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[CLKD]

Another lovely sunset  the day began with a shower of snow which I didn't see but which had frozen to anything it touched.  Then the day brightened up to very cold but dry.  We had a yellow hammer in the garden for the 1st time on Thursday! last year we had 5 regularly.

[Meggie]

Just watched 6 Kites circling the sky above the house - couldn't understand why Crows, Magpies and Jays were screeching and kicking off.  They were just gaining height before flying off but it was very interesting to watch.

Meggie

[Pennyfarthing]

We seldom see a Goldfinch in our garden but yesterday we did!   I have noticed this year that the birds in general are not so keen on the sunflower hearts for some reason.  They are quite expensive and usually gone really quickly, but not this year. 

[CLKD]

Black kites Meggie?  We saw several Red ones last week along the M40 corridor.

Not much to report this morning except birds are singing and nights are pulling out 

[Taz2]

I think the red-tailed kites are beautiful and we have a pair that circle over the school playground each morning. There are so many around here though that you don't really take much notice. It's strange how quickly we have got used to them.

Penny - I have had to shop around for sunflower hearts. So many of them are not whole hearts but little chippings which, if you look at them, are not easy to eat. I have found that Gardman have been consistently good though and not badly priced. Seed like everything else gets stale and I think that the pre-bagged stuff, especially at garden centres, is not always that fresh.

Taz x

[CLKD]

A thrush hopped through this morning 

[Christine662]

2 Redwings again today....very pretty.

 

[Pennyfarthing]

I think the red-tailed kites are beautiful and we have a pair that circle over the school playground each morning. There are so many around here though that you don't really take much notice. It's strange how quickly we have got used to them.

Penny - I have had to shop around for sunflower hearts. So many of them are not whole hearts but little chippings which, if you look at them, are not easy to eat. I have found that Gardman have been consistently good though and not badly priced. Seed like everything else gets stale and I think that the pre-bagged stuff, especially at garden centres, is not always that fresh.

Taz x

Thanks Taz.  The sunflower hearts I buy are the best you can get around here and I buy it from a specialist Birdfeeding shop.  I've been buying them for several years from there and the birds usually love them.  The shop sells everything for Bird lovers - boxes, feeders, books, every sort of food you can imagine ......  that's all they sell.

I might mention it next time I'm in there and see what they say.  Knowing my luck they'll say "you're the first one to complain" .  I always get that and then you feel stupid.  Yesterday I mentioned to the man that I've bought countless sacks of potatoes from that the latest bag was very poor and all black in the middle ..... that's what he said too!

[CLKD]

But the man with the potatoes ought to have offered to replace the bag! one doesn't know until one cuts a spud open or if, as happened to me many years ago, a visitor sliced a 'baked spud' and found it black in the middle  - usually means that the bag has been frosted!

[Taz2]

I have always done the same Penny - using a really reputable dealer but I believe that like all of us people are cutting their costs down wherever they can and one sunflower heart looks very much like another. When I asked the person running the shop he agreed that he had changed supplier this year due to rising costs. There are often two lots of "middle men" before the product arrives on the shelves and either of these can have cut corners by using a different source.

I have had problems with Niger seed too this year - some of the stuff I sent back to the wholesale supplier for a refund. Well, I didn't send the lot back but just a sample and they agreed that the seed was stale and that they would follow it up with the mill they get their supplies from who would follow it up with the place they imported the seed from.... anyway I got my refund.

Skylarks singing over the school field today - I am trying to see an "up" side to the spring although feeding the birds will now start costing more as the days lengthen - they cost an absolute fortune in the summer what with them starting feeding at 5 a.m. and not stopping till 9 p.m. 

Taz x

[CLKD]

As an aside - having had nyger flowering in our garden: right thug it is too  : I wonder what it looks like in a commercial outlet  is it like tulips used to was in the Lincolnshire Fens: acres and acres and acres ............

[Taz2]

I have had a few germinate from the birdseed but not many.

Info about Nyger/Niger/Nyjer

"Sep 7, 2006, Magpye from NW Qtr, AR (Zone 6a) wrote:
The Niger plant and Niger-seed .. is NOT in any way associated to the 'thistle' plant or seed!

Niger is indigenous to Ethiopia where it is grown in rotation to cereals and pulses. It is a seed crop cultivated in Ethiopia, India, Myanmar, and Nepal, and is imported into the USA primarily as bird seed.

The imported seed to the USA .. is heat-treated to 'devitalize' any weed-seeds that may be present - to prevent them from germinating. Niger-seed is the only major wild bird feed ingredient imported from overseas. In 1985, the US Department of Agriculture ruled heat treatment as a condition of entry. It has been marketed as bird seed for about 40 years.

Niger is an annual dicotyledonous herb. It is traditionally harvested while the buds are still yellow, then stacked to dry. The seeds, loosely held in the flower head, are black, club-shaped and narrowly long.

In general, Niger is a crop of the cooler parts of the tropics. The major niger-producing areas in Ethiopia are characterized by a moderate temperature ranging between 15 - 23 degrees centigrade during the growing season.

In Ethiopia, it is cultivated on water-logged soils where most crops and all other oil-seeds fail to grow .. and contributes a great deal to soil conservation and land rehabilitation.

Niger is cultivated primarily for valuable oil which is used in foods, paints, soaps, and as a illuminant

The seeds can be used for human consumption .. fried, or as a condiment.

It constitutes about 50% of Ethiopian and 3% Indian oilseed production.

Uses:
The Niger plant is consumed by sheep, but not by cattle .. to which only Niger silage can be fed.

Niger is also used as a green manure for increasing soil organic matter.

The parasitic weed species, known as Dodder (Cuscuta campestris) and (Cuscuta chinensis) .. have become a serious threat to Niger production throughout Ethiopia and India."

Taz x

[CLKD]

Thanks - will read this tomorrow!

[Pennyfarthing]

But the man with the potatoes ought to have offered to replace the bag! one doesn't know until one cuts a spud open or if, as happened to me many years ago, a visitor sliced a 'baked spud' and found it black in the middle  - usually means that the bag has been frosted!

CLKD - He did replace the sack.  It's just when they say "you're the only person who has complained" I always feel guilty, though Lord knows why really.   Happened again today - had to return my watch because almost all the little diamante stones had fallen off all round the face.  I've only had it 10 months and I really like it.  Guess what he said "that's the first one of those we've had returned."   It could of course just mean that some people wouldn't bother but it cost me £50, and it looks terrible.

[CLKD]

Been outdoors all day weeding, moving hellebores, clearing ....... frogs are purring, birds are singing ..........

read the info on Nyger seed - interesting 

Glad you got the spuds replaced.  He then needs to go back to his supplier  ........ when anyone says 'you're the only person who has complained' reply 'I'm the only intelligent customer you've had in recent months then?'