Herbaceous - annoying but rather funny too - you could hop along the garden but I guess that could prove to be quite dangerous for you. I remember leaving my clothes at the top of the beach whilst swimming and coming back up to dry off I found that some of my clothes had been eaten by a herd of Golden Guernsey Goats - not funny when you are a young, self conscious teenager! Please keep posting your pictures of birds in the garden everyone - it is lovely to see them.
I must add that I have cleaned the outside of the seed feeder since that picture was taken - I feel quite ashamed of it - but for two or three months we didn't see any goldfinches - they have just started feeding here again a few days ago - however no young ones this year so far - last year we ended up with nine goldfinches at certain times of the day - a real treat to watch. Starlings - how I miss them - we no longer have them although quite a few years back we had plenty of them feeding here - we have lost so many birds, sparrows and swallows too, more pigeons and great & blue tits though. Seems the starlings love your bird bath!
See how lucky you are, I probably see a finch once every couple of years! Starlings on the other hand, two a penny. They are quite amusing after I have put the mower over my 'mowing area' (more weeds than grass so hard to call it a lawn) they cross it in a line. They look just like a row of policemen searching for something.
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." Sir Terry Pratchett
Not the most attractive of birds but I like starlings too - in fact their feathers are quite pretty in an odd sort of way, where there is one another half dozen are usually close by. We used to have green finches too, but no more, although chaffinches have always liked our garden. Do you have kingfishers nearby?
Apologies for the delay, not concentrating in this heat! I have seen a kingfisher cruising the canal at the end of my road and thought that would be my 'in my lifetime' sighting. Then was lucky enough to see one in the Lake District, not sure I could spot one these days as the eyesight ain't what it was
Anyway, on the subject of bird feeders, this is another thieving, garden digger upper! Can't get to the feeder but takes on the pigeons for the scraps..........
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." Sir Terry Pratchett
Drooling over your bird feeder shots Leadfarmer and squirrels - well I know they are pests, but they are lovely to watch too Herbaceous - but not in my back yard thank you very much!
I feed fat balls, mixed seed and sunflower hearts. Not much variety on the bird front though. We get lots of tree sparrows, a couple of ring neck doves, blackbirds, robins, wrens, the odd blue tit and thats about it. We do get wood pigeons who tend to pick up the bits that the other birds spit out. Have just started to put niger seed out but no takers so far.
Have had a woodpecker in the garden once, it must have got lost!
We do have a pair of sparrow hawks that visit occasionally, I can always tell when they are around as the garden goes deathly quiet.
We get the occasional squirrel but they don't seem to cause any problems with the bird feeders.
The other day we did get the most strange looking bird, it was the shape of a magpie but was mainly white with the odd bit of light brown. No idea what it was unless it was an albino magpie. It didn't hang around very long.
Thats just typical GD2, NIMBY I don't have a massive garden but keep about a quarter a bit wild, euphemistically known as 'the shrubbery' and it is lovely to be able to sit and watch the wildlife. The squirrel pops in occasionally, my daughter says that word got out my garden is a good place for a snack! Obviously the menu is better for some than others.
Sparrow hawks Yvie, that is something. I see kites (who have the same effect on the smaller birds!) but they are getting very common round here and hard to miss. As for the 'magpie' I saw some odd pigeons and was told it was leucism (not sure I spelled that right) an inherited trait that lightens dark feathers. Does make them look odd though.
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." Sir Terry Pratchett
Posts
Herbaceous - annoying but rather funny too - you could hop along the garden but I guess that could prove to be quite dangerous for you. I remember leaving my clothes at the top of the beach whilst swimming and coming back up to dry off I found that some of my clothes had been eaten by a herd of Golden Guernsey Goats - not funny when you are a young, self conscious teenager! Please keep posting your pictures of birds in the garden everyone - it is lovely to see them.
That is a cracking picture GD2! And a very amusing story, I felt total empathy with your plight, worse than mine as yours was public!
More birds? How about the starlings emptying the birdbath? Actually this is much better as a video.
I must add that I have cleaned the outside of the seed feeder since that picture was taken - I feel quite ashamed of it - but for two or three months we didn't see any goldfinches - they have just started feeding here again a few days ago - however no young ones this year so far - last year we ended up with nine goldfinches at certain times of the day - a real treat to watch. Starlings - how I miss them - we no longer have them although quite a few years back we had plenty of them feeding here - we have lost so many birds, sparrows and swallows too, more pigeons and great & blue tits though. Seems the starlings love your bird bath!
See how lucky you are, I probably see a finch once every couple of years! Starlings on the other hand, two a penny. They are quite amusing after I have put the mower over my 'mowing area' (more weeds than grass so hard to call it a lawn) they cross it in a line. They look just like a row of policemen searching for something.
Not the most attractive of birds but I like starlings too - in fact their feathers are quite pretty in an odd sort of way, where there is one another half dozen are usually close by. We used to have green finches too, but no more, although chaffinches have always liked our garden. Do you have kingfishers nearby?
Apologies for the delay, not concentrating in this heat! I have seen a kingfisher cruising the canal at the end of my road and thought that would be my 'in my lifetime' sighting. Then was lucky enough to see one in the Lake District, not sure I could spot one these days as the eyesight ain't what it was
Anyway, on the subject of bird feeders, this is another thieving, garden digger upper! Can't get to the feeder but takes on the pigeons for the scraps..........
A more recent photo of my new Apollo feeder..
Drooling over your bird feeder shots Leadfarmer and squirrels - well I know they are pests, but they are lovely to watch too Herbaceous - but not in my back yard thank you very much!
I feed fat balls, mixed seed and sunflower hearts. Not much variety on the bird front though. We get lots of tree sparrows, a couple of ring neck doves, blackbirds, robins, wrens, the odd blue tit and thats about it. We do get wood pigeons who tend to pick up the bits that the other birds spit out. Have just started to put niger seed out but no takers so far.
Have had a woodpecker in the garden once, it must have got lost!
We do have a pair of sparrow hawks that visit occasionally, I can always tell when they are around as the garden goes deathly quiet.
We get the occasional squirrel but they don't seem to cause any problems with the bird feeders.
The other day we did get the most strange looking bird, it was the shape of a magpie but was mainly white with the odd bit of light brown. No idea what it was unless it was an albino magpie. It didn't hang around very long.
Thats just typical GD2, NIMBY
I don't have a massive garden but keep about a quarter a bit wild, euphemistically known as 'the shrubbery' and it is lovely to be able to sit and watch the wildlife. The squirrel pops in occasionally, my daughter says that word got out my garden is a good place for a snack! Obviously the menu is better for some than others.
Sparrow hawks Yvie, that is something. I see kites (who have the same effect on the smaller birds!) but they are getting very common round here and hard to miss. As for the 'magpie' I saw some odd pigeons and was told it was leucism (not sure I spelled that right) an inherited trait that lightens dark feathers. Does make them look odd though.