Things you've discovered during lockdown. .

[Ovals]

The difference between a Blue tit, Coal tit, and Great tit.

What about marsh?

As much as I've always enjoyed nature, this period has given me a greater appreciation for all our garden birds. Still regularly muddle great and coal tits, though.

You know you have been paying attention when you can tell the difference between a Marsh Tit and a Willow Tit. Both, sadly, scarcer than they should be. All the tit family are entertaining little birds : it’s a real plus they are better appreciated and enjoyed

No need for us to worry about Marsh or Willow tits. We do get Long tailed tits though - they are quite entertaining as they tend to come in groups of around 20 and flit about all over the place.

The main difference between Coal and Great is the colour of the breast. The Great tit's breast is quite a bright Yellow. The Coal tit is more grey - and the coal tit is a bit smaller.

[TB63]

What about marsh?

As much as I've always enjoyed nature, this period has given me a greater appreciation for all our garden birds. Still regularly muddle great and coal tits, though.

You know you have been paying attention when you can tell the difference between a Marsh Tit and a Willow Tit. Both, sadly, scarcer than they should be. All the tit family are entertaining little birds : it’s a real plus they are better appreciated and enjoyed

No need for us to worry about Marsh or Willow tits. We do get Long tailed tits though - they are quite entertaining as they tend to come in groups of around 20 and flit about all over the place.

The main difference between Coal and Great is the colour of the breast. The Great tit's breast is quite a bright Yellow. The Coal tit is more grey - and the coal tit is a bit smaller.

Years ago, when I was a lad et al, we had a proliferation of various birds in the garden, sadly, now, a lot doing with the cemetery next door being manicured instead of a wilderness like it used to be, only have a few blue, and greats, 1 solitary blackcap who is known as Boris and that's about it..

I blame Chris Packam as we have loads of maggies and now not allowed to shoot the nest raiding cunts..or him...

[Sandstorm]

[Ovals]

You know you have been paying attention when you can tell the difference between a Marsh Tit and a Willow Tit. Both, sadly, scarcer than they should be. All the tit family are entertaining little birds : it’s a real plus they are better appreciated and enjoyed

No need for us to worry about Marsh or Willow tits. We do get Long tailed tits though - they are quite entertaining as they tend to come in groups of around 20 and flit about all over the place.

The main difference between Coal and Great is the colour of the breast. The Great tit's breast is quite a bright Yellow. The Coal tit is more grey - and the coal tit is a bit smaller.

Years ago, when I was a lad et al, we had a proliferation of various birds in the garden, sadly, now, a lot doing with the cemetery next door being manicured instead of a wilderness like it used to be, only have a few blue, and greats, 1 solitary blackcap who is known as Boris and that's about it..

I blame Chris Packam as we have loads of maggies and now not allowed to shoot the nest raiding cunts..or him...

We had Magpies nesting in our Buddleia last summer (it's very tall) - noisy buggers they are. Still quite entertaining and didn't seem to worry the songbirds at all. They loved the fat balls we have in our feeder. This year we've got some Robins nesting in the front garden. We normally get bloody pigeons nesting in one of our trees with their incredibly tatty nests - always amazed they hold together long enough.

Last summer we often had a buzzard flying above us - there was always a bit of a commotion when it arrived because the local seagulls took exception to it and kept harrying it, with dive bombs, until they'd chased it off.

[sockwithaticket]

You know you have been paying attention when you can tell the difference between a Marsh Tit and a Willow Tit. Both, sadly, scarcer than they should be. All the tit family are entertaining little birds : it’s a real plus they are better appreciated and enjoyed

No need for us to worry about Marsh or Willow tits. We do get Long tailed tits though - they are quite entertaining as they tend to come in groups of around 20 and flit about all over the place.

The main difference between Coal and Great is the colour of the breast. The Great tit's breast is quite a bright Yellow. The Coal tit is more grey - and the coal tit is a bit smaller.

Years ago, when I was a lad et al, we had a proliferation of various birds in the garden, sadly, now, a lot doing with the cemetery next door being manicured instead of a wilderness like it used to be, only have a few blue, and greats, 1 solitary blackcap who is known as Boris and that's about it..

