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[CLKD]

This one fluttered off under a deep bush.  There are cats and a fox locally ......... hubby would have finished it if necessary. 

It's snowing again 

[residualheat]

Meggie, I've seen that as well. This was a female and I assumed that she'd been in a fight. I'll read up about that parasite. It was horrible to see - I tried to catch her for three days and couldn't and then she didn't come anymore.

[Meggie]

Oh how sad for the birds to suffer in this way - I too thought she'd got something stuck in her throat, it never occurred to me that it was a parasite that had caused the proablem.  I just hope we don't find her dead on our terrace - it would really upset us.  We know she won't survive but it would be sad to see her in this state.

Meggie

[Deefor]

That's really sad.  I'd heard about trich, but I had no idea it manifested like that - I'm lucky in that I've never seen a bird with it, as far as I know.

I live just outside Cambridge, but I have several bird feeders and a bird bath in our tiny front garden (where I can see them from the kitchen window), and I never cease to be amazed at the variety of life we get, even here.  At the feeders and on the ground, I've seen blue tits, pied wagtails, blackbirds, starlings, collar doves, wood pigeons, crows, sparrows, dunnocks, robins and magpies; we also had some goldfinches feeding on the lavender once.  We also noticed a small hedgehog one autumn, obviously a bit too little to survive winter on its own; sadly, our local wildlife rescue centre closed down a couple of years ago, and I couldn't have him indoors - there are five of us in a tiny terraced house, along with three dogs, four ferrets, thirteen snakes (!) and numerous fish!  So I got a guinea pig house, and Mr D modified the door so it was just the right size for a small 'hog, but too small for a cat, and I stuffed the bedroom with straw and put fresh water and meaty cat food in every day through the winter. The food was almost always gone, and there was plenty of 'hog poop around, and when I cleaned it out in the spring there was a nice 'hog-shaped hole in the middle of the straw.  I think he made it - I do hope so.

I also go ferreting with Mr D at weekends through the winter, and it's amazing what you see when you get your eye in - apart from rabbits, obviously!!  We've seen deer (red, roe and muntjak), various birds of prey, and quite a few foxes; we've also seen hares, which are great to watch in the mating season - hence the saying "mad March hares"!

This is a great thread, by the way. 

[CLKD]

Is there snow over in Cambridge this week?  I have fed the thrush, robin, wren, great and blue tits this morning with live meal worms.

It bothers me - what will happen when we move house in 12-14 months time?  It kept me awake in the early hours, the fact that the wagtail sits on the roof and peers through the lounge window; the robin sings at me near the front door ...... the robin who lives at the back of the house sits ont he kitchen windowsill singing until I go feed him ......... 

[Deefor]

We had a few fairly heavy showers this morning, but it's just sunny and cold now.

I know what you mean about the birds.  Maybe you could leave some bird food and a bottle of wine for the new owners, and a note saying how you hope they'll be happy in their new home, and would they mind feeding the birds for a little while, as they're used to you doing it?  Then either things will tail off slowly, or the new people might get into the habit and carry on doing it?

[Sleepless in London]

A sign of things to come?  Opened the kitchen blinds this week and there was a bright green parakeet sitting in the tree amongst the starlings.  Only seen it once though.  We have a flock in the local park and one in the cemetary, but not seen any in the garden before.  It really stood out.  Wonder how they cope with the cold.

Sleepless

[Taz2]

Hi CLKD - if you are moving house, and you have enough pre-warning, then the advice from both the RSPB and the BTO is to slowly withdraw the feeding. Put less out, less variety, so that the birds are not totally dependent on you feeding them. The bird population will obviously have increased in line with the amount of food available. You could then leave a note for the new owners telling them of the birds you used to have visiting and what you fed them. If they are bird lovers they may take up the feeding regime again and the birds will come back. I too would be worried about leaving mine.

I think the Parakeets look stunning amongst our own birds. I have no idea how they cope with the cold though.

Taz x

[Meggie]

Hi CLKD

On the bird front - Hubby has fenced around our Chook House - trying to decide the best position and whether to lift the house well off the ground to give the chooks shade.  Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we'll bring the little girls home and snuggle them in.

[CLKD]

Our hen hut is above the ground so that the birds have somewhere to shelter and they love to dust bath too.  Keeps their feathers clean.  We have wired the whole area, so that vermin are not able to dig the birds out.  Mud is the biggest problem at the moment!  Off to give thme a cabbage to peck at.

Thanks for the ideas re withdrawal of meal worms, maybe I will have to 'vet' potential owners to see how bird friendly they might be 

[Meggie]

EEEeeekkk !  We got up to our 2nd day of snow this morning - usually 1 day a year is all we get although we can see the snow in the distance on the Pyrenees.  The sun is shining though so it could all be gone by this evening.

Hope you are all OK out there.

Meggie

[CLKD]

Snow?  We've had that since mid-December  hopefully it won't lay for long now the nights are pulling out 

It's cold.  There was a hail storm earlier,now the sun is out ........ 4 eggs again today, the nearly 3 -year old tapped on the door this morning asking for a boiled egg, he handed over his 20p so I gave him a large 'ouch' egg for his lunch 

[Meggie]

CLKD - Do you still have snow?  It's beautiful here today and we can see the Pyrenees - they are so sharp and bright and seem so close, you feel you could almost touch them ........ I'll attach a photo taken from our garden ...... if someone can explain how I go about it !!!

Meggie

[CLKD]

Yep it's laying around waiting for more  - we had snow all of Thursday, some on Sat night, all yesterday afternoon but it is warmer today

[CLKD]

Windows are wide open, birds are singing, I have cleaned the birds' feeders and water containers out this morning to dry in the sunshine ...... clouding up now though.  May be able to hang the sheets on the line for a blow through before evening.  5 crocus are open to the sunshine