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| Bogstandard:
Last year, I showed one of my larger projects, where we built a covered way so that Mal my wife could sit out, rain or shine. At the same time, I made our garden into a bird friendly place, even managing to keep Vinnie the Mog off the top of the surrounding fence by the use of plastic fence capping spikes. So unless the visitors are real dim, they will have no trouble from our cat. In summer last year we had one Goldfinch visiting our garden, but never regularly. These are one of the rather rarer birds to get to come into your garden to feed. About a month ago, a pair of them started to turn up, raiding the niger (thistle) seed feeder. The one last year took about a quarter of a feeder full in the whole season, this pair is actually consuming a whole feeder in two days, calling in every couple of hours, from very early morning until late at night, so we suspected they had young to feed. Well today, the two adults appeared, followed by two young, which stayed at the bottom of the garden in a tree, while the parents flew from the feeder and fed them. So it now looks like we are classed as a safe place to be by these very shy birds. Over the last few weeks, we have been host to the whole range of garden birds bringing in their young to be fed. This is a young starling being shown how to pick up it's own food, at one time, up to about 6 young in one tray at a time, no further than six feet away from where we sit. In fact we have a blackbird that walks in and out around our legs, picking up food, and sits outside the back door waiting to be fed, first thing in the morning. And this is our pride and joy this year, a breeding pair of goldfinches coming for a feeding session. Mal sits outside, sometimes from about 5 in the morning until late at night, just getting enjoyment from watching the visitors to our garden. The best project ever that I have done. Bogs |
| lordedmond:
Good work John they need all the help we can give them :beer: I do not dare to inquire from Linda as to the cost of the wild bird feed There are 12.5 kilo bags stored everywhere I look :) hope Mal is progressing ok with her treatment Stuart |
| Bogstandard:
Stuart, it is costing us about 25 to 30 squid a month at the moment keeping everything fed, but that doesn't include treats for the blackbirds, they love dried mealworms, but soaked in water. and they most probably cost us another tenner a month during fledging season. Things are slowing down a bit now, but give it another month or so and we will soon be into the second fledging season. But what price is life for defenceless animals? Around our area, over the winter, the council decimated a lot of the hedges and wild areas by inconsiderate cutting, reducing their feed dramatically, so I think that is why there are such a lot coming into our garden for help. Mal is doing the best as we can expect at this time, we will know a lot more in a few months time, as far as I know, November, after the first lot of treatment settles down and they can do more scans. Thanks for asking. John |
| mike os:
nice one Bogs.... I keep thinking about doing something here.... but fail regularly to actually do something |
| John Hill:
That is excellent John and I am sure Mal gets a lot of comfort from the little visitors. We have considered doing the same here although this is not exactly the best part of the country for bird life. There are some big(ish) trees over the back fence that are home to a gang of Australian magpies who no doubt would really like us to leave mice meat out on a pole for them but they are such agro baskets they would probably terrorise any smaller birds that came to dine. |
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