Birds!~

my mothers bird table has been invaded too. but her has been visited by gulls today as well as a lot of starlings....shes been loving watching them but is going through loads of food...

It certainly sounds like you need a team of SMSA's Arlene: (School Meals Supervisory Assistants) for your class of unruly St. Trinians birds, but it sounds like you have the upper hand!! It reminds me of those days back at school when I did lunchtime patrol around the dining room to check on good behaviour and dining etiquette and manners!
How about a few well mannered feathered prefects together with Head boy and Head girl in your bird population to help to restore order as well?
A lovely blog and great fun.
Hope all is well.
Love from Grenville and Alan xx

You are so lucky Arlene we have only had the 'common' garden birds,our regulars.I have never seen a fieldfare or redwing and it's a long time since we had any thrushes:(

Thanks Grenville and Alan~ I am bemused by all this and would love some help ~ feathered or otherwise!All my time is spent watching them!
Maybe he will settle down and the smaller birds will too as they get used to the newcomers~ certainly if the Sparrowhawk returns she may think twice before loitering!

Phew...Arlene..exhausted just listening to all that activity.Agree with Grenville....but sounds as if you have been assigned the role of Head Girl.You just need some back up !! Fred the Fieldfare needs to " chill out " or he will waste away with all that chasing when he could be eating...along with the others.Looking forward to tomorrows episode..............!

~ not sure about the lucky bit Aster!I like my regulars too!

ive got a fieldfare too, seem to be very common this year, coming in from Scandinavia. just like yours, our chappy is very agressive, chasing off all the local blackbirds. seems to expend more energy protecting little bits of apple. still, ive enjoyed his antics while being snowed in for 3 days

You certainly tried your best Arlene, the birds are getting fed and thats thank`s to you, guess at the end of the day they`ll sort it out amongst themselves........

It seems to be a trait amongst fieldfares,Tanny has one which protects his berries too ! Times are hard and it will be survival of the fittest,hopefully not fattest birds :))

~ I certainly hope so!~it's icy out there and I have been in and out like a yoyo today!

You have made my night Arlene, more like the army or sas is needed to help you and laughing my head off with the St Trinians bit, imagined the home made stink bombs being made by the little birds, lobbing them at the bigger one hehe.

I have the same problem, its survial of the fittest, I sit and watch the robin attacks the sparrow, then the while the robin is at the sparrow, the blue tits are eating at the top of my garden from the bird table, while the robin is at the bottom by the bird station, then the black bird comes frightens and chases off the robin and the blue tits, they retreat into the tree looking down in their droves, and wait till the black bird is nt noticeing then quickly swarm down pinch a bit and fly back to the tree, bit like you distract him and fly there, while I get some of that food, so I just sit and watch, they will find a way some how, like children they have to wait and learn to be crafty and if we are interveneing makes them lazy not to use their wits, and would not survive in the wild is how I see it. Then who comes along the squirrel and all disapper then rapidly you can hear woosh like wind through their feathers, and sound like a warning call.

Great fun blog Arlene you certainly had your work cut out there marshalling the feeding, a masterful effort! I chuckled at their antics I could well imagine the kerfuffle the fieldfare caused, thanks for sharing and cheering what has been another cold miserable day !

you were sooo lucky alene all those birds,& blackbirds, are so nfity

arlene its a war out there with this weather, all deperate to eat, the fieldfrares are normally in open spaces, fields, parks etc, but no food so thats why we are seeing more in gardens trying to find food, they fly back in march so need to fuel up and keep strong, not alot you can do just keep feeding all your feathered friends, i have blackbirds and mistle thrush, also my robin and other comman birds and most are fighting at the moment for the food how ever i spread it out,lets hope the weather changes soon :o))

I'm sure that they will sort themselves out Arlene. With your help they will all get enough food, after all this kind of tussle has been going on for thousands if not millions of years.

Goodness u was kept busy Arlene by your garden vistors !!! I have same prob with a Female Blackbird but when shes not looking the others do get a look in b4 she sees them :)

it's happening in my mum's garden too, the fieldfares and redwings are very agressive towards the other birds, even the starlings sit and watch. Top marks to you for persevering and making sure the little ones got their fair share of the food.:)))

Your blog raised a lot of laughs Arlene, and yes you are so lucky to have so many different species. In the end though nature wins, raw in tooth and claw, fairness doesn't come into it.

And i think i have problems with all the starlings i get in my garden, brill blog suppose as its so cold its servival of the fitist

Great blog, very amusing but I can imagine how bewildered you were trying to sort them all out. Maybe I will stop hoping to have fieldfares and redwings in my garden and just be satisfied with my 'regulars' :)

~ this morning I threw some chopped apple and pear onto the garage roof and Fred was bossy but seemed more inclined to eat it today~ however he seems to be the only Fieldfare left~ maybe the others have taken the hint and are looking elsewhere~

That is good news for you Arlene you don't have to be referee no more, they will survive.

All I can add to that Arlene is thanks for the laugh ....LOL.. very funny it made my day :o) and well done for persevering to sort the unruly mob out ..!

Thanks everyone for your comments maybe I am not cut out to cope with St Trinians inmates!~I like fair play!
~it has been slightly thawing today and less frantic so have been out to get more fruit!~picked up cheap apples from the local fruit shop in the Mumbles and a heavy bag of Apricots for 90 pence~ Apricot and Almond Crumble tonight!
~apparently not many around shopping so good deals on fruit!~

Yum, yum, Arlene the Apricot and Almond crumble sounds delicious.

I think the slightly milder weather will also help to support you with your attempts to sort out those squabbling and greedy
St. Trinians rebels!
You have done a grand job.

~ Hi Grenville~many thanks for the vote of confidence!
~ you can either layer flaked almonds on top of the crumble or substitute ground almonds for some of the flour ~but my favourite is Pear Plum and grated ginger served with double cream!
Everyone has been telling me today that we are to have a 'significant' amount of snow tomorrow~ we were supposed to have some yesterday but there were only a few small flakes for about half an hour~are you expecting much?

We have just heard on the local weather forecast there is more snow due tomorrow although the predicted snow falls for the weekend did not materialise. Repairs have been done this evening to a burst water main right outside our house. For the last day or so we have had our own 'stream' in the road. Gallons of water has escaped, although lots of fractured water mains have been repaired in Bristol apparently.

Now, Arlene, those delicious crumbles are just what is needed to keep the winter chill at bay!
Take care and keep warm.

Hi Arlene,
sorry to have missed this blog - we too had one very aggressive fieldfare, who sat in the apple tree and divebombed all the other birds. Thankfully he disappeared once the weather became milder. At least we'll be ready for them if they arrive again. Its best to spread the food out - I can see that!

~ yes! I had never seen this type of behaviour before and was caught unprepared~ will know what to do next time!