I blame Chris Packam as we have loads of maggies and now not allowed to shoot the nest raiding cunts..or him...

We've got quite variety, especially at this time of year as some birds come out of the woods a bit more seeking our feeders. Great, coal and blue tits plus robins, dunnocks and gold finches are our regulars but we've had an influx of chaffinches, bullfinches, collared doves, a couple of nuthatches and seemingly endless blackbirds. Occasionally get a visit from a green woodpecker too. Nary a magpie in sight for some reason. Wood pigeons galore of course, but we don't count them.

[TB63]

Well this fred has taken at turn! All this talk about tits and no Yeeb...

Chris Pacman has done more damage to songbirds than Boris has done to the NHS.
He's a complete and utter twunt..Banning shooting mags and crows? Wtf? To save what? Biggest nest raiders going.. Where I used to live, we all shot those birds on sight, guess what, we had loads of songbirds, tits etc.. Go figure..
Cunt needs a fucking wake up call,....Or a .22 between his eyes as he stands in the way to protect a maggie. .

Rant over. Pacman is a twat in summary. .

[fishfoodie]

You know you have been paying attention when you can tell the difference between a Marsh Tit and a Willow Tit. Both, sadly, scarcer than they should be. All the tit family are entertaining little birds : it’s a real plus they are better appreciated and enjoyed

No need for us to worry about Marsh or Willow tits. We do get Long tailed tits though - they are quite entertaining as they tend to come in groups of around 20 and flit about all over the place.

The main difference between Coal and Great is the colour of the breast. The Great tit's breast is quite a bright Yellow. The Coal tit is more grey - and the coal tit is a bit smaller.

Years ago, when I was a lad et al, we had a proliferation of various birds in the garden, sadly, now, a lot doing with the cemetery next door being manicured instead of a wilderness like it used to be, only have a few blue, and greats, 1 solitary blackcap who is known as Boris and that's about it..

I blame Chris Packam as we have loads of maggies and now not allowed to shoot the nest raiding cunts..or him...

I have a pair of Magpies nesting in my garden since I bought the house; they're a continuing source of discovery

During the cold snap there; a couple of weeks ago; I was regularly refilling the bird feeders around the garden; & I've discovered that the birds really only rate about 1% of the standard bird feed mix. I'd be working away, & the feeder was outside my office; & a Blue Tit or Great Tit would be on the bird feeder; using their beaks to, shovel, food out of the tray; onto the ground; until they got a sunflower seed; or something similar; that they fancied.

Then there would be a bunch of finches & robins; scrambling around on the ground under the feeder; picking up the stuff the tits had dumped onto the ground.

The one that surprised me about the magpies; was when there was a field mouse, opportunistically grabbing some of the bird feed; & a Magpie, nearby, spotted them, & grabbed the mouse & smacked him around; like you would a fish you'd landed; & then carried it off to pick apart.

I've a video; from last year; I got on a wildlife cam; where I threw out some eggs that were past their best before date; & the magpies love these; in this video; the magpies hop onto the wall & start cackling ..... & then the Pine Marten arrives ... there's an image a bit later with the Marten disappearing over the wall with the intact egg in its mouth....

[Ovals]

No need for us to worry about Marsh or Willow tits. We do get Long tailed tits though - they are quite entertaining as they tend to come in groups of around 20 and flit about all over the place.

The main difference between Coal and Great is the colour of the breast. The Great tit's breast is quite a bright Yellow. The Coal tit is more grey - and the coal tit is a bit smaller.

Years ago, when I was a lad et al, we had a proliferation of various birds in the garden, sadly, now, a lot doing with the cemetery next door being manicured instead of a wilderness like it used to be, only have a few blue, and greats, 1 solitary blackcap who is known as Boris and that's about it..

I blame Chris Packam as we have loads of maggies and now not allowed to shoot the nest raiding cunts..or him...

I have a pair of Magpies nesting in my garden since I bought the house; they're a continuing source of discovery

During the cold snap there; a couple of weeks ago; I was regularly refilling the bird feeders around the garden; & I've discovered that the birds really only rate about 1% of the standard bird feed mix. I'd be working away, & the feeder was outside my office; & a Blue Tit or Great Tit would be on the bird feeder; using their beaks to, shovel, food out of the tray; onto the ground; until they got a sunflower seed; or something similar; that they fancied.

