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I’m still as busy as ever feeding birds – and still finding ways of keeping pigeons, rooks and crows off the bird food
The nest boxes on the trees are a hive of activity and the branches have grown that they now nearly hide the nest box entrance – the branches and leaves blowing in the breeze. I can still see what is going on through the window though.
It’s rewarding to see blackbirds and thrushes find their way into my home made wire mesh and cane bird feeder. I think I have now stopped the pigeons getting in as well now.
The pond is still used a lot – and I’m so glad we have it as we have so many birds visit every day. Two tips if you are making a pond – make at least one side sloping and also have a ledge a few inches deep on the other parts of the pond. The ‘ledge’ will be underwater when the pond is full but many birds will be able to stand on this ledge to have a bird bath.
Take Care. Trisha
Bird Table News is 3 Year Old Today. Where’s the candles? Where’s the bottle of wine?
I’ve made it. I’ve battled with technology and won
Here is my first note on Bird Table News
Some things change. Some things stay the same.
The thing that has changed is technology. Now we can get smaller camcorders, digital recording devices to record birdsong, I’ve joined Twitter and some times ‘tweet’ there, My blog is run on WordPress – they always keep updating that – so I have to learn that. I now know about widgets, plug ins, pixels, You Tube and a little bit about videos, making a calender with my birdy photos – and lots more.
One of the things that has stayed the same is that the rooks are still maurauding the bird tables. It’s a strange coincidence that I started writing this online diary at the same time that the rooks started to come to the bird tables. Another thing that has stayed the same is the garden birds that seem to take my feeders for granted and seem to feel at home here.
There have been so many things happen over this 3 years. You would think that bird feeding would just be bird feeding, but no. Things happen. Here are a few things that I remember.
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I started Bird Table News in May 2007. Unfortunately at Christmas 2008 there was a catastrophic hosting error (not our fault). We lost our Blogs! I started from scratch in January 2009. I still wonder if I should have just done a pen and paper diary.
I still have notes and memories from May 2007 onwards and I sometimes put them on Bird Table News. That is why I say the Bird Table News started in May 2007.
Best. Trisha
I received this question from Char
do sparrows steal each others nest? do they kill other baby sparrows ?
What a question to think about - I replied
I have a Catetory on Bird Table News called DO SPARROWS ATTACK OTHER BIRDS.
Here is the link
http://birdtablenews.com/category/do-sparrows-attack-other-birds/If you read the articles you will see that people have observed sparrows behaving like thugs! They have beeen seen taking eggs from other nests and dropping them on the floor.
Read all the articles in that Category. I wouldn’t put anything past sparrows. If they can steal another breed of birds nest and get rid of other eggs then, I suppose they could do it to their own breed.Have you seen this happen? I just wondered why you asked the question. Thanks for getting in touch please give us more information about your question
Trisha
I read a really interesting article by Louis de Bernieres about village life and the countryside of yesterday . In it he says
‘I miss the towering verges, dotted with wild flowers and bright with crimson rosehips, which used to flank every country lane.
Now the hedges are vigoursly clipped and pruned often at the wrong time of year, so the birds don’t have a chance to snaffle the berries that grow in them before they are cut back.
They need those berries to get through the winter’
How right he is. I remember hedgerows full of berries. We still have them in some scrubland near us. BUT most of the hedges are cut back before winter by mechanical cutters.
Also often now the grass is cut right back to the hedgerow – with no wild, unruly parts at all in the grass verges.
I have emailed the Council asking about the cutting of hedges which also cuts berries off. I have not yet got a reply. Thinking about it - it is a serious issue as it must be happening all over the Country.
I have also just this minute asked Song Bird Survival what they think of hedgerows being cut back and so birds Song Bird survival http://www.songbird-survival.org.uk/
Anything that helps the decline in bird numbers must be bad.
The Great Spotted Woodpecker has a crimson abdomen. The adult male has a crimson mark on the nape of his neck.
A Great Spotted Woodpecker has been seen at a Nature Reserve near Driffield in Yorkshire. This woodpecker has ORANGE markings on its abdomen and also on the nape of its neck.
This is really interesting and it’s causing a lot of interest. Most people think this is a genetic reason – a little like blackbirds that have some white feathers.
I suppose nature is always changing – nothing it static.
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We have a pair of chaffinches that have started to come to the garden, they are really friendly to the point they tap on our patio windows for attention especially the male.
They seem to be attrached to the mealworms we feed the robin.
Yesterday the femail chaffinch squeezed her way through a gap in the door and came into the house, is this normal behaviour for chaffinches.
They are a beautiful cheerful pair with a lot of character.
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Isn’t that a lovely thing to happen. Pecking on a window to get attention and then coming into the house! I received this story the other day.
I did reply and said -
I think you are really lucky and the chaffinches must really trust you.
Tapping in your patio window really shows they are intelligent and can think doesn’t it?
chaffinches squeezing their way into houses is NOT normal chaffinch behaviour. They really must think of your house as part of nature and not be at all afraid of you.
You’re lucky to have this connection with a wild bird. I have been feeding chaffinches for years and Have never come close to them at all – but I do get loads at the feeders .
I remember being told once of an old man years ago who lived on his own in a sort of shed in a wood somewhere. Many wild birds would fly into his home and treat it as part of the countryside, but he had lived there for years, but it is the same sort of connection that you have
Trisha