Results 1 to 21 of 21

Thread: Bird watching

  1. #1
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Bird watching

    I recently bought a feeding station to attract birds to the garden. Its been lovely watching the birds come to eat but I had to throw the door open yesterday to stop a fight between two starlings. They don't seem to understand the concept of sharing and that theres plenty of food for everyone I'm going to buy some niger seed to attract goldfinches. I've seen a few on my neighbours feeders which have niger seed but they never come to me. They soon will though, I'm gonna lure them away

    Anyone know if you can buy fat balls without animal fat? I confess I've bought the ordinary ones. The birds go crazy for them.
    The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well

  2. #2
    CunningPlans Poison Ivy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    south yorkshire
    Posts
    831

    Default Re: Bird watching

    You could always have a go at making your own Maisie (using veg suet and omitting the cheese)..

    Gently heat suet or lard until just
    melted. Pour into a mixture of seeds,
    nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal, cheese or
    cake. Use two thirds mix to one third
    fat. Stir well and pour into a plastic
    cup, coconut shell or other container
    until set. Feed out of the container or
    turn out onto a bird table.

    Blackadder: Baldrick, have you no idea what irony is?
    Baldrick: Yes, it's like goldy and bronzy only it's made out of iron.

  3. #3
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Bird watching

    Hey thats a great idea! I wonder if the birds would like it if I used Cheezly instead of cheese
    The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well

  4. #4
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Winchester, England
    Posts
    3,265

    Default Re: Bird watching

    Could get a fat trap, then you could make fat balls and get rid of your waste oil. http://www.lessmess.co.uk/fattrap.asp I've not tried it btw so not sure how well it would work with just oil, the website does recommend animal fats.



    Incidentally, my sisters dog found some fat balls and decided to eat one, it was the most disgusting mess I've ever seen.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    London, UK
    Posts
    2,344

    Default Re: Bird watching

    Quote Risker View Post
    Incidentally, my sisters dog found some fat balls and decided to eat one, it was the most disgusting mess I've ever seen.
    I don't retch at much, but that one was a stoozie.

  6. #6
    cedartree cedarblue's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    2,964

    Default Re: Bird watching

    that sounds a good recipe ivy! also if you tie a knot in some garden twine and drape it down to the bottom of the cup and out of the top, you can create a string to tie to a branch with.

    i am going to make these for christmas pressies this year.

    in our graden we have an old concrete washing line post which is covered with dense ivy, yesterday i saw some robins and blue tits flying in there with nesting material - wooohoooo! also spotted a pair of jays.

  7. #7
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Bird watching

    I've noticed an unwarranted hostility towards magpies in my garden. I know whenever there's a magpie present because one starling will make a loud squawking sound. I think its a warning sound as they do it occasionally when I'm there but they're starting to get used to me. Twice I've seen a magpie wander near a collard dove and the dove will fly at him, scaring him away. Its funny to see because the doves are usually very placid. Magpies have a bad reputation but I've never seen them try to hurt other birds. The naughtiest thing I've seen them do is to fly off, taking huge pieces of suet cake leaving none for anyone else
    The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well

  8. #8
    cedartree cedarblue's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    2,964

    Default Re: Bird watching

    i made some bird feeders for christmas the other year out of pine cones, hard veg fat, peanut butter and bird seed.
    easy and useful too!

    i noticed a wren nesting in the ivy too yesterday.

  9. #9
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Bird watching

    Peanut butter - good idea, I never thought of that. I've already made a few suet cakes and have ordered a copy of Cooking for Birds for more ideas.
    The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well

  10. #10
    muxu bero bat! gogs67's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    edinburgh
    Posts
    929

    Default Re: Bird watching

    Quote Maisiepaisie View Post
    I've noticed an unwarranted hostility towards magpies in my garden. I know whenever there's a magpie present because one starling will make a loud squawking sound. I think its a warning sound as they do it occasionally when I'm there but they're starting to get used to me. Twice I've seen a magpie wander near a collard dove and the dove will fly at him, scaring him away. Its funny to see because the doves are usually very placid. Magpies have a bad reputation but I've never seen them try to hurt other birds. The naughtiest thing I've seen them do is to fly off, taking huge pieces of suet cake leaving none for anyone else
    Magpies can be pretty vicious i'm afraid, i've seen them attack small birds in flight and i know of a couple of nests of starlings that they've cleared out near my garden, once killing the chicks, another time eating the eggs.
    They do seem to have a bad press in history as well, from being associated with bringing death in Scottish folklore to being the only bird that didn't mourn when jesus was crucified!! (can you believe that one?)
    Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty!

  11. #11
    cobweb
    Guest

    Default Re: Bird watching

    i will miss the birdwatching i've been doing here -
    every day we have jackdaws, rock doves, starlings, and seagulls in the garden, lately we've had a pair of lovelorn artic terns aswell (bloody noisy!), there are lots of curlew and snipe in the fields surrounding us, and a few times i have seen short-eared owls hunting, as they do it during the day.

    i'll have to find a bird hide to visit somewhere when we move to town. i'll miss my bird and hare friends.