Then there would be a bunch of finches & robins; scrambling around on the ground under the feeder; picking up the stuff the tits had dumped onto the ground.

The one that surprised me about the magpies; was when there was a field mouse, opportunistically grabbing some of the bird feed; & a Magpie, nearby, spotted them, & grabbed the mouse & smacked him around; like you would a fish you'd landed; & then carried it off to pick apart.

I've a video; from last year; I got on a wildlife cam; where I threw out some eggs that were past their best before date; & the magpies love these; in this video; the magpies hop onto the wall & start cackling ..... & then the Pine Marten arrives ... there's an image a bit later with the Marten disappearing over the wall with the intact egg in its mouth....

We, generally, only put out peanuts, mealworm and fat balls. The tits mainly go for the nuts, Robins - the mealworm, and they all tuck in to the fat balls (starlings really love fat balls). The Blackbirds and Pigeons hoover up anything that the others have dropped to the ground. Robins also seem to enjoy porridge oats.

We're a bit too suburban for pine martens - plenty of squirrels, an ocassional fox, and a very rare visit from a lost deer. We get toads (we have a pond) and, once in a while, a hedgehog.

Once a year we visited by some beautiful Jays - and there's normally a Woodpecker around which can make an appearance.

[mat the expat]

Rhythm on skis! (This is not me, of course, but am finally getting the hang of this...)



Next up, get me pellet gun and freak out the dog walkers...

Still the best Olympic event - but sadly not shown on Oz broadcasts

[MungoMan]

Also sorta bird-related.

I’ve been a birdwatcher for many years and more recently I’ve been photographing them. Our yard isn’t tiny but even so the predominance of aggressive species means few small birds visit.

Come the first lockdown last year, I started taking an interest in butterflies and trying to identify them via a local wildlife handbook. One thing lead to another and I began trying to photograph the little buggers and consequently bought two butterfly identification guides.

Lemme just say, butterflies are a bit of an arsepain to photograph.

On the plus side, they tend not to alight in areas of deep shade but on the minus side, the bastards often don’t bother landing at all after flaunting themselves in front of me and can be a real prick to acquire in sharp focus for a dud photographer like me. I will, however, persist.

[Paddington Bear]

I guess the other thing for me is I’ve always been fine living in flats but absolutely cannot take much more of being stuck in one. Thankfully no one else has had the same idea and houses are cheap atm...

[Openside]

I guess the other thing for me is I’ve always been fine living in flats but absolutely cannot take much more of being stuck in one. Thankfully no one else has had the same idea and houses are cheap atm...

I am helping buy my daughter a flat, do you think flats in London will fall in price after the Stamp duty holiday by more than the Stamp duty??

[ASMO]

My toes, lost 20kg now and i can see them right there on the end of my feet without having to lean over....mind you if i was wearing crocs (like someone on this bored has been pictured doing) then i would never want to see them again.

[Paddington Bear]

I guess the other thing for me is I’ve always been fine living in flats but absolutely cannot take much more of being stuck in one. Thankfully no one else has had the same idea and houses are cheap atm...

I am helping buy my daughter a flat, do you think flats in London will fall in price after the Stamp duty holiday by more than the Stamp duty??

I think they probably will - not least as the arse has fallen out of the rental market so I imagine there’ll be some distressed sellers

[Sandstorm]

My toes, lost 20kg now and i can see them right there on the end of my feet without having to lean over....mind you if i was wearing crocs (like someone on this bored has been pictured doing) then i would never want to see them again.

Impressive effort, sir! Most people put on weight in lockdown.

[Slick]

No need for us to worry about Marsh or Willow tits. We do get Long tailed tits though - they are quite entertaining as they tend to come in groups of around 20 and flit about all over the place.

The main difference between Coal and Great is the colour of the breast. The Great tit's breast is quite a bright Yellow. The Coal tit is more grey - and the coal tit is a bit smaller.

