> This is our Wren.
> Not my photo.


Yup! :thumbup: Very, very similar.

N American wrens - the *Carolina* has the largest habitat-range

Wrens - Birds of North America
Wrens | Wren pictures | Wrens of North America | North American Wrens | Birds

the *Winter Wren* 
is found not only in N America, but also Eastern Asia, Europe, & marginally into N Africa.
In 2010, based on vocalizations & genetics, they were split into 3 species, the Pacific Wren of western N America,
the Eurasian ...

Winter Wren, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Winter Wren, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

I still haven't seen the hungry little local, it's now 2-weeks. Guess s/he moved north, or found
a location with more food & *shrubs* - our yard is pretty nude.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

looking left to right, out the back window -








Look to the left - only ONE FOOT of that retaining wall, right in the middle, was visible last Friday -
both ends BRIDGED to the top of the wall, & above.
In the past 3 days of 40'-F temps, the middle fell 18-inches! & also peeled forward from the concrete face.









Last week, only the upper-curve of the RIGHT-side chair, just a narrow crescent of the upper back,
stood above the snow. 









The depth of snow in front of the GATE [rt rear corner] has slumped 2 full feet in 3 days' time. :thumbup1:

One day, i'm sure i'll see actual soil..  Maybe even plants!
.
.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

leashedForLife said:


> Yup! :thumbup: Very, very similar.
> 
> N American wrens - the *Carolina* has the largest habitat-range
> 
> ...


We only have one Wren.

That snow is horrendous.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Psygon said:


> ...I also want a book on gardening for birds & wildlife - anyone have any recommendations?
> Our back garden is quite a blank canvas ATM & I'd like to make it a bit more wild.


The RSPB: A to Z of a Wildlife Garden
http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/wildlifegarden/‎

Advice:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/gardening/‎

Wild About Gardens: Home
404 - File or directory not found.

Wildlife gardening | The Wildlife Trusts
Wildlife gardening | The Wildlife Trusts

BBC Nature - "Top ten plants every wildlife garden needs"
BBC Nature - Top ten plants every wildlife garden needs

How to make your garden wildlife-friendly | Life and style
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2013/may/22/wildlife-garden-tips

Wildlife Gardening with Jenny Steel
http://www.wildlife-gardening.co.uk/

https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/encourage-wildlife-to-your-garden

plant list for POLLINATORS:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/cons...ildlife-to-your-garden/plants-for-pollinators

Gardening for Wildlife - UK Safari
http://www.uksafari.com/gardening.htm‎

Hope these are helpful - lots of reputable sources, at least. :thumbup1:
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Gardening - RSPB
The RSPB: Advice

Cats & bird-popns in the UK
The RSPB: Advice: Are cats causing bird declines?

What can I do to help the birds in my garden? - Telegraph

The joy of birdwatching: how can you attract garden birds? - Telegraph

Birds: encouraging them into the garden / RHS Gardening
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=497‎

WATER is a primary need - shallow bathing-bowls with a ROCK in the middle to stand on are good -
they need regular emptying & to be scrubbed of algae.

a DRIPPER falling into a bowl to make a 'chiming' drip attracts birds from a long distance - 
as do small SHOWER attachments, one sprays up & falls into the bowl as it floats, & it's solar powered.

Water Sources and Uses for Wild Birds in Your Backyard
http://www.birdsforever.com/water.html

The Wild Bird Store in Tucson, AZ - Wild Birds Online
http://www.wildbirdsonline.com/baths.html

Bird baths, bird misters, and drippers will attract birds to your yard!
http://www.wildbirdgoodies.com/site/1313315/page/502669

Self-filling dripper water source
Birdbath Dripper Kit 8 Ft w/ Tan Vinyl - Park Seed
http://www.parkseed.com/bird-bath-dripper-kit-8-ft-w-tan-vinyl/p/34647/

There are also many heated bowls for winter, & solar-melting bowls for 'no power' / no cables or wires versions.

Heated Bird Bath 
http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Heated-Bird-Bath.html

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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

FIVE jays! 

Will have to stop putting whole, shelled peanuts out soon though, because of the small baby birds.

Will buy some monkey nuts in shells so the jays (and squirrels) can still have them. :thumbsup:

Yesterday, the long tailed tits were on the peanut feeder. They seem to come down and feed in the afternoons.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Lurcherlad said:


> FIVE jays!
> 
> Will have to stop putting whole, shelled peanuts out soon though, because of the small baby birds.
> 
> ...


Don't seem to get many long tailed tits where I live which is a shame as they are such lovely little birds.

This morning I watched the wrens start building their nests in the honeysuckle, so busy.

Am a bit worried about the fledglings this year though as Archers kennel is right by this so am hoping none make their way in ..... a big GSD trying to play with them wouldn't be a good idea

A pair of blue tits were investigating one of my nest boxes again (maybe same pair as last year), last years pair managed to raise 7 youngsters who I watched having flying lessons in the summer evenings


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Male blackcap after the sunflower kernels today, probably because it is fairly stormy and inhospitable out there. 

Also a dunnock trying to batter its way in to the cats' run, which bewildered me! I stood and watched it for a while and then realised it was gathering cast fur to line its nest. Some lucky little eggs are going to have the warmest, most waterproof blanket ever!


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Cleo38 said:


> Don't seem to get many long tailed tits where I live which is a shame as they are such lovely little birds.
> 
> This morning I watched the wrens start building their nests in the honeysuckle, so busy.
> 
> ...


My record for the long tailed tits was a few years ago, when I looked out of the bathroom window and counted 22 of them all perched round the edge of the bird table eating together. I was gobsmacked!

The robin nested in the ivy at the side of the house last year - I put a barrier up to stop Jack going down there - but it wouldn't have done much to protect them when they left the nest. Luckily, we didn't have any "meetings"


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

leashedForLife said:


> Hope these are helpful - lots of reputable sources, at least. :thumbup1:
> .
> .


Thanks for all the links! Going to get some reading done


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Lurcherlad said:


> My record for the long tailed tits was a few years ago, when I looked out of the bathroom window and counted 22 of them all perched round the edge of the bird table eating together. I was gobsmacked!


Blimey, 22?! We have a little flock of 7, and I am usually impressed seeing them swarm on the bird feeders (well just on the chunky dumplings) so 22 must be fairly amazing 

Feeders around here are as active as normal this weekend, although the tree sparrows are now making the journey from the back of the house to the side of the house where our other feeders are, which is nice... I like seeing them.

Squirrels are still not around so much, although there was one nosing around the bird table today and he/she seemed to have some sort of injury on her shoulder which looked quite sore!


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

I've been stalking this one for about a week - he very rarely sits still but the sparrows were somewhere else this afternoon and Bingo! Blackcap posing for the camera


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Nice, Jonescat. Today we had 4 Long-tailed Tits. a Robin, a Blackbird, Dunnock, Blue Tits & several Corvids here. Not all at the same time.


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## Guest (Mar 20, 2015)

We had mr robin red breast on ours today but didn't manage to get a pic of the robin.


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## Gemmaa (Jul 19, 2009)

We had this little guy a few weeks ago :biggrin:









Some happy campers this afternoon


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## catpud (Nov 9, 2013)

The branching out on food offered seems to have worked here. 12 house sparrows, 6 dunnocks, two robins, two blue tits, a starling, and what I am sure was a tree sparrow! so far on the feeders today. 

I am so glad the blue tits have finally decided to take advantage of the food on offer!

So far I have a high energy seed mix set out in a standard seed feeder with two perches on the bottom (bill oddies seed mix) peanuts in a wire feeder (is it still ok to offer peanuts now so long as they can't take big bits out of the feeder?), and fat balls in a fat ball feeder. 

The starling was hoovering up the dropped food on the floor around the feeder so I am thinking that next I will buy a new ground feeder and a nyjer seed feeder and see what that attracts - I am sure the robins will appreciate the ground feeder too although they do a very good job at clinging to the feeders.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

catpud said:


> The branching out on food offered seems to have worked here. 12 house sparrows, 6 dunnocks, two robins, two blue tits, a starling, and what I am sure was a tree sparrow! so far on the feeders today.
> 
> I am so glad the blue tits have finally decided to take advantage of the food on offer!
> 
> ...


I recently added a nyjer seed feeder in the hope that it would attract some new birds. I saw two goldfinches on it the first day and then I never saw them again. It's the slowest moving bird food in my garden!


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## catpud (Nov 9, 2013)

Psygon said:


> I recently added a nyjer seed feeder in the hope that it would attract some new birds. I saw two goldfinches on it the first day and then I never saw them again. It's the slowest moving bird food in my garden!


Oh no, what a pain, shame they didn't stick around. Think I might go for a cheaper feeder and just a small amount of seed to test the waters with that one then.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I had the spotted woodpecker in yesterday, but I have recently changed the nut feeder for a squirrel proof one, and noticed that the woodpecker could not access the nuts 

So, I shall have to put out both types 

Starlings have started to come in and are now first in the queue every morning!

I've spotted a little bird, which I think may be a garden warbler 

The long tailed tits are now regular visitors in the afternoon.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

The blackcap is now a regular here. He arrived all shy and "newboy", and has worked up to being in full territorial dispute with the sparrow gang. They are a bit taken aback and not sure what to do - but there are enough of them I hope to keep him under control. The female only turned up once I think, so perhaps that's his problem.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Only just noticed this thread so hope I can join in 
Having free roaming cats previously I never encouraged the wild birds, but now my boys are indoor cats I love to feed the little cuties.
I have a big family of house sparrows who are on the feeders every day. I don't have a bird table so put bird food sprinkled on the patio for the ground feeders and get many blackbirds, pidgeons, robins and the odd starling.
On the feeders other than sparrows I have blue tits and a pair of long tailed tits - these are my fave! The LTT visit early morning.
Not on the feeders but gathering nesting material in my embarrassingly untidy garden are a pair of goldfinches


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Spotted the Blue Tits with nesting material this morning 

Glad I managed to get the old archway and the manky climbing plants down last weekend, before the birds started looking for nesting sites.


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## lostbear (May 29, 2013)

Wood pigeon, crows, magpies, sparowhawk, red kite - OMG A RED KITE BLOODY HELLFIRE A RED KITE THEY'RE EFFIN' ENOR-MOUSE!!!!! 


Okay - not really - not on the bird table, but there was one (male) on the tree next to our house. We get a lot of them (or the same few frequently) round here. And yes - they are BIG!

Once we had a heron in our teeny-weeny garden. That was the last we saw of the golefish . . .


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

various Sparrow species are flitting all over town with nesting material -

the adult-M Cardinal finally began to SING on Wed, the 18th of February! - LATE, late, late, fella! 
I haven't seen him court a F with seed yet, but he's spending much-more time aloft advertising himself
than down here, in the itty-bitty enclosed garden, so I may have missed that, already.

The Starlings, 2 Junco hens, & Robins are still frequent visitors, as are the Sparrows [White-Crowned,
Song, & Brit-thugs].

The Gang of 5 [English Sparrows] is apparently down to 4 only - one able-bodied cockbird
is missing, the one-legged cock still comes by - but he's often solo, & comes to eat when the others
are elsewhere.

Friday before last [the 13th of Feb] it snowed... AGAIN.
Last Sunday [the 21st] it snowed, too.

TODAY it's spozed to snow - 1 to 3 inches expected.

But the garden is slowly emerging from the deep, crusty, icy drifts...
*someday, I'm gonna see DIRT - & PLANTS!... I can't wait.* :thumbup:
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Not on my bird table but was sitting next to the lounge window at BIL's and he drew my attention to the dunnock and 2 long tailed tits who were in the magnolia bush just outside the window. They were eating from the hanging nut/fat ball and were literally 12 inches away from my face!

They were either totally unaware I was there or just so used to humans on the other side of the glass that they weren't bothered be me.

Closest I have ever been to such beauties - such a treat!


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

My two long tailed tits don't care if I am a few feet away watching 
They quite happily go on the feeders nattering away to eachother and pay no attention to me!
They are delightful


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

The normal crew are in attendance at the moment (the blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits, robins, tree sparrows, blackbirds, nut hatches!) as I've just been out and filled the feeders. I also just spotted the bull finches near our patio feeders so really hoping they become a regular fixture - not seen them on that side of our house before 

The latest new additions are a pair of crows who are, with the squirrels, really destroying the grass under one of our feeders. Not that I mind as eventually that spot will have patio on it 

Something that is happening slightly more regularly is birds (and squirrels) peering through our windows. In our lounge one of the windows has a privet hedge right next to it and the birds come out of the hedge and sit on the windowsill and stare in. Really odd, but the cats love it! Usually it seems to happen when the feeders are empty, I'm sure the birds are trying to tell me something!


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## witchyone (Dec 16, 2011)

Three times last week I was lucky enough to see barn owls quite close up. The best one was at about 6.30 in the morning on my way to work. Drove round a bend and there he was, sitting on the verge intently staring at his prey in the grass. He looked up as I approached so I got a good look then he flew off.

Best bit about my job is the lovely wildlife I see on my commute


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## Lunabuma (Dec 12, 2011)

2 wood pigeons, 1 magpie and a robin. 

Dumb and dumber :lol:


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

So the birds looking in the windows happens enough that I just had to wait long enough with my camera... and then take a really bad photo. But here is one of our curious long tailed tits.



And yep... the feeder is empty after a busy day by all the birds!


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## loubyfrog (Feb 29, 2012)

So lovely reading about and seeing your fab pics of all the birdies over the last couple of months.

I haven't been on for a while but I've had Woody Woodpecker popping by and some kind of hawk which made me a little on edge as I'm sure he was "eyeing" up the tit family.

Today for the first time in ages a bullfinch came for brunch....the colours were amazzing and i was truely mesmorized,he/she was like a frantic colour by numbers....so bright and vibrant.

I got a free big bag of crushed peanuts and sunflower hearts from work as the original 20kg bags they were in burst so that'll keep them happy for a week or so.

Dumb and Dumber are still around strutting their stuff like they're in Saturday night fever....every time i see them I always sing staying alive.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

The Goldfinches have presented with their bright yellow plumage this morning. Just in time for the new snow storm. They show up real nice against all that fresh clean white stuff! (as opposed to the old dirty as of yet unmelted)


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

The reed buntings are back! A mob of them who are so noisy; squabbling amongst themselves & monopolising the feeders so the other birds don't get a look in .... well, until the starlings turn up


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

lorilu said:


> The Goldfinches have presented with their bright yellow plumage.... Just in time for the new snow storm.
> They show up real nice against all that fresh clean white stuff! (as opposed to the old, dirty, as-yet unmelted).


.
.
Waaaahh!... :cryin: No Goldfinches here. Just the usual suspects: Cardinals, several Sparrow species,
the Starlings & Robins & Jays patronizing the cat-food buffet.

Haven't seen the Carolina Wren in weeks - either s/he moved further north, or found another diner.
[Or died - I saw a dead cock Robin in the gutter just a block away, probly starved or died of cold,
impossible to say, as a car had crushed his corpse.]

The thin layer of clean new snow is from... Saturday? - I think; all these storms blend together.

I ** do ** see a young black Grey Squirrel [grey is the species name, but this one is melanistic].

It's awfully early for a pup of the year, but s/he'd be bigger if they'd been whelped in Sept / Oct;
Mom must have been very-early in estrus. 

I'll get a pic, if i can. :thumbup1:
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Just this one keeping me company today 









It's raining and everyone is hiding. A single Woodpecker was back in the tree at the end of the garden on Friday though.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Jonescat said:


> Just this one keeping me company today
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Beautiful photo, what a gorgeous little thing


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Nah, the fresh snow is from this morning. Still snowing almost every day here. LOL!


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.

Robin hens arrived in DROVES over Sunday & Monday - this morning as I walked to the T-station,
all i heard around me was, _"Kleep-kleep-kleep-kleep-kleep-*kleep-*kleep!... *Kleep*-kleep-kleep!... "_

Entire flocks were on the lawns & in the trees around Bunker Hill Community College, taking umbrage at
one another, engaging in short strafing runs, & foraging hungrily.
.
.
The Rock Doves [AKA 'city pigeons'] are busy, too; the cocks swell their lustrous breasts & trill, fan tails spread,
strutting around the hen they've chosen to harass - oops, i mean, COURT  flying after her every time she
tries to escape his persistent ardor, rolling their cooing songs like lovesick troubadours plucking guitars.
.
.
The Starlings are singing & creaking rustily & scraping like wind-up toys; they gurgle & plink, make odd
'tonk...' sounds like tuned wooden drums, & whistle liquidly.
.
.
Sparrows are nesting in every ivy-draped wall, holey eave or soffit; in the gap of a brick facade,
behind a rolled-up awning, under a porch roof atop the corner post.

Ducks & geese are paired; the ducks & geese make nests, the drakes & ganders patrol for intruders
& sometimes contribute materials, for her to arrange to her liking.
.
.
.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

I saw a female blackbird on a hanging feeder with suet today - never seen a blackbird manage that, I was quite impressed


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

moggie14 said:


> I saw a female blackbird on a hanging feeder with suet today -
> never seen a blackbird manage that, I was quite impressed.


.
.
.
_From our Avian Olympics reporter, we received this video today...
[audio voiceover]
*"...And here's our UK contender, Ms Indy Blackbird... she eyes the obstacle -
she flies toward it, stalls midair, reaches, a-a-a-and... she CLINGS!... Two seconds, 4 
seconds... she's feeding - she's still got a grip - another beakful... A-a-a-and she flies!
TEN seconds, a remarkable record! - The UK contingent is jubilant!"* [roar of applause]

Let's listen to the score:
*"For the UK, Ms Blackbird - level of difficulty was 10,
performance was an average of 8, overall score... 9.5.
Ms Blackbird broke the official record for a perch & hang, she will be
among the elite athletes considered for a Special Achievement award
in addition to her sports category. Very well done."*_
.
.
.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

leashedForLife said:


> .
> .
> .
> _From our Avian Olympics reporter, we received this video today...
> ...


:lol::lol:

The sparrows are very very lively today, I guess they are pairing up?
The long tailed tits were back this morning, love them


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
because the neighborhood cats are back. :nonod:

As long as the snow made a 45-degree angle from the house wall to the edge of the retaining wall,
the cats couldn't conveniently saunter thru side to side, to reach next-door's cat-food buffet.

Now the top of the retaining wall is bald, the 5-ft drifts are down to 2.5, & the cats walk thru a dozen times
each day; the birds are frequently flushed back to the trees in alarm.

I don't hate cats; I grew up with cats, our Siamese saw me thru childhood & into college.
But i *despise* the irresponsible arsewipes who let their cats roam, especially as this is a densely-
developed area with heavy vehicle traffic, & rat-poison bait boxes are EVERYwhere.

A rodent dying of Warfarin AKA Coumadin comes out in the open, desperate for water - s/he's bleeding
to death internally, the blood is leaking thru arteries, veins, & capillaries as if they were weeping hoses
in a garden, & the thirst from lack of fluid in cells is torture.
The blood isn't reaching tissues, it's pooling in the abdomen, & every cell is crying for water.
They'll come out in broad daylight, hunting for water - & they are SLOW, easy to catch.

If anyone I knew left their cat roam around here, I'd educate their ignorance, & if they persisted, I'd be
tempted to dump 'em as a 'friend'. There are definite limits to my ability to overlook & accept another's
choices, & putting a dependent person - their pet, their child, their elderly relative, ____ - at risk?...
that's a very touchy subject for me.

If U have a pool in Ur backyard, insurance laws or local ordinances force U to fence it - to prevent drowning,
especially by young children. That YOU don't have kids isn't the issue; OTHER ppl's kids are also at risk.
One's pet roaming at large in a major city, with a high-speed artery less than a 1/4-mile away?... :thumbdown:
Add the rodenticide bait-boxes, & it's simply insane, IMO.

