Hobbies and Crafts

Vera well done, that was good news for you.

Yes our coughs and colds finally left us. I seemed to finally get rid of mine when I literally plastered my throat and chest with good oldfashioned vick for three nights running. It just suddenly stopped after I slept solidly those three nights.

Maryanna. If that is true re valentines I have a wkrry about my blackbirds. 3 males, not a female in sight :-D

A friend has just told me that her Gran used to say that Valentines Day is when the birds " go to church to get married ". No wonder there is so much activity in the garden, they are all preparing for a busy weekend next week !!!

The Magpies have built an enormous nest in a Blackthorn at the back of us in the field. It seems to be mainly constructed from twigs off the Blackthorn in the Thugs' garden next door.

They pull big twigs off then fly with them onto our lawn and then take them onto the shed and from there up into their tree.

Shame they can't use a chainsaw and take some bigger bits of it off. When the chap took the Apple tree down last week he lopped off a couple of overhanging branches but we can't do anything about the height as the tallest bit is in his garden.

The feeders are almost empty, when I went to work they were over half full, I wonder if we might get some more snow later. They won't touch the feeders hanging on the bird table though now that I have put the hanging ones in the bushes.

M.

There seemed to be a lot of birds in the garden earlier today but when I checked they were nearly all starlings. I have seen a bluetit a couple of times today and the robin on the hanging seed feeder.

Last winter the robin would only use the ground feeder. I don't know if it is the same one or a different one but this year's robin is completely ignoring the ground feeder and will only use the hanging feeder. Contrary things aren't they?

I'm sorry you are having problems with your eyes Joan. Sore eyes can be so uncomfortable. I had my annual check up last week and was told that the cataract they found a couple of years ago is still a baby and has hardly grown at all.

Are you over your cough yet Ann? The cold that I had a month ago seems to have left me with a persistent cough so I've sent OH to sleep in a spare room. I am getting a bit fed up with it though.

Still, in this litany of medical woes I'm feeling cock-a-hoop about one thing. I had to have two growths removed from my colon and have just heard that they were non-cancerous so that is a big weight of my mind. The consultant has put me on a surveillance programme and will check me again in 5 years! I hope I can still manage to clamber on to the examination table by then :-D

Just spotted the blackbird eating the fat balls and fat 'pillar' It looks like a last year's blackbird, not very big but very black. Te robin and an older blackbird were also round the morning and yesterday the robin and a wren.

Jane your moorhens are very adventurous :-D

Joan I am sorry about your eyes, it is so painful when they are sore. Can anything be done to sooth them? Eyes are so important to us aren't they and I am not sure we don't strain them being on our pcs for a long time. I am due a check up, a year ago the optician said I had very early stage cataract.

I think your moorhens are playing games :-) Must be fascinating to watch. I have some mallard ducks which come to the pond of water in the field after heavy rainfall.
They were there before Xmas then disappeared when the water froze, they were back last week but gone again now the water is frozen again. I have also seen a heron this weekend.

The birds have been very quiet today, one thing I have seen is the robin trying to feed off the feeder, not seen that before.

If I don't post very often it is because I have various health issues, the one bothering me at the moment is my eyes, they become very sore and am also waiting for a cataract op (8mth waiting list).

Joan

Our 4 Moorhens have climbed up through the big Yew Hedge and have been walking along the top of it today !!!.They looked so funny.Shame I didn't have the camera to hand. :-S.The hedge is about 12ft + high !!!!.I actually saw one jump up on to the side of the hedge and then disappear inside ,then show up on top lol

More snow overnight here in Yorkshire and it's mega cold outside again today.
It has brightened up a little this afternoon and I hope it won't freeze over now.

I have de-iced both bird baths and filled up the seed feeder and fat balls in back garden tree and put seed and suet pellets in window feeder along with stale bread on ground feeder for our feathered friends. The bread was soon gone with usual Starlings and a couple of fat pigeons. The little Robin has been a couple of times to the window feeder and the greedy Starlings have nearly had it off the window with their aggressive ways!

Hello Tecwyn, that sounds interesting, all birds are very clever in their own way.

Sometimes these birds are more clever than we think. Maybe the moorhens were doing something similar to tec's seagulls Jane. I have never seen seagulls do that though Tec, fascinating.

The birds are looking a bit hungry this morning. We have had a sprinkling (and I mean a sprinkling, hardly any) of snow which looks as though it has frozen. We get very little snow in this area so our birds are spoilt. It is melting so they will have to wait to get at the seeds. :-)

I also saw something very odd yesterday.
Two seagulls stamping rapidly on grass - then pausing, turning their heads sideways to watch for the worms coming up.

