Trisha’s About Page
Welcome to Bird Table News.
I have been feeding birds for years in snow, sleet and wind. I thought I would have a blog and chat about the types of birds and wildlife that visit my garden and give and take advice.
If you would like to join me just leave a comment.
A bit about myself -
I will start at the beginning. I have lived in Yorkshire all my life. I was brought up in a village 12 miles from Bridlington in East Yorkshire. I now live in another village which is twelve miles from Bridlington!
When I was growing up we did not have a car. Every year in the school summer holidays my mum and dad used to hire a car so we could have trips out. We would explore the Yorkshire countryside and visit stately homes and ruined abbeys(that is if the car would go)
Whenever we had a trip out we always stopped at a cafe for Ham and Egg tea and, another cafe for a cup of tea. The cafe where we had the cup of tea had a large aviary full of colurful, loud birds but I cannot remember which village it was.
I remember when we visited one old stately house we three children were mesmerised by the peacocks strutting about with their colourful tails outspread. We had never seen anything like it in our lives before (we did not have a television).
A kindly gentleman in a suit gave us each a peacock feather from a very elegant, large vase that was standing in the grand hall. We treasured these peacock feathers for ages. They seemed magical to us as we wafted them around. (well maybe not to my older brother)
Here is a photograph of one of our days out.
My dad is holding my younger sister.
My brother is standing on the far right of the photo
I am the little girl standing next to him with a ribbon in my hair.
I do not know who the person is who is to the far left of the photo. I think it must be Uncle Ron.
My mum must have been the one taking the photograph
To us our days out were exciting even though in the photo we all look a bit fed up. Even the car ride itself was exciting as I said before, at that time we did not have a car and had to hire one. So climbing into a car and heading off out of the village was fun.
Yorkshire countryside, car rides along country lanes, ruined abbeys to visit and all the time, in the background, was the sound of birds singing.
They were the best outings ever!
MEANWHILE – I am going to keep writing about our feathered friends and other wildlife. .
Trisha
on March 13th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Just to let you know that at 7am yesterday (Thursday 12 March) there were three Barn Owls at Tyre Eye. One was in the field above the sewage works, one was in the dale beside the big quarry and one crossed the road in front of me. Although it was at windscreen height it got across safely. During the winter we have had the odd sighting from home mainly at dawn and dusk. At one point we were beginning to think one was roosting in the incomplete garages on the building site opposite. Three is the best count of barn owls I have ever had in the village.
A few weeks ago, the weekend after the big snow fall when the village was supposedly cut off, there were three Common Buzzards over the plantation in Sowersby’s Dale almost opposite your farm. Again this is a village record although I did have a single along Kilham Road a week later. Friends have reported seeing a Red Kite in that area while driving in January but not since. That would be a personal first for the village if we got one of those.
In our garden the Blackbirds have been collecting nesting material for a couple of weeks now while the Blue Tits have been showing an interest in our nest box again but not yet taking it any further. The pair of Coal Tits which have been visiting throughout winter appear to have moved on in the last week or so, as they do every spring. Lots of birds singing, including all the common species. Loudest at the moment are the Song Thrushes.
David Woodmansey
on March 24th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
The five Small Tortoiseshells in the garden on Saturday were my first of the year. They were nectaring on a number of flowers. Although none were exceptionally brightly coloured, they were also not damaged so they may have come out of hibernation somewhere. A sulphurous yellow male Brimstone also flew through the garden three or four times.
on March 28th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Hi David, thanks for this. You have such a lot of knowledge that I don’t have. I know, and like to see, butterflies, but must admit I don’t know all their names.
I remember a lot of them from my childhood and now it is always great to see them about the garden. Thanks for telling us. We get a lot of different wildlife in a garden don’t we. Butterflies, birds, worms, slugs, rabbits passing through and I don’t know what else. Trisha
on April 14th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Despite some miserable weather over Easter it looks like the bird migration is underway. I saw my first Swallow perched on the wires over the bowling green here in Langtoft on 7th April and have seen one nearly everyday since. They are also appearing in ones and two elsewhere locally including Cowlam and Kirby Grindalythe. For the last couple of weeks there have been Chiffchaffs in suitable habitat everywhere. I heard my first singing males at Weaverthorpe and Sherburn a couple of weekends ago with more at Sledmere and Cowlam over Easter. The first Willow Warblers came in over Easter with birds in scrubby patches again at Cowlam and Sledmere. The first local Blackcap was at Haverdale Lane near West Lutton on Easter Monday.