And of course, that completely ignores the pressure on wildlife, as if they didn't have troubles enuf
in urban environs, between pollutants, noise, traffic, human interference, artificial barriers, hard paved
landscapes, loss of cover, few food plants,... Cats eating 'em or playing with 'em isn't "helping". :incazzato:
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

_.
.
Hurrah!...

the Junco hens are not alone, anymore. There are now
6 to 8 Juncoes, the 2 long-term visitors - Ms High-Rise
& Ms Peplum - PLUS 4 to 6 new arrivals.
They come as a group, feed scattered over the ground,
& swirl off together.
I can tell Ms High-Rise & Ms Peplum 'cuz they're in the
best body-condition, while the just-arrived birds are so
hungry & thin, their crops are visible after eating -
a big bump, above their breasts. :blush2:

BTW, we have *visible soil!...* exciting stuff, folks.  Yesterday the only bare ground was underneath the
table, where the snow was relatively shallow - today,
there's a PATH to the table. :thumbup1:

4 new-arrival Juncoes are male. :thumbup: 'Bout time, fellas -
we were gonna send out a search party. :001_tt2: I mean,
GUYS! - whaddaya gonna do? -
they get lost, won't stop for directions, they just keep
flyin'. :nonod: Men, birds, dogs - all the guys have that in
common. 

Also: *trumpet fanfare! -*
ONE Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. :thumbup: 
.
._


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2015)

We have the bluetit family visiting ours as they have moved into my bird house.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

One of our feeders is a bit quiet as our neighbours are cutting the hedge next to them - but I've added a new feeder further away so that the birds don't go hungry 

So far this morning it's just the usual suspects visiting - currently watching a tree sparrow and two great tits. However, my husband just spotted what he thinks was a stoat down near where I added the latest feeder so I am staring down towards the bottom of the garden in hope that I spot it. I think it must be after eggs as it's been darting in and out of a holly bush/tree which we think has birds nesting in it.

Also had a rabbit tumble into the garden earlier. We have a bit of a hill at the front of our garden and the rabbit came tumbling down at great speed. Was kind of amusing


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Song Sparrows
I just love these little birds, they are busy, confident in motion but ready to flit off from threats, & scamper about
the backyard like mice - brisk, quick, bright-eyed, curious, they dart from place to place.

Notice the thrush-like dark streaking on the breast - all the Song Sparrows i've seen this year have streaks
edge-to-edge & top to bottom - from the front, there is no visible ash-white anywhere, it's like a brocade
vest.
.







.
.
The larger Fox Sparrows are very variable in coloration; luckily the Eastern morph is quite reddish,
& the rump & TAIL are reddest of all - a rich sienna-brown. That smokey-grey cap is another distinguishing
feature - they are *big*, plump birds, easily appearing twice the size of slim Song Sparrows.

They love to scuffle in leaf-litter, or kick the surface of soil, to expose bugs & seed - that sound, the rustle
& scrabble as they kick vigorously, followed by silence while they search with sharp eyes, is often the first
alert to a Fox Sparrow, foraging nearby.
.







.
.
This is a Dark-Eyed Junco hen... she's taking a snow-bath, notice the plump body shape? - Also, her color
is washed-out by the strong reflection from the snow, in life she'd appear to be a soft brown-washed slate,
with thin brown leading-edges on her primaries, making a series of stacked lines on her blue-grey wings.
.







.
The TAILS of both sexes have white feathers just inside the outer edge, & they are used as signals:
males flash their tails open to intimidate a male rival, often combined with an open-beak threat face
[tail raised, head lowered as they charge forward, a quick flash of white, & the other bird darts off -
they're doing this now, on the ground under the table, chasing one another - but no physical contact, just
the open-mouthed threat, rush, & flash].
Females & males both flash their tails open when they fly from a threat.
Hens will flick their tails open to "push" another bird a bit farther away, when they forage too closely.
.
Here's a pair of Juncoes on vacation in the tropics - notice how slim & elegant they are:
.







.

The cockbird is nearest - see the blue-grey is very crisp? - & the hen is behind, with her softer color
above - both have ash-white breasts.

BTW, i was *wrong* about the apricot flush under the male Junco's wings! ---
that's a similar bird in size, but quite different in outline, the Tufted Titmouse.
I'll post them next...
.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Love these active, curious, bold little birds; as a preteen, I used an old parakeet cage to trap birds
so I could get a better look at them, & the Titmice were the only ones who *bit* me :lol: - wrapped
gently in my hand, with their crests lowered & their black shoe-button eyes, they looked incredibly mouse-like,
& they'd reach over, take hold of my skin on a finger or thumb, & PINCH me fiercely with their beaks.

The Titmice & Chickadees were the only birds who'd perch on my hat or my shoulders as I filled feeders
with seed in winter, either too impatient or too bold to perch in the shrubs & wait for me to go indoors -
they'd perch on a feeder I'd just filled, before I even got the roof on it, & start to eat.
.
.
Cockbird - note the apricot washing out from under the wing







.
.
hen - both these birds have only slightly-raised crests







.
.
Fully-lowered crest, on an autumn bird - plump & ready to travel







.
.
Close-up, with crest raised in alarm







.
.
.


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

Lots of goldfinch today. Also a few green finch + blue, coal & great tits. Sparrows, dunnocks, blackbirds, wood pigeon & a wren. 



.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Repeated visitors:
A half-dozen Juncoes, 3 or 4 Song Sparrows at a time, the Brit thugs [English Sparrows in a gang],
a half-dozen Cardinals or more - up to 5 at one time, both sexes; 4 or 5 White-Crowned Sparrows,
mostly hens.

Single visits:
- 2 Blue Jays were here; I just refilled the deep soup-bowl & leaf-tray with no-waste seed, & the big clowns
were here to cadge some.  Then they went back to robbing the cat-buffet of kibble.

- The Fox Sparrow was here twice, & brought a friend both times. Can't tell M from F, so don't know
if they're a couple, or just in transit.

- the one-eyed Engl Sparrow cock; 1st time I've seen him in a week, I wondered where he'd got to.
He's in good shape, at least. :thumbup1:

Among the missing:
haven't seen the one-legged Engl Sparrow cock in at least a fortnight. He may have moved on,
found another feeder, or fallen prey to ______ - cold, hunger, cats, trauma, who knows?

the Carolina Wrens haven't been around in a month or so.

the Grasshopper Sparrow hasn't been by in 2 or 3 weeks; probly went north.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
BTW, Ms Peplum has obviously been corrupted by her long visit here - & the other birds who shamelessly
eat from the soup-bowl or seed-tray, like the Cardinals, who won't eat anywhere else - they refuse to perch
on the wire frame of the squirrel-proof feeder, & won't perch on the dowel of the pottery acorn, either, to reach
into it for seed.

Ms Peplum & one of the recently-arrived Junco cocks are *eating from the leaf-tray* instead of respectably
hopping around on the ground, foraging.  I don't know how much longer the other Juncoes will tolerate this -
a Junco who doesn't feed on the ground? --- simply shocking. What's the world coming to?
.
.
.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Our woodpecker is starting to look quite portly, I think all the peanuts are doing him some good!


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Psygon said:


> Our woodpecker is starting to look quite portly, I think all the peanuts are doing him some good!


Wow what a stunner - you're so lucky!


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

My birds were all a bit confused today.

Once they had all been down and had their breakfast, I decided to make a new bird table so there was too much activity on the terrace which kept them away while I was busy building.

Once finished, it took a little while before anyone came to feed. The first to brave their new posh bird table was the blue tit. The doves, pigeon, dunnocks and long tailed tits avoided it for the afternoon, but fed from the floor and hanging feeders nearby.

The squirrel was the second visitor to the table. 

Hope all is back to normal tomorrow


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Not on the bird table, but in the conservatory!

A beautiful, tiny, long tailed tit!

Went through to go into the garden and saw something fluttering at the window. He/she was so tiny and didn't seem too stressed.

I have a string curtain at the open door and not sure how he managed to fly through it and into the conservatory, but he was obviously not able to find his way out again.

I held back the curtain at the open double doors and son gently encouraged him along and towards the opening and he eventually flew out.

My new bird table is still not proving very popular


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Aw long tailed tits are my fave! They don't seem too phased by humans do they?
Don't be too disheartened by the bird table. When I first started feeding the birds and put a new hanging feeder thingy out it took about six months before they started visiting regularly - I don't think they like change :lol:


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

I put about 3# of waste-free seeds out yesterday, split among the hanging globe [1 cup], hanging acorn [2 cups],
& the remainder split between the concrete leaf-tray [2/3] & the deep soup-bowl [1/3].

I'd added 2 heaped Tbsp of cayenne-pepper & blended it well, to keep the $#%&@! squirrels out of it. 

The waste-free seed was in addition to the large seeds WITH hulls, in the big hanging silo feeder [10#],
plus 2 hanging suet-cakes in wire-mesh frames.

This morning, the birds were eating hungrily by 5:30-AM, & when I came down at 6-AM, there were easily
2 dozen birds of all sizes, from Song Sparrow to Blue Jay... on the ground, foraging; 6 on the silo, 1 each on
the globe & acorn, 3 or 4 on the leaf-tray, 2 on the soup-bowl.

There was a storm / cold-front coming, & they were all gobbling ahead of it; this afternoon at 3:30-PM,
there was light rain, but it was MIXED with pellets of ice that bounced off the ground. We may have snow
tonight, & it's cloudy and dim right now, at 5-PM - tho the sun won't set till after 7-PM.
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Change of guard here - the weather has got warmer and both the blackcap and the longtails have done a bunk. Their replacement is a pair of woodpigeons who seem to be nesting in our huge conifer (as does half the neighbourhood). Not sure it is the best of swaps but the bluetits have stayed, and the robins and sparrows. Still seeing the woodpecker occasionally as well.


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## witchyone (Dec 16, 2011)

Since i have been putting sunflower hearts out I seem to be getting quite a lot of Green finches visiting. And the last couple of days I have been visited by Gold finches


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
.
I was excited on Thursday evening to see a new 'face' among the scattered Sparrows on the ground & in the tray
or bowl - a *Purple Finch!*, a species i'm very fond of, even tho they don't "belong", here. North American natives,
they belong in the dry climes of southern California; they were trapped from the wild & sold as 'Hollywood finches'
in the 1920s & '30s to East Coast buyers, & when that became illegal, the sellers would release all their stock
whenever they thought they might be at risk of arrest, as replacing them with more wild birds was cheap & easy;
the released birds established a new, non-native, eastern popn.

They are handsome little birds; the hens can be mistaken for other species including various Sparrows,
but the cockbirds - as this one was - are quite distinctive: a bit smaller than Song Sparrows, with more streaks
on the breast & less ash-white visible, they appear to have been sloppily dipped head-down in raspberry juice,
& then perched to dry.
Their heads & rumps are shades of soft to bright rosey-red or purplish, over underlying sienna & russet-brown.

They have a beautiful liquid song, & sing all Spring & Summer till they leave; it begins with a distinctive series
of brief, sweet whistles, that Ur ear will quickly learn to know.
They often nest around human habitations, so have earned the nickname "house sparrows". They're very good
insect-control, & don't damage beneficial or benign insect popns. [NOTE: there's an *actual* House *Finch* species in
eastern N America, but they have much-less red wash - the forehead is purpley-red, with a brief quickly-fading tint
below that. Plus just to add more confusion, there's a House *Sparrow* that resembles the alien English Sparrow
but with a very-minimal black bib under the lower mandible. So 2 finch species, 2 sparrow species, & 4 names.  
Just to keep us on our toes.]

I was surprised but happy to see him, & was resigned to not seeing him again - as he ate in the mixed batch,
i figured he was probly northing & hungry, saw the other birds or heard them, & followed them in.
.
Please note that THIS cockbird has practically no streaking - very dissimilar to the cock that visits, here:
.







.
.
Today at 11-AM, he came ALONE - & lo & behold, he sat on the pottery acorn where i could really see him,
his neat plumage with light bands edging the medium-brown feathers on the leading edge of his primaries &
secondaries & contour feathers of his upper body, so precise & simple; his rich red crown & nape & rump,
tidy dark legs & feet [UNlike the Song Sparrows' pale-yellow legs & feet, a good field marker!]... this was such
a treat, he was about 15-inches from the window & stayed there, eating steadily but casually with pauses
to look about & listen, 'chip'ping now & then quietly.
Then he flew - but i have hopes, now, that he'll stay awhile.

Maybe a hen will come by... & perhaps we'll have a nest, the old lilac bush in the large shared yard would be
almost ideal for the purpose.

the Juncoes, amazingly, are still here daily - at least 4, possibly more.
I thought they'd stay a few weeks & plow north, as they nest well into Canada, but it seems they're
quite happy, at least for now, to stay. Maybe they're waiting for insects to begin hatching with the warmer
temps - it's going to be 50'-F or over for 3 or 4 days, so bugs & insects will be hatching & active here, & that
would mean they'll soon be available north of the border, too?...

there are now 3 or 4 Fox Sparrows who come regularly, they hop & kick vigorously along the ground,
& i still have no idea who's M or F. 

Only 3 or 4 Cardinals come by now; the others have paired or moved.

the White-Crowned Sparrows are frequent visitors, but arrive in smaller numbers, not a flock of 4 to 8;
2 or 3 or 4 birds only. So they, too, must be pairing.

There are also now Tree Sparrows, who resemble the White-Crowns but for their ash-grey undersides.
I've seen 2 or 3 in the mixed groups, as they feed.

the Blue Jays are markedly less vocal, which typically means they're sneaking into their nesting area -
i hope it's not the lilac bush; they intimidate smaller birds, & will even take & eat eggs or nestlings & fledglings,
including infant squirrels. :nonod: They're smart & beautiful, but not - IMO - "good neighbors", except for their strong
territorial habits & loud alarm-calls when they see predators who are hunting; that shout of angry fright carries
very far, & yes, other species pay attn & react appropriately, going on high alert & freezing.
They only come by here to take all the peanuts when i put out fresh no-waste seed. :thumbdown: Gourmands!...

Speak of the devil - one Jay just came, rifled the leaf-tray for peanut-halves, scared the smaller birds off,
& left.  Gorgeous, brilliant, & a pain in the ar$e. 

the Robins only visit the cat-buffet, & i have yet to see a Robin-hen in our yard or in their's, nor on the fence
waiting to fly down & eat - the line-up on the fences is funny to see, but it's still just 3 or 4 cockbirds, here,
tho i know that Robin-hens arrived in the area some 10 days or more ago.
.
.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

witchyone said:


> Since i have been putting sunflower hearts out I seem to be getting quite a lot of Green finches visiting. And the last couple of days I have been visited by Gold finches


You are so lucky to get Greenfinches, we have had none here for several years.
Had one Goldfinch today, in Summer plumage, but this time of year they usually aren't around anyway. In Winter we have several pairs.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
.
around 2-PM, there were actually 5 species of Sparrows in the yard at one time:
Fox, Song, Tree, House, & White-Crowned. That's got to be some kinda record. 
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Someone has built a nest in the robin box - not sure who, but possibly tits


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Lurcherlad said:


> Someone has built a nest in the robin box - not sure who, but possibly tits


You lucky thing! I've had a nesting box for a few years but nobody has used it :sad:


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

moggie14 said:


> ...
> I've had a nesting box for a few years, but nobody has used it. :sad:
> .
> .


.
.
Is it pole-mounted or hanging?
Can it be moved?

If it's pole-mounted & hard to move, make sure there are predator-prevention additions on the pole.
Baffles can be cone or flat - both of those keep snakes & cats out, but flat baffles don't deter squirrels or
rats, both of whom will take eggs or nestlings - even fledglings, if they're small-enuf.

If it's in full sun, or the doorway faces SOUTH, it may be too hot & gets too bright inside. Semi-shade with
dappling branches to break up the heat of the sun, or morning sun is good - AFTERNOON sun is very bad,
if the doorway faces -West- & gets direct exposure to the afternoon sun, i'd definitely move it, either pole &
all to a completely-different location, or i'd rotate the orientation of the birdhouse while leaving the pole
in place.

Here are some tips for sites & placement:
.
Putting up a nest box | BTO - British Trust for Ornithology
.
.
position nest boxes - wild bird nesting box -garden bird box position.
.
.
How to Put Up a Bird House - Mounting a Nesting Box
.
.
Info on Bird House Placement and When to Hang your Bird House
.
.
The RSPB: Advice: Siting a nestbox
.
.

Don't worry that it's April already - just be sure it's unoccupied before U move it, actually open it
as if for cleaning, & look for any nest-building materials / check for eggs in leaf-litter, etc. [Be aware that
spiders, bees or wasps may use the shelter of a bird-box, too - so do be careful, U don't want to be stung,
& let the spider escape or simply dump the spider / wind the web with a twig to remove them.]
.
.
Even if it's too late for this nesting season, birds may use it as a rain shelter, or this autumn to get out of
the cold, & of course, over the winter. It can get lots of use before next spring, & there are late-nesters,
too - what about the species that like to have a 2nd clutch in June?... they'll be house-hunting in May. 
.
.
A doorway or slot that faces northeast or east is good; south & west are too hot & too bright, unless they're
in shade & the door faces AWAY from prevailing winds.
.

Predators & nest protection:
.
http://birding.about.com/od/birdhouses/a/Protecting-Bird-Houses-From-Predators.htm
.
.
mounting SEVERAL bird-boxes give the shopping pair a choice of location - most yards / gardens are too small
for multiple pairs to share, especially if U have feeders, but different boxes or different species may move in
each year, & each pair might have different needs or preferences.
.
http://birding.about.com/od/birdhouses/bb/beforebuild.htm
.
Some free plans to build-Ur-own:
.
http://birding.about.com/od/birdhouses/a/Free-Bird-House-Plans.htm
.
.
Cleaning:
.
http://birding.about.com/od/birdhouses/a/How-To-Clean-A-Bird-House.htm
.
.
.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Wow thanks for the advice and links - I'll take a good look at those later.
The bird box is on a six foot fence, about 3/4 up and surrounded by climbing plants. The fence is north facing. I wondered if it's too near the feeders which are about 25 feet away?


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
.
I was up at 6 this morning, so saw plenty of birds in & out - the Jays, 2 Robins, all 5 Sparrow species, Ms Peplum
& Ms High-Rise [the Junco hens] & a few buddies, Cardinals, etc.

Around 9-AM, the Purple Finch cock was back - with a *hen* following him. I don't know if they're a pair,
she was obviously a 1st-time visitor, & when he went to the pottery-acorn, she perched on the crook;
when he exited, she went there to eat, while he went to the hanging globe on the other arm. Both those feeders
are single-occupancy; the big silo has ports for 8, but that's much-larger fare [striped sunflower, whole peanut,
raisins, etc].

I do hope they? / he? nests nearby; i love their song, & they sing until they leave in autumn. :thumbup1:
.
.
Purple Finch, Sounds, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
.
.
Purple Finch | Audubon Field Guide
.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

moggie14 said:


> ...
> 
> The bird box is on a 6-foot fence, about 3/4 up [*so 4-ft from the ground?...*] and surrounded by climbing plants.
> 
> ...


.
.
How close to the bird-box are the plants to either side? - a climbing plant is a ladder for predators.
I'd probly trim the plants to each side to provide 18-inches minimum of free space on the fence around
the bird-box, & a half-dome secured with the top at the very limit of the 6-ft fence above it would help
keep critters off it from above,
with the creepers trained / tied over it to hide the acrylic dome.

A black or clear plastic square a foot larger than the bird-box on all sides, screwed to the fence behind it,
prevents hungry critters using the fence itself as a ladder to assault the nest. Plexiglas is very good, as it's
very strong & very slick.