Very successful they were too. It was comical watching their little legs going up and down like pistons :-D

Tec :-)

Thanks Ann
I actually saw a very odd thing today with the Moorhens.Normally they potter around on their great big feet.But late this afternoon I saw 2 of them actually lying down on the lawn pecking food out of the grass.I have not seen them do this before.It looked very strange.Maybe it was getting near their bedtime and they were tired LOL

Jane's moorhens on the photo blog

Sorry Jane I missed you back there. Pleased that you had a good break, even if cold. It is very cold here today again although no snow.

Maryanna that is good that they have found the new feeders.

I forgot to say that this morning we had a little field mouse foraging around behind the pots on the patio. Don't mind as long as it stays out there.

Jane ok will look out for your photo. :-)

Glad you had a good time away Jane, it's been very cold here but although we woke up to a dusting of snow it has pretty much gone now and all we have had is a bit of drizzle.

Just after my last post several Blue Tits arrived and had a go at the peanuts.

Would love to see your Moorhens Jane.

My sister is coming next weekend, will let you know how she is.

M.

Finally I have managed to get a pic of the 4 Moorhens together :-D.I sprinkled a little bird seed along the bottom of the Yew Hedge this morning and that must have done the trick.I hope they won't be expecting that every day though as I don't want to attract any more unwelcome attention from the Ra**.
When I get around to it Ann I will send you the pic.Maybe later today.
I have 3 Robins all wanting to feed on the window feeder at the moment .One was on it and the other 2 were having a little bit of a fracas on the branches while waiting their turn :-D
Looking at the sky now and it looks like there might be a bit more snow on the way.

Time seems to be back to normal !!! Whatever it is there never seems to be enough of it !

The Sparrows have now been on all the feeders, although there was one little chap who gave up as he couldn't work out that he needed to stand by the hole to get the seeds out. He was really going at the plastic casing and couldn't understand why he couldn't get at the seeds.

The Robin and Wren have just been hoovering up underneath and the Pigeons made short work of some bread I put out.

Other than that it has just been the usuals with the Magpies trying to cart off huge bits of next door's Blackthorn, that is going to make a very uncomfortable nest and seems a bit early.

The Thrush has been about and Mr and Mrs Blackbird and the extra Mr. One of them Is Pipping away as I write.

Having looked out, I can see a male sparrow. Still trying to get the seeds but a female has flown straight onto the perch and is feeding no problem, will be interesting to see if he copies her.

M.

I think we have to ignore it Maryanna. Yesterday the GR clock was in a time zone of its own and it was a while before it was corrected. When they finally managed to correct it the sequence of posting went haywire. It should work out ok soon Lol!!

Are the birds usinf your new feeders? They usually take a while to get used to them.

Easrly on we had two long tailed tits on the fat feeder (this is a sort of pillar of fat in the fat ball feeder with a couple of fat balls as well. We also had the male black cap. Right now we have the female black cap, one starling just eating some fat I put on the bird table, a couple of male blackbirds squabbling on the bottom fence, one goldfinch on the tree at the bottom of the garden and a dove on the fence. Next door seem to have the rest of the starlings!!

Are the posts all muddled up for anyone else ?

Mine go from Ann on the 29th around 10.30pm, then Ann on the 30th just after 5pm, then Jane at 5.38, then Joan at 21.32 then me and I am sure I didn't post at 1.31 this morning, especially as Ann replied to me ay 5ish last night !!!

M . :-0

I bought some new feeders yesterday, needless to say no tree to hang them from so I put them high up in the Forsythia, or what is left if it after the efforts of Himself last year.

By mid day there were about six Sparrows hanging from the fat balls one, they don't seem so keen on the others, I have mixed seed, peanuts and sun flower seeds as well.

We had a sudden hail storm yesterday around 4pm followed by a quick and heavy snow fall, it then got very cold and froze overnight, it has just about all gone now.

I haven't really been looking much, himself decided "we" needed to sort out the big double built in wardrobe in the smallest spare room, pretty much untouched since youngest child moved out of that room and into his eldest brother's when he was about eleven.

I can't believe how much stuff you can get in one cupboard !!!!

Toys, books, some of my " best " clothes, unworn since the turn of the century. ( that makes them sound really old !!!!). Holiday stuff, long replaced, catalogues and brochures from air shows and Navy days, Mostly gone to the tip or charity shop.

Now, how long have I got to fill it up again ?????

Might get a chance to do some bird watching tomorrow.

M. :-)

Pleased you have had some more birds Ann. I have had the usual ones, but they choose their times when to feed. They hibernate when the snow showers come.

We haven't got any snow today hope it isn't too bad for you Kandi. It is bitterly cold though.

Spring is on the way, I have lots of snowdrops showing white buds but not in bloom yet.

Joan