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[Taz2]

I think they are all abroad CLKD

taz x

[Taz2]

   ZSL - didn't see that bit 

[CLKD]

Jersey in the Channel Islands?  Gerald Durrell was a great pioneer for conservation/captive breeding programmes ..... can these critters swim?


Which bit?

[Taz2]

I have just spent an entertaining half an hour watching a Coat Tit carefully hiding seeds from the feeders in one of my wicker hanging baskets.  I couldn't possibly deprive him of his winter larder so the basket will have to stay where it is 

Taz x

[juju]

We are lucky in having a large garden and it backs onto footpaths and lots of oak trees.We have one large conifer which we hang lots of feeders on and the noise of birds that comes from that is astounding.My husband makes all our bird boxes and made a large table with a house on for nesting.We have squirrels visiting and the birds and squirrels seem to get on ok.The collared doves are the bravest and will chase magpies off and crows.We have had bees nesting under our shed for the last two years.
Two years ago all the family were here and there was a blackbird ,male, in the garden which appeared to have yellow legs but when we took a photo it had what looked like yellow electrical tape wrapped round its legs.We belong to the RSPB and e mailed them a photo and they said some one must have caught it and marked it to see if it came back or where it went.Cruel we all thought.It wasnt a professional as the RSPB have a list of all the people who do it professionally and they dont use yellow tape!
One day there was an awful bird noise coming from the bottom of the garden and I went to investigate only to find a sparrowhawk had a pigeon on the ground.It escaped thanks to me and a few minutes later when I went indoors the sparrowhawk was back looking round the ground for the pigeon.
We have seen several stag beetles which I have recorded on a web site.They are not uncommon where we live.Always on the ground or in trees.I have heard the noise their antlers make before I have seen them.We had lots of slo worms but they seem to have gone.The garden was totally overgrown when I came here,but we still keep a couple of areas with nettles and foxgloves and have an old tree which has rotted.Very rarely get starlings in the garden tho they roost in our eaves and squabble in the front street.I saw one killed by his compatriots one day,quite put me off them!We have swifts every summer and at least one nests in our eaves altho this year we had two.I have had them miss the eaves and land in my bedroom,not nice,they have stumps where other birds have legs!
On top of all this Kevin my cat lies in the garden surrounded by birds-I swear they know he has 3 legs and is not interested in catching them, or able!I never thought I'd be interested in garden wildlife or gardens!

[CLKD]

Thanks for sharing - I couldn't be without my plot!

[Taz2]

That sounds lovely Juju - we have lots of starlings here and I must admit that I love them. I feed them a breakfast every morning - table scraps, breadcrumbs, grated suet, soaked sultanans, grated cheese and disgestive biscuits. This also attracts lots of other birds of course. I have quite a few feeders and feed a mixture of seeds plus the niger seed for the goldfinches - over 20 on the niger feeder at the minute.

We have a visiting sparrowhawk and though I get annoyed and upset when she takes my small birds and also the woodpigeons and doves I also appreciate that she has to fill her own tummy. I think she views my feeders as a fast-food outlet  The worst one she ever took was the female half of my bullfinch couple. They were halfway through rearing their chicks at the time but the male continued until they fledged. His distress when she was whisked away was horrible to see as they mate for life.

I have a tiny garden but we are within a stones throw of the golf course and open fields. You paint a great picture of your cat! I used to have three black and white cats. Two were "birders" I'm afraid but the other one had been brought up by a working collie when his mum rejected him. He had no idea about catching birds at all but would sometimes chase after their shadows as they flew over the garden. Anyway, somehow the birds could always tell if he was out there and would come down and feed all around him. They never got it wrong but I have no idea how they knew which of the black and white cats was which!

The coal tit has stopped storing food now - there are 17 sunflower seeds poking out of various parts of the basket 

Taz x

Taz x

[Hotnbothered]

If they miss any of them in the winter Taz, you might have a sunflower growing in the basket next year 

[Taz2]

From past experience I would think there will probably be 17 of them    they seem to have meno memories!

Taz x

[Hotnbothered]

 

[catweazle]

I've had some very frisky birds in my back garden the last few days  I thought it was too late in the year for that sort of thing 

Juju, my niece's cat Kevin managed to bring a half dead pigeon into her house through a small window the other day! Goodness knows how cos he's only small. My son answered her SOS call and arrived to find the living room covered in feathers (my niece was upstairs, daren't come down!). He managed to get the bird out of the house but unfortunately had to put it out of it's misery as Kevin had not quite finished the job (will spare you the gory details).
Ugh, poor thing, glad I wasn't there.

Catweazle x

[Hotnbothered]

We've got sparrows in the wisteria & although it is fairly mild where we are, I wouldn't have thought they would want to attempt another family 

Someone we used to know had a cat that caught (& ate!) wild rabbits, one morning they found a large dead rabbit stuck in the fanlight window in the kitchen, cat hadn't managed to get it through...yuck!!!

[CLKD]

 

[Taz2]

One pare of our Collared Doves have been renamed the "shagging doves" as that is what they do every afternoon at 4 o'clock without fail 

Did you know that the feathers of a Wood Pigeon weigh more than the actual body of the bird? That's why there were so many feathers Catweazle! Whenever I have to take a rescued one over to the Wildlife Hospital I always end up cleaning feathers from the inside of my car for weeks afterwards.

A friend of mine had two Siamese cats. They used to hunt as a pair and whenever they brought home a rabbit one would come through the cat flap first and the other would nudge it open and they would push and pull it through. They also once hid a dead wood pigeon up in the curtain rail of the lounge. The smell was so bad that my friend had to go and stay somewhere else while it was investigated by environmental health. It took ages to find what it was. 

Taz x

[CLKD]