Bird watching

[Onelife]

I'm not suggesting you go out bird nesting but today l watched two wood pigeons building a nest in our yew tree, we've had blue tits visiting a nest box and our house martins put in an appearance yesterday.

Last year we had two pied wagtails in the lid of our gas tank and our two partridges have come back again this year. We also had a black bird nesting at the front of our house.

If you count Dotty and Suesie (our hens) and the buzzards that fly overhead we are blessed with an abundance of our feathered friends.

Is your garden a haven for birds?

[barney]

Tits and Goldfinches.

[Stephen]

Where we are staying there are two feeders and there are constant bird visits of all sorts of species including woodpeckers which are beautiful.

[Frank Manning]

We have 4 feeders and a caged area for ground feeders. We live not far from an SSI so we see quite a wide range of birds. Too many pigeons and too many nest raiding magpies, but loads of others. They are a constant source of amusement.

[Stephen]

I agree Frank. Where the feeders are situated is perfect as we can watch the birds while having our meals, including out on the decking. Perfect

[Onelife]

We have 4 feeders and a caged area for ground feeders. We live not far from an SSI so we see quite a wide range of birds. Too many pigeons and too many nest raiding magpies, but loads of others. They are a constant source of amusement.

Hi Frank,

We moved to Shropshire three years this June and l can't remember seeing one magpie. When we lived near Redditch they were everywhere.

[Manoverboard]

We have a favoured position on a fence that the pigeons love to crap perch on but not for long as the buzzards swoop and tear them to bits, starting with their heads … lubbly jubbly

ps … we hate pigeon cos they try to eat the food on the bird table that Mobietta leaves out for the ' little ' birds.

[cruisin_duo]

We have feeders for the birds and have seen sparrows, Robins, blackbirds, blue tits, long tailed tits, thrush, crows, rooks etc. We also had a green woodpecker and her youngster - didn’t realise they would use a feeder.

They get through the feed quite quickly as well.

[Onelife]

We have feeders for the birds and have seen sparrows, Robins, blackbirds, blue tits, long tailed tits, thrush, crows, rooks etc. We also had a green woodpecker and her youngster - didn’t realise they would use a feeder.

They get through the feed quite quickly as well.

Hi crus in,

We get green and spotted woodpeckers on our feeders, so much so that my wife only puts one fat ball out at a time because they can devour it in a matter of a few visits.

[oldbluefox]

We used to get a good variety of birds including goldfinches, woodpeckers, redpoll, tree creepers, bullfinches, nuthatches and lovely red squirrels. I even went out one day to find a pheasant having a rest in the garden.
Then they built a large estate on the edge of our village. Since they started building work the red squirrels have disappeared as have the majority of the birds so now we just have sparrows, blue tit, coal tits, blackbirds, a thrush and the usual wood pigeons, otherwise known as flying stomachs.However they do clear up any seed which falls from the feeders.
Whenever we are in the conservatory we throw out sultanas which the blackbirds and the thrush really love. They now wait to see if we are 'in residence' and virtually queue up. If we ignore them they sit on the window sill and look in on us and we have had one which used to peck at the glass to get our attention.
I agree they do provide good entertainment. I'm not so keen on starlings which tend to swarm on the feeders and bully all the other birds away whilst demolishing the fat balls and any other feed.
Sometimes we are visited by a sparrowhawk who seems to like pigeon. I'm amazed how quickly they can strike. One day a sparrow was having a dust bath in the sun. One minute here, next he was gone carried away by the hawk.

[cruisin_duo]

Onelife,

Find that it’s the grey squirrels that try to take the fat balls, and have had to resort to using ‘ties’ on the feeders to stop them. You’ve got to admire their ingenuity though. It was funny to see a small squirrel with a fat ball under each armpit, and they still managed to get away!