Years ago, when I was a lad et al, we had a proliferation of various birds in the garden, sadly, now, a lot doing with the cemetery next door being manicured instead of a wilderness like it used to be, only have a few blue, and greats, 1 solitary blackcap who is known as Boris and that's about it..

I blame Chris Packam as we have loads of maggies and now not allowed to shoot the nest raiding cunts..or him...

We had Magpies nesting in our Buddleia last summer (it's very tall) - noisy buggers they are. Still quite entertaining and didn't seem to worry the songbirds at all. They loved the fat balls we have in our feeder. This year we've got some Robins nesting in the front garden. We normally get bloody pigeons nesting in one of our trees with their incredibly tatty nests - always amazed they hold together long enough.

Last summer we often had a buzzard flying above us - there was always a bit of a commotion when it arrived because the local seagulls took exception to it and kept harrying it, with dive bombs, until they'd chased it off.

Yeah, I’ve found myself quite into birds and trees, rarely leave the house without my little identification books now

Live in the centre of town so only have a small outdoor space but quite a few tits, robins etc hopping about. The private garden we have access to had a buzzard in it all summer which I spent hours watching. Also a few tree creepers which I’d never heard of before but are fascinating to watch.

Remarkable variation of trees around town as well

[sockwithaticket]

No need for us to worry about Marsh or Willow tits. We do get Long tailed tits though - they are quite entertaining as they tend to come in groups of around 20 and flit about all over the place.

The main difference between Coal and Great is the colour of the breast. The Great tit's breast is quite a bright Yellow. The Coal tit is more grey - and the coal tit is a bit smaller.

Years ago, when I was a lad et al, we had a proliferation of various birds in the garden, sadly, now, a lot doing with the cemetery next door being manicured instead of a wilderness like it used to be, only have a few blue, and greats, 1 solitary blackcap who is known as Boris and that's about it..

I blame Chris Packam as we have loads of maggies and now not allowed to shoot the nest raiding cunts..or him...

I have a pair of Magpies nesting in my garden since I bought the house; they're a continuing source of discovery

During the cold snap there; a couple of weeks ago; I was regularly refilling the bird feeders around the garden; & I've discovered that the birds really only rate about 1% of the standard bird feed mix. I'd be working away, & the feeder was outside my office; & a Blue Tit or Great Tit would be on the bird feeder; using their beaks to, shovel, food out of the tray; onto the ground; until they got a sunflower seed; or something similar; that they fancied.

Then there would be a bunch of finches & robins; scrambling around on the ground under the feeder; picking up the stuff the tits had dumped onto the ground.

The one that surprised me about the magpies; was when there was a field mouse, opportunistically grabbing some of the bird feed; & a Magpie, nearby, spotted them, & grabbed the mouse & smacked him around; like you would a fish you'd landed; & then carried it off to pick apart.

I've a video; from last year; I got on a wildlife cam; where I threw out some eggs that were past their best before date; & the magpies love these; in this video; the magpies hop onto the wall & start cackling ..... & then the Pine Marten arrives ... there's an image a bit later with the Marten disappearing over the wall with the intact egg in its mouth....

Yeah the tits are all about the sun flower seeds, fat balls are the only other thing they go for as far as I've seen. We have a dedicated sunflower feeder and the only other birds that hop on it are nuthatches and bullfinches, the latter seem to gobble any and everything they can get their beak onto. I've seen them balancing precariously on the nyger seed feeder designed for the (much smaller!) goldfinches. It seems to be the ground feeders that will eat the mixed seed, so we generally chuck it straight on the ground for them rather than stick it up in a feeder. Put a little bit on the bird table along with some currants and meal worms, that combo seems to attract the robins, blackbirds and bullfinches.

You must be pretty countrified to get a marten, very cool. We're relatively rural and get the odd fox or hedgehog and plenty of squirrels.

[Ovals]

Also sorta bird-related.

I’ve been a birdwatcher for many years and more recently I’ve been photographing them. Our yard isn’t tiny but even so the predominance of aggressive species means few small birds visit.

Come the first lockdown last year, I started taking an interest in butterflies and trying to identify them via a local wildlife handbook. One thing lead to another and I began trying to photograph the little buggers and consequently bought two butterfly identification guides.

