# Bird watching



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Not everyone has this pleasure outside the door.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I just went to pick up a few twigs under the trees and almost picked up a young adder. By the time I had limped off to get a camera it had gone. So it's still in the borders.

Ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Loving the nesting box, Jan 

Crikey Ray! How near is the nearest medical facility? Do they have anti venom? If not, find out where you have to go to find some.

Outside our lounge windows we have a Mahonia with a grape vine growing through it. there is a Blackbird nest in it this year and they are working so hard at feeding the young. At the front of the house is a Pyracantha hedge and we have a Wren nesting in there along with another Blackbird. Georgia carefully brought me one of the newly hatched blackbird babies one day. I put it back and we fenced if off so that she didn't disturb them by looking for more babies to "rescue".

For the first time in over 30 years we have no moorhens on the pond  Partly due to owning a flipping Spaniel and partly due to the road being busier each year that goes by. The joy of seeing those tiny dots emerge each year was wonderful.

Do you get Hedgehogs in Germany and France? I found one down the bridlepath that was out in daylight hours and looking quite poorly. I found a specialist rescue who came and picked her up. She was, apparently, an elderly lady hog. They checked the poo sample I gave them for worms but she was clear so they just nursed her back to a good, healthy weight and I released her where I found her a week or so ago.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Not sure about any anti venom facilities Pat but dialling 15 we get paramedics toute de suite. We have seen maybe 4 or 5 snakes in 20 years here. Luckily all have been seen before we came too close.

Blooming poop.!!! Every day I go all over my 1200 sq.m. of lawn (couch) picking up twigs, dandelion heads and the odd dog poop. But always there are up to 20 what looks like hedgehog poops. I scrape em up and take another tour only to find another dozen. 
We either have many pooping hogs or one very incontinent one but never see them. 2 to 3 in long black poop or a 5 in trail.

Ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Will paramedics carry an anti venom though?

Could you hose the poop into the ground? I do agree that it is horrible and smelly


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Dunno Pat. Will have to ask our nurse that comes in to me daily.
By the time I find it Pat it's kinda going hardish plus it would need a bluddy long hose. I wish we could see them but the movement camera we bought a while back never seems to do what I want it to and just runs batteries down at great cost.

Ray.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

raynipper said:


> Dunno Pat. Will have to ask our nurse that comes in to me daily.
> By the time I find it Pat it's kinda going hardish plus it would need a bluddy long hose. I wish we could see them but the movement camera we bought a while back never seems to do what I want it to and just runs batteries down at great cost.
> 
> Ray.


Hedgehogs are active at night.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yes Jan. Ours are very active.!!
Our 20 odd bird houses are very busy with sparrows and tits but the swallow nest remains empty even though we do see them flying under the car port.

Ray.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

I have only seen 2 swallows together so far this year and one of those wanted to stay in my house. :grin2:


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

patp said:


> Will paramedics carry an anti venom though?


Apparently Pat as and when you call '15' and mention Anti Venom or Snake Bite they bring one out of the fridge.

Ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Ah! "Out of the fridge" sounds good. If our dogs get bitten my adders we have to phone our vet to make sure they have the anti venom. If it is a practice with lots of branches they don't all keep it so we are sent to the main branch.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We don’t have a glut of bird varieties 

But our bird feeders empty a a rate of nots 

We have sparrows, blackbirds, a blue tit or two, and of course robins

Wood pigeons , visiting starlings

You take what you can get 

If you live in the middle of a town

And our garden is beautiful roses, wisteria, hostas, fuchsias, geraniums , honeysuckle and jasmine

Trees , fruit , acers, laburnum , clipped leylandia, yew, larch and piracanthas 

Ivy , Virginia creeper

Truly a secret garden

But it’s all getting a bit much for Albert to manage , and the house is getting a bit much for me too

But we’ve lived here for 30 years it’s raised a family 

It’s the home I remember

The home the kids and grandkids remember

So I recon we won’t sell it yet

Sandra


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

I bet you feed with shelled seeds.

I have a 25kg sack of sunflower seeds still in their shells for 23.70€ off the internet,
the birds have to do a bit of work to get to the kernel, but not as much as they do hunting for food. :grin2:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Yes we do Jan, mixed seeds

Actually these days the cut price stores sell 12.8 kg for around £8 , the fat balls are more expensive but we buy those in the winter and spring, the colder months 

The weather here is fabulous at the moment, yesterday bordered on being too hot 

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

We use sunflower hearts and have converted Goldfinches from Niger seeds so we have nice little flock of them now.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

I love watching the birds on the branches hammering away on the seeds then other birds come to pick up the crumbs they drop.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yes Jan. We get so many small birds as well as the larger blackbirds and thrushes all day. They can polish off five fat balls a day but just recently two Magpies have been forcing their way in and jumping up at the fat cages. So we are always getting up and waving arms about to scare them off and let the smaller birds come back.

