A Very Good Year For Baby Birds

Posted on July 6, 2011 by birdygirl

It has been a very good year for wild birds, at least it has in our garden.  Earlier on the birds were very busy flying around and collecting leaves and twigs for their nests.  Now their efforts have paid off and our garden is filled with the sound of baby birds squawking and crying to their parents for food.

baby starling about to be fed

The starlings have done particularly well and every day we have visits from a large starling family with all their baby chicks at different sizes of development.  They are so funny to watch as they strut around the garden looking for food.

Adult starling teaching young starling how to find food

Here the adult is teaching a young starling how to look for food.

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Duck Takes Shelter From The Sun

Posted on May 9, 2011 by birdygirl

When I was coming home from shopping a couple of days ago, as I approached my front garden I could see a creature laying under the bush.

As I crept up I could see it was a female duck!

duck resting under the bush

It was a hot sunny day so I imagine she was taking a rest out of the sun, but I wondered if she was injured or anything, so I called my partner.

He came out to investigate and we put some bread and water down for her in case she was hungry or thirsty.   It wasn’t long before a couple of neighbours came out to see what was going on.

duck

We must have disturbed her peace because she was got up and began walking around the front garden, “talking” and quacking and looking a bit put out.  The next minute she took off and flew away!

We were sorry to see her go but at least she was fit and well and not injured as we first suspected.

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Unexpected Visitors

Posted on April 18, 2011 by birdygirl

This morning I woke up to a banging and clattering noise that seemed to be coming from the roof.

When I looked out of the window I could see we had some unexpected visitors in the garden.

mallards in the garden

To my surprise I saw 4 mallard ducks wandering around the garden.

I grabbed my partner’s camera and tried to photograph them, but couldn’t get his camera to work. So I took some shots with my camera which isn’t all that good for distance shots.

Two of the mallards jumped on the low wall and begin drinking out of the big water bowl.   I thought I would try my partner’s camera again and realized I had forgotten to switch it on before (well I had just got out of bed lol).

mallard

I got a couple of decent shots and then they flew on to the garage roof, started “talking” to each other, then flew away!

mallard by the water bowl

What a lovely surprise to start the day!

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Attracting Wild Birds With Different Food

Posted on February 21, 2011 by birdygirl

In the last few months when feeding the wild birds we have been trying out different food to see what species we can attract. We bought some high energy fat balls. We left them in the nets and hung them up on the crab apple tree. These have been a big hit with the smaller birds, such as blue tits, long tail tits and sparrows. The blackbirds are also having a peck at them too.

I also bought a suet cake as I had read how the birds love suet cake but so far it has hardly attracted any birds except a blue tit now and then. But mostly it has been ignored and remains uneaten so far.

We have also bought a fat ball feeder and hung it in the hazel tree along with a nut feeder with nuts and sunflower seeds at the bottom. We thought our resident squirrel wouldn’t be able to reach the nut feeder as it is hanging on a thin branch but he has found a way and is often seen hanging upside down on the nut feeder happily munching away! We have to give him points for his ingenuity. We did notice however that it is the mainly sunflower seeds he is eating. We don’t mind as he doesn’t seem to bother the other birds and they get their share too.

We spotted a blue jay in the garden recently. We see them here and there but they never seem to stay around for long. But the other day when we were indoors we spotted one sitting in the hazel tree. My partner took some photos through the window as the bird would have flown off if we had opened the back door and startled him.

Blue Jay

Blue Jay in Hazel Tree

The photos came out very well considering they were taken through glass.

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Finding A Toad When Feeding Wild Birds

Posted on November 13, 2010 by birdygirl

When I’m feeding the wild birds I sometimes come across other creatures in my garden.

We always make sure there are containers of water for the birds to have a drink from in the garden.  One day my partner decided we needed to have more water containers around the garden for the birds to drink from and also to bathe in.

We have noticed to our amusement that the birds love to bathe in the water containers and they are very amusing to watch as they splash around.  They can be quite territorial too when it comes to bathing.  We have seen a couple of female blackbirds around the water, where one has been bathing and won’t allow the other bird to take their turn in the water.   Every time the other blackbird tried to get into the water, the first bird shooed her away.

There is a low wall at the bottom of the garden where we put out various water containers for the birds.

Anyway one day when I was in the garden feeding the birds,  to my surprised I found a toad in one of the water containers.  He looked very happy just wallowing under the water. But by the next day he had gone and I felt a bit disappointed.

Then a couple of days later there was another toad having a wallow in the water.

This time my partner was around and managed to get a good shot of the toad as he was getting out of the water.

