Hobbies and Crafts

I’m not sure I would like to be that close to a sparrowhawk LaGooner. In our last house I did have one fly down in front of me and take a young starling from the lawn but I was standing at the kitchen window so had a sheet of glass between us. They are beautiful birds and I know it is all part of nature’s chain but their beaks and talons give me the shivers.

I haven’t been on the thread much lately because there has been nothing to report. There was one lonely long tailed tit on the peanuts a couple of days ago but it hasn’t been back. I expect there will be more birds around when it gets more wintry and they are looking for food.

I have just had the Sparrowhawk perch about 10 feet away from me while I was hanging out the washing. I always know when it is about as all the smaller birds fall silent and the sparrows dive into the holly tree. They are not even safe in there as I have seen the Hawk fly in and grab one :-(. The Hawks are such beautiful creatures and what hunting skills they have.

At 5am this morning I was woken by a real screaming noise just outside my bedroom window. I have to admit it scared the wotsits out of me. I thought someone was being atacked . It was an Owl !!! Once I realised that I was fine. But my word what a noise it was. I hope it doesn't do the same tonight. It was just so close. We often hear Owls but just not as close as this. I thought about getting out of bed to see if i coudl get a pic but it was too dark.

Lovely to see the kites Jane. I haven’t got anything to report birdwise either. It seems very quiet here. The mealworms I put out seem to disappear so something is eating them but the other feeders are not going down very much. Even the frogs seem to have left home.

In fact the only thing in the garden seems to be a small tortoiseshell cat which frightens the life out of me every time I go near one particular corner. It seems to like lurking in the undergrowth there but if I go near it leaps out really suddenly, climbs up the fence and disappears. I haven’t a clue who it belongs to.

I drove along the same road today where I saw all those Red Kites and once again they were there :-D. One came so low it was only a few feet above my car !
I wish I had more to report re birds in the garden but it all seems very quiet. The Wood Pigeons of course are always here and enjoying sitting and bathing in the Birdbath :-D I just wish they didn't use it as a toilet :-S

It was Ann. I was just disappointed I could not get a video clip of them.
Nothing much to report in our garden bird wise. It is all very quiet. We did have a Hawk yesterday that flew over the garden and all the little birds went into hiding. It all went silent for a while .

Wow Jane Yes that must have been quite a sight to see, how lovely. :-)

Wonderful sight yesterday . 6 Red Kites flying so low over a counrty road I was driving along, They could not have been more than 30ft above me. If I had not had a car behind me I would have pulled over and got a video of them. It was quite something to see :-D

You are probably right Jane. A squirrel is the only likely explanation but I am blowed if I can see how it manages to totally empty the feeder of seeds without dislodging or unscrewing it in any way at all.

Weird things regularly happen to us. We had a dustpan and brush hanging up in the garage and a few months ago the brush went walkabout. OH and I have both separately turned that garage upside down and we are in and out all the time because we use half of it as a shed, so all our gardening stuff and all OH’s tools are in there. Yesterday OH went in and on a shelf opposite the door and in full view was the brush, on top of stuff we have used regularly :-S. How strange is that?

I reckon it is quite likely to be a Squirrel Vera even though you haven't spotted one. We had the same problem with a feeder I had down the garden and like you all the seeds were on the ground.The same did happen with the Niger Seed feeder.I can't think what else it could be if not a Squirrel. How strange though. Spooky :-D

I still haven't put the window feeder back up on my lounge window so we have no little visitors right close to the house now. I do miss them but not the mess left by the Woodpigeons as they would pick up all the dropped food and poop all over the place. OH was getting so fed up having to hose down the patio everyday.Even getting to the washing line was like walking through a minefield of poo :-S

About a month ago I wrote about the problems I was having with seed feeders. Something was managing to tip ALL the seeds out on to the ground without moving the feeder. I stopped putting out seeds. There have been no problems with the feeders with fat balls, peanuts or Niger seeds.

Today I decided to try putting seeds out again, just half filling the container. Same thing. It looks as though I have hung an empty feeder up. Nothing is dislodged, it’s not moved on the bough, it’s all tightly screwed together but it is completely empty and the seeds are on the ground. I can’t see how a squirrel or a cat could throw every single seed out without moving the feeder. Also in the 6 years we have lived here I have not seen a single squirrel and I really don’t think a cat could do it.