Lemme just say, butterflies are a bit of an arsepain to photograph.

On the plus side, they tend not to alight in areas of deep shade but on the minus side, the bastards often don’t bother landing at all after flaunting themselves in front of me and can be a real prick to acquire in sharp focus for a dud photographer like me. I will, however, persist.

You need to get yourself a Buddleia in your garden - they are like a butterfly magnet - they will land on that, especially if it is in the sun. It will also attract other insects you can photograph. Really easy to grow - and easy to propogate from a cutting - we have 4 in our garden - one of which is enormous, about 18 ft high - We often find baby buddleias growing in our hanging baskets. You can get different colours - we have white, purple and royal red - the butterflies seem to prefer the purple or red versions.

[Niegs]

I guess the other thing for me is I’ve always been fine living in flats but absolutely cannot take much more of being stuck in one. Thankfully no one else has had the same idea and houses are cheap atm...

Best of luck! A coworker and his partner are on the hunt, I'm looking but not ready to bid, but a bunch of us got talking about their quest in our staff meeting yesterday. Prices are up all over. I'd thought about moving to the east coast of Canada where it's cheaper, and things are up there as well!

[sockwithaticket]

Also sorta bird-related.

I’ve been a birdwatcher for many years and more recently I’ve been photographing them. Our yard isn’t tiny but even so the predominance of aggressive species means few small birds visit.

Come the first lockdown last year, I started taking an interest in butterflies and trying to identify them via a local wildlife handbook. One thing lead to another and I began trying to photograph the little buggers and consequently bought two butterfly identification guides.

Lemme just say, butterflies are a bit of an arsepain to photograph.

On the plus side, they tend not to alight in areas of deep shade but on the minus side, the bastards often don’t bother landing at all after flaunting themselves in front of me and can be a real prick to acquire in sharp focus for a dud photographer like me. I will, however, persist.

You need to get yourself a Buddleia in your garden - they are like a butterfly magnet - they will land on that, especially if it is in the sun. It will also attract other insects you can photograph. Really easy to grow - and easy to propogate from a cutting - we have 4 in our garden - one of which is enormous, about 18 ft high - We often find baby buddleias growing in our hanging baskets. You can get different colours - we have white, purple and royal red - the butterflies seem to prefer the purple or red versions.

Yep, butterflies and bees love our purple buddleia. Also our purple verbena bonariensis.

[ASMO]

My toes, lost 20kg now and i can see them right there on the end of my feet without having to lean over....mind you if i was wearing crocs (like someone on this bored has been pictured doing) then i would never want to see them again.

Impressive effort, sir! Most people put on weight in lockdown.

4kg from target weight, dropped under 100kg for the first time since my 30's

[Saint]

My toes, lost 20kg now and i can see them right there on the end of my feet without having to lean over....mind you if i was wearing crocs (like someone on this bored has been pictured doing) then i would never want to see them again.

Impressive effort, sir! Most people put on weight in lockdown.

4kg from target weight, dropped under 100kg for the first time since my 30's

Good effort. I'm down nearly 3 stone now, still got a ways to go but have dropped 4 inches off my waist size already

[ASMO]

Impressive effort, sir! Most people put on weight in lockdown.

4kg from target weight, dropped under 100kg for the first time since my 30's

Good effort. I'm down nearly 3 stone now, still got a ways to go but have dropped 4 inches off my waist size already

NPR weight loss thread needed maybe, i know Sards has dropped a lot too. 2 clothes sizes down for me, down from XXL to L and actually got a pair of jeans with 34 inch wsist on for the first time since my late 30's

[Openside]

My toes, lost 20kg now and i can see them right there on the end of my feet without having to lean over....mind you if i was wearing crocs (like someone on this bored has been pictured doing) then i would never want to see them again.

[Un Pilier]

Well this fred has taken at turn! All this talk about tits and no Yeeb...

Chris Pacman has done more damage to songbirds than Boris has done to the NHS.
He's a complete and utter twunt..Banning shooting mags and crows? Wtf? To save what? Biggest nest raiders going.. Where I used to live, we all shot those birds on sight, guess what, we had loads of songbirds, tits etc.. Go figure..
Cunt needs a fucking wake up call,....Or a .22 between his eyes as he stands in the way to protect a maggie. .

