Bird Table News

Of course they don’t.  Do they?

I suppose it’s just another day for our feathered friends

Christmas Day!  ‘Oh Little Town of Bethleham’  ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’.  Just two lovely Christmas Carols that, in a lot of ways, sum up Christmas.

We have thrushes in a corner of the garden now.  I’ve been putting some sliced apple out and they ‘run about’ on the grass with the blackbirds getting as much bird food and apple as they can.  I’m lucky I can see so much from my kitchen window – I can see their antics and watch them unobserved

I’ll pop outside and give these garden birds a Christmas Feast

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Dawn was breaking when I heard the first blackbird of the day. 

I could follow his call as he flew from one corner of the bird feeding area to the other,  so  I went outside in the morning gloom and  scattered wild bird seed and  and an apple that was going soft.  Blackbirds, especially, love apple and will peck it to nothing in a short time.

There was also some mild cheese in the fridge so I used a bit of that as well.

The other usual suspects arrived singing / chirping happily, so I put the rest of the bird food out in my makeshift bird feeders.  I counted that I put birdfood in 7 different places in the garden.

When daylight arrived I could see from the kitchen window so many brightly coloured birds at the feeders.

Here’s one of them

They are such small birds in such a big world!

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We have had a report / survey done on the farm where I live

Part of the report says this is a rich agricultural landscape and has been the scene of intensive human activity /farming for the last 10,000 years. 

 This means the same soil we are growing food on now has been used by farmers through the ages.  That is the Yorkshire Wolds for you!

Pity at the moment it’s so difficult in farming. 

There has been a dairy herd here since the 1940′s but we cannot afford to keep it going.

But it’s great to think that the soil of the Yorkshire Wolds may be providing food for the next 10,000 years.

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I’m still feeding my garden birds every day.  I still put loads of birdfood out near the hedge and still get a variety of birds, which I enjoy watching from my kitchen window.

We are getting rabbits and pheasants still visiting!  A blackbird was resting in the dry soil.  It looked as though it had made a nest in the soft soil and had settled down for a snooze

The smaller birds still enjoy the meshed ground feeder.  They are safe inside.

Blackbirds and thrushes don’t have safety and hop about in the hedgerow, then along the grass.

Today I saw the feathers of a dead bird on the grass.  It will either be a sparrowhawk or a cat.

I hope it is a sparrowhawk that attacked and killed the bird.  At least that my move on.  A cat on the other hand will prowl all night long and kill so many birds.

As you can see I haven’t been writing much lately.  This is due to computer problems, internet problems and health problems.

I always seem to have something wrong with my computer.

I often can’t seem to access Bird Table News to write about anything birdy!   That’s due to computer problems.

I have back and knee problems – Oh dear me!  I am supposed to do healthy things now like swimming and yoga to help my back and knees.   It doesn’t do me any good to sit at a computer for a long length of time.

I will still be writing about birdy things sometimes and I will still check in to see if anyone has asked a question that I can help with.

But what I won’t be doing is writing every day or even every week.  I will be too busy feeding birds, doing yoga and swimming.  Sounds too energetic for me!

Trisha

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No I don’t mean Cuckoos

I’ve just heard of an account of blackbirds feeding robin nestlings

Two blackbirds built a nest near to a robins nest.  The robins nest was a nest box and it had a front opening.

There were 4 eggs in the robins nest and all hatched.  The robins were fed by their parents and all was well.

One morning the cock blackbird was seen carrying insects in its beak – the blackbird flew to the robins nest.  Clinging to the robins’ nest box  the blackbird fed the insects to the young robins.

Amazing.  This happened more than once. In fact it was seen that the robins had left the nest. The robin chicks were fed by the blackbird.

At night time the blackbird flew and clung to the nest box opening.  This would have been to shelter the young robins.

The young robins did fledge and the blackbird was seen feeding them for a day or two.  I don’t know if the young robins did survive.

The blackbird eggs then hatched and the blackbirds went on to rear their own brood

The person who witnessed this is so lucky to have seen this happening in front of them in their  garden.

So as well as bird eating bird - birds do care for other birds as well.

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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

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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.

• I’ve seen a crow eating a blackbird. 
• I’ve been so close to a robin. 
• I’ve wanted to throw a brick at this computer. 
• I’ve really enjoyed hearing from people who have taken the time to contact me.  Thank you. 
• ‘ve turned out in snow, sun and rain to feed the birds. 
• I’ve spent a fortune on bird food. 
• I’ve had to think of ways to keep crows off the bird food. 
•  once  my camcorder broke and II couldn’t afford another one.  Then we found out it was covered with insurance
• I’ve enjoyed feeding kitchen scraps / left overs to the birds
• We’ve had a tawny owl in our garden.  The RSPCA came and took tawny to an Owl Sanctuary, but sadly Tawny  died at the Owl Sanctuary.  
• We’ve put up a barn owl box only to find a Jackdaw nesting in it. 
• I’ve seen a sparrow bring her fledglings to the fence above the ground feeder.  I could have sworn I heard the sparrow say ‘This woman is our servant and puts food on our plates everyday’.  

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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

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The computer got repaired and then I broke down!

My neck, back and knees are painful.  Sometimes every step I take hurts.  My neck aches and the ache seems to travel down my back.  This is all day long.  It wears me down.

I haven’t felt like sitting at a computer, as it has taken me all my time to feed the birds, feed myself and hubby, clean the house and have a rest and try to get over this problem.

I am getting myselff sorted  though. 

 Wednesday – swimming.  

Thursday – Pilates.  

Friday- Acupuncture

I feel better than I did.

Saturday – a pint of guiness or a glass or two of red wine

I’ve still been feeding all the chirpy birds every day and seeing to their every need.   A  minute ago I was marvelling that they can sing so sweetly  and full of joy yet they don’t know what tomorrow brings.

If anyone would like to write about their bird -

• knowledge,
• stories,
• feelings 
• advice
• photographs
• videos  - 

now would be a good time.  It would help me. Please contact me and let me know.

This could be a communal blog.

I got an email newsletter ready a few weeks ago and then had a disaster with the computer,so am going to try again later this week.

There is such a flurry of activity in the garden.  I’ve had to put some wire netting round a circle of canes .  I put a small circle of canes in the soil and threw bird food inside, but the rooks could get their beaks in so I have put some wire netting round the canes.  I’m getting loads of garden birds in this weird looking bird feeder.  I go to this trouble as i want to let the blackbirds and thrushes in and a lot of caged bird feeders are not big enough for blackbirds and thrushes

Trisha

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Hi folks,  Internet problems sorted -   but   back and neck problems still here!

Have just been outside to put the first batch of bird food onto the tables and feeders.

It’s a hive of activity out there.  Yesterday I saw large crows with large twigs in their beaks to use for making a nest, then a moment later I saw two sparrows pop in and out of one of  a nest  box.

New life is springing up all around!  The hedges are budding, the grass is growing the sun is shining.

Have a good day

Trisha

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