It just goes to show that when you are helping the wild birds by providing them with food and water, you can also be helping other creatures too.

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Feeding Wild Birds And Their Chicks

Posted on October 20, 2010 by birdygirl

Today it is bright and sunny but feeling decidedly chilly.  At the bottom of the garden there are beech tress that the birds love to nest in.  In front of the beech trees there is a low wall and I always put some food there when I am feeding the wild birds.  After I have put the food out for them the birds come out from the trees and take the food.  There are also plenty of low bushes and when there are young birds around, they can grab a beak full of food and eat in safety behind the bushes, away from any predators.

Normally the blackbird is the first to come and take the food.  I love blackbirds and think they look great with their shiny black feathers and bright orange beak and eyes.  There is usually a family of blackbirds in my garden and earlier on in the year I used to see a male and female blackbird busy collecting food and taking it back to their nest.  They obviously had a young family they were feeding.  I used to be amazed at just how much food the male blackbird could get into his beak.

At that time I had watched them for days busily collecting food and flying off with it to their nest.  Then one day as I came into the garden I saw the female blackbird on the lawn and she was on her own.

As I went further into the garden, on the ground just below the lawn and beside the rose bush, there was the male blackbird just lying on the ground.  I could see he wasn’t moving and he had his eyes open, so he was obviously dead.  I was very upset.  I gently picked him up and examined him.  At first I could not see what was wrong with him.  He looked perfect. Then I noticed on his back a feather was loose and a bone was sticking out.  I image something had attacked him. Maybe a sparrow hawk.

I felt very sad because I knew that he had a nest nearby and wondered what would become of the chicks.  I just hoped the female blackbird would be able to cope on her own.

A couple of days later the garden was full of young blackbirds.  They were obviously fledglings as they were flying around very clumsily.  A group of the young blackbirds were flying around nearby and one flew straight towards me and only just missed me!

I was very happy to see them.  I then knew our resident blackbird’s babies had come through and survived.  I was very elated and didn’t feel so sad for our blackbird who had died as his young chicks live on.

Young Blackbird

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Why Buy A Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder

Posted on October 13, 2010 by birdygirl

If you love nature and wild life and are lucky enough to have a garden, the chances are that you probably feed the wild birds.  The only problem is that feeding wild birds can attract squirrels to your garden.

Whether you love squirrels or hate then, having squirrels come to your garden can cause problems if they steal the food you put out for the birds.

A good solution to this problem is to buy a squirrel proof bird feeder.  There are many types to choose from and one popular choice of squirrel proof bird feeder is The Droll Yankees Dipper.

Droll Yankees YCPD90 Dipper Squirrell Proof Bird Feeder

Ideal for small birds The Yankee Dipper features collapsible mechanical perches that are weight-activated. Small birds can perch and eat, but if a large bird or squirrel lands on the perches it cause them to collapse. They will re-set automatically. 21″ long tubular feeder with 5 lb seed capacity.  Sturdy stainless steel wire hanger will not rust.  Metal cap fits snugly so that squirrels cannot pry it off.  4-1/2″ diameter seed tube is made of UV stabilized polycarbonate for durability.

The tube is long enough so that squirrels can’t hang down from the top and reach the seed. The interior is properly baffled to direct seed to the seed ports.  Four seed ports are positioned around the tube.  The metal parts have a burgundy finish.

Feeding wild birds and attracting them to your garden is a lovely thing to do.  Wild birds need our help to survive especially during the harsh winter months when natural live food is in short supply and hard  for them to find.  It would be a great pity to let greedy squirrels spoil the pleasure and rewards you receive from feeding and attracting beautiful wild birds to your garden.  So buying a squirrel proof bird feeder can help solve your problem.

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Feeding Wild Birds in Autumn

Posted on October 6, 2010 by birdygirl

Here in England the weather is turning cooler and the nights are drawing in as summer turns to winter. I have noticed lately when I feed the wild birds that they are not eating as much of the food I put out for them as they normally do. I imagine that this is because there is plenty of live food around at the moment for them to eat. There are also lots of berries growing on the hedges and bushes that they can eat.

My garden is full of wild bird activity this morning. There are lots of birds flying around, singing and calling out loudly to each other. There are lots of blue tits flying madly about, I think they are nesting nearby. They love to come to our window bird feeders and eat the seed and nuts. They also enjoy the fat balls too.

It was raining last night and this brings out the insects and worms and that the birds love to eat. The blackbirds have been on the lawn looking for worms. They are fascinating to watch as they seem to have an inbuilt radar system for detecting worms. They stand still, stop and feel the movement of the ground, then dive in the grass and magically pull up a nice juicy worm in their beak.

