nice to see the birds back

Well done, Sandra, on trying to keep Casper away from your birdie visitors :o)

Lovely to have such a variety of birds, Sandra. I'm fed up putting seed and nuts out for the little birds, only to find enormous Pigeons scoffing the lot ! The feeders need to be away from Megan, but somewhere I can fill them easily, currently the feeding station is spiked into the lawn !

You've had a lot of visitors, San....lucky you :) I've only seen the ring collared doves, pigeons, blue tits, blackbirds and a robin. I think I will get more once the garden is more developed....and I have some feeding stations up and running. Currently only have one in the apple tree (and I'm ashamed to say, it needs some nuts and fat....naughty, naughty am I).

I like your birdbath in the border there....blackbird was having a great time by the looks of your action shot!

we only seem to have sparrows,starlings and pigeons :( only the very occasional blue tit or goldfinch but that was in the summer.
I think I might have seen a wagtail at one point too though.

I am filling my feeders twice a day and have quite a lot of smaller birds sparrows, goldfinch bluetits ,coaltits ,and a robin, they are really enjoying the sunflower hearts.I also have blackbirds,starlings ,doves and pigeons.I love to watch them.

Hi San, you`re an early bird aren`t you,lol, I`ve been watching the starlings today, they took only 2hrs to demolish a suet cake, it was meant for the smaller birds but they stood no chance so going to have to get 2 next time,lol. You are right its lovely to see them visiting again, we get lots of greenfinches here and all the usual tits,blackbirds ,doves and of course big fat pigeons,
I put my bird pics and blogs on our other site, trying to keep up is a no go these days ....LOL....

thanx Terra its a full time job watching casper but he`s learning lol ;o)
hi shirley i had mine in lawn but all i got was big fat pigeons eating everything and scuffing my lawn to bits so iv moved it and at the monet its rested against the fence till i decide, so hung a couple of feeders away from casper and pigeons and up to now its working ;o))
thanx Wlass so i know what you next job is lol and blackbird was the first to go in new birdbath, followed by oither after which was fun to watch ;o)
thats a start Donnah iv seen a wagtail to but flighty things , have to be real quiet to get a shot ;o))
thats great mavis keep the good work up, i love to watch them all to, gives me something to do in winter looking after them as no gardening to do ;o))

I find that the birds are a bit fussy about their food. If you give them the right sort you should have a good variety.

thanx sue it does seem early lol but they are already looking for food arent they, still berries for them though, but variety is the spice of life even in the bird world haha, your right its hard to keep up isnt it, might put this on birdy site to and check yours out while im there ;o))

nice pics there sandra am not that quik wth my camra

heron they can be and like you say knowing what to put out for which birds is a great help in having diffrent ones come to the garden, thanx ;o))

cristins i stand in wait each morning early when they are hungry and know they will be at the feeders lol sad arent i lol

You obviously making it too good for them to refuse Sandra! Like Heron, I find them a bit picky (apart from those big fat pigeons of course). Not sure where they all disappear to after the babies are reared. I have a gang of sparrows and a gang of blue tits monopolising my feeders but they spill so much, the blackbirds, robins doves and of course those pigeons mop up all the left overs!
Casper looks gorgeous hiding amongst the leaves. :o)))

hi lily thanx for comments,i wouldnt mind the pigeons mopping up but they knock at the feeders to empty them lol,glad you like casper to, he`s a loving cat, so friendly ;o))

I agree Sandra a tonic to see them all visiting again, we have had a Nuthatch on a couple of mornings, the only thing is I had to close my birdtable down because of the Pigeons Harry has made little grills to put up, but that makes me feel awful as the pigeons can see the food but cant get at it, I feel really mean;0(

aww yes i would feel like that to carole even though they drive me mad, only trying to survive,but its a good idea, maybe just pop a bit of food else where for them, unless your like me and needed them to go else where, making such a mess,

Fantastic, hope I get them back into my garden now I have a feeder up. Love reading the blog.

thanx Tog glad you liked it and good luck with the bird feeders ;o))

My biggest problem is keeping the thieving magpies away form the food. I can't think of one thing about them I like. We have a relatively tame Buzzard that sits on the telegraph pole quite near. It knows I've got my eye on it. The pied wagtails have returned from the town this week to winter with us but sadly as yet no finches .

we have magpies to heron but dont seem to go for the feeders thankfully,and had a lone wagtail other day which are lovely arent they,nice to have a buzzard heron, lucky you ;o)

I'd love to feed the birds here, but I think they could teach me a thing or two about living in the wild! We often sit quietly on our balcony in the evenings watching the birds hunting around our garden - mainly Black Redstarts, but a Robin is beginning his bid to 'own' the territory and even keeps the blackbirds on the run. Several Tit species, Blackcaps, Green- and Gold-finches, Serins, Redstarts and White Wagtails - with a gang of the inevitable Sparrows, all seem to live happily in and around our garden keeping the insect population down and stopping seeding weeds propagating in the wrong place.

Nice to know you have birds in your garden Sandra. I hope they will be left alone by a certain furry friend.

Buzzards are two a penny nowadays in rural areas anyway. for such a big bird they cry like a baby. I wish we had our chaffinches again.

They can be such hungry buggers!!
If anyone has access to a local Costco, they sell 25kg bags of peanuts for £12.99, 25kg bird seed for £6 and 50 fat balls for £5
My birdies go through peanuts like nothing on earth.....

your right Donna we have wilko which is similar and good prices ,thanx for info ;o))

I like this blog, Sanbaz, it is mirroring what is happening in my garden too. Like you I am so happy to see the birds back again and tucking in. Fortunately Millie doesn't seem to mind the birds sharing her garden :)

Lovely to see your birds back Sand. Ours have started, but looks like the magpies this year too. Neighbour cut her large tree down 2 years ago and the Magpies disappeared. looks like they found somewhere else local, as we've had quite a few of them, and personally I don't like them. They're big, fat and horrid. Lol. and they don't give the little birds a chance sometimes. I'll be keeping a keen eye, ready to run and shoooo. Lol. and if I catch one bullying the little ones, (I told Hubby) I'll feed it to my ferrets. lol.