Rant over. Pacman is a twat in summary. .

Oh dear.

Natural predation is just that. Natural. Domestic cats and grey squirrels, on the other hand ..... or the slaughter by shooting and trapping of millions of songbirds as they migrate ... are an abomination. I won’t get into rats.

Letting anyone and everyone who feels like it shoot wild birds isn’t a solution to anything. People shoot Hen Harriers and Peregrines round my way because they predate Red Grouse and Racing Pigeons respectively. They shoot Red Kites and Buzzards ..... why? Because they scavenge roadkill??

[dkm57]

Moved house to the countryside just before the first lockdown.

I am sill people averse, therefore that side of the lockdown hasn't bothered me, between this site and one other I'm fine.

I have osteo-arthritis in both knees so hobbling around the field in front of the house has gradually built me up to being able to walk a couple of miles mild discomfort.

Had a stroke in October, which was a hell of a shock/wake up call so have put a lot of thought and effort into reducing the chances of another one.

My love of wildlife has really taken off, weekly return to the BTO. There is a small field in front of the house that I hope to buy and plant with a variety of local native trees and manage to create small wooded sanctuary kind of thing for wildlife, I know it won't be properly established in my lifetime but hopefully the birds animals and plants will appreciate my efforts. IMHO Packham is an ignorant, egocentric, utter cunt who has probably done more harm to wildlife than all the keepers in the UK.

I have explored up and down the river and disused railway track that runs near our house for a couple of miles each way. I know we have an otter on the stream and river that border the front field. We have had to create a reference library of trees, plants, insects and birds because although I've lived in the countryside around here all my life I have never come across any where with the sheer variety of everything we have here a surprising number of which I have never come across before.

I think Lockdown has given me an excuse to stay at home and get on with what I enjoy doing most - enjoying and appreciating the natural world around me. Isn't it an old native American Indian saying that you stand on the bank of the same river and never see the same thing again.

A day when you don't learn something is a day wasted.

[TB63]

Shit mate, hope all goes well after your stroke..

Best I had was a cheeky wank....

Nice to hear from another Pacman hater...

[TB63]

And replying to Un Pilier, I do NOT advocate the shooting of falcons 1 jot, I used to feed the Red Kites when I lived near Henley on Thames and have footage from a GoPro set up a few feet away from my feeding post, I was also involved in the initial release of the birds from the words near Watlington, but, a proliferation of magpies in an area, will decrease the number of songbirds in the area as they are nest raiders. Proven time and time again, last place I lived near Faringdon, myself and local farmers actively shot the twats, my feeders were emptied every few days, now, here, loads of maggies, no small birds..go figure...

[Saint]

4kg from target weight, dropped under 100kg for the first time since my 30's

Good effort. I'm down nearly 3 stone now, still got a ways to go but have dropped 4 inches off my waist size already

NPR weight loss thread needed maybe, i know Sards has dropped a lot too. 2 clothes sizes down for me, down from XXL to L and actually got a pair of jeans with 34 inch wsist on for the first time since my late 30's

Not a bad idea. Will fire something up tomorrow morning

[TB63]

Good effort. I'm down nearly 3 stone now, still got a ways to go but have dropped 4 inches off my waist size already

NPR weight loss thread needed maybe, i know Sards has dropped a lot too. 2 clothes sizes down for me, down from XXL to L and actually got a pair of jeans with 34 inch wsist on for the first time since my late 30's

Not a bad idea. Will fire something up tomorrow morning

T bone steak on the barbie?

How's Wallie these days, ex mrstb missing her shop in the Lamb..

[Saint]

NPR weight loss thread needed maybe, i know Sards has dropped a lot too. 2 clothes sizes down for me, down from XXL to L and actually got a pair of jeans with 34 inch wsist on for the first time since my late 30's

Not a bad idea. Will fire something up tomorrow morning

T bone steak on the barbie?

How's Wallie these days, ex mrstb missing her shop in the Lamb..