There was a male blackbird on the wall in the garden a couple of days ago. He was calling out and then stopping to listen for a response. He was obviously looking for mate. When he received a response (from a female blackbird), he called to her again. This went on for a while, calling back and forth, when suddenly he seemed to get excited and began calling louder and louder. Then he fly off in the direction of the female. I hope the story has a romantic ending. I will look out for the baby blackbirds!

blackbird in the garden

blackbird calling

But for now I will slightly decrease the amount of food I put out for the wild birds and monitor how much they are eating, as it is not good to leave out more food then they will eat. If uneaten food is left out overnight it could attract vermin to the garden.

When winter arrives and food gets scarce for the wild birds, I will put out more food and make sure they have plenty to eat. Feeding wild birds in winter is very important to help them to survive at this harsh time of year.

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Feeding Wild Birds And Baby Robins

Posted on September 26, 2010 by birdygirl

We often see robins in the garden after feeding the wild birds but had never seen any baby robins.  My partner mentioned to me that it would be great if we saw some baby robins in the garden this year.

His wish was soon granted because shortly afterwards we kept noticing a robin flying back and forth around the back of the garden near the water butt .  Whenever we approached he seemed a little agitated.  There was a nesting box nearby and we wondered if the robin had a nest in there.

It wasn’t long before we were proved correct and the baby robins put in an appearance.  They were so cute and fluffy and a delight to see.  There seemed to be only two chicks and soon they got used to us and became very tame and friendly.  They used to come right up to the back door for food.

Mother and Baby Robin

One day my partner had been videoing the mother and baby robins and came into the kitchen to show me the video. On the video clip the baby robins were squeaking for food.

As we were watching the video clip, the next moment the mother robin appeared and hopped into the kitchen with a beak full of food.  She looked very surprised that her chicks were not there.  She had obviously heard the baby chicks squeaking in the video and had rushed in to feed them.  We had to quickly stop the video and gently usher the mother robin out of the kitchen.

After that incident we made sure that the doors and windows were always closed when were were playing back video clips of the robin chicks!

Feeding wild birds is a win win situation.  The birds get their often much needed food that helps them to to survive and we receive the joy, beauty and great pleasure of their company.

The world would be such a dull place without our beautiful wild garden birds.

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Feeding Wild Birds Can Attract Squirrels

Posted on September 15, 2010 by birdygirl

Feeding wild birds in your garden can also attract other creatures besides wild birds.  This is only to be expected.  But some creatures are more welcome than others.  One of the creatures you are likely to attract to your garden when feeding wild birds, are squirrels.

It seems to me that people either love squirrels and like to see them in their garden or else they hate squirrels and will do their best to deter them. But love them or hate them squirrels are a part of nature and are here to stay.

Personally I love squirrels and like to see a squirrel in my garden.  Perhaps I’m lucky but I only usually see one squirrel in my garden and only on one occasion there were two.  I image on that day our resident squirrel had brought along his girlfriend and decided to share the hazel nuts with her.

We have two hazel nut trees in our garden and when the nuts are beginning to grow, the squirrel comes along and “steals” the nuts!  But I don’t mind and he is quite welcome to help himself.  Squirrels need to find food to survive and also food to store for the long winter months, so I am quite happy to let him come and take the nuts.

His antics are very amusing to watch as he runs up and down the hazel trees collecting the nuts.  He does a great balancing act when he climbs up to the higher branches and I have to marvel at how he never falls off the branches.

The squirrel also likes to try and eat the peanuts from the nut feeder.  The nut feeder is hanging in the branches of a crab apple tree in the garden and the squirrel will go to great lengths to try and get the nuts.

Squirrel Getting Read To Jump on the Nut Feeder

The Squirrel Has Landed on the Nut Feeder

Squirrel on the Nut Feeder

I will always remember after I moved to this house, the next morning I woke up very early and sat on the back door step.  It was so beautiful, peaceful and tranquil in the garden.  I felt so happy and blessed to be here.  Then I looked around and there was a squirrel right near me.  It really startled me as I wasn’t used to seeing such creatures in my garden.  Where I lived before in London, I hardly ever saw much wildlife in my garden. Just the occasional bird and the neighborhood cats.  Anyway the squirrel was just as surprised as me and froze for a moment, before scampering off.

It seemed to me like a good omen and I felt that the squirrel had come to welcome me to my new home.

Since then the squirrel has been a regular visitor to my garden and when I feed the wild birds, the squirrel is always welcome to come and eat as well.

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