Hobbies and Crafts

Glenys.....wat you like...lol....but l had'nt realised either:o)))

Ann - yep like duck:o))....so why don't lwant to try the others?? dunno!! lol

jude :o)

No nothing like children ...i agree alittle like pheasant...quite expensive tho as not much meat on them.. i have also been a veggie for 9months as a bet...and yes i won

Yes Jude still raining, the field to the side of the house has now got 2 drakes on it. and we had 7 hen birds and just 2 cock birds this morning.
the robins have been fighting over nest box so OH has got to build 2 more.
the blue tits have moved in thier homes. the burn is running very fast and high at the moment, so I hope that the banking does not get washed away to much. I hope to build a willow fence thingy to help stop the bank from being washed away, but I have to wait until the summer to do that.

This weekend is the big garden bird watch.

www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

You can download a recording sheet on this site.

I bet all 'my' birds do a disappearing act.

Ann
Glos

Thanks for that Ann,l had forgotten...doww,printed it off now and will fillit intonight, ldid an hr session the other day.

Today we had 4-5 chaffinch prs, they're getting less timid now. The robin, a few blackbirds male and female, a few jackdaws, a magpie,sparrow, dunnock, the 2 main tits, we sometimes get longtailed tits but not seen then for a while, same with the blackcaps and l could hear the green woodie again....ooo and a few starlings:o)

We did'nt get any nesting boxes, Vic says there's nowhere to put them that would be safe:o(

Bellblair....your garden is always so busy and with lots of birds and animals we don't get. Would love to have ago at making a willow fence. We have a weeping willow in a sort of park just round the corner,in the past l have cut branches off to make christmas door wreaths,don't think l ought to cut branches that big though!! lol

jude :o) x

Well my total:
2 blackbirds
1 bluetit
1 Carrion crow
2chaffinches
2 collared doves
1 goldfinch
2 Great tits
4 Green finches
2 house sparrows
2 jackdaws
1 song thrush
10 starlings
2 wood pigeons
1 pied wagtail
1 seagull and
1 Sparrow Hawk

After the last one landed in the garden the birds all disappeared!! Wonder why?

The song thrush was the biggest surprise. We have not seen a thrush in the garden for at least 8 years.

The pity is that we can't list birds that are often in the garden in the past 2 weeks we have had long tailed tits, robin, wren, blackcap, dunnock and coal tit. But not when I was doing the bird watch.

how do you remeber what all the birds are to note them down?

mine wont eat of me bird table stray spends to much time sat on it lol

The RSPB Birdwatch isn't for the whole weekend, straykitten, you just pick an hour at some point during the weekend when you've got time to look and note down just what you've seen in that hour. Otherwise you might record that you've seen 10 robins when it's just the one greedy little thing returning again and again.
Don't worry if you only get 'ordinary' birds - they're important, too. House sparrow numbers, for example, have plummeted by 50% since RSPB recording began (30 years ago if I remember rightly).
(Apologies if I'm telling you what you already know)

Stray, you download a chart off the web site so you mark down e.g. one sparrow if it lands. If subsequently 2 sparrows land you increase the total to 2 (i.e. you don't make the one plus the two = 3 because you have already seen one.)

Have you ever tried to count starlings when they are squabbling over scraps???

Ann
Glos

sounds really gud but i never get many birds because of the cats
would be somthing to do with the kids up the park as they have lots of different birds coming and going do they only do it once a yr?

mind i cld print the sheets of and do it in the summer with the tiddlers

It would be a good idea stray to teach them which birds were which. We used to get loads of birds when we had our cat. The bird table we had then had a smooth support so she couldn't climb up it, and she always wore a bell so the birds were warned. She did use to catch birds but only when they were down searching for insects in the summer.

Ann
Glos

stray likes ot catch thema nd bring them in to de feather "yuck

yeah kids will have fun too thanks for the idea xxx

Well put bird food out this morning ready to count them and guess what not a single bird for 3/4 hour just could not believe my eye and as we had to go out after brekkie could not do the count might try and do it inthe morning.

Drat!

I have been upstairs sorting papers all weekend (lost the car reg forms and I need them asap lol) and I forgot all about the bird count!

LOL I know there were loads out there too cos I could hear rhem fighting over the food I put out!

Gaille

Hi All....I did my count on Sat afternoon. I'm sure they knew about it as a number of the regulars didn't turn up. My count is now where near Anns impressive total.

House Sparrow 7
Blackbird 3
Blue Tit 2
Dunnock 1
Robin 1
Wood Pidgeon 1
Collared Dove 1

Plus the pesky squirrel (who's always raiding the feeder) turned up at the last minute.

Steve.

The strange thing is a month ago we had loads of sparrows and a few dunnocks, today 2 sparrows and not a single dunnock. sheer luck the Sparrow hawk, thrush, black cap and pied wagtail made an appearance at the right time. they are usually around most days though.

ohhh my gosh I think I have just scarred my neighbours son for life!

He comes over sometimes to ask me to help with his homework - his dad works nights and mum admits herself some of his homework defeats her............

anyway he came over for some help, walked in and while we were talking he said "ymmm something smells nice" .................. hehe typical 9year old boy he thinks via his stomach, and he knows if I have been cooking he is welcome to some...........

lol next question was "what have you been cooking?" ............. ooops! I didnt think and asaid "Garden Bird cake" ............... he didnt say another word about it till we finished.............

5 minutes after he went home my phone rang and it was his mum......... "Ummm Gail, what have you been cooking? cos xxx thinks you have been cooking birds into a cake" .................. lol took me aminute to figure out what she meant - poor kid must have been traumatised!
hehe his mum has gone off to explain to him I havent been COOKING the garden birds, I was making a bird food cake for them!

lol must remember 9 yr old boys have very vivid imaginations!

Gaille

Gaille. lol!!!!

LOL Ann,

his mum and I ended up giggling about it, but the poor kid! Sheesh I really must have worried him cos Jill said it was the first thing he said as he walked in the door!

Gaille

Here a count of the birds I did today
Dunnocks = 4
Yellow Hammers = 8
Bullfinches = 20
Robins = 5
Sparrows = 15
Blue Tits = 3
Great tits = 1
Blackbirds = 4
Starlings = 8
Phesants = 5
Coal tits = 2
Not as many as some days