Wallingford is disconcertingly quiet. Queues for Waitrose can reach over 200m if you get the timing wrong (Mrs Saintgets to bypass them regardless), but otherwise not a lot going on other than the Friday and Saturday markets. The Keep (maybe after your time?) has transformed into an Offie to try and stay alive, but on the whole it looks like everything is in hibernation- pretty much all tge shops and hospitality look like they're going to survive. The big test will be Bunkfest this year - if that can go ahead then everyone's going to make it

[Un Pilier]

And replying to Un Pilier, I do NOT advocate the shooting of falcons 1 jot, I used to feed the Red Kites when I lived near Henley on Thames and have footage from a GoPro set up a few feet away from my feeding post, I was also involved in the initial release of the birds from the words near Watlington, but, a proliferation of magpies in an area, will decrease the number of songbirds in the area as they are nest raiders. Proven time and time again, last place I lived near Faringdon, myself and local farmers actively shot the twats, my feeders were emptied every few days, now, here, loads of maggies, no small birds..go figure...

A summary of the RSPB view would be “Most British members of the crow family (including magpies) will take eggs and nestlings. This can be upsetting to witness but it is completely natural. However, some people are concerned that there may be a long-term effect on songbird populations.

To find out why songbirds are in trouble, the RSPB has undertaken intensive research on species such as the skylark and song thrush. To discover whether magpies could be to blame for the decline, the RSPB commissioned the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to analyse its 35 years of bird monitoring records.”

The study found that songbird numbers were no different in places where there were many magpies from where there are few. It found no evidence that increased numbers of magpies have caused declines in songbirds and confirms that populations of prey species are not determined by the numbers of their predators. Availability of food and suitable nesting sites are probably the main factors limiting songbird populations.”

Good stuff with the Red Kites, which are of course having to be re-introduced because of people shooting and poisoning them. Go figure.

[Ovals]

And replying to Un Pilier, I do NOT advocate the shooting of falcons 1 jot, I used to feed the Red Kites when I lived near Henley on Thames and have footage from a GoPro set up a few feet away from my feeding post, I was also involved in the initial release of the birds from the words near Watlington, but, a proliferation of magpies in an area, will decrease the number of songbirds in the area as they are nest raiders. Proven time and time again, last place I lived near Faringdon, myself and local farmers actively shot the twats, my feeders were emptied every few days, now, here, loads of maggies, no small birds..go figure...

A summary of the RSPB view would be “Most British members of the crow family (including magpies) will take eggs and nestlings. This can be upsetting to witness but it is completely natural. However, some people are concerned that there may be a long-term effect on songbird populations.

To find out why songbirds are in trouble, the RSPB has undertaken intensive research on species such as the skylark and song thrush. To discover whether magpies could be to blame for the decline, the RSPB commissioned the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to analyse its 35 years of bird monitoring records.”

The study found that songbird numbers were no different in places where there were many magpies from where there are few. It found no evidence that increased numbers of magpies have caused declines in songbirds and confirms that populations of prey species are not determined by the numbers of their predators. Availability of food and suitable nesting sites are probably the main factors limiting songbird populations.”

Good stuff with the Red Kites, which are of course having to be re-introduced because of people shooting and poisoning them. Go figure.

KItes are getting quite plentiful now. At one of the cricket grounds we play at, near Romsey, their were about a dozen of them flying around a year or two back. I've seen lots of kites while playing cricket in Hampshire. They make a glorious sight.

[dkm57]

Shit mate, hope all goes well after your stroke..

Best I had was a cheeky wank....

Nice to hear from another Pacman hater...

Well the Stroke Nurse (she didn't ) is happy with the changes I've made and the progress I'm making Cholesterol 3.9 and Blood Pressure 118:77 down to within correct levels weight is a work in progress but heading in the right direction started off over 90kg now sitting around the 83 and falling at the higher end of the 'sustainable' rate at between .5 an 1 kg/week.



We're surprisingly common from what I can gather he can't help the way he is but that doesn't mean he and his ilk should be given a free platform to spout his bollox the BBC, some of which isn't much short of incitement to violence.

