After a disastrous gremlin filled day yesterday I was determined to get out there again with the LTT's and hand feed them pastry; although they did take the food from my hand their feet remained on the twig but got close enough to show you how tame they are becoming. I probably had too much pastry on my hand for them to land and if I used tinier amounts they would probably have come right onto my hand like one did the other day to take the pastry, anyway, here are this morning shots .... and I can now breathe a sigh of relief LOL
and now Billy's mate LOL
and one for bottoms up !
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Regards, Hazel
Thanks Mrs. T. Emily sent me another e-address so I sent it there too ! ......onlineshop@rspb.org.uk
Thanks Lolly an Christine, for tiny birds they sure eat a lot of pastry LOL on average I make 4 kilos per week.
Lovely photos, Hazel--thanks! Also like your LTT-colour-coordinated pink and black sleeves! Tomorrow those LTTs will be ON your hand!
Kind regards, Ann
Evening Ann, thanks :) I would stand more chance if I put less pastry on my hand as there's no room for them LOL will try again for more photos and hope their tiny feet land on my hand; one of the LTT's, nicknamed Billy, has done it once but there were no pics. They are the cutest little bird ever :) lol
Evening Hazel, Once the LTTs find out that your hand is warm, they will be wanting to sit down on your hand and warm up their feet! And how did Billy earn his name, please?
Wow! That's nearly a whole pie there Hazy!! LoL How wonderful you are able to get so near them and to have them eat from your hand is truly amazing!! Well Done, you lucky thing! :)
I was hoping they would sit on my hand to keep it from frost bite LOL; Billy got his name because he always used to turn up alone at first, aka the saying : "Billy No Mates" I haven't even got a clue if it is male but the 4 LTT's are paired up so hoping they may get their act together and increase the LTT population lol
Hazy,really brilliant to get the trust of those LTT.I know Blackbirds and Robins will eat out of hand but never imagined LTT doing that.
Thanks Sooty, they are dear little birds but today I saw that one of the 4 was injured and maybe had a close encounter with a cat or other; it cannot use one leg but does seem to be eating well which is good. I do sort of have reservations now about hand feeding them as I wouldn't want them to lose their fear of humans or predators in case this leads to further injuries :( It's made me think twice about having them so close when sometimes they are better to be wary of everything.
Hazy, I imagine they're so tame because they've become accustomed to seeing you - I wouldn't assume they would be the same for other people. I don't know if LTT's can differentiate between different people though I know crows can.
Sorry, I'm slightly corvid mad! I do believe, though, that studies have only barely scratched the surface of exploring bird intelligence.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Hi Clare, I didn't know that about Crows, how very interesting but I know the Corvids are supposed to be highly intelligent. There is such a lot more to learn about birds and behaviours and I find these posts so informative and helpful being a rookie to birding.
The Jackdaws were all over the tree stump today trying to get the pastry and fat cake out of the drilled holes, at one stage there must have been 8 of them and was fantastic to see them bunched together and in flight to and from the trunk.