Nariz we saw our first ever black red start in France this year......
San enjoyed your blog, what a great selection you have, have only robin, and collared doves and the bl.... pigeons lol

Lovely pics San, they always see me coming and fly off !! Nice to know I'm not alone in the naughty habit Lol :-)))

thanx Gee glad your seeing your birds again to and nice millie doesnt mind either ;o))
lol linda made me chuckle thanx ;o))
thanx dotty i forgot to put robin on here but he`s with us every day, hope you get a few more soon ;o)) lol

lol annella thanx and afraid to say the naughty word these days haha ;o))

GReat little birds aren't they, DD? Before we identified them we referred to them as 'Clicky Birds' because of their habit of making a little curtsey accompanied by a clicking noise. Now we get such a laugh seeing them bobbing up and down and clicking furiously to warn off other Black Redstarts.

looking back and sorry i missed you hywel, must be that new image it threw me of track lol, yes im watching our little furry friend really well thanx ;o))
sorry missed you Nariz to sounds lovely sitting on balcony watching the wildlife going about their lives, and you seem to have a good selection to which is great ;o))

Lovely blog & photos especially the first one Casper is so cute...

aww thanx elsiemay, he`s a good lad to ;o))

Its poured down all day San so I`ve been watching the birds a lot, there was a lack of starlings today but loads of little birds around the feeders, thats a lesson learnt,next time I `ll hang the suet cakes away from my other feeders then everyone will get to eat.LOL........

lol sue, iv been out and cleaned one of my feeders out as it had grass growing from it lol, all clean for winter now, not alot of starlings here this year, maybe a lot were lost through the harsh winter sue,

Sandra, just to say I've cleared the feeding tray and only left seed and nuts in the hanging feeders today ...no Pigeons as they can't balance on the tube feeders ! Oh, the squirrel was in the garden at 11am collecting the fallen peanuts ... love him !

thats great shirley, lets hope thats the end of the pigeons, if it snows like last year i dont mind feeding them then as its hard for all birds isnt it ;o)) not seen our squirrel yet, hope he is still about

I put up three new feeders yesterday San. The goldfinches hang around in large gangs here. They are beautiful and I love them, but they don't half make a mess! They throw more seed on the floor than they eat!

lol they are messy karen, but worth it, iv filled mine again today and need to get some peanuts now as they are all gone, off to bed now, work in the morning,
nite karen, have a good day tomoz x

thanks San, I've actually had a wonderful day thanks to the sunshine! x

thats great, lovely here to but was working ;o(

comiserations :(

cheers karen so kind lol

what a spectacular bandit mask your Casper has - we have 4 felines =( we didn't mean to - they just happened as cats will - keeping the birds safe has become a routine of litter boxes but like you we LOVE our birds visiting so it has to be that way - being a warmer climate we were able to plant winter flowering food plants by the dozen and it's wonderful to watch the hungry things come and get a feed each day - many of them - although not tame of course - have got used to us and if there is not cat gardening with us they basically ignore us and get on with their meal - lovely to watch =)) your dove is the most glorious soft gray - what species is he/she?

Love is Sandra.......Yes the birds are back here too. Lovely to see them isnt it.....

thanx cate lol just got back from a weekend away so have to pick casper up first thing tomorrow, seems strange without him here , cant wait to see him, the doves are collared doves which we have quite alot in uk, much nicer than pigeons, very timid to but get use to you if you feed them every day,;o)
thanx maureen yes its great seeing them in the gardens again ;o))

Lovely to sit in the garden yesterday and hear a robin singing. Havn't heard that sound all summer. Lots of blue tits and a very handsome Great Tit. Lots of sparrows, blue tits and collared doves. No starlings so far. The big fat pigeons have just returned. Lots of pussy cats......not mine......visitors.... Mr Blobby and Calico Cat and a wide eyed little black kitten with a collar. Squirrels trying to pinch sunflower seeds. chewed the plastic on one bird feeder. Searching the lawn for hazel nuts, unearthing them, licking them and re burying. Along comes a different squirrel on the same mission......strange goings on....not seen before.

You've got a wildlife feast right in your own garden, Dorjac....sounds like a nice way to spend a sunny afternoon. You sure got lots of visitors.....maybe they thought you were having an 'open day'....lol

wow Dorjac so much going on its made me tired reading it all lol ;o))

That was just when the rain stopped for a few minutes!!!!!!!! All these visitors there while I was doing a big pile of ironing in the kitchen. Out grease banding the fruit trees today....not so much as a twitter, tweet or a warble or a flitter round the birdseed. Blobby and co don't appear while I'm around either.

makes you wonder where they all go when the rain starts doesnt it Dorjac, please dont mention irioning iv loads to do if i can motivate tomorrow lol

That does puzzle me Sanbaz too ........Where do all the sparrows and other birds that flock in groups snuggle up when It drizzles for several days on end? They don't seem to feed any where near as much in that sort of weather. There is an overgrown pyracantha in the post office garden and sparrows are always chattering in there, rain or fine. I wondered, if they gathered in a dense shrub in my garden........could I cut it back? It's a good job we are not all keen tidy gardeners!!!!!

your right there Dorjac, i think they do all go into the shrubs to shelter, my neighbour at the back has big conifers ans tries not to cut them back to much, one for both our privacy and 2 for the birds, he knows i love the birds so leaves them quite big,