Does the bird-box have a perch sticking out? - A dowel or cleat?
If so, just take it off; U can also frame the hole with metal to prevent rodents chewing it bigger, or making
an opening to ease their exit while carrying a kidnapped chick to eat elsewhere.  An aluminum pie-plate
can be cut with scissors, the inside "starburst" tacked to the inner wall, the outside 'starburst' glued & nailed
to the exterior, & the section covering the DOORWAY's depth is left entire - uncut, to defend the chewable
opening. An empty soup-can or other can will work, too - remove top & bottom both, cut it with tin-snips
to split it down the seam or side, fold both edges & hammer them flat, & insert it rolled lengthwise to
measure it for diameter & depth of the hole's "wall". Mark the solid part that will line the door uncut, take
it out of the hole, make Ur starburst cuts, hammer the sharp edges under on both sides, roll it again, slip
the cylinder into the hole, open it to match the diameter, WEARING GLOVES, & bend the starbursts inward
& outward. Lift the section where they overlap & fill it with silicone bath-caulk to keep the rain from pooling -
a flat screwdriver will work nicely to just slide the upper section upward & slip the nozzle in the gap.
Put it back down, wipe away the excess caulk, & tack every starburst to the house with copper or brass
brads - they need heads, they can't be finishing brads with pin heads, but proper flat heads to secure
the metal flashing.

I might bump the box up to *5-ft from the ground*, too. Can't hurt.

How busy is Ur feeder?
Is it possible to move the bird-box further away, yet still have it in Ur yard?
Is there another section of fence, where the house or part of the house would be between feeder & bird-box?

Gardens / yards come in all sizes & shapes - sometimes a wing or entry that juts out makes a good
visual barrier between one busy area & another, quieter space. A trellis, arbor arch, or a shade pergola
might be a terrific addition to the garden, plus visually block the feeder activity from a nesting pair.

A free-standing trellis is harder to anchor, but an arbor, arch, or pergola are all self-supporting.
A simple free-standing half-sized section of basketweave privacy fence is another possibility -
be sure to sink the posts to the correct depth to prevent frost-heave, & set them on & in coarse stone
to keep them drained & prevent rot.
A pergola with trellis to back it would be a wonderful spot for a shady nook, U could hang a swing under
the pergola, & plant creepers to cover the trellis behind & above - roses, grapes, winter jasmine...

For that matter, an old folding privacy screen / decorative panel of 3 or 4 sections, mounted to rebar,
can be installed by just hammering the rebar into the ground - CHECK for water, gas, electric & any other
utilities before digging or driving rods, tho! - U don't want to hit a wire or pipe.

But such folding-screens can be had at a car-boot or yard sale or garage sale very inexpensively.
Look for basketweave wood or bamboo - if it's wood, weather-seal it; sand it & seal with matte polyurethane.
[Bamboo is very durable, no worries there.] Try to find a screen that's 6 to 7-ft tall, for good visual 'coverage'.

After cleaning &/ or sealing, let it dry well, then install 2 cable or small-pipe fasteners on each leg, at least 4-inches
apart, plus some kind of "socket" at the top end, to stop the rebar sliding up the leg. Anything solid will do - ask Ur
local handyperson or the staff at the hardware store for suggestions.
MEASURE so the socket holds the bottom of the leg at least 4-inches ABOVE the grass, or even 6-inches, so that
it's off the lawn entirely for trimming / off the ground & won't rot. Same if it's erected in a garden - U want space
to let air circulate beneath it, & allow planting, transplanting, weeding, & so on.

Set up the panels the way U want them on the grass; mark the place for each leg with flour. Fold the panels
& set them aside. Drive each rebar at least a foot deep on the marks, with at least a foot above the ground.
Bring over the panels, gently slip the rebar into the fasteners, & tap them home till the bar hits the socket,
using a light hammer & moving from leg to leg as they slip down.

Now the nest has a visual barrier from feeder activity, & U've got a free-standing small garden area
at the base of the screen, on both sides. The angles are good for larger plantings, the edges for low plants,
& the screen is a great wind-buffer for such plants as gladioli, hollyhocks, or lilies. Wallflowers would like it, too.
.
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

moggie14 said:


> You lucky thing! I've had a nesting box for a few years but nobody has used it :sad:


The robin used it in the past, but they just tend to build their nest inside and leave the top open. The structure that is in there this year has filled the box, and has it's own small hole created out of the nesting material. Similar in size to the hole in a tit box.

I haven't spotted any birds flying into the ivy in which the box sits yet, but I shall keep my eyes peeled 

I do have a tit box, mounted on the north side of a shed. The tits were in and out one year and I was hopeful, but they lost interest and didn't nest in there. Last year I had bees nesting in there - they didn't last long either because the wasps raided the nest


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Lurcherlad said:


> .
> .
> The robin used it in the past, but they just... build their [bowl-nest] inside & leave the top open.
> 
> ...


.
.
.
IOW, there's a tube or tunnel inside the open-topped box, which leads into an enclosed nest of twigs?...
U cannot SEE the bowl where the eggs or any nestlings would lie, it's enclosed, correct?
.
.
Am i describing it fairly accurately? -
if so, i'll lay good odds the new tenant is a *wren*. :wink: - How much will U bet me? 
.
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

leashedForLife said:


> .
> .
> .
> IOW, there's a tube or tunnel inside the open-topped box, which leads into an enclosed nest of twigs?...
> ...


You could be right! I have a resident Wren in the garden so quite possible. They are usually seen nearer to the house, but I guess it's quieter up the far end of the garden.

I haven't got too close to the nest, but it does look similar to how you describe 

The robins nested in the ivy in the alleyway outside my kitchen window. Not seen any activity there yet, but I will keep my eyes peeled for them too


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
.
.
for the past 2 or 3 days, a House Finch cock has been coming by to eat -
he's got less-intense color than the Purple Finch male, & it's also "shorter", mostly his head & a light wash
fading once past his neck, with a pinky-red rump, while the Purple Finch cock has a bright-red rump.
.
.
RobZilla, the massive monster-Robin, has not been around for a few weeks; the cock Robins who visit regularly
are normal-sized & don't make the Sparrows look like mosquitoes. :lol:
.
.
Four! Blue Jays were here a little while ago,
stuffing themselves with peanut-halves & sloppily tossing small seeds over the side to the ground,
but the Finches & Sparrows won't let it go to waste & spoil - at least i've got a clean-up crew. 
.
.
.
The hybrid Peonies i planted last year are sprouting - i can't wait to see them, altho it's unlikely that
they'll bloom this year; Peonies do not like to be transplanted, they take some time to recover, often
2 or even 3 years after being planted in a new spot.
But the foliage will be pretty, & these are tree-peony x classic peony crosses - I've never seen one, so i'm
excited to see the shape, height, & foliage. The shoots are a rich bright magenta.
.
.
No sign of the Lily of the Valley - i'm afraid the bulbs died. :nonod: I only planted 10, but i really had hopes;
i love their fragrance.
.
.
The Daylilies, Turk's Cap Lilies, & the other bulbs are yet to show - they like warmer weather, & may not
poke a sprout up until May.
.
.
The Silver Mint, a relative / strain? / species? of Ajuga, is sprawling all over, it never died back but stayed
green even under 100-inches of snow.
.
.

I planted 14 Narcissus bulbs on SUnday, among the Pachysandra in the court - mostly double bulbs, they should
make a brave show when they bloom. I have another 18 to go, but didn't dare put them in, as the old rotting
half-barrel planters were to be replaced with LARGER-diameter barrel planters, & i didn't want to plant
bulbs that would be mashed under a 30-inch wide planter filled with 4-cubic-feet of potting mix! 
.
.
So i'll plant the remaining Narcissus soon - the barrels are set, now, & filled, but not yet planted.
.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
.
_Guess who came by, shortly after i arrived home, @ 4:30?...

*RobZilla* the mutant cock-Robin, larger than life, & twice as hungry. :lol:

I haven't seen him in close to a month, i thought he'd surely moved on, but no - he's been
lying doggo somewhere, & came back just to throw his [considerable] weight around._
.
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

A big fat rat!


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Not nice. Put food on the floor for it instead.:lol:


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Valanita said:


> Not nice. Put food on the floor for it instead.:lol:


Ha ha 

TBH I've just made a new bird table and the birds are still a bit standoffish - I'm quite glad that someone is using it!  :lol:


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Lurcherlad said:


> .
> ...
> ...I've just made a new bird table, & the birds are still a bit standoffish -
> I'm quite glad that *someone* is using it!  :lol:
> ...


.
.
Think of it as free advertising - the birds will see the rat happily eating, & suddenly notice,
_"Oh, my goodness! - there's FOOD over there."_ :lol:
.
.
Competition can be a good thing - a single pet can be diffident & picky about eating a meal,
but bring in another animal, & appetites often improve.  The former picky-eater might join
the Clean-Plate Club. 
.
.
.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

been a bit quiet lately but the birds are still coming in their many and feasting 

We also have the squirrel problem back, seems some of the mum and dad squirrels have told their kids where to come for dinner as we have soon many at the moment. 8 out there this morning before I went and told them to buzz off. One of the young squirrels is a curious little guy, he sits at our patio door and looks in. Stares right at Ed and Darcy 

Spring is bringing out a few new birds, we're seeing a lot more of a pair of (I think) rooks and we are seeing a whole family of chaffinches, I think there are 2 adults and 4 or 5 young ones.

We also have a pair of yellow hammers visiting daily. They're pretty shy of me - seem happy to eat while the cats are watching but not when I am! 

We also have some new (healthy looking) mice!


Yellow hammer


Mouse

Also I think I mentioned this guy before, this is the bird with a broken wing who lives in our village - who I look out for every day to make sure he's OK. There are a couple of people that put out seeds for him too


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

A bit fat HERON! Amazing sight! 

OK - not strictly ON the bird table, but only 2 foot away and right next to my fish pond! 

Luckily, he spotted me looking out of the window and few off immediately.

However, he obviously had not spotted my plastic heron and two wooden white egrets who live in the flower bed at the opposite edge of the pond and who are meant to prevent real herons from landing! 

No wonder the fish have been shy over the last few days :frown2: Oh well, live and let live 

On a good point, at least the other birds have finally accepted the new bird table - wood pigeons back using it this morning (one of them was busy on the grass - eating the grass seed I had scattered the other day on a bald patch ).

Blue tits, long tailed tits, sparrows and dunnocks all feeding, whilst the blackbird had a bath


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## witchyone (Dec 16, 2011)

Had a Sparrow Hawk around today so that tends to make things go a bit quiet on the bird feeding front. Watched a wood Pigeon see off a magpie yesterday, lots of feathers flew but the pigeon saw him off. Don't usually see magpies here but I think its because blackbirds are fledging so they are after the babies


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
.
last week, on Mon the 13th, i saw a big gorgeous female GOSHAWK -
she first came into view flying away from me & above, on a steep climb for altitude,
so all i could make out was a dam*ed big bird that deffo wasn't a gull, & wasn't an owl nor a crane.
I didn't know what s/he might be, but i did know what s/he wasn't - & i wanted to catch up!
.
.
.
I was in a maze of narrow residential streets, & my sight of her was cut-off within seconds by houses -
i walked briskly down the street, crossed to the far side, & prayed i'd see the bird when i rounded the corner.
.
.
No sign of the bird in the air, not perched in a tree, but s/he had seemed to be CARRYING something,
so unless it had been dropped, the bird couldn't have gone far. Half a block further, i see her - yes, her! -
standing on the near front corner of a 1930s apt-building, on the coping of a flat roof. I stop dead, not
wanting to send her up, & step back slowly, looking sidelong at her so she won't react to my gaze, & reach
very slowly into my pocket for my phone. With a tree over me & a building between us, i think i'm pretty
safe if i move gently...
.
.
I got 3 photos of her in place under the cloudy sky, but it wasn't a good angle & she looks much smaller
than life-size. I **think** she'd taken an adult pigeon, the dangling object was large & yet compact,
& other birds pursued her when i 1st saw her, which is typical for Spring - raptors have a helluva life
when all the smaller birds are high on bonding hormones & passionately turfy & defensive of their nests
& any current or possible-future vulnerable young - eggs, nestlings, fledglings. They are harried
everywhere they go, since they exit one harassing parent's turf only to enter another's.
.
.
Female Goshawks are tall accipters, with broad wings & long narrow tails to get the best possible combo
of sailing to conserve energy, & a rudder for high maneuverability & tight turns. Goshawks live in woodlands,
& are human-shy - they don't nest in dense human areas, so they are deep-woods or rural birds, not part of
the city-scape.
She's obviously northing - not a resident, but she's in good shape.
.
.
I love raptors madly - i had the chance to work with several, as a teen, & they are intelligent, can be
very affiliative, & vary widely in temperament. Goshawks are tough; they will attack humans who attempt
to approach their nests too closely, & thus aren't often banded - the parents make this very, very difficult,
in strong contrast to many other species who will shout in alarm & circle, but rarely dive or strike. Goshawks
will bloody any interloper.
.
.
I was so happy to see her - i knew of several nests over my hiking years in Pennsy, but haven't seen one
in easily 20-years. Beautiful bird, who brought back wonderful memories. :thumbup1:
.
.
ADDED:
i e-mailed my phone-pix to myself, but - as usual! - it's been 30-mins & they haven't arrived.
:nonod: I'll edit this to add the photos, later. Plz don't get too excited - they're fuzzy snapshots,
not frameable art. :biggrin:
.
.
.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

My OH went out today and came back with a toy, I think it was for me but Ed has decided to keep it... so now when we're watching the bird table Ed has a bird to keep him company


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
.
I think she was carrying a pigeon when I 1st saw her, from behind & below; she was in a steep climb,
with something Lg yet compact hanging below her.

She made it to this roof despite harassment from smaller birds, but either dropped the pigeon when
I lost sight of her, with houses betw us, or she dropped the bird on the roof & is catching her breath.
.
.







.
.
.
Here she is at 3.5-X magnification, in profile -
.







.
Why did my photos turn SIDEways?... :crying:
.

In the photo between, she's looking right at me - so not a good POV, her neck just goes up & ends
with the flat crown of her skull, & the light sky behind her throws her face into shadow.

But this one, in profile, at least is recognizable.  As a Goshawk.
.
.
Here's a pro photo of an adult female -
.
.







.
.
.
And a pro photo of a juvie female - note the plumage differences:
.
.







.
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

A pair of greenfinch in the tree at the end of the garden. He was singing, she joined him, and they flew off together. Not in to the garden unfortunately but still exciting, and romantic. I like this picture because a trick of the light has given her stripey lipstick


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## AnnB (Nov 6, 2011)

Psygon; wow yellowhammers visiting your garden! I have a feeling your "mouse" might actually be a baby rat.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

AnnB said:


> Psygon; wow yellowhammers visiting your garden! *I have a feeling your "mouse" might actually be a baby rat*.


Yes, it is a baby rat, look at that bald tail, never had a close look at the photo, posted, before.:lol:


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Lovely to get Yellowhammers in the garden. Lucky you, Psygon.


We haven't had Greenfinches here since that horrid desease wiped them out. Lucky you too, Jonescat.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Valanita said:


> We haven't had Greenfinches here since that horrid desease wiped them out. Lucky you too, Jonescat.


We haven't either, which is why these ones are very exciting. We have one a couple of times over the winter and now these two, so all our fingers are crossed.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Jonescat said:


> We haven't either, which is why these ones are very exciting. We have one a couple of times over the winter and now these two, so all our fingers are crossed.


Good luck then, I hope they stay.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Valanita said:


> Yes, it is a baby rat, look at that bald tail, never had a close look at the photo, posted, before.:lol:


Heh, I said to my OH we have baby rats and he assured me they were mice


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Blue Tits, two, on the bird table, but I put out soaked mealworms in a dish on the patio & in a few minutes they had all gone. I didn't see what took them, but it sure was greedy, must have a big bill too to carry them away.  It wasn't a Corvid, I'd have seen one of those.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Today we had a baby Robin in the garden on the patio, he/she was scoffing soaked mealworms, but as I got my camera a Herring Gull landed on the bird table & frightened him/her away.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
I'm beyond disgusted with the "new" PF-uk, it has no gains for me, & only multiple
disadvantages - among them, severe character-limits on wall / profile posts AKA
visitors' mssgs, & also sharp limits on thread-posts [like this one].
When it 1st re-opened, visitor-mssgs were allowed 420 characters - which was IMO
bad-enuf. Now they're a mere 140-characters or less.

Thread-posts don't even TELL U what the character-limit is, only that U've exceeded it,
& must make it shorter. The actual count by which U've overrun it is secret. ::RollEyes::
.
I won't be spending as much time on the forum; the bland-on-bland color scheme & lots
of white-space irritate my eyes, so it's self-limiting. That's a very new & very unhappy
experience; never had it before.

Re the birds, no new visitors; Cardinals, various Sparrow species, Jays, Robins.
The squirrels are a PITA, raiding the bowls & tray even when well-dusted with cayenne
& the pepper is adhered with olive-oil.
.
.
The plants i put in last spring are sprouting - peonies [old-fashioned & hybrid], Oriental
lilies & daylilies, all in peach & pink shades. No sign of the Lily of the Valley, sadly -
i planted them for fragrance, & b/c they flower even in shade.
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I'm not keen either - still it may do me a favour and I won't waste so much of my time on the forum in future 

I find myself getting halfway through a response to someone's thread and then giving up and deleting it. 

Percy the Pheasant was just out on the terrace, squawking his head off


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Finally! - a new visitor:
.
This morning around 7:30-AM, a Common Grackle arrived, cautiously landing on the retaining wall
to look over the small yard 4-ft below, with Sparrows on the seed-bowls under the table, Jays atop
the fence dividing "our" yard from next-door's cat buffet, & 2 Cardinals on the large silo-feeder.

He must have decided it looked pretty safe, as after 3 or 4 strides along the wall, he fluttered to
the ground under the table, & began foraging hungrily.
I wonder if he just arrived - I haven't seen any flocks, yet, & "blackbirds" of various species often
make enormous mixed flocks for migration, whether south in fall or north in spring.

He looked gorgeous in his nice new breeding plumage, purple head, bronze shoulder cape, &
glossy wings & tail, & his ice-white eyes made his gender obvious, even at a distance.

I hope he comes back - & encourages other shy passersby to drop in.
Sparrows are all well & good, but even when they come in 5 varieties, LOL, they're boring after
the first 2 months.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Between the bl**dy spraying tomcat & the bl**dy thieving squirrels,
i'm ready to put cat- & rodent-proof fencing 6-ft high all around the yard,
& defy anything but insects & birds to come in, from above, or moles,
earthworms, & similar, from below.
.
I swear i'm gonna have a Super-Soaker water gun, & fire a stream of cold water
right up that cat's bum, one of these fine days. ::
.
.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Mr and Mrs Cardinal, taken from my living room window. I THINK their nest is in the middle pine tree of my yard, but not sure. Hope they bring the babies to the feeding stations.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
I'm at home, sick, today - good thing my work schedule is Sat / Sun / Mon.
I've got some sort of ugly virus, cloggy sinus, puffy eyes, violent sneezes & the
occasional cough, plus a lovely nonstop flow of ht-waer from my left nostril, LOL.
Charming..
.The birds profited, as i pottered around cleaning & filling seed bowls & feeders,
plus scrubbed the algae from the terra-cotta birdbath & refilled it.

The big silo feeder has mold in the bottom - i need to figure out a way to LIFT the
seed off the sheetmetal floor so it aerates. Meantime, i dumped the seed to prevent
any more spoilage & split about half of it among the banana-leaf concrete tray, the
deep soup-bowl, & the pastry-rim bowl, all under the glass-topped table.