Red Kites are magnificent we can have 5 or more cruising the surrounding fields we also have a couple of local Sparrowhawks which call in now and again and perch on the post with the bird feeders so I get to look at them really close up, the female was here a couple of days ago but looked pretty tatty. There are a couple of Jackdaws that come in daily and the Maggies call in when they're teaching the youngsters to fend for themselves other than that they tend to stick to the woods.

[MungoMan]

Also sorta bird-related.

I’ve been a birdwatcher for many years and more recently I’ve been photographing them. Our yard isn’t tiny but even so the predominance of aggressive species means few small birds visit.

Come the first lockdown last year, I started taking an interest in butterflies and trying to identify them via a local wildlife handbook. One thing lead to another and I began trying to photograph the little buggers and consequently bought two butterfly identification guides.

Lemme just say, butterflies are a bit of an arsepain to photograph.

On the plus side, they tend not to alight in areas of deep shade but on the minus side, the bastards often don’t bother landing at all after flaunting themselves in front of me and can be a real prick to acquire in sharp focus for a dud photographer like me. I will, however, persist.

You need to get yourself a Buddleia in your garden - they are like a butterfly magnet - they will land on that, especially if it is in the sun. It will also attract other insects you can photograph. Really easy to grow - and easy to propogate from a cutting - we have 4 in our garden - one of which is enormous, about 18 ft high - We often find baby buddleias growing in our hanging baskets. You can get different colours - we have white, purple and royal red - the butterflies seem to prefer the purple or red versions.

We've tried and killed buddleias in the past, well before I had any great interest in butterflies (altho' I knew they were a butterfly magnet). I suspect they are not greatly fond of wet summers.

OTOH, I have spotted buddleias in botanic gardens and the like in SEQ, so maybe it's a matter of paying attention to drainage or similar. I shall hit the books and see what can be done.

[Ovals]

Also sorta bird-related.

I’ve been a birdwatcher for many years and more recently I’ve been photographing them. Our yard isn’t tiny but even so the predominance of aggressive species means few small birds visit.

Come the first lockdown last year, I started taking an interest in butterflies and trying to identify them via a local wildlife handbook. One thing lead to another and I began trying to photograph the little buggers and consequently bought two butterfly identification guides.

Lemme just say, butterflies are a bit of an arsepain to photograph.

On the plus side, they tend not to alight in areas of deep shade but on the minus side, the bastards often don’t bother landing at all after flaunting themselves in front of me and can be a real prick to acquire in sharp focus for a dud photographer like me. I will, however, persist.

You need to get yourself a Buddleia in your garden - they are like a butterfly magnet - they will land on that, especially if it is in the sun. It will also attract other insects you can photograph. Really easy to grow - and easy to propogate from a cutting - we have 4 in our garden - one of which is enormous, about 18 ft high - We often find baby buddleias growing in our hanging baskets. You can get different colours - we have white, purple and royal red - the butterflies seem to prefer the purple or red versions.

We've tried and killed buddleias in the past, well before I had any great interest in butterflies (altho' I knew they were a butterfly magnet). I suspect they are not greatly fond of wet summers.

OTOH, I have spotted buddleias in botanic gardens and the like in SEQ, so maybe it's a matter of paying attention to drainage or similar. I shall hit the books and see what can be done.

I'm surprised by that - we find little buddleias sprouting in our pond !! Having said that one of the most common places to find them, in the wild, is on Railway and Motorway embankments - where I'd expect the drainage to be very good due to the steep slopes. So maybe you're correct.

Where to plant buddleias. In the wild, buddleias tend to grow in rocky ravines so plant them in a sunny position on well-drained soil. They will not perform in soil that retains water in winter. Buddleias also have a preference for alkaline soil so you may have to add lime to acid soil to alter the pH

Soil around our area is mostly clay - so, possibly, that suits them well as it is quite alkaline.

[sockwithaticket]

^ Same here actually, clay soil for days.

[Poshprop]

That I could give up smoking. No ciggies in 7 months now.

Next challenge now is the weight loss

[mat the expat]

That I could give up smoking. No ciggies in 7 months now.

Next challenge now is the weight loss

Fair play!

[sturginho]

That I could give up smoking. No ciggies in 7 months now.

Next challenge now is the weight loss

Congrats

I've been off the fags for 10 years. Still haven't figured out the weight loss thing though