Four-and-twenty blackbirds

[wafflycat]

Not baked in a pie, but hopping about my garden stuffing their beaks with nuts, seeds and apple. Squabbling amongst themselves to get the tastiest morsels and biggest beakfuls.

 

[Twenty Inch]

I'd love to feed the birds around here, but we have so many cats in the area it would be like baiting a trap : (

 

[wafflycat]

I'd love to feed the birds around here, but we have so many cats in the area it would be like baiting a trap : (

My cats rarely bother with birds, much preferring rodents as prey of choice.

 

[Norm]

There are options, 20". Basic steps are to make sure the feeding table is well away from trees and hedges and that will give the birds a chance to spot any approaching moggies. We use a table in the middle of the garden, which they have no problems using, although we have no cats in our garden. We also have a couple of wall hooks that we use for candles during the summer, which are used for feeders at this time of year.

If you do get a lot of cats, use a tin with a few stones in it to lob near any cats, they soon take the hint. Cats are nonces, so prickly hedging around your border will help deter them and, if you choose something like holly or pyracantha, the birds will love the berries.

A bit more extreme is to get a dog, or an air rifle. Urinating round your garden is also rumoured to help, but I prefer the air rifle. (that's just a gag, before anyone takes too much offence. )

 

[Hilldodger]

Someone mention pie. Where's the pie?

 

[jimboalee]

There are options, 20". Basic steps are to make sure the feeding table is well away from trees and hedges and that will give the birds a chance to spot any approaching moggies. We use a table in the middle of the garden, which they have no problems using, although we have no cats in our garden. We also have a couple of wall hooks that we use for candles during the summer, which are used for feeders at this time of year.

If you do get a lot of cats, use a tin with a few stones in it to lob near any cats, they soon take the hint. Cats are nonces, so prickly hedging around your border will help deter them and, if you choose something like holly or pyracantha, the birds will love the berries.

A bit more extreme is to get a dog, or an air rifle. Urinating round your garden is also rumoured to help, but I prefer the air rifle. (that's just a gag, before anyone takes too much offence. )

Take a trip to Woburn Abbey and ask them for a couple of lumps of Lion droppings.
Midlanders go to the West Midland Safari Park.

One sniff of Lion dung and no cat will ever come near your garden.

 

[Glow worm]

Not baked in a pie, but hopping about my garden stuffing their beaks with nuts, seeds and apple. Squabbling amongst themselves to get the tastiest morsels and biggest beakfuls.

Aside from the usual birds, we've had some quite handsome reed buntings on our feeders this year. Lots of redwings too (Scandinavian thrushes). Luckliy Norman the resident, rather portly cat is way too lazy to be interested.

Heard a guy on R5 yestereday saying we shouldn't feed birds at all as it means weaker individuals (which would normally snuff it) survive to breed, thus weakening the long term genetic pool of each species. I kind of see his point but it seems a bit mean to me! Plus one of my my favourite birds, the sparrowhawk, would have less to chance of a good feed!

 

[upsidedown]

We had loads of Starlings on our bird table yesterday. They were going mad on the selection of lamb chop fat, roast potatoes, stale mince pie and dried worms. Not to everyone's taste i'll grant you but they were loving it.

 

[Norm]

Heard a guy on R5 yestereday saying we shouldn't feed birds at all as it means weaker individuals (which would normally snuff it) survive to breed, thus weakening the long term genetic pool of each species.

Which would be true if we were going round the countryside putting up feeders. However, I'd suggest that putting feeders in urban environments is not allowing the weaker individuals to survive but is replacing the bits of nature which we have grubbed out for human accommodation.

IMO, most gardens are planted with no thought to local wildlife, so non-native plants are used which are of no benefit to indigenous species for feeding.

Further most householders remove seedpods when they appear, rather than leaving the garden looking untidy through the autumn and into winter. Therefore, even the green bits of most towns and cities are of little benefit to native species.

 

[abchandler]

Further most householders remove seedpods when they appear, rather than leaving the garden looking untidy through the autumn and into winter. Therefore, even the green bits of most towns and cities are of little benefit to native species.

Which is now going to be my excuse for doing no gardening in the autumn. Just need one for the rest of the year...

 

[wafflycat]

Aside from the usual birds, we've had some quite handsome reed buntings on our feeders this year. Lots of redwings too (Scandinavian thrushes). Luckliy Norman the resident, rather portly cat is way too lazy to be interested.

Heard a guy on R5 yestereday saying we shouldn't feed birds at all as it means weaker individuals (which would normally snuff it) survive to breed, thus weakening the long term genetic pool of each species. I kind of see his point but it seems a bit mean to me! Plus one of my my favourite birds, the sparrowhawk, would have less to chance of a good feed!

Had a few Scandinavian visitors here too: Fieldfares.

The usual suspects we get here are blackbirds, thrushes, collared doves, great tits, blue tits, coal tits, chaffinches, bullfinches, robins, sparrows, dunnocks, wrens, pheasants. There's the odd sparrowhawk in residence, and it takes more birds than the felines. And don't get me started on magpies... I love birds, but I *loathe* magpies.

Oh, and I get kingfishers flying up and down the length of the stream at the end of the garden. They are lovely birds. The mink devastated the water voles (and literally everything else alive in the stream), but since the mink have been sorted I've seen the odd water vole about.

 

[wafflycat]

Which is now going to be my excuse for doing no gardening in the autumn. Just need one for the rest of the year...

Your gardening is ecologically sustainable for native wildlife, providing a much needed range of habitats to help wildlife thrive.

 

[Amanda P]

Our peak blackbird count stands at 26 as of today.

First thing in the morning, they seem desperate to feed and will tolerate each other quite close. Once they've fed a bit, they become irritable and spend more time chasing each other.

A majority of them are males. I wonder where the females have gone?

 

[wafflycat]

First thing in the morning, they seem desperate to feed and will tolerate each other quite close. Once they've fed a bit, they become irritable and spend more time chasing each other.

A majority of them are males. I wonder where the females have gone?

That's exactly the same here.

 

[Amanda P]

Our British-hatched blackbirds are joined in winter by lots of Scandinavian blackbirds, which, ironically, come here because we get less snow than Scandinavia. Usually. Snow is a big problem if you're a ground-feeding bird: can't get at the ground.

In some species, females migrate to different places than males. I don't know if that's true of blackbirds, but it's looking like it might be.