Showers off & on all day today, so good that the seed is under cover.
.
.
The lilies, peonies, tiger-lilies, & the new astilbe, are all well-up. ::thumbup::

The deep-pink butterfly bush i planted last spring was badly, badly broken & crushed by
the heavy snow over the winter; it's re-sprouting within inches of the ground, leafing directly
from the main stems, so it will be recovering for 2 or 3 seasons, at least.
.
.
There's still no sign of the Lily of the Valley i planted last spring - i think all 10 bulbs died.
Very disappointing - they were the ONLY fragrant flowers, i love scented blooms. :---(
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Glad your garden is starting to come alive! 

Hope you are feeling better soon


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Thanks, L-L.
I'm not all better, but am WAY-better than yesterday, & slept in bed last nite, for the 1st time
since Sun-into-Monday... it took 3 throw-pillows plus a down-&-feather bed pillow to recline me
so that I could breathe, but at least i was in a proper bed, not in the lounge chair.
I slept from 7-PM to 8-Am, only waking to take meds every 6-hrs.

That nasty old male squirrel with the docked tail was here this morning, hunkered in the leaf-tray
bodily, eating as fast as possible. I used up all the No-Waste seed; all i've left are sunflower bits, 
freeze-dried mealworms, & fruit-&-nut WITH hulls on.
The tray had the fruit-&-nut mix, but it seems he couldn't bother to hull sunnies or safflower - he
was just head-down & gobbling, who knows what.

So i transferred the tray & both bowls to the acorn feeder, leaving the squirrels nothing to scrounge,
scrubbed & re-filled the drinking bowl & bird-bath, & am eating lunch.

I wish the bl**dy squirrels would find somewhere else to scavenge; they TAKE more than they actually
EAT, & stash it, but this time of year, it's liable to spoil & do no one any good. The greedy-guts' eyes
are bigger than their bellies - which are quite large-enuf, thanks.
.
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Ooh! We have house sparrow babies! They are fledged but still dependent and sitting in the cherry tree next to the feeders squeaking and vibrating their wings like hummingbirds to get Mum and Dad's attention. I think we also have nesting starlings and bluetits as they are both taking bill loads of suet away from the feeders. And hedgehog poo on the grass yesterday, although have yet to see the hog itself.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
The various sparrows are still faithfully here to eat, the Cardinals drop by now & then,
the Jays patronize the cat-food buffet, & the suet-block has regular diners.
.
I sure wish i'd see some new faces...  but it's the same crew. No babies seen, yet.
I know they're out there - i sometimes hear chirps & peeps.
.
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Spotted Woodpecker at the nut feeder, but it's nearly empty and he was unable to get much out. Must buy some tomorrow.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Been away for a while, but the garden visitors are still out in force. Not seen the rats again... but we now have some new daily visitors. Baby bunnies! They come to the bird food I've hidden in the shrubbery 

We have tree sparrows nesting on one side of our house and coal tits on the other... our garden is covered in mole hills and the farmer down the road has told us to be careful driving around as he is seeing baby deer on our road. Not seen one yet but got my fingers crossed we come across one!


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## catpud (Nov 9, 2013)

The house sparrow fledglings are out and about following the parent birds, learning their way around the feeders, and testing their wings - I think they have all pretty much got flying mastered now, it's just learning to navigate fences - I saw one take flight, try to get over a fence, stop half way up, then half scramble, half flap the rest of the way to the top - really funny to watch these little ones. 

One landed on another chicks head mid air which raised a rather loud objection from the chick used as a landing pad. 

Its rather amusing to see them beg the parent birds for food - flapping their wings like they are still tiny chicks, and the parents give in - 10 seconds later the babies are taking a tester peck or two from a feeder. Can't wait to see them mature and have their own chicks.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Coo coo !


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Bird table/patio has been visited by a wood pigeon family this week - I'm assuming mum, dad and squab. Kinda cute, the little squab pigeon chases after the bigger pigeons all the time. The squab pigeon isn't *that* great at flying yet, takes quite a few attempts to get airborne and sometimes I wonder if he/she will make it. 

On Thursday one of our visiting crows tried to take the squab which was a bit scary, but the parent pigeons saw the crow off and all the crow seemed to get was a mouthful of feathers. I'm hoping the little squab pigeon is OK as I've not seen the whole family out since then...


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## catpud (Nov 9, 2013)

Not on my bird table but....

Just back from a week long walking holiday (walked through the door just a little while ago, and I am now here catching up with a cup of coffee and a bowl of oxo )

I was lucky enough to see several birds while I was about - buzzards taking advantage of the boom in baby rabbits, was breath taking watching them hunt, herons in rivers fishing, canadian geese flying in formation, and a particular little bird that had me captivated with it's antics and let behind this evidence of it's meal.....










Sorry it's not very clear, this was taken on my phone. But as you might be able to make out - these are snail shell fragments. It was taken near the top of a mountain after a bit of a hard scramble. This bird was using this rock table as a tool. It had the snail in it's beak, and was hitting the snail against the rock to open it - it succeeded and took the snail out of it's shell and had a meal, and left behind this. Was fascinating to watch. The bird, incase anybody is wondering, was a song thrush, something we probably all see quite often, although we might not all get to see this behaviour as often as we see the bird.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

I did think Song Thrush, Catpud.
We seem to have a population explosion of young Starlings at present.


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## jill3 (Feb 18, 2009)

Here is a Picture taken this week from our Garden. It's not on the Bird Table but chick is only tiny and unable to get on the Table. Our 3 cats stayed indoors till this little one found his wings.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

That's a lovely photo, Jill.
We now have a lot of young Sparrows too.


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## rottiepointerhouse (Feb 9, 2014)

Greater Spotted Woodpeckers on our bird feeder - they come every day this is the male and he was feeding his youngster (the one higher up) but didn't manage to get a photo of that unfortunately.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

How lovely to get Woodpeckers on your bird feeders, Rottiepointerhouse. Great photo's too.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

The starling family are the most frequent at the moment. I think there are still 4 youngsters and there seem to be 3 adults. The sparrows are around as usual, and Mrs Blackbird was hopping back in to the hedge with a beakful of nest material this week so I guess she's sitting on brood 2 now. I haven't seen any tits or finches for a while but I did see something that I am not sure about, but think was a young Blackcap checking out the feeders.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Just returned from my temporary ban - courtesy of Lymore Lynn, who claimed that i'd been
_*"promoting* the killing of cats"._ Piffle.

The backyard is framed in foliage, altho the flowers aren't even in bud, yet - except for the astilbe,
which was spozed to be PINK & has bloomed -white-. Drabbit! - everything else is pink, peach, etc,
so i plan to give away the white astilbe. Dam* mis-labeled plants.
The hybrid peonies are looking healthy, but no buds, yet - i'm hoping soon.

The potted plants out front look GREAT - lots of flowers, lots of color.










God _*bless, now i can't even post a photo! *_W-T-bl**dy-H, U shouldn't need
tech-support just to put a pic on a comment. *I hate the 'new, improved' PF-uk.* 
>:---(
I have a photo on my laptop; when i hit "upload file" & choose it, the dreaded 
green screen blooms, a dark blip shows in the upper right corner, & 3 lozenges
endlessly fill & empty - it never loads!.
.
.
.

.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Trying again, after taking advice elsewhere -
.
. 








.
it worked! --- Yay! - thanks to SATORI.  The larger planter, out front.
.
.
.


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## rottiepointerhouse (Feb 9, 2014)

Not in my garden but so pretty couldn't resist posting from our walk


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Lovely Yellowhammer. We haven't seen any here for ages, there used to be a lot on our part of the moor, not far & sometimes they would come to our gardens, but they seem to have all vanished.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
That bl**dy marbled-grey tabby M was back, i call him Squirts cuz he
likes to spray - in our yard, & on the neighbor's gas-grill, especially.
I don't know what his owner calls him, but i wish to H*** s/he'd call him
HOME & keep him there -- he killed a juvie White-Crowned Sparrow,
yesterday, & i saw him - 
I was standing at the oven, having just pulled out the apple tart i made,
& heard a sudden hullabaloo from the birds. I turned just in time to see
him crunch the shrieking bird's ribcage, & the bird was abruptly silent &
the flailing wings went limp, tho the others kept shouting in alarm.
>:--[
There are *THREE doors* between the kitchen & yard, so i went out as
quickly as possible & shouted him off, but he took the corpse along. So
he not only had the thrill of the kill, he got a take-out meal, too.
In less than 10-mins, he was back, & i instantly went out & scared
him off - he didn't even get under the fence - but he'll be back, over
& over & over, to try & repeat his glory moment.
.
.
I can't help but curse the irresponsible barstewards who let their
"beloved" cats roam at large; U'd think heavy traffic, rat-bait stations,
& malicious ppl would make them worry over the safety of their dear
Kitty, above & beyond the constant risks of cat-fights, contagious ill-
ness, & trauma, but no.
They open the door, & there goes Kitty...
Arsewipes. ::
.
.
.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

I know that feeling & I feel your pain, LeashedForLife.
I am not feeding our garden birds at present because next door have enticed a stray tom because they felt sorry for it & are feeding it, but it hasn't stopped it taking a Wood Pigeon in my garden off the patio & right in front of me. I hate cats, not all but most.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
I don't hate cats - i grew-up with cats, indoor [Siamese] & outdoor [moggies].
Our 1st Siamese queen was 3-YO when i was born; our 2nd, her daughter,
came from her 3rd litter, & was born the same year i was.
When we moved to the farm i was 5-YO - the Siamese went along. After my
1st pet, a Rhode Island Red hen, died, just a few weeks post-move, i was
heartbroken. She was one of 2 or 3 dozen hens, but she was special to me,
would come when called, sit in my lap or on my knee, & i could pet her.
[We lost our whole flock, over a month or so - some microbe in the soil.]
.
A few weeks after my hen died, i was outside alone, & heard a kitten crying.
Under a forsythia was a tiny Maltese, no more than 5-WO, who had to have 
been dumped, too small & weak to wander far on her own.
She became my 2nd pet. Despite my pleas, she was never spayed - & so,
with the help of feral & owned / roaming toms, became a mother, then a
grandmother, to more 'outdoor' cats.
Growing up with free-roaming cats, i saw with great clarity just how destruc-
tive they were of local wildlife, killing anything smaller than themselves if it
moved, sounded, or smelled "right".
Over 18 years, i took many crippled or broken animals from our cats, as they
tormented them. [Screaming rabbits were especially upsetting.]
.
I also spent years doing wildlife-rehab hands-on; then spent 6-years doing 
hotline hook-up for Wildlife Response, Inc, in VA. *75% of WRI's intake yr-*
*round are cat-attack victims; during nesting & thru fledging in Spring*
*& into summer, & again in the fall mammal season, fully 9 out of 10 of*
*the animals coming into care, are cat-attack victims.*
.
So while i love cats as pets, i know what havoc they can cause.
And i frankly despise owners who casually let their cats roam, so they can
amuse themselves with the local wildlife as living "toys". Pet-cats don't let
themselves out; owners install cat-flaps or open doors for them.
.
.
.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

It's the same here, cats kill most birds than other predators in British gardens as well. We have a Sparrowhawk comes as well, but at least that kills for food, most cats are not hungry. Having written that some cats don't kill birds. We have had a few around here, neighbours cats, friendly ones & they never killed any birds in my garden, because I taught them not to, what they got up to in other gardens I don't know.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
My longhaired n/M orange tabby, Butterscotch, didn't terrorize my wild-caught
cockatiel hen only b/c i carefully punished every instance of stalking - if he did
anything but WATCH her from a distance, i zapped him with the stream from a
water pistol.
I also carefully prevented him from realizing it was *me* shooting water at him,
since i didn't want him to attack her only when i wasn't at home. ;--}
.
They were housemates for 7-yrs; i had the hen, Peaches, for almost 20-yrs.
Peaches lived with a changing cast of dogs, cats, rabbits, snakes, Guinea pigs,
fish, & various humans; only a HUMAN ever traumatized her.
.
.
.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

I cheerfully admit my three would do their level best to eat all the birds in town but they have a run, and have to watch bird tv aka the bird table.

The birdtable is pretty empty now - nothing much is coming down and I guess they won't until the weather turns. We have had some fabulous little babies in the hedges though - which seem to be feeding on aphids, and were so cute....

Coal tit










Long tailed tit









Blue tit


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Baby House Sparrows are all we've got at present. With Parents trying to feed them in the rain.


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## yelloworchid (Nov 4, 2013)

Sparrows
Coal Tits
Blue Tits
Great Tits
Starling
Wood Pigeons
Collared Doves
Magpie
Robin
Black Bird





  








10658741_10204549207546751_3484848426788188576_o




__
yelloworchid


__
Jul 24, 2015




How many Collared Doves can you see?






How many Collared Doves can you see?


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Lots and lots of baby birds around at the moment, including robins, great tits, blue tits, swallows, sparrows and I *think* baby buzzards.

We keep finding feathers by the bird feeders that definitely haven't come from one of the pigeons or jackdaws, plus we can hear the buzzards and we've seen the parents quite a few times hovering over the fields behind our house.

Sparrow family (not the greatest pic - they move really quick!):









Baby robin:









Buzzard (?) feather:









We also have young pigeons... who seem to like tormenting Darcy by walking past the windows... (we think they may have a nest at the top of our chimney...)


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
I've been caring for a new client the past 2 weeks [only 2 shifts / wk], & we've seen lots of birds
at the rehab facility's feeders. Unfortunately, the dummies buy seed in small bags at retail prices,
& they're spending a small fortune to keep the feeders [mostly] full --- $300 / mo!
.
As a result, Admin is debating removing the feeders. They only have 2, a small 6-port tube feeder
with half-moon ports for larger seed, & a small "lamp" style that holds an 8-inch long, 4-inch wide
"log" of peanuts, oil sunnies, & other coarse seeds / nuts, 'glued' together with a clear edible 'glue'.
.
We've seen:
Chickadees [appear similar to UK coal tits]
M & F nuthatches
M & F Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Redwinged Blackbird
Mourning Doves
M & F Downy Woodpeckers
White-Crowned Sparrows
M & F Purple Finches
Blue Jays
M & F Titmice
M American Goldfinch

a medium-sized Woodpecker or Sapsucker, spp uncertain:
golden-brown head / neck, large red splotch on crown of head, & finely-barred B&W back;
probable M, 1/4 to 1/3 larger than a Northern Robin [IOW, 1.25 to 1.33 x N-Robin-size].

Also heard 2 or 3 local Red-tailed Hawks; one flew over 6-ft up, & their silhouette sent all
birds speeding for the shrubs to hide deep in the branches, even tho Redtails are mammal-
eaters, not bird-hunters.
One [or more] of the Redtails is a young bird who frequently 'tseeps' repeatedly with loneli-
ness, & will talk back if U reply [contact calling from a 1st-yr bird].
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
.
I hope to convince Admin to keep the feeders; residents love watching the birds that visit.
If i give 'em tips that successfully reduce co$ts, maybe they'll get into it more; they need to
install larger feeders, so they don't waste employee-time refiling them constantly.
.
Wish me luck! 
.
.
.


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## Gemmaa (Jul 19, 2009)

I've finally managed to get a photo of one of our newest visitors  (not a great photo but they normally fly away when I get my camera!)


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

A family of wrens arrived yesterday - the picture is a bit cloudy as it was taken through the window (which look a like it could do with a wash!) I wonder where they were nesting as we haven't really seen a wren out and about since the spring singing.







picture is a bit murky as it was taken through the window, which may not be very clean...


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Not on the bird table, but up the back of the garden with Jack at 5.30 this morning  saw several bats flying about, against the light early morning sky 

Probably Pippistrelle's according to a quick Google.


----------



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
my new work-schedule is weird, i go to the client's home Thursday, arrive by
8-PM, & stay until 8-AM on the following Wed - with NO WiFi. ::crying::
.
So i don't get home to fill the feeders, i don't see the outdoors much [the client 
is an elderly lady who's *agoraphobic - *given her druthers, she'd never go out
the door of her home, & her family would visit her THERE, not take her out for
lunch or dinner or a drive, not "go" anywhere].
.
I miss the birds [& they miss me...], i feel very isolated, & i must change this,
somehow. I'm going to canvas the clients' neighbors & see if anyone will share
their password-protected WiFi, so i don't lose my mind - also, i can GET SOME-
THING DONE, instead of trying to cram all on-line work into under-24-hours.
=:--O
.
I am so thankful to the folks who post their photos - i really appreciate each one,
i love seeing species i don't know [fauna or flora], & seeing the world thru bus-
windows & house-windows leaves me feeling trapped. Every small opening into
the larger world becomes so important.
Thank U, thank U, thank U. Virtual hugs,
- terry
.
.
.


----------



## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Finally managed to get a picture of our buzzards... you may have to squint. Looks like they've fledged two chicks as these four seem to go everywhere together...









They were circling above as it seems I had interrupted them eating a pigeon


----------



## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

'Hope is the Thing with Feathers' by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.


----------



## medium (Apr 7, 2015)

I love wood pigeons...I have two regulars who I've named mika miko


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Must be autumn! The birds are coming back - today saw the first robin back from its travels, a very dapper coal tit and something thrushlike that kept just out of sight so I am not sure what it was. The sparrows are moulting in to their adult coats, and there was a wren bathing in the garage guttering. I am thinking I'd better dig the feeders out from wherever I put them!


----------



## yelloworchid (Nov 4, 2013)

This is 'our' little Robin


----------



## yelloworchid (Nov 4, 2013)

This afternoon, Amber came running in from the garden with her very first feathered catch!......a Great Tit. I managed to get it from her and luckily it's still alive. It had bled a little bit and in shock, so I kept it in a box with food & water. I checked on it later, and it seems more lively. I'll keep it until it's fully recovered to be released


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

medium said:


> I love wood pigeons...I have two regulars who I've named mika miko


I have several wood pigeons who visit regularly, often bring their young too. Also a pair of collared doves who are getting quite used to me. 

Saw the little garden warbler yesterday.


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

A couple of feeders now installed, and autumn birds beginning to frequent it. Goldfinch, robin, longtailed tits, coal tits & blue tits do far. The residents are the blackbirds - last squawky baby is still being fed by parents occasionally, house and hedge sparrows, starlings - at least I think these are the ones that bred here rather than winter incomers, jackdaw, wren and sometimes a goldcrest.

Do you like my hat?









Feed Me!


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

For the first time yesterday, a Nuthatch on the fat balls  He was quite cheeky and didn't seem to mind me being just a few feet away pottering on the terrace.

On the field at the back of the house, a flock of some 30 Pied Wagtails - such lovely little birds 

Spotted from the toilet window at the garden centre the other day , a buzzard soaring upwards in the thermals. 

The Robin has been a regular companion whilst I'm working in the garden. Very demanding and shouts at me until I go and get him some mealworms!


----------



## rottiepointerhouse (Feb 9, 2014)

I'm jealous @Lurcherlad as we never see pied wagtails and I love them. We have a nuthatch comes all year round, I was watching him take pieces of suet and bury them under the slates in my garden.


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

rottiepointerhouse said:


> I'm jealous @Lurcherlad as we never see pied wagtails and I love them. We have a nuthatch comes all year round, I was watching him take pieces of suet and bury them under the slates in my garden.


I've only seen one or two together before - such a large flock was a joy to see 

I noticed that "our" Nuthatch was taking the suet and squishing it into the bark of the lilac tree - obviously stocking up for the winter. I suspect he will be lucky if the blue tits and great tits don't find it before he does though 

I wish they knew that I will keep the food stocks topped up all year - so they don't have to work so hard to store it away and could just concentrate on eating their fill on a daily basis


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Seven Wood Pigeons and 3 Squirrels - all looking very fat and happy! 

That's the first sitting. I'll put more out later for the others 

The smaller birds have their own feeders which the "big boys" can't empty in a matter of seconds, so they don't go hungry


----------



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
_Waa-aah-aaahh!.... i miss my birdfeeders - AND my birds. :-(_
_._
My current live-in job is with a client who has a horror of any sort of "mess"
or change in routine, so the birds can't have a feeder at her house - even if
i bought no-waste shelled seed.
I put some mouse-spoiled popcorn out a few weeks ago, & had a couple of
mourning doves come by, but the client was furious that i threw "trash" in her
[empty, frosted-killed, mowed] small flower-patch.
:-(
.
.
.


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

leashedForLife said:


> .
> .
> _Waa-aah-aaahh!.... i miss my birdfeeders - AND my birds. :-(_
> _._
> ...


Poor you! I'd miss having birds in the garden too!


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

That is a real shame L4L. Here is our latest visitor to cheer you up - a partially leucistic starling - looks like he flew away before they finished painting him! I think it's a girl but I am not sure. It isn't one of the ones that were born in the garden this year, so I guess it must be a winter migrant. It was very hungry, and it will be interesting to see if it stay around.


----------



## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

In amongst the dozens of goldfinches that are gobbling all the food, two Lesser Redpolls have been visiting the seed holders. New birds for us, not had them here before.


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Redpolls would be very exciting!!

Meanwhile, with a slight chill in the air , we have the first Blackcap of the winter


----------



## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Jonescat said:


> Redpolls would be very exciting!!
> 
> Meanwhile, with a slight chill in the air , we have the first Blackcap of the winter
> 
> View attachment 258998


Lovely photo. We get them in the spring and summer, but a little to chilly for them up here.
However have now seen a wee goldcrest interested in what all the birds are up to on the feeders and comes down for a look and a peck at the crumbs.


----------



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Dark-eyed Juncoes AKA 'snowbirds' were pecking around the frosted lawn
on Monday, & snow arrived last night @ 7-pm; a thin, crusty, glittering white,
only an inch or so, with a half-inch of ice.
Blessedly, i didn't need to shovel this one; the first snowfall was soggy & very
heavy indeed, 2 inches of slush saturated with rain.
.
I haven't seen the Red-tailed Hawks that often hovered over the area in summer
& autumn; their nest was nearby, & i got to see the youngsters stand on station,
soaring with an occasional flap, waiting for Mom to return with game.
They probly went south for easier hunting - especially the eyases. Adult hawks
with well-honed hunting skills might handle a New England winter, but a bird of
the year would starve, or get too thin & die of hypothermia.
.
.
.


----------



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
JonesCat, i was so intrigued to see that pied Starling! - i've never seen any
non-standard Starling, so thanks for sharing that, wonderful photo, too.

.
.
.


----------



## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

We had a small flock of goldfinches today, first time we've seen them this year.


----------



## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

Not quite on the bird table but we did have a tree creeper in the garden today, I've never seen one before so we were all quite excited. Mr blackcap has appeared today as well, he gets very possessive of the feeders & tries to chase the other birds away.


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Around a dozen longtailed tits on the fat ball feeder with another half a dozen waiting in the nearby tree 

The Greater Spotted Woodpecker on the fat balls 

Under the bird table hoovering up the leftovers, a beautiful fox! 

A new, regular visitor is a Crow with white feathers on his back and tail


----------



## StrawberryBlonde (May 27, 2015)

Coincidental iv just found this thread, we live in quite an urban area & have always appreciated the local birds but this morning these were so many different species on this one tree outside my house! I was so excited I went to tell my OH, who wasn't so impressed lol.
We had thrushes, sparrows, chaff finches, blue tits, grey tits, a robin and I'm quite sure a wren. I like to think they were attending their monthly Neighbourhood Watch :Shamefullyembarrased


----------



## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

Lurcherlad said:


> Around a dozen longtailed tits on the fat ball feeder with another half a dozen waiting in the nearby tree
> 
> The Greater Spotted Woodpecker on the fat balls
> 
> ...


That's interesting about the crow, I've had one just like that in my garden recently, I thought it was u usual with the white feathers. It was enjoying hoovering up all the sunflower seeds that the finches were chucking about


----------



## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

I have a little wren! I love her, she sings her little head off! :Happy
Hmm a crow with white bits - a magpie cross perhaps? :Hilarious


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Yesterday was really good - we had longtailed tits, and then a goldcrest off and on all day. I couldn't get focussed on it though - it was very small and kept pinging from branch to branch, Anyone need a pic of an empty branch?


----------



## Cedar (Jun 17, 2015)

This is a great thread! It has inspired me to get some feeders as we do have a lot of birds around so it would be good to get a closer view. Are any of you going to do the RSPB birdwatch this weekend?


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Cedar said:


> This is a great thread! It has inspired me to get some feeders as we do have a lot of birds around so it would be good to get a closer view. Are any of you going to do the RSPB birdwatch this weekend?


If I remember!


----------



## Codiemalamute (Jan 25, 2016)

Trevor and Darren today. And I think I saw Bob earlier.


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Its officially Spring here - we had a Bullfinch checking out the plum and apple trees today.


----------



## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Jonescat said:


> Its officially Spring here - we had a Bullfinch checking out the plum and apple trees today.


Not seen a bullfinch for quite a while, lovely little things aren't they. Our apple trees aren't in bud yet still a bit cold here.
Have seen the redpolls again over the last couple of days. One of them is in its spring colours. Also had my namesake, a Siskin, a few days ago.


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

I think we need a cold winter for siskin, (we have had them once in 15 years) and never had a redpoll, but there is always tomorrow.....


----------



## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

We've lived here for nearly 25 years and it's the first time I've seen a redpoll.
We often get Siskin from about March onwards, some move on, but some stay a few months. They are either ones on the way back to Scandinavia, or ones that have popped down south from the north of England and Scotland. They have a lovely song, quite like a goldfinches, but with this long buzzy trill. I'm very fond of them. We have an area of conifers behind the house which is what attracts them in the first place (plus free food) and I keep hoping they may breed here one year. They breed in the Forest of Dean which isn't far away from us.


----------



## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

@Jonescat

Managed to get this rather poor photo (through the patio doors) of the redpolls. Male and female I think.


----------



## Cedar (Jun 17, 2015)

Over the last few days we have had a pair of marsh or willow tits visiting our feeders. Still can't decide which they are. Very difficult to tell!


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Lucky you - I think you need to open the window and listen to them to be sure.


----------



## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Cedar said:


> Over the last few days we have had a pair of marsh or willow tits visiting our feeders. Still can't decide which they are. Very difficult to tell!


I suspect more likely to be Marsh Tits. Willow Tits have become quite rare now.

We get a couple of Marshies coming in at the moment


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

I have never seen a Willow Tit.

The Bullfinch came back. I am not a very tidy gardener so last years seedheads are still out there. He spent half an hour or so eating sedum seeds. Here he is looking a little podgy


----------



## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Wow, I haven't see a bullfinch for years now.


----------



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

QUOTE, Jonescat:

It's officially Spring... a Bullfinch checked out the plum and apple trees today.
.
.
just wondering, finches generally eat seed - do Bullfinches go bugging in late winter /
early spring, eating dormant insects or their eggs? - or maybe eat buds, or blossoms,
nectar, pollen?
Or are these birds looking for likely nesting spots?
.
Thanks for any info - i like to know something of birds' habits. 
.
.
.


----------



## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Bullfinches like the buds of fruit trees, particularly apple and will pick at the buds so much that the tree will not bear fruit. In the UK, I think in 1950’s, the huge flocks were such a menace that they were ruining fruit crops. The government allowed people to kill bullfinches for a reward per bird. Bullfinch number plummeted to the extent there were only isolated birds. Despite protection for many years, bullfinch number have never returned to the numbers prior to the cull, but they still enjoy the new buds of fruit trees.


----------



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Thanks, Siskin - 
it seemed early for nest-prospecting, but as i'm not local, ya never know.
.
I also saw Jones'Cat's update, nice snapshot.  I like sedum -
succulents in general are fun, hardy, & varied enuf to be interesting, plus
being perennial, which is very appealing to me. ;--D
I've never really grokked the 'thrill' of planting beds of annuals.
.
.
LOCALLY:
Starlings are arriving in hordes, despite -10'F temps last wkend.
.
Cock Robins are also moving thru in waves, as they arrive well-before the
hens to build 2 or 3 dummy nests to impress prospective mates. I saw a
flock of over 100 Robin cockbirds in the Alewife conservation park, feeding
on sumac berries, & another flock of 50 to 75 feeding on dogwood & barberry
berries in a front-yard in Newton, MA.
.
English Sparrows wintered over in large numbers rather than migrate, as the
early & mid-winter temps were so mild; i think they're regretting that, now.
.
Some fish-eating diving ducks are moving north with the thaw, such as Red
Mergansers; coots & cormorants are year-round, in some areas - open
water at river mouths, warm water below nuke-plants, etc.
.
.
.


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## rottiepointerhouse (Feb 9, 2014)

Not a bird but helping himself to one of the apples we'd put out for the birds


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
The infamous N'American grey squirrel! - i recommend squirrel pie, myself,
as one savory way of appreciating the invaders, & reducing the popn at the
same time. ;--}}
.
Their skins make nice glove-linings or mitten-liners, too.
.
.
.


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## Little Zooey (Feb 4, 2014)

Not on the table, but in our garden yesterday. An escaped Harris Hawk


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Cracking photo of a cracking bird @Little Zooey. Has someone caught it now or is it still out there?


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## Little Zooey (Feb 4, 2014)

Jonescat said:


> Cracking photo of a cracking bird @Little Zooey. Has someone caught it now or is it still out there?


I called the local wildlife rescue yesterday and they sent someone out. The bird couldn't be seen on our land by then, but appeared over neighbouring fields when she whistled. She had to go, but left me with a bowl of frozen day old chicks which I put in one of our fields today. They haven't been touched, but now I'm at home all day I can keep looking for it. I've been told they do pretty well in the wild. I think it may end up breeding with the local buzzards if it isn't caught. I don't have a long lens for wildlife work - I just crept up until I was within six feet, so maybe there is hope


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Wow, that's quite a bird to have on your bird table.:Smuggrin What a thrill.


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## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

Oh my word @Little Zooey what a handsome bird, I'd have been beside myself having that appear in my garden :Smug


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Show off! 

How amazing - what a treat to see!

Hope it finds it's way home 

Have you tried putting on a leather glove and waving a chick about above your head!?


----------



## Little Zooey (Feb 4, 2014)

Still no sign of "Tweedy". I've tried whistling, wearing gloves AND waving my arms around. I reckon he's well over the other side of the estate if he's even in the same area. Can't believe how lucky I was. Believe it or not, about two summers ago hubby called me to grab the camera because we had two Greylag geese with chicks on our lawn. I was able to get within three feet of them. They stayed for about half an hour and we've never seen those again either 

View media item 16875
View media item 16877


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
I'm with LurcherLad, re the Harris Hawk - s/he won't pick up a dead critter from the
ground, in 99.99% of cases - unlike eagles & buzzards, hawks want their prey alive
& moving, to attract their eyes [vultures & buzzards use their noses, as well].
.
.
Someone with a lure on a leash [a padded 'cushion' with rings to tie prey or meat to]
can bring a former-captive in for a meal, but it takes fortuitous timing - the falconer
needs to be within the hawk's eyesight.
.
.
Also, unless there's an unsuspected genetic similarity, UK buzzards can't hybridize
with N'American-native Harris Hawks - they don't share sufficient mutual genes.
.
Cross-species hybridization is *possible*, but rare; horses CAN hybridize with zebra,
but the resulting offspring aren't saddle stock, nor are they successful 'zebras'. They
are violent, resist handling even from an early age, escape-prone, & otherwise both
problematic & useless.
.
I strongly suspect UK buzzards are far-too dissimilar to successfully produce Harris
Hawk hybrid progeny; do U have any Redtail Hawk relatives, there? - That's a sorta
"cousin" species that might possibly be interfertile.
An escaped Redtail from a UK falconer, or a Redtail blown over by storms, would be
[IMO only] a 'maybe' mate.
.
Otherwise, i suspect that this Harris escapee will die as a sole specimen - & with the
jesses on, s/he may have trouble hunting. I didn't see bells - is the bird belled?
.
.
.


----------



## Little Zooey (Feb 4, 2014)

leashedForLife said:


> .
> .
> I'm with LurcherLad, re the Harris Hawk - s/he won't pick up a dead critter from the
> ground, in 99.99% of cases - unlike eagles & buzzards, hawks want their prey alive
> ...


I'm pretty ignorant as far as birds of prey are concerned. I read about breeding with buzzards online, so maybe that was wrong. The bird only has straps round the ankles with large metal holes at the back. No trailing ties and no bells. There is plenty of prey around here - literally thousands of acres. There are still loads of rats in our area and the rabbits are breeding again. Lots of mice, weasels, moles, snakes, frogs, toads and other assorted lizards. I imagine that would be enough.

We've recently come in from feeding our pig and we saw a large bird soaring over our neighbour's land. They reckon they have ten breeding pairs of buzzards, but it could have been Tweedy


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## rottiepointerhouse (Feb 9, 2014)

Haven't seen Siskins for a while so great to watch them for a little while enjoying some niger seeds


----------



## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

rottiepointerhouse said:


> Haven't seen Siskins for a while so great to watch them for a little while enjoying some niger seeds


Funny enough they have just turned up here as well. We had one for a day in February, but no more until a couple of days ago.


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## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

I've had a fair few siskins this last week as well, I have seen a single one all winter. It's been so busy in the garden the last few weeks, we've had starlings & a handsome make woodpecker, I haven't seen either of these for ages.


----------



## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Shame about the Harris Hawk, maybe someone can capure it again.
We haven't had an Siskins this year at all.


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## Cedar (Jun 17, 2015)

We have had siskins too. They first came last Wednesday and have been every day since then. They often come with the goldfinches.


----------



## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

Today we have had Mr & Mrs great spotted woodpecker, she likes the coconut fat shells & he hangs off the sunflower seed feeder, they're such stunning birds.


----------



## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

We've been getting a great spotted as well. He mainly eats the nuts, but recently has been hitting the fat block, in fact it's going so quickly that it has to be refilled every few days.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

My goldfinches have gotten their spring gold, as of this morning. A bit blurry, using a new camera. but Mister and Missus are both there : )


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Mr Cardinal singing in the rain (as usual taken from my living room window) You should hear him sing!


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

lorilu said:


> Mr Cardinal singing in the rain (as usual taken from my living room window) You should hear him sing!


Oh now that is not fair. Why can't we have them in the UK


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Oooh, I did a crop on them, one was too blurry close up but this one came out fine. I was trying to get him with his mouth open but couldn't quite catch the moment


----------



## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

lorilu said:


> Oooh, I did a crop on them, one was too blurry close up but this one came out fine. I was trying to get him with his mouth open but couldn't quite catch the moment


I love Cardinals, we don't have those here. Super photo.


----------



## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

Not quite on the bird table but our kestrel payed a visit today, I was out in the garden & it came & hovered so low, I wish I'd had my camera. I've not seen it in ages so was great to know it's still about. Not sure the little birds agreed though, it caused a bit of mass panic.


----------



## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Mr and Mrs Robin were following me around as I pottered in the garden. 

They sit fairly close, waiting for me to turn over the ground so they can come and eat the exposed worms - and "shout" at me if I'm not quick enough! 

I have to watch where I put my feet


----------



## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

I have some lovely shots to share this morning! Mister and Missus Cardinal, Goldfinch and Purple Finch all braved the snow and wind for a snack. (Junco and Chickadee were also present, but did not get their pictures taken_


----------



## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Lurcherlad said:


> Mr and Mrs Robin were following me around as I pottered in the garden.
> 
> They sit fairly close, waiting for me to turn over the ground so they can come and eat the exposed worms - and "shout" at me if I'm not quick enough!
> 
> I have to watch where I put my feet


There will be no ground turning here...see my pictures above. We're having a bit of a blizzard this morning. LOL!


----------



## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Good heavens you have snow! Love the photo's, you get super birds to look at in your garden, Lorilu.


----------



## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Just can't resist sharing these. The snow stopped a little while ago and the sun came out for a few minutes


----------



## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Love the watching cat, good job he/she is indoors.


----------



## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Valanita said:


> Love the watching cat, good job he/she is indoors.


My cats don't go out. They have a cat proofed porch for nice days. All my bird pictures are taken from my living room windows. I feed the birds on the outside windowsill. Cat TV. : )

I just went out and brushed off my car. Looks like we got about three inches today. Sheesh!


----------



## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Snow, not nice. My pal in Boston said last night that they are in for snow too. She said it's supposed to be Spring there.


----------



## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Valanita said:


> Snow, not nice. My pal in Boston said last night that they are in for snow too. She said it's supposed to be Spring there.


The forecast calls for an additional 3-6 inches. It looks like we got quite a lot overnight, and it's still snowing. Windchill tomorrow is to be minus 1 (Fahrenheit) LOL! It's just barely light now (6:25 a.m.) but no birds at the window yet.


----------



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Cambridge, MA, got about 5 to 6-inches by noon today.
personally, i enjoyed it - mostly from indoors, but even when out.
.
.
.


----------



## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
I'd hoped StormyThai would cross-post the photos here, but i spoze that'd make it too easy, LOL - 
so here's the thread:
.
http://www.petforums.co.uk/threads/the-local-buzzard-couple.424727/
.
.
.


----------



## Guest (Apr 9, 2016)

Loving these threads!

I *should* have my own house soon and would really love a bird feeder. 

Do you find the birds make a significant mess with droppings etc?


----------



## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Some, but not much. Rains so much here that it washes away. (Got country envy)


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Great shots @lorilu Particularly love the cat 
What is the yellow bird in the background?


----------



## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Jonescat said:


> Great shots @lorilu Particularly love the cat
> What is the yellow bird in the background?


Goldfinch.

Had a Cedar Waxwing the other morning but wasn't quick enough to get a shot and he hasn't come back that I have seen. It's till winter here, probably too cold for him. : )


----------



## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

lorilu said:


> *Goldfinch.*
> 
> Had a Cedar Waxwing the other morning but wasn't quick enough to get a shot and he hasn't come back that I have seen. It's till winter here, probably too cold for him. : )


American Goldfinch, they are different to ours.
Our Goldfinch.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Yes - we would really look twice at something the colour of an American Goldfinch on the feeders!


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Jonescat said:


> Yes - we would really look twice at something the colour of an American Goldfinch on the feeders!


It would probably be someones canary.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

I get other yellow birds besides the goldfinch, later in the season. Evening grossbeak and oriole are the ones that come to mind at the moment. It's much too cold for them so far this year.

Hairy woodpecker has been spending some time with my seeds.


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

We went to Canada a few years ago and we spent part of the holiday staying with a good friend and her Canadian husband. 
The birds coming to their garden were wonderful to me especially the humming birds. Also saw a black headed grosbeak and a downy woodpecker as well as crossbills which are in the UK but I've not seen one before. Amazing to see them coming to an ordinary garden on a housing complex.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

I have seen Crossbills at Stover Park, near Newton Abbot, but only that one year, some years ago. That Winter was a very hard one & we had Fieldfares, Redwings & Bramblings in dozens in our garden that year too.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

A male siskin! Only the second time, and I think the last ones to visit were years ago in snow. It was only there for about 90 secs after I saw it, but I shall be glued to the window today!


