in praise of tits!

[ianrauk]

We had (i havnt seen them for some years now) a small population of Green Parakeets in Longueville school woods in Peterborough, escapees i would think that built a small population...thats sadly gone now i assume.

There are tens of thousands of them in London and surrounding suburbs. They are a menace. Decimating fruit trees and driving out native birds. There is talk of a cull. And it's not before time.

 

[gbb]

There are tens of thousands of them in London and surrounding suburbs. They are a menace. Decimating fruit trees and driving out native birds. There is talk of a cull. And it's not before time.

Often the case that in the beginning there's the 'ooh' factor, its unusual, out of the ordinary, some cause for wonder. Seeing them at work in their natural habitat, noisy, garrulous, quite probably destructive...i can imagine they'd get out of hand in an alien habitat.

 

[Baggy]

He (she)'d made the nest just in the gap between the walls and roof...about 4 ft from where i was sitting

Told some of these before..riding one day, something caught my eye in the verge as i passed...an eye (thats all i saw) WTF was that ??? turned round, and there was a young Jay huddled there, with only one eye !!! (funnily enough, it was yards from where i saw the Osprey). Wished i'd had the camera (as is often the case)

Oooh, i could go on and on.

Squeee! I love wrens, they're so teeny but so incredibly loud!

 

[vernon]

We are getting a wider variety of birds in our garden in Meanwood, Leeds, since my wife has taken to replenishing the feeders daily.

Ones new to us since the feeding regime started:
Woodpecker
Nuthatch
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Bullfinch
Coal tit
Great tit
A one legged Jay

There's tawny owls nesting to the front and rear of the house never seen them but they make enough noise at night.

 

[gbb]

Squeee! I love wrens, they're so teeny but so incredibly loud!

Just for you then baggy...taken at the same time...

and...

and...

 

[Baggy]

Just for you then baggy...taken at the same time...

Aw, thanks! You did well to catch any pics, they're so speedy. There was a nesting pair in our hedge this summer, really enjoyed watching (and listening to) them flit around the garden.

 

[Amanda P]

 

[sheddy]

Does anyone know how to make homemade bird cake without using yogurt pots for the mixture to set in ?
The recipes I've seen all seem to use a yogurt pot as a mould which is then sliced off

We tried loo roll holders instead and they worked brillantly.
Place string down the middle, fill with cake mixture. Then just peel the cardboard off when fully set

 

[dellzeqq]

Often the case that in the beginning there's the 'ooh' factor, its unusual, out of the ordinary, some cause for wonder. Seeing them at work in their natural habitat, noisy, garrulous, quite probably destructive...i can imagine they'd get out of hand in an alien habitat.

they seem right at home in South London.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Just because the thread's been bumped, I saw a little egret in London today. No pics unfortunately but it was by/in the river Pool just south of Lower Sydenham and I disturbed it as I rode past but it really didn't want to leave the river so it wheeled around and landed upstream. I've only ever seen one in London before and that was in the tidal reaches of the same river system.

I really must start taking my camera out with me again.