Ray.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

raynipper said:


> Yes Jan. We get so many small birds as well as the larger blackbirds and thrushes all day. They can polish off five fat balls a day but just recently two Magpies have been forcing their way in and jumping up at the fat cages. So we are always getting up and waving arms about to scare them off and let the smaller birds come back.
> 
> Ray.


You need to protect the cages with another wire cage so only the little birds can get in.
This picture shows the feeder, a large upside down bottled water container customised by Hans of course, so first they have to work on getting the seed out before anything else.
The wire prevents the bigger birds, cats, marder or birds of prey getting in.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

We were getting, like, Sandra rats and their babies around our feeder. I could live and let live but it was driving the dog nuts! She somehow managed to catch a huge male! We moved the feeders to the whirly washing line with its thin metal pole. We thought that would, also, deter the squirrels but the buggers make a leap and swing! But, worst of all, it attracted ducks to the area under the washing line and lots of poop piles appeared which inevitably got on the bottom of the washing basket.  
The feeders are now just hanging on the fence and not in sight line of the windows so that any four legged visitors do not send the dog crazy. 
Chris has been moving soil around and that is keeping the Blackbirds happy


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Strangely Pat we only had two returning rats this year, one of which I recognised by her tail

They seemed to settle behind the pond and then just disappeared 

Non at the front

Last year there was a glut of rats, although I use that word loosely, we had baby rats covorting on the back border under the fruit trees 

A family in the woodpile

Now we don’t have a country estate and we don’t really know why last year was so different , and they climbed the trees and swung off the bird feeders

And I’m glad so far this year is not a repeat

Shadow chased any he saw, but much like he chases the blackbirds

A short burst, well that will do

But like so much of nature, those little rats, sleek and shiny, playing on the border 

Were really quite delightful to watch

Sandra


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

patp said:


> We use sunflower hearts and have converted Goldfinches from Niger seeds so we have nice little flock of them now.


Well we feed the everyday birds, mostly sparrows, but that's fine they are disappearing but our ivy clad house provides shelter

(It's a bugger to clip though as Albert gets older as it reaches the roof

We are careful to avoid nesting and allow regrowth the before winter)

The odd blue tit and wren, the blackbirds have lived here for years

Wood pigeons, collared doves

Sometimes Starlings

Nothing really exciting

But our birds in the middle of a town

Sandra


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Of the 20 odd bird houses we have the sparrows much prefer condos.

Ray.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

What we English call flats I believe >


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

I assume they are house sparrows, Ray? We only have Hedge Sparrows or Dunnocks. Funny how we take sparrows for granted?
I heard a cuckoo the other day while out with the dog. Haven't heard one for years around here. I remember, one year, that it was in February because my neighbour mentioned it being Valentine's Day.

We have some sort of Buzzard nesting in the village. They have raised a couple of chicks over the years and so we now have another pair nesting. It has always puzzled me whether, when that happens, do birds get inbred if they are all from the same pair?

A couple of peacocks (pea hens in fact) are visiting the village too. They are they nosiest, messiest birds you could meet but they are beautiful. The trouble is that, in Spring, they call for a mate from early morning and if this is on your rooftop then it is not funny at 4 am! All sorts of talk about what can be done about them. They are, apparently, very hard to catch.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Not sure Pat. Probably hedge sparrows, finches and tits. My wife exclaims when a new bird is seen among the throng. 
We do get the odd Sparrow Hawk take one out now and again. We always think of the poor little baby birds not getting fed then. But the hawk has babies as well.
We watch the Robins around the outside of the group and wren follow the same path every morning.

Ray.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Government directive.

https://www.connexionfrance.com/Mag/Nature/Gardeners-in-France-asked-not-to-cut-hedges-until-July-31

Ray.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Good excuse then


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yes, all we want now is another for the lawns.

Ray.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Ours are house sparrows

Declining as they are town dwellers, ours have declined over time

We don’t provide boxes just a thick covering of ivy that they nest in, non stop bird feeders, about 10, plus fat balls spring and winter in the front Garden

But still they decline

Once we had to step with care because of young sparrows, the sparrow hawk was a frequent visitor 

But I guess we still have more than most

Shadow ignores sparrows

Chases the blackbirds who ignore him

Sandra


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## StewartJ (Nov 20, 2009)

Live in a very rural location in a tiny village almost on the banks of the South Tyne with a common area behind our houses, narrow strip of cultivated grass with overgrown wild area behind. Neighbours cats have brought in 9-10 Slow Worms over the last 3 weeks unfortunately 2 were killed, all without exception had cast their tails on being caught/ mauled by the cats, shame as they are quite rare and beautiful reptiles (legless lizards not snakes for those unaware) Photo is of a female caught yesterday and had just shed its tail as a defensive mechanism when the moggie caught it.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

StewartJ said:


> Live in a very rural location in a tiny village almost on the banks of the South Tyne with a common area behind our houses, narrow strip of cultivated grass with overgrown wild area behind. Neighbours cats have brought in 9-10 Slow Worms over the last 3 weeks unfortunately 2 were killed, all without exception had cast their tails on being caught/ mauled by the cats, shame as they are quite rare and beautiful reptiles (legless lizards not snakes for those unaware) Photo is of a female caught yesterday and had just shed its tail as a defensive mechanism when the moggie caught it.


I don´t know anything about slow worms so I looked them up.

It would be unfair for any of us to have one as a pet it could outlive you as in captivity they can live up to 50 years.

https://www.herpetologic.co.uk/inde...ent&view=article&id=28&Itemid=31#.XtCdrJ4zasg


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

*Tragic*

I heard a bonk on one of my windows, went out and found this.

Poor little thing, there aren't many around here and I haven´t seen them in my garden for probably years.
Not sure what it is on his beak, it was sticky, could be sap.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Goldfinch? We have seen an upsurge since they started eating sunflower hearts. They do seem susceptible to the finch virus though  And, of course, windows


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

patp said:


> Goldfinch? We have seen an upsurge since they started eating sunflower hearts. They do seem susceptible to the finch virus though  And, of course, windows


I knew it was a Goldfinch Pat :laugh: We used to have a lot in England and did have some here when we first came, but like many other birds there are getting less and less of them.

I heard a Pirol this morning, often hear one, but never seen one yet, they are hard to see even though they are bright Yellow.


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## rws4711 (Mar 27, 2012)

We had a visit of cockatoos this morning. They are coming very often but the problem is that our house is Entirely build of wood and we had the experience that they are very destructive so we chase them away. We also have a resident kookaburra who has been coming to us for the last 8 years . She is very spoiled and I feed her by hand.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Cockatoos are like big buddies and they can be very restrictive as well, once they get the taste of wallpaper, or is it the paste, it's hard to prevent it stripping a favourite spot.😄

I would be thrilled if Kookaburra or any wild bird ate off my hand Rudi.


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

The kookaburra is very comical-looking, isn't it?


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## rws4711 (Mar 27, 2012)

we live on one of the south Moreton bay Islands ( SMBI ) about 20 km away from “Australia” with only water access and we have an absolute amazing bird life.
This is a visitor from Germany giving Cookie her Breakfast.
This morning she brought her son who is twice her size for a feed..
We also have a lot of Culews In the garden and this morning I saw a plover with their baby. Plovers have usually 3 babies but normally only one survives .


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Shame the first photo won´t open to a big picture Rudi, second one is lovely.
Will you be having 2 regular visitors now?


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

How lovely! Are there any predators on the island Rudi?


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## rws4711 (Mar 27, 2012)

No predators as such apart from domesticated cats which some stupid people let out of the house. We have a number of snakes mostly harmless. The Air is ruled by kites and we have a wedge tail Eagle close by 
What we unfortunately don’t have on the island are Koalas as there are no Eukalyptus trees.

Here is the photo again


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Es geht :hello1:


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

We were watching what I thought was a kestrel hunting over the wild beach verge this afternoon. What a sight to see it hovering on the spot, tail feathers spread into a fan, wings fluttering madly. Into the wind or with the wind, made no difference. It didnt do any serious dives towards a prey. Probably thought the toddlers on the beach were s bit too big. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in my identification.


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Did you mean to add a photo Viv?


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

Yes I'd like to add photo. BS (big son) got one but shamefacedly I haven't mastered the art. Every time I look at your interesting pics I tell myself I should find out how. So maybe this is the moment. Your guidance will be much appreciated in very simple point by point please.


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

Here it is. When it was flying its feathers were retracted and its wings were long and narrow, sort of boomerang shaped. Flying at about 15 to 20m high


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

Now I got it. Simples!


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Well done! And what a beauty!

I'm no birdwatcher but I thought kestrels were reddish?


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I didn’t think that was a kestrel Viv

It’s a beauty anyway

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Could it be a Merlin? Or a Peregrin?


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

Well I know a robin from a pigeon from a seagull but not much more. So if theres an expert on here....


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

That's roughly my level too Viv! Oh, and a blackbird!


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

https://youtu.be/QxIVjI8HDAo

After some research it appears to be a kestrel. See youtube Bird ID footage. Tail is very distinctive no other bird of prey has fan shaped tail in this colouring that I could find. Plus kestrel is the only bird of prey that truly hovers although some can ride the wind giving a similar effect.

My golly gumdrops what's happened to the website? Oh yes is it PC to use 'the word' in that context or have I committed the unforgivable?


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Well, I was very wrong about it being red-ish! Beautiful footage!


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

It must be my bird initiation and education week. Late this afternoon one of our resident partridges appeared in the back garden with 14 chicks, so small we could barely see them in the grass. Not much bigger than a mouse with feathers. I just hope the birds of prey dont annihilate them over a lunch date. Pic on son's camera. Even with telephoto lens and zoom they're so tiny and well camouflaged. But a joy to know they're there.


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