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
TUESDAY MORNING, Apr 12th:
Saw the 1st Northern Robin *hen* of this year, at Alewife Conservation park!
.
I saw the 1st cockbirds back in February, so it's been a long gap - lovely to see her, foraging busily on the short barely-sprung grass & rustling thru leaf-litter in search of invertebrates.
.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
recent Massachusetts sightings -
.
http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/birds-birding/recent-sightings/eastern-massachusetts
.
http://www.massbird.org/sightings/ 
.
Plum Island:
www.bartonstreet.com/tom/birds/pisightings.html 
.
.
.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

There is a wildlife reserve not far from where my pal lives near Boston. Shame she isn't into birding.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
If she likes flowers or just wildlife in general, send her to Mt Auburn cemetery -
trees, shrubs, ponds, flowers of all kinds, native & exotic plants, wild turkeys, raptors, fox, coyote, plus statuary, memorials, famous names.
It's directly on an MBTA bus-route, too. Bus to the park, then bike thru the paths - the buses have bike-racks --- or just stroll.
.
.
.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

She has to look after her old Mom, but she isn't into wildlife really, she likes sewing, knitting & cooking, total the opposite to me, which is probably why we got on so well when we have met.


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## rottiepointerhouse (Feb 9, 2014)

Not on the table but in the bush right outside our kitchen window - Mr Blackcap


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Just today i discovered a nest of White-Crowned Sparrows in an upright-habit Japanese Yew, right at the corner of the house beside the driveway - hardly a spot for family seclusion, LOL.
I'll get a pic, if i can, but the shrub is thickly branched, & the nest is up top, not midway down & inside the outer margins, but above my head, almost directly in the center of the crown.
From the voices, there are at least 3 // possibly 4 chicks, all naked hatchlings as yet.
.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
For any UK raptor fans, courtesy of *Janice99 *-
*http://www.ntu.ac.uk/sustainability/biodiversity/falcons/index.html*
.
.
The pair returned in January, I didn't check to see if there's a live-feed nest camera -
my WiFi connection here is too slow to load video, it won't work, sadly.
.
.
.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

A Magpie flew in with some bread in his beak from somewhere else and proceeded to dip it in my bird bath so it softened enough for him to eat it - clever bird!


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## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

We had a female green woodpecker in the garden this morning which is a first  she was enjoying a breakfast of red ants, I do feel a bit sorry for them as a starling was tucking into them the day before & they'd just about repaired the damage before this assault took place


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
I have some pix i took not long ago, during a brief happy period of full-time employment -
i was working with a client who lived at an assisted living facility, & they have bird-feeders.
It was only 2-weeks, but i enjoyed the wildlife so much, & i did get some photos. 
.
It takes forever to get pix off my mobile & sent to my e-mail inbox, but i WILL send some & post them here, later - especially the pix of a certain wild-turkey hen, who regularly patronized the garden bird-feeders to dine on spilled seed.
.
I saw some fascinating new behaviors, too, but my mobile is too slow to capture action unless it's already set to 'video' rather than still-shot. I even tried non-stop photos, one after another, & still missed the crucial moments.
.
Among the best 'new behaviors' was shown by a young mourning dove; born this Spring, she had the telltale "infant rudder" tail rather than the adults' long tapering pintail, the equivalent of training wheels on a bicycle.
Another Spring-baby, a grey squirrel youth, was trying to intimidate her so he could have all the seed on the ground, around the shepherds' crook pole - he succeeded the 1st ten or 12 times, charging her briefly in a short head-down rush that ended with him standing head-up & staring at her face. Each time, she scurried a few steps away, he'd eat, she'd cautiously approach, & he'd charge again.
Finally, she'd had enuf - he charged, & rather than retreat, she stepped SIDEWAYS, raised her breast & back feathers, lifted her near-side wing, still folded, & flicked it up & out - just the primaries, briefly open like fingers, then closed with the wing still held up at a 45' angle from her body.
It was a clear threat - _"Take one step closer, & I'll *slap *U!..." , _& the squirrel actually heeded it - stopped, went back to eating for a few moments, then took 5 or 6 fast steps toward her, & she repeated the body-feather lift & switchblade-flick of her near-wing. He stopped every time, & each time his charge was abbreviated earlier & earlier, until finally he would just THINK about charging her, lowering his head & extending his chin while staring at her, she'd inflate her body & fan-flick her near wing, & he'd go back to eating.
.
It only happened 6 or 8 times, & despite my best efforts, the shutter on my mobile - even running constantly - never caught her with her contour feathers raised & flexed wing tilted overhead, ready to smack.
One of the most amazing details was how precise her control was of her contour feathers, she could lift the feathers under & above ONE WING & across the breast, while leaving her other side [invisible to the squirrel, as she was almost broadside to him] lying smoothly.
.
By the time i had the chance to switch my mobile to video, he'd stopped charging or even threatening to, & she'd stopped flaring - drabbit. They were only 4 or 5 feet from the window, I doubt i'll ever again have such a marvelous opp to observe interspecies aggro / response, at such close quarters. It was a fascinating glimpse, less than 2-minutes altogether, & afterward they were feeding quietly at a short distance, ignoring one another, as if nothing had ever happened.
.
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
Feeling thoroughly ******, i slept in today till after 8-am, then took the day off - & i mean __"off"__.
Other than making my own brkfst, & bathing, LOL, i did nothing whatever that could be construed as productive work - just enjoyable activities.
.
I actually went out to eat @ a restaurant, they offer unlimited salads with lunch so I had 3 [small] salads plus my lovely pasta entree, & walked back thru the conservation parkway on the way back.
.
I got some great simple pix of wildflowers & herbs, then --- while searching for the nest of a pair of killdeer, & failing to find it --- I counted coup on not one, but TWO garter snakes! - by taking multiple photos of them both. 
.
I love snakes, & it was a real thrill to see healthy snakes in such a densely-developed area - they're probly clutchmates, as they're almost exactly the same size; the F is distinctly bigger in girth, the M is a wee bit underweight for his length, which is approx the same as hers.
Now that i know where they're living, odds are excellent that on any nice warm day around the same time, they'll be in that area - so I'll stop back tomm aft to see if i can get some good close-ups. They're only a year or 2 old, not hatchlings but not adults, either.
.
The M is more defensive & timid, the F more approachable & less flighty. With some patience & a few repeat visits, i should be able to get some really good photos. 
.
.
.


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

Not on a bird table but I've had this lovely little family in my garden all afternoon - Mr. & Mrs. Pheasant with their two babies - photos taken with my phone so not the best


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Super photo's since I was last here. All we seem to have in our garden at present are those pesky Rooks.


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## rottiepointerhouse (Feb 9, 2014)

You have been missed. Hope you are OK.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
this was the final straw - i'm ready to cry, now. 
.
All those photos from my "day off" Sat are rubbish; my mobile somehow re-set the 'light' function to WHITE BALANCE, whatever the H*** that is, & every photo was a washed-out square of white glare. The wildflowers & herbs, a grapevine leaf with the afternoon sun illuminating it from behind like stained glass, the butterflies, the garter snakes - all indistinguishable white fields.
.
I recaptured some of the flowers & herbs, but i've been back to the power station where i saw the snakes 3X now, & not seen either one.
I'm heartbroken.
.
It's not enuf that i'm busting my a$$ pulling 12 & 24-hr pick-up shifts, exhausted, & rapidly going flat-broke paying for a hotel room, with no prospect of where i'll be when my money runs out - but the one thing that gave me great happiness recently, was taken away.
.
Bitterly disappointed.
.
.
.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Oh no @leashedForLife - I'm gutted for you, what a shame


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
thanks, @moggie14 - 
when I saw the photos, i was stunned, & kept flipping slowly thru them, looking frantically for *something*, even one, that came out as a visible, recognizable picture, but there wasn't a single pic.
I had to delete them all, one at a time. So upsetting.
.
I really hope the snakes aren't gone to a new / different area, i'll keep visiting when possible. Maybe one or the other will show.
.
.
.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Keep trying! You never know.


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## Cedar (Jun 17, 2015)

Very sad for you @leashedForLife










We had a pair of greater spotted woodpeckers this morning. We often have one at a time but they turned up together today.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Lurcherlad said:


> A Magpie flew in with some bread in his beak from somewhere else and proceeded to dip it in my bird bath so it softened enough for him to eat it - clever bird!


They do that here too, it sure mucks up the bird bath.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Valanita said:


> They do that here too, it sure mucks up the bird bath.


I can pretty much guarantee that as soon as I have cleaned and refilled the bird bath it will be used as soup for dipping bread in or a family of Starlings will descend for a group bathing session!

Filthy water and half empty again!


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## rottiepointerhouse (Feb 9, 2014)

Not on the bird table but underneath where we hang a suet feeder - doing some sun bathing on the bench


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

We have a fledgling house sparrow out of the nest a day or two too soon hopping around and giving us heart attacks trying not to frighten it. It can fly about 18 inches up and a metre along at a time, and it has FOUR adults minding it. I just hope it makes it.


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## rottiepointerhouse (Feb 9, 2014)

Jonescat said:


> We have a fledgling house sparrow out of the nest a day or two too soon hopping around and giving us heart attacks trying not to frighten it. It can fly about 18 inches up and a metre along at a time, and it has FOUR adults minding it. I just hope it makes it.


Oh no how worrying - hope you don't get any sparrowhawks visiting your garden :Nailbiting


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Well. Just because we had 3 feet of snow in 24 hours four days ago doesn't mean spring isn't coming...! Mr and Missus Cardinal getting ready to set up housekeeping..... (taken from my living room window, yes that is my outside windowsill piled with snow. It's gone down quite a bit, since the storm)


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
this morning, a string of turkeys were walking along the neighbors' drive, which winds thru a wooded lot adjacent to my client's house.
They were obvious against the bright-white snow, & they seemed a bit nervous. Then the 1st 2 hens broke into a long-legged trot, & the flock trotted behind them - then i saw the problem, 2 gobblers brought up the rear after the 11 hens, & the adult male was in full strut - body inflated, tail fanned to its widest, wing-tips dragging.
He'd been harassing the hens, & they were legging it!

.
yesterday we saw the local bachelor band, back up to 5 toms; the old fella with the ground-dragging beard vanished in early Nov, but they've recruited 2 juveniles.
.
.
.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Just fed the garden birds filled water pots etc, they were all watching me from the trees, seconds after I came indoors they all flew away.


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Treecreeper, not on the bird table, but wandering up a tree


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
all this winter, i've seen many nuthatches, chickadees, a couple of Cardinals & a few Blue Jays who are year-round residents, Redtailed Hawks, Titmice [who will move north to breed], & the wild turkeys.
.
.
Last Thursday, i was on my way from Woburn back to Boston, & as we went thru Burlington on I-95, i saw a flock of the sorriest Robins i think i've ever seen.
 
With 2-ft of snow on the ground, 2 or 3 dozen cockbirds were perched in the bare branches of 2 young curbside trees, their breast feathers fluffed out to maximize their insulation, crouched deeply to cover their poor cold feet on the icy limbs with their skirts, their heads turtled into their shoulders - they looked cold, depressed, & hungry.
Against the smooth grey bark of the bare trees, their brick-red breasts made them look like so many Xmas ornaments left up out of season -- i can't imagine what the poor things could find to eat, with all the snow, & i'm sure some died of hypothermia with so few calories to keep them warm. // They came north early on the heels of that bizarre February warm spell, when we had a week of 70' F weather & a long stretch of mild-50s temps; then normal temps arrived, & they were stranded in the cold.
.
.
.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

The Grosbeaks are back! Mr Grosbeak was a bit too shy to allow himself to be photographed at the feeding station but I caught him in the tree.....no sign of the Missus yet, but it's only the first day....(as always, taken from my living room window)


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

The fledged Dunnocks and Sparrows - still begging for food, but when mum or dad turn away manage very well on their own! 

They are very strong little fliers already 

I'm replenishing the bird table and feeders 3-4 times a day at the moment to keep everyone happy - costing a fortune. And having a cupful of mealworms rehydrating in a cup of water by the sink on a daily basis is nice! :Wtf


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## Mirandashell (Jan 10, 2017)

They are eating me out of house and home as well. And I have a F*****king squirrel!


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

I won't put out seed the squirrels and blue jays like. They can clear a day's worth of food in 10 minutes. I use safflower seed only. I get enough song birds to keep the cats happy. The doveys are their favorite, and the doveys love the safflower seed.


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## Mirandashell (Jan 10, 2017)

lorilu said:


> I get enough song birds to *keep the cats happy*.


:Wideyed

Please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means.....


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Mirandashell said:


> :Wideyed
> 
> Please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means.....


 I have no idea what you think?


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## Mirandashell (Jan 10, 2017)

It read like you encourage song birds into your garden so your cats can kill them. As that's the way cats usually like birds.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Mirandashell said:


> It read like you encourage song birds into your garden so your cats can kill them. As that's the way cats usually like birds.


Why ever would you think that?

I feed the birds at my living room window for Cat TV and for my own enjoyment.

Sorry to disappoint you.


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## Mirandashell (Jan 10, 2017)

I'm not disappointed. I'm very relieved.


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## sarybeagle (Nov 4, 2009)

Currently I'm watching 7 starlings devour the fat sticks in two feeders. 
Robin
2 blue tits
1 great tit 
1 coal tit (rarely)
2 dunnocks
8? Sparrows.
Mr black bird on the ground. Mrs blackbird visits for water and a quick feed.
4-6 collared doves come
2 fat wood pidgons
Our small garden is heaving with birds all day long. I love it. 
We have had nuthatches and long tails. But these are rarer. 



























































And a wren we have occasionally.


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Um - taken through glass - sparrowhawk in the garden today. Not quite what I meant by feeding the birds, but very handsome


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## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

Jonescat said:


> Um - taken through glass - sparrowhawk in the garden today. Not quite what I meant by feeding the birds, but very handsome
> 
> View attachment 309414


Isn't he stunning! I love sparrowhawks, I used to get a male & female hunting everyday in my garden, it got to the point I was scared to watch the birds for long as there was usually a strike by one of them.


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## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

sarybeagle said:


> Currently I'm watching 7 starlings devour the fat sticks in two feeders.
> Robin
> 2 blue tits
> 1 great tit
> ...


Fab photos, starlings are so beautiful in the sunlight.


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## sarybeagle (Nov 4, 2009)

Matrod said:


> Fab photos, starlings are so beautiful in the sunlight.


Aren't they just. As much of a pain they are (constant pooping) I love them. We started with 4, this am we had almost 20. We couldn't count them all!!! 
All because I put up a new mealworm feeder.


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## Pepperpots (Apr 3, 2016)

I've just lured a team of starlings to my garden for the first time. Seems suet and mealworms does it!

Even had a couple of coal tits, which makes a change from the wood pigeons and doves.

I was a little worried as I have cats, but luckily they are scared of the starlings (they screech at them, whilst stuffing their faces). The rest of the birds come in the evening and early morning when the cats are not allowed outside. They get special treats put out for them, then.

I use a hanging feeders so the cats couldn't get to the birds, even if they wanted to.


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## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

sarybeagle said:


> Aren't they just. As much of a pain they are (constant pooping) I love them. We started with 4, this am we had almost 20. We couldn't count them all!!!
> All because I put up a new mealworm feeder.


Blimey, I bet that's noisy! They go mad for the meal worms here too along with the coconut halves.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

The Orioles are back, this was taken not only through the window, but w window screen. He was enjoying the nectar from the apple blossoms. I was afraid if I removed the screen I'd scare him off.


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

Our shed makes a great bird hide.


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## sarybeagle (Nov 4, 2009)

We had this stunner fly in for all of a minute. I was sat at the table and had my camera next to me. Was gorgeous


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## rottiepointerhouse (Feb 9, 2014)

sarybeagle said:


> View attachment 310709
> View attachment 310710
> View attachment 310711
> 
> ...


We get those quite a lot - they love our suet feed holder like the one in your photo. I love watching them but they were a damn nuisance last year constantly trying to drill into our nesting box to get the blue tit babies. I would wake up nearly every morning to the noise and have to open the window and shoo them away.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Well, not on my bird table as I'm staying with my sister, but in a tree near her garden a Dominican Woodpecker! This pic is on a naf tablet and probably better as a "can you see it" but it is there if you look hard enough! . On the middle stem, between the wires.

And this morning, 2 minute humming birds, but no photo


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## sarybeagle (Nov 4, 2009)

Yesterday we had one fledging arrive at 7
Pm. Tonight about an hour apart more have arrived and we now have 4 screaming babies on the feeders or the floor. I've had to keep Mooky in as the parents got fed up him eating the mealworms they dropped.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
gosh, that brings back memories!  Starlings are great to "learn on" for wildlife-rehab beginners, they are omnivores so a wide spectrum diet, they're tough & bold, so physically resilient & emotionally sturdy, & they are quick to get on the wing.
Any that i reared that figured _"I'm ready..." _for themselves would do their dam*edest to find a hole in the flight cage, & self-release - no shrinking violets, they! :Hilarious
.
I just wish the bl**dy b*ggers weren't so prolific, & so incredibly aggro toward our native birds.  They'll cheerfully pierce other birds' eggs, take nestlings, take OVER other birds' crevice nests, etc, etc.
.
.
.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

I've had a new visitor this winter. It's been difficult to get a good picture, she's shy of movement behind the window, and won't perch in the tree when she flies away like the other birds do. Plus my windows are a bit dirty, being it's winter and I haven't washed them. I finally got a clear enough shot to be able to look her up. Say hello to a female Eastern Towhee ! (She's got a safflower seed in her mouth, in case you were wondering)


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

lorilu said:


> I've had a new visitor this winter. It's been difficult to get a good picture, she's shy of movement behind the window, and won't perch in the tree when she flies away like the other birds do. Plus my windows are a bit dirty, being it's winter and I haven't washed them. I finally got a clear enough shot to be able to look her up. Say hello to a female Eastern Towhee ! (She's got a safflower seed in her mouth, in case you were wondering)


Oops I lied! Right after I posted that I saw her in the tree. Here's some more, just for fun. We're having a big snow storm today and the windowsill feeding station is very busy.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Nothing unusual on the bird table, but spotted a fairly large bird of prey whilst out walking with Jack yesterday. Think it must have been a Buzzard.

Saw a beautiful Jay at fairly close quarters - he seemed very nonplussed at Jack and I walking just about four feet away with a ditch inbetween.

A small flock of Fieldfares on the field. They sometimes pop into my garden to eat the berries on the Holly tree.

Then a very strange sight! Walking along the lane, past a large fallen tree, spotted a man laying flat out on his back along the trunk! 

It made me jump and I must have made a noise cos he woke up, sat up and looked at me. I'm glad he did cos I would have worried he was dead!

I asked him if he was OK and he said he was, as he got up and staggered off - clearly a very heavy night! 

Not sure if he'd been there all night but, apart from being having a thick coat and hat on, falling asleep outside in freezing temperatures whilst drunk could be very dangerous . Glad I didn't come across a body!


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Lurcherlad said:


> Nothing unusual on the bird table, but spotted a fairly large bird of prey whilst out walking with Jack yesterday. Think it must have been a Buzzard.
> 
> Saw a beautiful Jay at fairly close quarters - he seemed very nonplussed at Jack and I walking just about four feet away with a ditch inbetween.
> 
> ...


I can't believe how many Jay's we saw today when out in Thetford Forest. I love seeing them, such beautiful birds .... & luckily no men lying on the floor!!


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## Kimmikins (Apr 9, 2016)

Oh! I can join in with this now 

We currently have 2 robins, who may be nesting in one of our nesting boxes as they are there most of the day. We have some starlings and these...










The photos are rubbish! They have wagtail type tails, but are bigger than pied wagtails, and they're black and white.


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Long tailed tits?


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## Kimmikins (Apr 9, 2016)

Siskin said:


> Long tailed tits?
> View attachment 344494


Ohhh, yes that looks like them! Thanks!


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

I love long tailed tits, such funny little things Unfortunately we don't seem to get many round here but I am lucky in that there are lots of other beautiful birds. My photography skills are rubbish though so no point in trying to get any pics of them


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Not actually on the birdtable but just above it


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Jonescat said:


> Not actually on the birdtable but just above it
> 
> View attachment 346660


Oh, lucky you. I've never seen one


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

It is a bit of a shock to have one here, but it has been on three separate and random days this winter so far. Have you got any yews or field maples that you can stake out?