[Onelife]

My wife's aunt lives on the outskirts of Sutton Coldfield where she has a enlosed walled garden on a reasonably sized bungalow estate. For the past few years she has had a pair of malards nesting in her garden.....l thought, oh yeah, but we went over one afternoon and sure enough their was mom and dad wondering around the garden with about seven ducklings. There is a park and pond in the vicinity but it's about half a mile away (as the duck flies)

[Onelife]

Onelife,

Find that it’s the grey squirrels that try to take the fat balls, and have had to resort to using ‘ties’ on the feeders to stop them. You’ve got to admire their ingenuity though. It was funny to see a small squirrel with a fat ball under each armpit, and they still managed to get away!

It must be the sign l put up saying "no magpies and no squirrels" thank you. I haven't seen a squirrel either, even though we have a row of oak trees up the lane.

[Manoverboard]

My wife's aunt lives on the outskirts of Sutton Coldfield where she has a enlosed walled garden on a reasonably sized bungalow estate. For the past few years she has had a pair of malards nesting in her garden.....l thought, oh yeah, but we went over one afternoon and sure enough their was mom and dad wondering around the garden with about seven ducklings. There is a park and pond in the vicinity but it's about half a mile away (as the duck flies)

Get off … a Mallard is a train …. just saying

[Onelife]

My wife's aunt lives on the outskirts of Sutton Coldfield where she has a enlosed walled garden on a reasonably sized bungalow estate. For the past few years she has had a pair of malards nesting in her garden.....l thought, oh yeah, but we went over one afternoon and sure enough their was mom and dad wondering around the garden with about seven ducklings. There is a park and pond in the vicinity but it's about half a mile away (as the duck flies)

Get off … a Mallard is a train …. just saying

That's why l spelt mine with one L as l knew you'd get confused

[Manoverboard]

My wife's aunt lives on the outskirts of Sutton Coldfield where she has a enlosed walled garden on a reasonably sized bungalow estate. For the past few years she has had a pair of malards nesting in her garden.....l thought, oh yeah, but we went over one afternoon and sure enough their was mom and dad wondering around the garden with about seven ducklings. There is a park and pond in the vicinity but it's about half a mile away (as the duck flies)

Get off … a Mallard is a train …. just saying

That's why l spelt mine with one L as l knew you'd get confused

Touche pussycat

[oldbluefox]

Shows what I know!!! I thought Malard was a type of champagne.

[Stephen]

I thought it was a steam train

[Gill W]

Our resident birds are Mr & Mrs Blackbird. On a sunny day like today, they like to sit on the lawn and bask in the sun. We also have a pair of collared doves who like to sit on the (now defunct) satellite dish. When I wake up in the morning , the dish is in just the right place for the doves to be staring into the window at me.

We also have the ubiquitous wood pigeons, and a robin who visits often and a pair of wrens have suddenly turned up. Also at various times we have jays, thrushes, magpies, chaffinches, goldfinches, blue tits, and once we had a pheasant. Plus starlings and sparrows.

When looking out of the window, we've also noticed that there are no vapour trails anymore.

[anniec]

When looking out of the window, we've also noticed that there are no vapour trails anymore.

I'm sure Greta's thrilled

[Manoverboard]

Vapour trails = No : Tractor trails = Yes

[Stephen]

Vapour trails = No : Tractor trails = Yes

Plenty of them around here and pot holes you definitely want to avoid or never be seen again.

[towny44]

When looking out of the window, we've also noticed that there are no vapour trails anymore.

I'm sure Greta's thrilled

She's probably knackered from all the rowing she's having to do now to get to the demonstrations.

[oldbluefox]

She's probably knackered from all the rowing she's having to do now to get to the demonstrations.

Now we've got social distancing she's looking for a bigger field for her demonstrations. I gave her OL's number.

[towny44]

She's probably knackered from all the rowing she's having to do now to get to the demonstrations.

Now we've got social distancing she's looking for a bigger field for her demonstrations. I gave her OL's number.

Is Shropshire big enough to hold a demonstration?