Hobbies and Crafts

Morning all,

Jude, I have been bird-watching as long as I can remember. Not just birds, wildlife in general. I took it up more seriously (ie paid a scary amount of money for good binoculars and telescope) about ten years ago. I do keep a record of the birds I've seen but I am not a twitcher. I generally go out with a couple of friends who are also keen on watching rather than just ticking off a new species. If we don't see many birds, well at least we'll have had a nice walk. We do meet twitchers occasionally on our travels but I don't see the point in haring all over the country, just building up a list. Twitchers are like genealogists who have 25,000 people in their tree but don't know anything about any of them.
It's lovely when I do see a bird I've never seen (like last week's hawfinch) but I also love watching the day-to-day goings on in the garden. I'm also thrilled when I see the first swallow of the year, and I can sit for hours and watch puffins coming and going.

Raining pretty hard here this morning although snow forecast for parts of Gloucestershire later, hopefully it will not be the valley. Just been to stock up on more seed for the feeders and suet. The fat cake I made yesterday has disintegrated in the wet and the birds are not keen on it now, except we had a blackcap that seemed to be enjoying it this morning.

Dormouse, I am sure that you are right although by the ferry not too many walkers would eat. He was lovely though, and we saw a lot more robins in the lake district than we have seen around here lately. Outside the apartment which is in a big old country house we had several. we were feeding them on top of one of the wall pillars with ground nuts.

Ann
Glos

Ann,

When I was last at RSPB Titchwell, in Norfolk, a robin hopped into the car to share our sarnies. Would have taken a photo but he was too close to get in focus!

Raining in Shropshire now - not making much impact on the snow though. About four dozen house sparrows are currently having a noisy pow-wow on the back patio trellis. Hope they're not going to send a delegate to complain to me about the weather!

DM x

Well i looked at the blog and it looks good but haven't a clue how to add a comment when it asks to 'pick a profile'. I don't 'do' blogs so am a bit dense here.

Have a couple of robin photos but can i up load them Jude or do they have to come to you to do it?

Hiya....yeh send it to me via email then l'll try and post it. l have received some from someone else via micorsoft doc, but l can't find a way to transfer it. l'll have a look and see how you can transfer it if l can't!!

jude :o) x

OK will do.

Cooee:o)

l have just fed the birds for the 2nd time today, they just love the pasta and spuds:o)

l cooked the pasta yesterday and gave them some then, this last lot l put in my mixer machine with a baked spud and its disapearing at the rate of knots!! Stillnot made the fat ball cake:o(

All sorts out there to day, but nothing different, apart from dog trying to pinch some of the mix.....grr lol

The snow came last night and went this morning!

c yeh

jude :o) x

I am getting loads more birds in my patio....just the blue and great tits, pigeons (groans) and a very fat blackbird, and a lovely bird who looks like a robin but with the red on his back! I left a whole brioche for them (to avoid me eating it all) and they wolfed it down. *frets..hope that was ok... BC XX

Wonder what the bird with red back is, could be a dunnock, they have reddish brown back and red legs:o))

Well your birds will be fat if nothing else:o))

jude :o) x

A Dunnock! That's the one, Jude, have just looked it up, thank you! Well he obviously likes brioche:-) lol BC XX

Hope the photos don't take too long to download Jude, I couldn't decide which not to send so sent them all. They were taken out of my office window upstairs so hope they are clear enough.

Ann
Glos

Thanks Ann....have them and will downl;oad later:o)

BC..Yehhh....l got something right :o) dinky little things are'nt they? Not very faithfull to their partners though!!! lol

jude :o) xx

From The Family Receipt Book 1819

Paste or food for singing Birds, superior to the German paste in common use.

Well mix, or knead together, three pounds of split peas, ground or beat to flour, one pound and a half each of fine crumbs of bread and coarse sugar, the fresh yolks of six raw eggs, and six ounces of unsalted butter.

Put about a third part of the mixture, at a time, in a frying pan, over a gentle fire, and continually stir it till it be a little browned, but by no means burnt.

When the other two parts are thus done, and all are become cold, add to the entire quantity, six ounces of maw seed, with six pounds of good bruised hemp seeds separated from the husks.

Mix the whole well together, and it will be found an excellent food for thrushes, red robins, larks, linnets, canary birds, finches of the different sorts, and most other singing birds, admirably preserving them in song and feather.


Don't ask me if it works though.....I think I may need to add a disclaimer too lol

Susan
x

Susan.....l hope you were'nt up all night finding this receipe...lol
Its looks very interesting though, lwillprint it off but won't gaurantee to make it! still have'nt made the other one, although l do cook pasta and spuds.....which goes down a treat:o))

Not seen the birds much today as l'm feeling abit off't, think l have the bug, going back to bed in a mo:o((

Ann....thanks for your lates email, not looked at pics yet, willdo asap.

Hope everyone is well:o)

jude xx

Wow, Susan - that's some recipe! Canary birds!

Hi Jude, how do I upload photos to your birdblog?

DM x

Dormouse, I think jude was going back to bed as she felt unwell and thought she was going down with a bug. I sent my photos to Jude by e mail and she uploaded them. Hopefully she will be back on tomorrow.

Susan, you finished making that bird food yet or are you still on the shaving cream????

Hope you feel better soon Jude. I managed to make my first fatball today...ummm...it is sitting there unpecked and unloved..*sobs...am off to find out how to split peas for Susan's recipe....on a good note, my little dunnock has just been to see me. Amazing ...he looks so ordinary and has this convoluted sexlife...never judge a bird by its plumage, as my granny used to say....BC XX

Jude, hope you're feeling better soon:)))

Hi Folks,
Jude we have not had much snow but what we have had has been a right pain as our lane is a sheet of Ice so its take your time girl or you will bump the car lol.
We have a lot of birds in the field at the moment as they have been muck spreading and the crows , gulls an wood pigeons have having fun. plenty of birds at the feeders have got quite a few of the long tailed tits nearer the bottom of the garden where the burn runs.
Have not seen the jenny wren for a few days,

Think the weather men got caught on the hop this morning we have had about 3 inches of snow here, it was not even forcast., first time we have had the fieldfare in the garden looking for food, good job there was plenty to go around.