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

There's supposed to have been an influx of them this year.
No yews apart from the churchyard which is about a mile away. There are some field maples about but not nearby. The nearest trees are some sort of conifer which is great for Siskins and goldcrests.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Keeping the feeders and table well filled at the moment with this awful weather

Providing clean water is the tricky one cos it freezes quickly.

The odd Jay and some Long Tailed Tits and flocks of Wood Pigeon


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

We're doing the same, we're seeing lots of blackbirds, thrushes, fieldfares and redwings. We have never seen fieldfares or redwings in the garden before. In fact, I'd never seen a redwing before at all!

I'm smashing up fat balls for them, we don't have any mealworms sadly, just fat balls and lots of sunflower seeds


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Psygon said:


> We're doing the same, we're seeing lots of blackbirds, thrushes, fieldfares and redwings. We have never seen fieldfares or redwings in the garden before. In fact, I'd never seen a redwing before at all!
> 
> I'm smashing up fat balls for them, we don't have any mealworms sadly, just fat balls and lots of sunflower seeds


This is such a coincidence! I had to look them up as I have never seen them before but today I have a pair of fieldfares visiting the feeding station!


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Fieldfares and redwings are very pretty little birds. They seem a little shy, and seem to let the bully nuthatches see them off!


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

moggie14 said:


> This is such a coincidence! I had to look them up as I have never seen them before but today I have a pair of fieldfares visiting the feeding station!


Isn't it? I posted a thread about them.

Fieldfare by https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/, on Flickr


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

moggie14 said:


> This is such a coincidence! I had to look them up as I have never seen them before but today I have a pair of fieldfares visiting the feeding station!


IME they only tend to venture into gardens when weather conditions are harsh in the countryside.

I've had the Spotted Woodpecker in today on the fat balls and he only comes when the weather is bad.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Bird feeders are being well stocked & fruit, seeds & mealworms laid out for the ground feeding birds. So far today there have been: starling, dunnocks, magpies, collard doves, wood pigeons, goldfinchs, sparrows, chaffinchs, black birds, robins, reed warblers, song thrushes wrens, blue tits & pied wagtails .... it's been a busy morning!

Unfortunately when out with the dogs we came across a small flock of Fieldfares who didn't even fly away as we walked right next to them, I don't think they had the strength & really didn't look good at all


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Today we had a Fieldfare & a Redwing, both seen off by the resident Blackbird & his Mrs.
We also have had a Red Legged Partridge for a couple of days but this morning he wandered down the garden & left.


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## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

We had a fieldfare in today too, it was a bit quiet in the garden today which was surprising, it was completely manic all day yesterday. Mr Blackcap was there nearly all day today doing some serious resource guarding of the mealworms.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Some doveys waiting for me to put more seed out this afternoon. (As you can see we had a big storm too, but we're used to it here, it's normal weather for this time of year)

PS there are five of them. Can you see them all?


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

We had a male Blackcap too Matrod.

Yes I can see all 5 Lorilu. Pretty doves, not got any like those here.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Valanita said:


> We had a male Blackcap too Matrod.
> 
> Yes I can see all 5 Lorilu. Pretty doves, not got any like those here.


I do love our mourning doves. The cats do too. The doveys are their favorite bird to watch. I've yet to get to watch them raise a family though, in all the years I've lived here. I've had a few nests visible in my trees, but something (squirrels or jays) usually get the eggs before they hatch. Obviously they are breeding successfully around here somewhere, but the nests in my apple trees never make it. : (

I forgot to mention, the pictures, as always are taken from my living room, that's the view outside my windows and the seed is put on the deep sill on the outside of the windows.. Cat TV like it was made to order. : )


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

More dovey fun this morning, all five are still here


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

lorilu said:


> More dovey fun this morning, all five are still here


We've had some newcomers to our bevy of doveys. Now the there are SEVEN! (Much to Queen Eva's delight)


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

We had the Partridge here again today & as it wasn't snowing a much better pic I took.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

The Red-legged Partridge still around even though the snow is mostly gone now. Daughter took pics of him on her phone today.


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

These are always our most frequent visitors. They were right outside my bedroom window the other day on my potted rose bushes so had a wonderful view. Sorry pics aren't better, took the through the kitchen window


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Not in the garden (though it could be the one that comes in to feed on the fat balls and nut feeder ...

Caught briefly on video with sound this morning of a Spotted Woodpecker drilling into a tree trunk. Sadly, it won’t upload


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

We still have a ton of snow but the earth is starting to show in spots, now that the rain finally came yesterday and the robins have gone crazy. I love hearing them in the evening.

The goldfinches should be gold any day now.


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## Psygon (Apr 24, 2013)

Hope it's OK to post this gif here... I just found this in my photos from the snow a few weeks ago. And it amused me greatly 

It's like a load of birds flying through a magic portal


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Not actually in my garden but I could hear him when I was in there on Thursday .... a bittern! First one I have heard this year & I love the noise they make


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

On the table 6' away from where I'm watching from inside conservatory










She is building a nest in the ivy


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

New neighbors pending... (just outside my front door)


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Dovey!


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Nothing on my bird table. Have had to stop feeding the birds as we have rats.:Grumpy:Sour


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Valanita said:


> Nothing on my bird table. Have had to stop feeding the birds as we have rats.:Grumpy:Sour


Oh dear 

We've had a bit of a problem with rats a couple of times but I didn't stop feeding the birds. Plus neighbours feed them too anyway.

Just limited the daily amount so it all got eaten by the birds quickly with none out over night and kept the area swept.

I wouldn't put poison or traps down so just made the area the rats were using unpleasant by setting a trickling hose down. Not enough to drown them, but make their "home" soggy - and they moved out! 

I back on to fields so they're never far away, I'm sure, but I'm not making them welcome


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Lurcherlad said:


> Oh dear
> 
> We've had a bit of a problem with rats a couple of times but I didn't stop feeding the birds. Plus neighbours feed them too anyway.
> 
> ...


I'll start feeding again when the weather gets cold, really there should be enough wild food for the birds this time of year.
Our neighbours feed the birds too, but wether they've seen rats I don't know. The rats, 2 of them, were blatantly out in daylight & one actually inside the bird table, so only putting enough out for the birds didn't work, the rat was there & ate it before I was barely indoors, the birds never got at it, little blighter,(a much stronger word was used).. So the only way was no food at all, hopefully the rats have moved to elsewhere now.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

I also have wrens who nest in the ivy that grows up my house @Lurcherlad. Last year I was sitting outside enjoying the lovely summer's evening when one came down to the table & was shouting at me …. constantly. I knew from previous years that s/he wanted me to b*gger off so the fledglings could come out so I did as I was told & went inside 

Can't believe I was bossed around by something so tiny!!!


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Cleo38 said:


> I also have wrens who nest in the ivy that grows up my house @Lurcherlad. Last year I was sitting outside enjoying the lovely summer's evening when one came down to the table & was shouting at me …. constantly. I knew from previous years that s/he wanted me to b*gger off so the fledglings could come out so I did as I was told & went inside
> 
> Can't believe I was bossed around by something so tiny!!!


I had wrens nesting in my snow shoe bag a few years ago. I had left the bag hanging on the post next to my door. They were delightful. After the eggs hatched the parents became quite chummy, sitting on the fence and engaging with me every time I walked through to my front door.

The doves, by the way, ignore me. The eggs have hatched (Monday I think) but the parents seem to be very sneaky about their activity with them. I never see any activity at all, just a dove sitting on the nest. Maybe I'll at least hear something today (babies screeching for food?) since I am going to be home all day.


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Not in the garden but saw a Pied Flycatcher last week. First I've ever seen 
Dad
IMG_2134 by jenny clifford, on Flickr

Youngster
IMG_2131 by jenny clifford, on Flickr


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Dovey 8 days old! It's been very interesting..there is always an adult in the nest. The nest and babies are never left alone. I've been watching a robin's near where I work and first the eggs, then the nestlings were often left in the nest. (the robins fledged over the weekend)


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Think I had the whole family of six Sparrows in my garden together this morning. four on the lawn picking up bread I'd put out for the Crows, one on the feeder and one on the hedgehog box 

My Crows aren't coming in so much now. I think the female has died. It's so sad, she's been here a lot of years, was also my last link to Alfie because she used to pull his tail.
She was easy to distinguish apart from the others by her bad leg. I've still two, the male and last years offspring, however they don't visit often and it's such a fleeting visit too, so unlike my girl who would keep me company for a good part of the day


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

rona said:


> I think the female has died. It's so sad, she's been here a lot of years, was also my last link to Alfie because she used to pull his tail.


I'm so sorry to read this. x


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Oh they are getting close! I keep running out to peek.

Cripes, this win10 picture program is so difficult I can't get the darn pictures sorted out to post them in order.

1)Thursday the parent was seen sitting outside the nest because the nestlings are taking up all the room.

2)Yesterday, for the first time, they were left in the nest alone, no parents around (at various times)

3-4) This morning the parent was in the nest with one and the other was outside the nest on the ledge.

5) Later this morning parent gone, one outside the nest the other in the nest.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

lorilu said:


> Oh they are getting close! I keep running out to peek.
> 
> Cripes, this win10 picture program is so difficult I can't get the darn pictures sorted out to post them in order.
> 
> ...


Such a fluttering of the parents flying around.....I've just been out again...both out of the nest, one is almost ready to fly!


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## kimthecat (Aug 11, 2009)

We've had more birds than usual because of the cold weather but not any unusual birds . Lots of baby sparrows and starlings. Their numbers have dropped here so I am pleased to see them.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Whoops! Looks like the parents have decided they aren't ready after all. I left the house to run some errands and when I got back I saw parent had moved them back into the nest.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

A parent sat on a tree bough some yards away and cooed encouragement but they didn't budge from the ledge, though they did come out of the nest again.. Later the other parent fluttered down to the ground a few feet away from the ledge but still they didn't budge.

Maybe tomorrow......

In other news I was reading my book on the porch and it was getting quite chilly. I was about to stand up and come in when Mr Cardinal settled himself on a tree branch very near me and starting warming up for a concert. I knew from experience standing would disturb him and make him fly away so I endured the chill for a while longer, for the pure joy of listening to him sing.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

lorilu said:


> A parent sat on a tree bough some yards away and cooed encouragement but they didn't budge from the ledge, though they did come out of the nest again.. Later the other parent fluttered down to the ground a few feet away from the ledge but still they didn't budge.
> 
> Maybe tomorrow......


I quite underestimated those Dovey parents. Even after it started raining they didn't give up. I peeked thought the porch floor and saw only one baby sitting by itself on the ledge. I hurried down with my camera and the other was on the outside stairs with the parents cooing away. Just as I came out, the larger baby flew away.

They then started cooing for the smaller one, and it was gone within the hour, though I missed seeing the event as it was too cold and wet to stay outside.

One more thing I wanted to mention about this delightful episode. I feed the birds on a deep outdoor sill at my living room windows. Normally I get tons of doves there, I have posted pics before. But this year the two parents would not let any other doves come to the seed during the whole sitting on eggs and nestling period. They would fight any other dove that tried.

So sad it's over!


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

I've got a Squirrel proof feeder on my stand and the Sparrows are using it. tonight a baby Sparrow was tucking in and a Wood Pigeon came down, landing on the top and making it swing wildly. What happened to the poor little Sparrow I don't know but it landed with a thump on the grass below and stayed there for several minutes quite still. I'm pleased to say that it had gone when I next looked about 10 minutes later


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

*WELL.................*said pigeon has taken to coming into my kitchen  Not a good idea!

Any ideas how to keep it out without having to shut the door?


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

rona said:


> *WELL.................*said pigeon has taken to coming into my kitchen  Not a good idea!
> 
> Any ideas how to keep it out without having to shut the door?


I had to chuckle at that. You may need those strip things you can attach to the top of the door frame. People & animals can go through them, but not birds. They also help to keep flies out too.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

rona said:


> *WELL.................*said pigeon has taken to coming into my kitchen  Not a good idea!
> 
> Any ideas how to keep it out without having to shut the door?


Is he flying in or walking?

If the former a voile door curtain, the latter try putting a board across, maybe?


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Lurcherlad said:


> Is he flying in or walking?
> 
> If the former a voile door curtain, the latter try putting a board across, maybe?


I'd have to say waddling because he's so fat 
He already hops up the step, I think a board would be no deterrent. I've taken to chasing him out and he hasn't been in for a couple of days. 

Went down the local pet shop to get food this morning and she tried to get me to buy some nyjer seed but I'd not seen any goldfinches in the garden so said I'd top it up in hope over the winter. Walks through my gate and on the nyjer feeder, guess what I saw? 

Back down I went and she gave me a tiny bag of seed for 65p


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

rona said:


> Went down the local pet shop to get food this morning and she tried to get me to buy some nyjer seed but I'd not seen any goldfinches in the garden so said I'd top it up in hope over the winter. Walks through my gate and on the nyjer feeder, guess what I saw?


Here they are 
IMG_2355 by jenny clifford, on Flickr

Little piggy with a beak full 
IMG_2362 by jenny clifford, on Flickr

Going to have to get another feeder or two because there was at least one more waiting 

And a couple of my other bird family 
IMG_2357 by jenny clifford, on Flickr

Sparrows are just so cute


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

rona said:


> Think I had the whole family of six Sparrows
> 
> My Crows aren't coming in so much now. I think the female has died. It's so sad, she's been here a lot of years, was also my last link to Alfie because she used to pull his tail.
> She was easy to distinguish apart from the others by her bad leg.


I was wrong, my little lame female is still coming in, her leg was obviously better for a while, it was the adult male that went missing. All three had the same call but this morning I heard a very deep caw, went to see and there was a large handsome bird out there with the old girl and youngster. Maybe her 3rd mate since I've known her. To be honest, I don't think she's fit enough to raise any more young. Once she's been sitting, she's too disabled to protect the babies.

While out in the garden yesterday a Sparrow hawk swooped in to try and grab one of my Sparrows who screamed very loudly but managed to escape through the Hebe


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## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Lovely. We have goldfinches that sit in the field maple at the end of the garden but it has to be a very cold winter before they come the feeder.

This year has been brilliant for babies though - we have had sparrow, dunnock,starling, blue tit, blackbird,wren and goldcrest babies in the garden, possibly because the tree the magpies nest in was cut down. Our neighbour has also taken out a long conifer hedge in the last month that ran at right angles to ours so it will be interesting to see what effect it has on our population. I think we have enough hedge of our own to sustain it and our small pond attracts a lot of wildlife but I am a bit apprehensive.


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Jonescat said:


> Lovely. We have goldfinches that sit in the field maple at the end of the garden but it has to be a very cold winter before they come the feeder.
> 
> This year has been brilliant for babies though - we have had sparrow, dunnock,starling, blue tit, blackbird,wren and goldcrest babies in the garden, possibly because the tree the magpies nest in was cut down. Our neighbour has also taken out a long conifer hedge in the last month that ran at right angles to ours so it will be interesting to see what effect it has on our population. I think we have enough hedge of our own to sustain it and our small pond attracts a lot of wildlife but I am a bit apprehensive.


it's very worrying isn't it, when a resource goes missing? Bonus with losing the Magpies though

My Goldfinches have stopped for now, there is rather a lot of food out there in much nicer surroundings
I had to cover my pond because of the hedgehogs, upset the crows because they used to feed on the tadpoles and snails. I now have 5 dishes around which I refresh daily


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

rona said:


> it's very worrying isn't it, when a resource goes missing? Bonus with losing the Magpies though
> 
> My Goldfinches have stopped for now, there is rather a lot of food out there in much nicer surroundings
> I had to cover my pond because of the hedgehogs, upset the crows because they used to feed on the tadpoles and snails. I now have 5 dishes around which I refresh daily


I know I have cats in my garden, but does anyone else ONLY get starlings and the odd wood pigeon? It's getting a little predictable....


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

A Nuthatch has been visiting the feeders recently - no doubt grateful for the mealworms given the dry weather.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

MilleD said:


> I know I have cats in my garden, but does anyone else ONLY get starlings and the odd wood pigeon? It's getting a little predictable....


I haven't got much variety of bird species either. Lots of House Sparrows, They have had a population explosion this year with many young ones. Starlings & Collared Doves & the odd Wood Pigeon, plus one Robin. No Tits, Finches or others at all. Oh! a Blackbird & a pair of Magpies..


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## Farm Ekol (Aug 1, 2019)




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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Well, the pigeon has started coming inside again  

Came right through the kitchen to the lounge door yesterday. It doesn't panic when you shoosh it out either, just waddles out and stands by the back door


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

rona said:


> Well, the pigeon has started coming inside again
> 
> Came right through the kitchen to the lounge door yesterday. It doesn't panic when you shoosh it out either, just waddles out and stands by the back door


 I have a pigeon that sits on my open window & peers in …. so funny but am hoping s/he doesn't come in or my ginger moggie will have it!

I have so many wrens in my garden this year, it's lovely seeing them & their babies. They seem to really like the overgrown honeysuckle & ivy for nesting in. I was going to cut it back a bit this year but have left it until they have gone.


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

rona said:


> While out in the garden yesterday a Sparrow hawk swooped in to try and grab one of my Sparrows who screamed very loudly but managed to escape through the Hebe


Anyone know a deterrent for Sparrow hawks? It killed one of my Sparrows yesterday 

I may have to pack the feeders away


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I imagine if something scared Sparrow Hawks it would scare other birds too.

Tbh I would carry on feeding the birds (maybe put the feeders closer to trees for protection?) and just accept the natural order of things.

Live and let live.

Sparrow Hawks have to eat too.


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## Matrod (Dec 22, 2014)

rona said:


> Anyone know a deterrent for Sparrow hawks? It killed one of my Sparrows yesterday
> 
> I may have to pack the feeders away


I can't think of anything other than having the feeders next to cover.

I just think of it as I'm feeding another bird.


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Lurcherlad said:


> just accept the natural order of things.





Matrod said:


> I just think of it as I'm feeding another bird.


I don't see it as natural though. I'm attracting the Sparrows to the food in the same place every day. That's not natural

I've moved the feeder into the bush


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

rona said:


> Well, the pigeon has started coming inside again
> 
> Came right through the kitchen to the lounge door yesterday. It doesn't panic when you shoosh it out either, just waddles out and stands by the back door


Thee are a few like that in the pannier market hall as well. They are pain.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

rona said:


> Anyone know a deterrent for Sparrow hawks? It killed one of my Sparrows yesterday
> 
> I may have to pack the feeders away


We put wire netting around the bird table so the Sparrowhawk couldn't get to it, Only little birds can get in & the Starlings, but those are Houdini's. It also stopped the Rooks, Magpies & other larger birds from getting in as well. Which was good, as they scattered the food everywhere & gobbled it up before the little birds got a look in. I do put food on the patio too.








It looks a bit worse for wear here & is even more so now. I do have a new table to put out, but it needs the wire mesh.


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## Beth78 (Jul 4, 2019)

We had a heron in our garden this morning 
Just wandering around.
Beautiful creatures, love their little pony tails.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Beth78 said:


> We had a heron in our garden this morning
> Just wandering around.
> Beautiful creatures, love their little pony tails.


I agree but not when they pillage my fish pond!


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

Lurcherlad said:


> I agree but not when they pillage my fish pond!


One already ate all mine, so the pond is now for wildlife only.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Valanita said:


> One already ate all mine, so the pond is now for wildlife only.


Live and let live


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Nice to see a starling on our various bird feeders this morning.