HELP. Have we got a mischievous birdie ghost?

Haven't seen too many small birds here these last couple of days. They will have been like your Blackbird Pippyn and struggled to get anywhere. Seagulls though seem to be a different matter. Something must be going on in the fields as we are about as far from the sea as you can get.. Just love the sound of a Gull though.It brings back childhood memories :-D

Goodness, it's really windy here now, with heavy showers! We have a loan blackbird on our fence who seems unable to fly as everytime it tries take off it just gets blown around and it just can't get anywhere at all! Poor thing!!!!!

My friend got a pic this morning of a Cormorant sitting on th fence down the lane. Why it was there is a mystery.She sent me the pic so when I get the chance I will send it on to your blog Ann.

Looks like some of us could be in for some really nasty weather . I just spoke to my friend who lives in Saltash in Cornwall and she said the rain is coming down really heavy there now.

AnnG. It is lovely seeing birds when they're a pair, siblings or mates, they always seem so fond of each other! Very windy here this morning, sunny but threatening!! We're planning a canal walk this afternoon as it's not too hot and hopefully won't rain. The thing we have to remember is not to go too far and forget that we have to come back!!!! Years ago that wasn't an issue but these days it is!! Our son told us that next summer he and his wife are planning a long boat holiday and that hopefully we can join them for a weekend! Something to look forward to provided our health stays reasonably good!
Lots of cabbage whites here this morning, and swallows very busy with their second brood that are now flying! It's like watching little fighter planes shooting around! It's good that they are fairly early as it gives them plenty of time to get strong enough to leave for ?? in September. Later broods tend not to make it which is sad!

A few butterflies around at the moment although they are clinging to the Buddleia for their lives as it is windy. A couple of red admirals and a painted lady.

Pippyn talking of pigeons, the other day I was sitting on the patio down the end of our garden and two baby collard doves landed on the fence next to me, they just sat and looked at me, so sweet.

Meant to say that we have a pair of pigeons who sit on our fence and bill and coo at each other which is really entertaining! Perhaps that is why I'm so forgiving over the bird bath?!!! I must go!!!!

Lots of activity here first thing this morning! We now have a couple of willow warblers who seem to have appeared from nowhere! They are such tiny birds that they could have gone unnoticed, but they were certainly around today. We have a very concise bird book that we keep on the kitchen table in order to help define new arrivals! Mind you we don't always agree!!! I have the same problem with the bird bath!! It need filling every day and cleaning regularly, pigeons being the main offenders!! It is a bit of a pain but poor things need water too and can't help what they are or the mess they make!
We're being taken out to lunch by our son and his wife, neatly killing two birthdays with one outing!! Must say I'm looking forward to it so best get a move on!!

I haven't seen the flying ants this year but it does seem to be a good year for butterflies. We have had a few painted ladies in the garden including one today which was the largest I have ever seen.

This afternoon I cleaned the bird bath yet again. I really dislike that job because it seems a real waste of effort. The damn pigeons think it is their own personal latrine and seem to be queueing up to use it as soon as I have cleaned it :-|

Flying ants were on the move here yesterday horrid things.

We had a lot of butterflies yesterday but mainly red admirals, cabbage whites, also a different white I thought might have been a wood white, tortoiseshell and a few that zoomed over my head that I couldn’t see against the sun. Not seen any painted ladies though.or maybe I have because they are so close to tortoiseshell. I will have to pay more attention.

Our canal is lovely, we have walked at different times the full length all but a short stretch that is in the town part of Gloucester. We tend to do short walks of less than four miles these days but it is a favourite stretch which takes us from Saul round Frampton on Severn a very pleasant walk. However we are friends of The Willow Trust which has two double width canal boats and is a charity that takes disabled and other vulnerable people on trips down the canal. We are mainly friends for fund raising support. At least once a year the friends have an opportunity to have a trip on one of the boats. We love that it is such a peaceful trip not very long, an hour altogether with tea or coffee and biscuits.