Hi there,
I'm a newbie and have been reading the forums recently and have really enjoyed the posts. So thought i'd write my own little ditty for you all to enjoy. Hope you do!
I've been feeding the local birds for 3 months now and only had Starlings and Pigeons in my garden despite there being a large House Sparrow roost nearby at least 5 or 6 Blue Tits locally, Robins, Crows and Magpies in the area. We thought we'd tried everything to encourage them down but they wouldn't budge!
So I bought a better ground feeder and put a Sanctuary round it to protect them. I was very excited by it and so were the birds who all came checking it out immediately, though none actually ventured in to it to start with. Two Starlings to our surprise landed on a old bird bath that we hadn't realised had collected rainwater in, and started splashing around. To our horror, almost immediately a cat jumped out and took one before we could even move. We were devastated!
At that point we weren't sure whether to carry on. But we decided on a complete revamp of the garden to protect the birds further and have put several harmless cat deterrent measures in aswell. This has reaped amazing rewards! We've had the local Sparrows all visit the garden although they haven't fed yet. Our local Robin has been spotted much more frequently even though he hasn't yet visited the feeders. But today we've just had our first Blue Tit on our main feeder! Brilliant! To top it off, an hour later I visited my local park and have identified my first ever pied wagtail too! After a horrific start it's been such a thrilling end to the week!
Since we first started, I've also been absolutely thrilled to see my first Kestrel locally and also a pair of Skylarks on a green outside my house too. Never thought this would be so much fun when I first started and so now am completely hooked!
Now I'm happy identifying the birds I'll start taking pictures which I hope to share with you all to bring the story to life a bit more. But just to say i big thanks to all the contributors on the forum. I've learnt so much in a very short space of time because of them so big thanks for that.
Happy Birding all!
Steve
I won't be happy until I've got a penguin down :)
Hi Steve
Welcome from me too. I am a relative newcomer and have lots of help and encouragement.
Little tip I have for deterring cats is to put a few old bramble/sharp rose or blackthorn clippings under bushes and shrubs near the feeders - less places for them to hide.
Look forward to seeing some pics
Chez
You have no control over what life & people throw at you - but you have full control over how you deal with it!
Hi again,
Had an interesting weekend so thought I'd just quickly update this.
As I said, the change around has had a great effect but none more so than this little fella we spotted Saturday morning! Apologies for the poor picture quality. To be honest, I'm rubbish with a camera! Especially that early on a Saturday morning ;)
My amateur eye tells me this is a Jay. He/She, was actually part of a pair that were foraging for material for nesting in my neighbours hanging baskets. (MC, I was thinking of sending this picture to you to use in one of your quizzes. ) lol
Anyways, i hope to improve my local sightings as well as my camera work very soon! :)
Happy birding all!
Hello Steve and welcome.
How cool is that, you get a Jay in your garden (Greenwithenvy).
The last one I saw was splatted on the M69. :-(
www.thecynicalgardener.com
Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.
Hi Steve,
Welcome from me too! Wow what a start with skylarks and a Kestrel! You'll soon be like th rest of us - you'll go through all the gamult of emotions when you start to get to know the birds in your garden. Protective, worried, laugh and be saddened by all the goings on. Soon you'll be building things...... oh the possibilities are endless!! I hope you continue to enjoy this new concept of what you can get out of your garden and also help the wildlife within it. It's very addictive I must say! :-)
Regards
Kerry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kezmo6310/
Hi Juno,
Nice to meet you :)
Must admit it felt pretty cool :) Not sure they'll be back but just glad to have seen them the once.
Anyways, am sure you must have some exotic varieties in your garden that i'll never get near. For example, there is absolutely no sign of any finches locally to me. So even if you have just one you're beating me :)
And I'm hoping your birding history will have happier stories than the M69 one :)
Hi Kezmo,
You're so right! It's so addictive. :)
Haven't got to know individual birds yet as there are only Starlings that visit my feeders regularly. And there are so many of them its hard to pick out individuals!
Yeah its been a complete surprise with the birds I've seen. As i say, not all of these were in my garden but they have all been extremely local and could be seen just minutes from my home. As I live in a busy town I just wasn't expecting to see what I have.
Must say you made me laugh when you mentioned building things :) To prevent the cats I've bought a decoration to place on our fences that they can't walk on or climb over so will be hammering and nailing away tomorrow to put them up! As our garden is completely fenced in I'm hoping this will stop them completely, though they are so cunning I'm sure they'll find a way. :)
Anyways, nice to meet you too. Hope to hear of your building exploits some time soon :)
A belated but warm welcome from me too Steve!! Lovely to see a jay! One of my favourite birds!!
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr
Hi Marjus!
Thanks for saying hi. Hope you are well and enjoying birding!
Yep, Jays have very quickly become a favourite of mine too! A good friend of mine is called Jay so its easy to link the two :) Not seen them since but gather they are quite shy so I'm not too surprised. I hope you get them locally too!
I hear them far more often than I see them!!
Welcome Steve, hope you'll enjoy the forums.
Regards Buzzard
Nature Is Amazing - Let Us Keep It That Way