Hobbies and Crafts

Ann we are hoping someone will be coming to check our garage roof next week, but there are so many around here with far worse damage than us we wont mind if the builder puts us off.

Magpies now there is one bird I don't enjoy seeing :-(

I can't say I have noticed a drop in how many birds we are getting in the garden :-D mind it is still quite mild here :-S

My old boy the pheasant was strutting around today, cheeky beggar was having a good peck at a geranium I haven't taken in yet.

Lesley x

Sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes, wood pigeons and collared doves plus many magpies. Haven't seen our resident robin just lately though, so I wonder where he has hopped off too?

Blowing a gale here today and very cold rain so no wonder the birds have emigrated to somewhere else :-D

kandj I hope your robin isn't hiding in a barn somewhere with his head under his wing ;-)

Sorry to hear the weathers not so good in your parts Ann :-(

Lesley x

It's bad here tonight.Blowing a blooming gale :-S.Have heard lots of Pheasant noises today .,and lots of guns :-S :-S :-S
As for Magpies..there are so many around at the moment.They seem to have appeared from nowhere .Not in the garden but just scavenging on the road kill :-S :-S I drove down our road today and I counted 6 .The best bit was a Magpie on the verge and a Rabbit suddenly popped out .They frightened each other half to death and both leapt a good foot in the air lol

Lesley, I can remember that poem very well

The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow
And what will the robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing.

Anne and Jane, the wind is also blowing here(but no barns around for miles)
The tale about the magpie and the rabbit made me smile. I can just imagine it..

We actually had several sparrows on the feeders this morning so maybe they have decided it is safe to return now. :-)

Our Green Woodpecker has been around a lot in the last few days.But the spotted one that was about in the summer with babies seems to have disappeared.
We have a decorator in at the moment and he has been fascinated with my stuck on window feeder.He couldn't believe how many different birds visit it.(I think he might get one himself :-D

Nice to see the green one anyway Jane. Maybe the spotted is showing disgust at the trees being lopped :-D

A bright crisp dry day here in Yorkshire this morning, with a gently breeze, hopefully to help dry my washing today.

We had lots of seagulls yesterday swooping around. Isn't that meant to be a sign of bad weather...... or have I just dreamt that up?

Jane, I also am considering buying a stick-on window bird feeder but have been put off thinking the birds would spill the seeds on the ground and perhaps attract mice.
I just don't like the little furry mice so this has put me off in the past.

Oh, nearly forgot..... our regular robin is back and his appearance made our day yesterday.

Kandj,
Envious of your breezy sunny day, I was just about to put my washing out (no tumble drier) when it started to look like rain. And now it is raining. :-( :-(

Kandj,I just put the berry flavoured fat sticks in the window feeder at the moment and NONE gets spilled.The birds just command pick a stick up and fly off.It's like Whacky Races lol.I do have a little mouse that lives in the Rockery bit just under where I hang the coconut and it pops out to pick up any little bits of fat that the birds drop.It just goes back to the nooks and crannies in the rockery :-D
Go on spoil yourself and get a window feeder …..just put fat sticks in and not seeds.
You will love it :-D :-D

Jane, not sure what fat sticks are, don't think I have seen them

Ann they are called Suet Pellets (I call them sticks) I don't know why I call them that lol.You can buy them in any pet shop or garden centre .The birds just love them.Especially the Berry flavour .

Jane I've thought about getting a bird window feeder for MOG's 87 year old uncle, he loves to feed and watch the birds but finds it increasingly more difficult to get into the garden, my thinking is if the feeder is put in the right place uncle could fill it up from indoors and reach it to bring it in when it needs washing, can you imagine the mess he will have on his windowsill :-D :-D :-D

Lesley x

Lesley .He would love a window feeder .But I don't see how he could fill it up from indoors.Plus it is held on by suckers and to get it off by leaning out would be nigh on impossible I reckon.I might be wrong though.
When you mention 'mess' ,do you mean bird poop or the food? I haven't had one bit of poop on my windowsill :-D.The birds just come and get their bit of food and then fly off.They might have a little peek through the window but then they are off.
I have to say I really love my feeder even though I am a spring chicken and am lucky enough to get out and about .I do know know several elderly folk who have these window feeders and it just makes their day :-D :-D

Jane the feeders I have looked are on the RSPB site http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/window-bird-feeder.html and http://www.birdfeedingstation.com/window-bird-feeder-incfbh.html
I thought it looked as though uncle could just fill the tray at the bottom of this type of feeder, as for washing it he probably never would anyway :-D :-D :-D the mess I can imagine would be made by uncle on his indoor windowsill, not the birds on the outside sill ;-) :-D

Lesley x

Lesley.That is the one I have.It can be a bit awkward putting the food in because of the little roof.I do mine from outside as the feeder is on a window what doesn't open.Yes your Uncle will make a mess lol.But he will have many hours of enjoyment watching the different birds that visit .Mine has been crazy again late this afternoon.The birds were actually batting each other off it :-S

We had a Red Kite here this morning and it was just about the level of our roof.The colour of it was spectacular.I was so red.
Does the Kite get redder at this time of year?(LIke a winter plumage?)

Jane I have ordered a window feeder, hopefully it will be here by Thursday when I will be seeing MOG's uncle.

Can't say I have ever seen a red kite.........we don't get them in Essex :-( :-)

Lesley x

Red Kites are quite common here Lesley.Just in the last few years.They are just wonderful to see,especially when they fly low.
I have just filled up the window feeder AGAIN.