Blackbirds
SilverFairy
Posts: 57
I have just been watching a male blackbird helping himself to our raspberries. He walks along the row and when he finds a ripe one he jumps up and pulls the bery off. Clever little bird 
Last year he would bring his son along to show him the ropes and watching his first attempts was quite funny.
I could watch the birds all day......if only I didn't have work to do!!
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I've got the same problem, I'm so easily distracted!
I think the most entertaining in our garden is Woody (the wood pigeon.... yeah I know not so imaginative on the name there!)
We've got a pole in the middle of the gardern with 2 pokie out bits at the top to hang peanut feeders from, and they kind of have a curve to them, if you look at them straight on they look like Dick Dastardlys tash from wacky races. Woody will land on the top then try and work out how he can get down to the tray bit, and all the time his feet are sliding down the bar... so then he'll shuffle to the top and then slide down..... and then shuffle to the top .... well you get the idea, but if we just sit quietly and watch him this can go on for at least an hour whilst me and the much beloved just sit laughing at him! And then when he takes off the whole pole shakes like billio because he's so portley! The water and the nuts go all over the shop.
I wouldn't mind but some days he remembers and lands straight on the tray PLUS we always make sure there are nuts on the grass for the 3 hedgehogs we get in every night. it started off and they would just come in and hover up the bits Woody had spilt but now I've gone a bit soft on them and chuck an extra handful on the floor when I top up at night ready for the early visitors in the morning!
Another bird-watcher here!
If I had any raspberries, I'm sure Mr B and his brood would be after them. Of course maybe I HAD some raspberries! I can't see from the conservatory. My favourites this year are the dunnocks - we seem to have had several successful nestings - they sneak in behind the chickens and seem to polish off spare seed even though they're supposed to be insect eaters (I thought). I like it that you don't spot them straight away and have to be watching a while to notice them. Any excuse to hang around gazing!
Our resident wood pigeon was called Cliff
unfortunately the neighbours cat got him, found him behind the greenhouse 
I like Dunnocks too, we had a pair in spring but haven't seen them lately, hopefully that's just because they've set up nest at the bottom of the garden where I haven't had time to venture lately.
My favourite at the moment is a baby robin (which I thought was a baby thrush with all its spots!!) He/she follows me round the garden when I'm weeding, it's so pretty.
We have a blackbird nearby that at this time every year visits a local shop and helps himself to the cherries from the baskets outside - just recently he seems to manage to take mostly doubles
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
SilverFairy,
Dunnocks have pretty complicated breeding habits - males can have two or three females, and females commonly have two males. Male and female territories are separate, but male territories are not exclusive to one bird, and you may have dominant and subsidiary birds, both of whom mate with the female, but only the dominant male will feed the young unless mating has occurred with the subsidiary male.
Not in the least brown and boring!
When I was in our local Homebase garden centre yesterday I was looking at some boxes of bedding and saw a blackbird fly onto the shelving with something in her mouth,then she told me off and flew out . I had a quick peep and found a half built nest in a box of begonias
When I used to work in the same garden centre we always had a Robins nest and Pied Wagtails nest somewhere in the garden centre
Once there was a Bluetits nest inside a roll of wire netting 
Pam x
I have a male Blackbird in the garden called Charlie, he brought his wife and family to see me then ate some of my strawberries, just as well I have 2 containers but with him and the snails I doubt I shall get much in the way of fruit this year, I don't mind Charlie and his family taking them but I do to the snails.
Last year for us was the blackbird year we had 3 pairs nesting in our trees and they all produced 2 sets of babies they were just a dream to watch. I came home from work one warm evening (about the only 1 warm evening we had last year!) to find several black birds laying with there wings spread across the grass. At first it was fear that my cat had hurt them only to look at the red and black currant bushes swaying from side to side and several other baby black birds stuffing there faces. So I made the presumption that the one's that were laying on the grass had basically had way to many berries and had terrible tummy ache, because after 5 minutes they were all back at my bushes getting more. I managed to get 1 bowl of berries to myself last year all others went to the blackbirds. This year again we have an array of birds in the garden and the sparrows had done exceptionally well. If only I could win the lottery so I could spend my days in the garden Heres hoping one day!
just wondering where all the blackbirds have gone,
Me too. I mentioned that on another post . I did see a couple over the last few days but not many. Maybe they're growing their winter coats. All the long tailed tits are back today, though and I haven't seen any of them since Spring.