I’ve lived here for almost 30 years and although have seen starlings at the farms or in fields none have come in to the garden even the ones that used to nest in a hole in a cottage nearby many years ago. Just the one bird but I’ve no doubt his mates will find out eventually and more will come. They've become quite a rare bird these days except during the winter when continental birds come over to escape the colder weather


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Ok not actually on the bird table, but lying in bed I can hear an owl hooting


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

My Hedge Sparrow flock has grown a little and they are emptying the feeder in less than a week 

They are going to cost me a fortune


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Lurcherlad said:


> Ok not actually on the bird table, but lying in bed I can hear an owl hooting


Oh I love to hear an owl!


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## Nadz1675 (Apr 19, 2018)

sounds soo exciting! here, there's not so many interesting things to see


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## Kimmikins (Apr 9, 2016)

My Robin is back  I’ve seen some either blue or great tits too, and it’s lovely. The Robin is pretty brave! Hopping down to the lower branches of my magnolia while Douche Dog is out and about exploring


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

I have stopped feeding the birds here again, after seeing a rat on the patio in the early afternoon eating bird food. I stopped before because of this. I didn't feed the birds for most of the Spring/Summer. I know we are never far from a rat, but if I don't see them that's OK, but they shouldn't be out in the day & so I've seen it now, so can't un-see it, sadly.


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## dancing (Sep 16, 2019)

Nobody, but then it's dark.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

dancing said:


> Nobody, but then it's dark.


Possibly a fat rat though


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## dancing (Sep 16, 2019)

Nobody to be seen when I went out. As soon as I came back in I heard the robin start to whistle. What a beautiful little voice he or she has. Also random squabbling noises from somethings I should be able to identify just from their squeakings but can't. They're there. They just don't want to let anyone know about it.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

dancing said:


> Nobody to be seen when I went out. As soon as I came back in I heard the robin start to whistle. What a beautiful little voice he or she has. Also random squabbling noises from somethings I should be able to identify just from their squeakings but can't. They're there. They just don't want to let anyone know about it.


As I said, if I didn't see them I wouldn't mind, but once seen not forgotten.


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## dancing (Sep 16, 2019)

Coal tit, blue tit (could have been more than one of each, they move so fast it's hard to tell), two cock sparrows, and a fat grey squirrel that leapt up to the top of the tree with an "It wasn't me" expression... and then didn't actually go.


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## dancing (Sep 16, 2019)

Oh, not *that* kind of squeaking. Although that has been known to happen. It comes in cycles - when we can get away with it, we put food on the ground as well as in the hopper, for the benefit of blackbirds and such like that don't use the hopper, but after a while the rats notice and start coming in for their share and then we know it's time to stop putting food on the ground again because once you have one rat visiting you very soon have dozens of them. They do move on pretty quickly once we do stop, at least ours do. Funny thing, though, even when we've had daft young ones that have been running all over the garden, I've never heard them squeak.


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## Dinanona (Dec 18, 2019)

I've seen only sparrows and tits on our yard. But there's raven's nest on a nearby tree and a magpie's nest little farther. Seldom woodpecker appears on the ravens' tree. That's all that I've noticed so far. 
I think my feathered neighbourhood is awesome.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

The best fed birds (and squirrels) in Essex - they’re eating me out of house and home


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

I had a new Crow flying around and giving it large today, I was actually hoping my little girl crow wouldn't find her 3rd mate this year, she's so old and suffers more and more every year with her bad leg when she sits on eggs.
I have no idea what happened to her last mate, he was only around for 2-3 years and seemed in his prime. 
Last years youngster looks quite jittery around the newcomer but is keeping his mouth shut and distancing himself/herself from mum


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

I have started feeding the birds again, so far not seen a rattie.


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

The local jackdaws have decided that the bird table on my front lawn is fair game.

They can't get enough of the mealworms.

They are funny birds when you watch them interact with each other


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

MilleD said:


> The local jackdaws have decided that the bird table on my front lawn is fair game.
> 
> They can't get enough of the mealworms.
> 
> They are funny birds when you watch them interact with each other


The trouble with Jackdaws as apposed to my crows is, where there's one there's usually a huge flock behind them


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

My pigeon gang is up to 15 now 

The young Crow gets quite intimidated by them and I'm sure the neighbours will start complaining soon :Shamefullyembarrased


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

OK, not strictly on the table but ....










Lousy pic, but just about to let Jack out and spotted "Percy" on the terrace.


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## Valanita (Apr 13, 2010)

There are loads of Rooks & other Corvids after the food I put out, they gobble it all before the little birds have a chance.
Yet when I put it out there is never a large black bird in sight, nowhere, by the time I get back indoors their they are. How do they know?


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Mrs Cardinal waiting her turn, while Dovey holds the table. Taken 4/16/20


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

lorilu said:


> Dovey 8 days old! It's been very interesting..there is always an adult in the nest. The nest and babies are never left alone. I've been watching a robin's near where I work and first the eggs, then the nestlings were often left in the nest. (the robins fledged over the weekend)


They came back again this year! I didn't know doves would nest in the same place! Working form home as I am though they are less used to me coming and going and still startle when I come and go (last year they got over that quickly)

However I wanted to share a fun thing from this morning

I was standing at the door looking out while doing litter box duty (Mazy cat requires my attendance while she toilets) and I saw a little brown sparrow type trying to get some threads off an old frayed bit of rope I have out there on the fence (used to tie back asters in season). The bird couldn't get the frays to come loose, even after giving it a good try. When she flew away I stepped out and snipped a bunch of frays and left them dangling on the fence and next time I checked they were gone!  So I snipped a few more.


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

lorilu said:


> They came back again this year! I didn't know doves would nest in the same place! Working form home as I am though they are less used to me coming and going and still startle when I come and go (last year they got over that quickly)
> 
> However I wanted to share a fun thing from this morning
> 
> I was standing at the door looking out while doing litter box duty (Mazy cat requires my attendance while she toilets) and I saw a little brown sparrow type trying to get some threads off an old frayed bit of rope I have out there on the fence (used to tie back asters in season). The bird couldn't get the frays to come loose, even after giving it a good try. When she flew away I stepped out and snipped a bunch of frays and left them dangling on the fence and next time I checked they were gone!  So I snipped a few more.


It's fun watching birds pick up Islas dog hair hopping around with long blonde moustaches.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

The Nuthatch is quite brave and will come to the bird table when we’re quite close. Such a beauty!


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## wind1 (Oct 24, 2010)

I don't have a bird table but do get plenty of birds in the garden. We have blue tits nesting in the box which I have been taking photo's of over the last few days.


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## wind1 (Oct 24, 2010)

The last baby blue tit has left the box today.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Not on the bird table but ...

On the fence:

Percy come for his afternoon snack









And as we sat chatting on the terrace, at the bird bath:

Nuthatch having a drink










Now a baby has flown down to the stone surround of the wildlife pond and mum or dad is coming down to feed it 

As I was peering through the trellis at the baby the parent flew over my shoulder back to the bird bath.

Such a treat to be so close


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

I seem to have a million juvenile starlings being fed on my table at the moment. They are hilarious to watch.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Me too 

They come down in a flock and are noisy, bolshy little perishers 

They are comical to watch and are quite cheeky and can be really stroppy with their parents! 

I put out mealworms, which they love and can do major damage to the fat balls in seconds!


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

Lurcherlad said:


> Me too
> 
> They come down in a flock and are noisy, bolshy little perishers
> 
> ...




Mealworms is what she is feeding in the pics. I buy enormous 5kg bags and they don't last very long!


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

A more sedate and well mannered lunchtime visitor today.


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

This poor mare had three to contend with!


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## MilleD (Feb 15, 2016)

Lurcherlad said:


> A more sedate and well mannered lunchtime visitor today.
> 
> View attachment 440835


Lovely :Happy


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I get a little family of the Doves every morning and throughout the day. They’re fairly calm and have grown to tolerate me 

Considering how much it costs to feed all the wildlife, I should think so!


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Lurcherlad said:


> I get a little family of the Doves every morning and throughout the day. They're fairly calm and have grown to tolerate me
> 
> Considering how much it costs to feed all the wildlife, I should think so!


The dovies are my favorite. And the cats' as well.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

There is much fluttering and whirring of wings this morning at the dovie nest. I think it might be hatching day!


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Oh Goodness I have a flicker out there! In all the years I've never seen or heard a flicker here. I've just been sitting here, the cats out on the porch and heard this loud single note call. I crept out carefully, but of course I disturbed him, he was perched on the tip of my almost dead apple tree. But I caught the sight of the white tail feathers, not to mention the size of him! However as soon as I came back in he came back to his perch and started calling again.

Mazy cat didn't like his noise and came inside until he finally left.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

lorilu said:


> Oh Goodness I have a flicker out there! In all the years I've never seen or heard a flicker here. I've just been sitting here, the cats out on the porch and heard this loud single note call. I crept out carefully, but of course I disturbed him, he was perched on the tip of my almost dead apple tree. But I caught the sight of the white tail feathers, not to mention the size of him! However as soon as I came back in he came back to his perch and started calling again.
> 
> Mazy cat didn't like his noise and came inside until he finally left.


I had to look it up - beautiful!

We get Green Woodpeckers or Spotted Woodpeckers here 

I've had them in the garden occasionally, but see the Green ones over the fields behind my house quite often. A family nest in an old oak tree there regularly.

I hear the Spotted ones drumming the trees to make a hole for their nest but they are very difficult to see. As soon as I stop walking to peer upwards, they stop!


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

I've set up a load of feeders in my sick friends garden and I can't believe how many birds he's getting in there. I have to fill two of the feeders every day and I've had to order a couple more feeders and about 40Kgs of various food.

My friend goes down there every afternoon and is loving watching all the antics 

We've been looking at Bird baths this morning and maybe a little water feature, so that while watching the birds, he can also listen to babbling water


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Lurcherlad said:


> I had to look it up - beautiful!
> 
> We get Green Woodpeckers or Spotted Woodpeckers here
> 
> ...


I get the odd Downy woodpecker or Hairy at the seed sometimes (a lot more often when I used to put out suet, they love suet), but never saw a flicker here. My friend has them. There is a pileated in this neighborhood (they have very large territories) and I get a glimpse of him now and then, and of course I can hear him often. No mistaking that song!


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## rona (Aug 18, 2011)

Fat pigeon came for a look around the kitchen again


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## Happy Paws2 (Sep 13, 2008)

We have babies Sparrows by the dozen, a few baby Starlings a baby Robin and a squirrel.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

We heard a lovely Blackcap singing it’s heart out yesterday on our walk. Difficult to spot the bird but eventually found him and pretty sure that’s what it was.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Oh my goodness the nuthatches are having such a to-do this morning! I know they had a nest out there in the old apple tree this year, but usually once they fledge they're all gone. But this morning there are five or six of them all in the tree hopping about and chattering like crazy! Queen Eva is out there fascinated, with her tail on the half-puff from excitement.


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## Earsom (Sep 5, 2021)

My cardinals lined up pecking on that sweet seed is a sight I would not dare miss. A coffee cup and my colorful birds up close in the morning – the best way to start the day! I wouldn’t exchange it for something else. The clear roof of this Nature Anywhere house bird protects the seeds in any season.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Hearing the wild parakeets quite a lot in the trees behind my garden … only seen at a feeder once, so far.

Will stock all the feeders well today and clean and refill the bird bath and water trays before we head off for a few days’ away.

The Magpie “chicks” are still hanging around, causing havoc


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

The new robin who’s taken over the garden for his territory is certainly a violent bird. He aggressively chases most of the small birds off the feeders, but particularly has it in for a dunnock who gets chased from pillar to post the moment it shows itself.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Some exotic visitors to the garden this morning 

Makes a change from all the Magpies, Starlings and Pigeons that usually descend.

I bought a selective feeder to preserve some food for the smaller birds, but the pesky Starlings manage to hang onto the pole, lean over and feed from it.

Have hung it from the clothes line where there is nothing nearby to hang from or perch on.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Just looked out of the bathroom window and there is a Starling on each of the perches that are meant to close the access hole when they land!



Going to need a Plan B!


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

They like my new bird feeder 










They've had a snack … now the terrace is full of the usual crowd, while I take a break from the garden for a coffee break.

My enjoyment only marred by the neighbour's friend working on the hooter of his motorbike 

Wish he'd take it home and annoy his neighbours!


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## wind1 (Oct 24, 2010)

Love seeing the parakeets. So lucky to get them in your garden. Are you in Surrey by any chance? I left Surrey 25 years ago and the parakeets were around then but not as many as there are now. We walked with friends a couple of weeks ago near Chessington and saw lots in the woods, very noisy!


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

wind1 said:


> Love seeing the parakeets. So lucky to get them in your garden. Are you in Surrey by any chance? I left Surrey 25 years ago and the parakeets were around then but not as many as there are now. We walked with friends a couple of weeks ago near Chessington and saw lots in the woods, very noisy!


No, I'm in Essex.

OH said 4 were in yesterday 

I know they aren't native (nor ideal in the wild) but they're out there now and all beasties are welcome in my garden 

I have so many different feeders, they all get fed.

I did read that discouraging the magpies, jays etc. during the breeding season will help the smaller garden birds with predation, so I will be removing the new open feeders soon.

The bigger birds will be able to find enough food out in the countryside by then.


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## GingerNinja (Mar 23, 2014)

I'm going to have the fattest pigeons! I don't mind getting them but they eat so much! I think they'd polished of the accessable food before the blackbirds and robins got a look in.

I'm thinking of getting a ground feeder?

Now the cheeky pheasants are queuing up because ground food has gone..


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

You can get a ground feeder and a cover that lets smaller birds in and the larger birds out
Make sure you get the large mesh one so that blackbirds can get in but not pigeons etc. Will let squirrels on though

https://www.arkwildlife.co.uk/product/ground-feeder-cage/


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## 1507601 (Jun 26, 2020)

I had no idea we had a wild parakeet population now! How interesting.

About a month ago, the birds just stopped coming to our feeder. It's very strange. They're still about, you can hear them.


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## GingerNinja (Mar 23, 2014)

Siskin said:


> You can get a ground feeder and a cover that lets smaller birds in and the larger birds out
> Make sure you get the large mesh one so that blackbirds can get in but not pigeons etc. Will let squirrels on though
> 
> https://www.arkwildlife.co.uk/product/ground-feeder-cage/


Thank you, will do a search


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Just now, out of the bathroom window …

13 wood pigeons
1 magpie
5 starlings
3 blackbirds
2 jays
2 squirrels

more to come through the day … the smaller birds tend to wait until the big boys have gone.

Will top up later … costing me a fortune!


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## GingerNinja (Mar 23, 2014)

I have a few little brown birds visiting (sadly no pics) but I have no idea what they are. They are reddy brown, not speckled and the same size as a robin, but not as round.

Had a look at a bird identifier site and the closest match was a nightingale. but it said they are only here in the summer so it cant be them!


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Certainly won’t be nightingales as they don’t start to arrive until mid April. I would suggest Dunnock


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

I've got a lovely blackbird who comes several times every day and sits on top of the bushes at the bottom of our garden. This pic was very early the other morning. A couple of days ago I pulled back my bedroom curtains and there he was sitting on the fence right by the window. We've got three robins and one was eating from the dish I put out there a few days ago. Also had a dunnock and we have pigeons and magpies. We've had a few goldfinches but since I put out some niger seeds for them, we haven't seen them, ungrateful things.


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

Someone tell me what I'm doing wrong
I have a feeder, was at top of garden in wildlife area and nothing except pigeons used it
So I brought it down near to the patio, closer to next doors conifers (for darting in and out of) and so I can view it through the dining room blinds
And now
Nothing uses it at all
I have seed and insect mix in one hanging tube
Black Niger in another
Sunflower hearts in another
Suet balls in a tube hanging from a nail on the fence (don't even have to pop out of the conifers for those)
I put in trays and scatter on the ground
Mealworms
Crickets
Grasshoppers
Soldier fly larvae
And, finally
Have one of those ¾ coconut shells filled with stuff

I know birds visit/ed in, as last year I had a blackbird nesting in the shed
and
wrens underneath the slates, none of which were scared to come tell me off, in fact, one of the wrens doing so, made it the first time I'd ever seen one in the wild

No cats, as dogs would scare them off
Foglia does bark when she goes rushing out past it, that dog does nothing at a walking pace, despite her age

So, help me forum great ones, please


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Are there bigger trees further away that birds can sit in and survey the surroundings before coming into your garden?
You are providing a veritable feast there and I can only think birds just don’t know it’s there. 
This is not something I would really recommend to do especially getting close to nesting time, but it may be worth trying to find a recording of a group of chirping British birds and play it in your garden for a while to see if this brings in other birds out of curiosity.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

How far from the windows 

Reflections could be off putting, or they can see you.

Is there any water? A waist high bird bath should be popular.


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## mrs phas (Apr 6, 2014)

Siskin said:


> Are there bigger trees further away that birds can sit in and survey the surroundings before coming into your garden?
> You are providing a veritable feast there and I can only think birds just don't know it's there.
> This is not something I would really recommend to do especially getting close to nesting time, but it may be worth trying to find a recording of a group of chirping British birds and play it in your garden for a while to see if this brings in other birds out of curiosity.


Yes I have birches at the back along with field maples, more firs (next door seem obsessed) there's also bamboo, passion fruit vines and honeysuckle along the wildlife fence



Lurcherlad said:


> How far from the windows
> 
> Reflections could be off putting, or they can see you.
> 
> Is there any water? A waist high bird bath should be popular.


Windows have vertical blinds and I turned them so that nothing can be seen from outside but I can see the feeder
I should have said there's a barrel pond and a bird bath nearby and a wild mini pond (old butler sink) in the wildlife area, which I'm hoping to get some frogspawn for this year

Edit to add 
I'm not adverse to moving it back into the wildlife area, in a different position to the first, if anyone thinks that would help 
I'd rather the birds used it than they went hungry or I was throwing it away, as I am now (don't want to encourage mice/rats or let stuff go mouldy)


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## Siskin (Nov 13, 2012)

Do you know if anyone else is feeding birds a lot? We’ve fed birds for years and the birds know where we are and seem to pass on that knowledge to their young. When someone else puts up feeders it seems to take along time before any birds come to the new ones. As the birds are well fed in our garden they don’t have much need to check elsewhere for food. Our friends up the road always know when we start putting bird food out as the birds vanish from their garden. I presume those birds are used to our garden and like the ambiance there.
Also many birds stick to their own territories even through the winter months. You may find soon that birds that have been chased out of a territory that is being set up by a bird and it’s mate as their nesting and feeding area, those ones then may find their way to you.
I don’t know how long you’ve had your feeders out, I remember you moved not so long ago. It may just be a case of time before the local birds become aware of your presence.
The most likely birds that will find your feeders will probably be the blue tits as they are adventurous little souls and seem keen to seek out food opportunities. Once they start coming they will bring in other species.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

Not sure what to suggest really … can’t see any reason why they aren’t coming in.

Maybe try halfway between the two sites? 

Perhaps they are being scared off by predatory birds in the area?


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## GingerNinja (Mar 23, 2014)

I give up! I do get tits, starlings, blackbirds and robins but seem to attract greedy big pigeons, magpies and pheasants in the main... don't mind feeding them as well but they eat everything so quickly!

This little lady was beautiful though


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I’m looking for some feeder guards to prevent anything starling size and up from accessing at least a couple of the feeders, so the little birds can get their fair share.

So far, the ones I’ve found aren’t big enough … their beaks can still reach the food.


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

GingerNinja said:


> I give up! I do get tits, starlings, blackbirds and robins but seem to attract greedy big pigeons, magpies and pheasants in the main... don't mind feeding them as well but they eat everything so quickly!
> 
> This little lady was beautiful though
> View attachment 484461


Lovely photo @GingerNinja


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## LittleFox (12 mo ago)

I don't have a bird table but just wanted to say how much I enjoy living vicariously through those of you who do


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