Game in the garden

[Cycling Naturalist]

I've just been counting up the gamebirds in my back garden. There are seven pheasants and one partridge. They have been regular for about a fortnight, and were particularly partial to the remains of a revolting mid week takeaway Chinese meal.

Has anyone any experience as a beater?

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Have you got a semi, so to speak?

 

[fossyant]

Nope, just got a young female blackbird, that is very athletic. Sits below a simple plastic cup filled with seeds and lard. Jumps up, pecks feed, and pops down on garden ornament below, and repeats. There are other feeders, but this one prefers the work out.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

how about a whole load of pheasants that instead of running away from you when you opened a door, ran towards you...

We ended up having to get fly netting to put over the door to stop the pheasants coming into the house. We also had 2 female pheasants who successfully raised some 8 chicks between them and various other female pheasants who patrolled the garden, and a red-legged partridge as well.

We also, somewhat annoyingly, had a greater spotted woodpecker that used our areial (which was extended up high attached to the chimney breast) as a drumming post - the sound was much louder and travelled much further than an ordinary rotten branch of a tree. 4am in the morning would frequently see us opening the bedroom window wider to stick our heads out and yelling at it. the sound would reverberate through the entire house because the fireplace was one of those fireplaces that was a 'feature' of the sitting room with a woodburning stove.

Then there was the nightingale (only we had no idea it was a nightingale at the time). It used to sit 1m from the bedroom window on the electricty cable or in the yew tree some 2.5m from the window (always open) and sing from 2am through to about 4am without stopping. It did this for 2-3 weeks every night without fail. I had no idea what it was until I was talking to a friend and asked her about our mad bird which sounded like a cross between a robin & a blackbird but always sang when it was pitch black! I was more sympathetic once I found out what it was, but those sleepless nights were getting to me!

 

[Tommy2]

Generally keeping game birds on your land is a bigger problem than trying to get rid of them.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Have you got a semi, so to speak?

Not exactly.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Generally keeping game birds on your land is a bigger problem than trying to get rid of them.

You got a pop gun Tommy?

 

[DCLane]

Why are you posting about them on here when they're not in your freezer

 

[biggs682]

game pie mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[ianrauk]

We've got three parakeets in our garden. I can't leave any food out for the other birds as these three are terrorising them

three?
You're lucky....
We have hundred's of the bloody things.
they decimated our neighbours fruits trees last year.

 

[Tommy2]

You got a pop gun Tommy?

Been out after some pigeons this afternoon.... Sadly they weren't where I was.... Wrong back garden by the sounds of it

 

[The Brewer]

There an absolute pain on the other side of the hill from you Patrick. Twice in the last week whilst cycling into Dolywern they run suicide missions on me

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Been out after some pigeons this afternoon.... Sadly they weren't where I was.... Wrong back garden by the sounds of it

Huge number of Wood Pigeons took off from a field as I was heading home from my bike ride today. Must have been 1000. Two barrels of a shotgun would have kept you in dinners for a while.............

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

how about a whole load of pheasants that instead of running away from you when you opened a door, ran towards you...

We ended up having to get fly netting to put over the door to stop the pheasants coming into the house. We also had 2 female pheasants who successfully raised some 8 chicks between them and various other female pheasants who patrolled the garden, and a red-legged partridge as well.

We also, somewhat annoyingly, had a greater spotted woodpecker that used our areial (which was extended up high attached to the chimney breast) as a drumming post - the sound was much louder and travelled much further than an ordinary rotten branch of a tree. 4am in the morning would frequently see us opening the bedroom window wider to stick our heads out and yelling at it. the sound would reverberate through the entire house because the fireplace was one of those fireplaces that was a 'feature' of the sitting room with a woodburning stove.

Then there was the nightingale (only we had no idea it was a nightingale at the time). It used to sit 1m from the bedroom window on the electricty cable or in the yew tree some 2.5m from the window (always open) and sing from 2am through to about 4am without stopping. It did this for 2-3 weeks every night without fail. I had no idea what it was until I was talking to a friend and asked her about our mad bird which sounded like a cross between a robin & a blackbird but always sang when it was pitch black! I was more sympathetic once I found out what it was, but those sleepless nights were getting to me!

Well easy pheasant pie there Gotta just love that woody. That should have brought the mates in from a wide area! As for the Nightingale - you are one very lucky lady. Mind you - they are rather loud!!

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

There an absolute pain on the other side of the hill from you Patrick. Twice in the last week whilst cycling into Dolywern they run suicide missions on me

Hmm...........back end of the Chirk Castle Estate. The ones on the road round the back of the castle have a death wish too.