  12. #12
    muxu bero bat! gogs67's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    edinburgh
    Posts
    929

    Default Re: Bird watching

    What i love in the last 10 or 15 years is seeing Buzzards now! I grew up in the countryside and never saw one due to gamekeepers poisioning them or destroying the nests but since that has stopped (in the main) it's great you can't drive 5 miles in Scotland now without seeing a circling pair or, if yer real lucky, one perched at the roadside!
    Beautiful birds!
    Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty!

  13. #13
    alisont's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Dreaming of Vegan Cake & cider
    Posts
    969

    Default Re: Bird watching

    There is a company that do vegetarian suet balls? Il need to ask dad he might know...hes the twitcher here! I was in a hide from 7 weeks old!

    He says birds like the non vege ones more but we buy lots of different seeds for the birds here.

    A heron keeps landing in next doors garden by their pond - they dont have fish but he keeps checking!

    I was out walking with jed tonight and sat listening to all the bird song in the reserve by us which is so nice to hear

  14. #14
    alisont's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Dreaming of Vegan Cake & cider
    Posts
    969

    Default Re: Bird watching

    These are the vegetable based bird treats:this link is a shop that sells 'nasty' non vegan bird supplies like insect and suet based items.

    http://www.gardenbird.com/gsechannel...oductID=GBEX49

    also from here - bit more of an ethical company here:

    http://www.veggiepets.com/acatalog/other_animals.html

  15. #15
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Bird watching

    Quote gogs67 View Post
    Magpies can be pretty vicious i'm afraid, i've seen them attack small birds in flight and i know of a couple of nests of starlings that they've cleared out near my garden, once killing the chicks, another time eating the eggs.
    Thats awful Just yesterday I started to realise why the starlings hate them so much. I saw a magpie trying to get into the starlings nest which is in my roof. Thankfully he was too big to get in but I hope he didn't manage to do any harm. I kept throwing handfuls of dirt to try and scare him away but he was persistant. He came back three times.

    Alison I read on a bird forum a few people said the birds are not interested in the Granny Bishop vegetarian treats. However they do love homemade suet cakes more than the shop bought ones and don't seem to mind if they're made from vegetable or animal fat. I've been making cakes using Atora veg suet but I'd be grateful if anyone can tell me where I can buy cheaper veg suet in bulk.
    The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well

  16. #16
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Bird watching

    I saw a nest of baby Great Tits at the cemetary yesterday. Thats the first time I've ever seen babies in a nest up close and for real. Of all the nesting sites to choose they were inside a hollow statue of Jesus. The parents kept flying in and out through the hole where Jesus head had broken off. I was worried about the rain getting in and wondered if I should lay the statue down but I spoke to someone at my local bird sanctuary and he said to leave it be and that the parents would sit on them while it rained. I peered into the statue and the babies were all chirping with their beaks open for food
    The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well

  17. #17
    Enchantress's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Winchester, UK
    Posts
    848

    Default Re: Bird watching

    Aww, that sounds lovely Maisie . I found a blue tit nest in a little nook in a wooden children's climbing frame a few years ago.

  18. #18
    John's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    NJ USA
    Posts
    714

    Default Re: Bird watching

    How about instead of a bird feeder you install bird houses? Homes are what certain birds really need since their natural homes, such as rotten trees, are often eliminated. And although people with bird feeders may deny it, feeders might spread disease among birds.

  19. #19
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Bird watching

    Feeders can spread disease which is why its important to clean them and disinfect regularly. I disinfect every couple of weeks and I scrub out the feeder trays at least every 3 days before refilling them. The tube feeders are the worst to clean but my birds don't use them if there's food in the trays.

    I've been thinking of getting a birdhouse but I'm not sure its a good idea since I get so many big birds coming to my garden. I could put it at the front of the house I guess.

    The starlings brought their babies to the garden for the first time today. It was wonderful to watch the babies. They just stood there screeching for food and the adults would put food in their beaks. Several adults took turns to feed each baby like they were one big happy family
    The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well

  20. #20
    Maisiepaisie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Manchester UK
    Posts
    914

    Default Re: Bird watching

    I took these pictures today of the starlings and babies in my garden:

    <That little one is a sparrow I think.


    The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well

  21. #21
    Kevin2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Houston, Tx
    Posts
    139

    Default Re: Bird watching

    I love bird watching. It's what makes long drives bearable - when I'm not the one behind the wheel of course. There are a lot of hawks and vultures to be seen. A few months ago it made my day - - week - - to see a bald eagle in flight.

Similar Threads

  1. Bird's eye advert
    By bryzee86 in forum UK
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: Oct 18th, 2007, 11:52 AM
  2. Mutton bird season under way
    By eve in forum LOCAL FORUMS AND TRAVELING
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: Mar 28th, 2006, 07:34 AM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •