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dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45321
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 20 12:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

something i might have observed involved the sparrows and mr brack.

4 or 5 sparrows were hopping about on damp soil gathering fallen seeds etc and mr brack was grabbing worms by the nose between them.
i was wondering if the patter of sparrow paws seems enough like rain to a worm to "charm" it out of its hole to its doom in an orange beak?

anyone seen that sort of thing?
is that sort of thing plausible?

some birds will dance to charm worms but i have not seen one bird species use another's unintended and unheeded worm charming while it does its own thing.
some of my chickens used a pig as a digger, the even steered it to places they wanted digging done
far cleverer than many critters

in other bird news i bonded with tweed by "spotting" crows for her, 18 inches apart with me peeping out of the hedge to check and report.
she has very thin legs and tiny feet but they work fine in most ways, she is still with us and seems pretty healthy apart from the obvious.

Slim



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6531
Location: New England (In the US of A)
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 20 12:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

A bell would just alert the fisher to my cat's location.

Fishers are the largest and meanest member of the weasel family around this party of the country. Not quite a wolverine but in that vein of things. One of the few animals around here that dares to hunt and eat porcupine.

Housecats don't tend to fare well one on one with them.

This also means I'll need to invest in some serious fortifications if we decide to raise chickens on the next couple of years.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45321
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 20 12:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    


big weasels ummm, puss needs to be careful
ditto with chooks
maybe puss could have a share of a rotational chook area with wire and leccy perimeter protection etc

the fallow bit would be perfect for a puss to relax in.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15510

PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 20 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I know thrushes are supposed to stamp around a bit to get worms to the surface, and the theory is that it is to mimic the sound of rain.

I have heard of fishers, and they sound rather nasty. We have mink escaped into the wild in the UK, and they are renowned for being vicious. Some people from son's college worked at a place that had mink in a very solid house and it had lots of compartments that could be separated so that nobody had to come into contact with them as they were so dangerous.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 20 12:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The worms may have been close to the surface anyway because of the dampness and the sparrow trampling might have been enough to alarm the flood-monitor-worm to say "Uh uh!. More rain. Head for the skies guys!"
But your proposition seems eminently plausible. Remember chaps. you read it here first

Henry

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45321
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 20 1:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

gulls do the charming thing as a flock so do some of the little shorebirds ,they get the worm the one in front raised up a bit like like cumberland's butchers.

it was the take advantage of unused charming by sparrows that struck me as odd, especially as it seemed to know exactly what it was doing ie it had done it before.

i recon i can tell if a critter is working out a new situation, that was very professional worm hunting

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15510

PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 20 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

They may have learnt it in the past. It took our robins some time to work out how to land on the peanut feeder mesh, but once one had worked it out, it taught its mate.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Sat Feb 22, 20 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I used to watch the gulls worm charming on my way to and from work through The Meadows in Edinburgh. Many years ago!

Henry

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45321
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 20 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    



meet grin, adult by the stripy trousers and interesting diner at my bird feeders.
i have seen them around for ages and up close a few times but recently this one has taken to getting into the hedge as well as going for flying prey
tis a pity i was indoors and had to shoot it through a slightly grubby window but sooner or later i will be outside with the camera.

ten mins later it was life as usual in birdtown and sparrows can dance.
i made notes but watching it from a few feet away was ace if a bit intrusive

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45321
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 20 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

re dancing sparrows, she was doing vocals of "pick me" loudly at 70bpm and twerking, he was throwing some good shapes in a birdysong dance theme, but he was dancing head down on a near vertical bramble stem, he danced , went down a bit ,repeated it and then reversed the process uphill tail first.

up and down several times and some pretty neat parkour as well all in time and very like the fancy ones from rainforests.
unless they dont mind a voyeur right in their bush it is unlikely folk see it often, i had not seen it before in thick twigs and upside down pole dancing is quite a trick.

it might be a reason bushes tweet and rattle sometimes.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15510

PostPosted: Fri Feb 28, 20 7:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Is that a sparrowhawk Dpack? Rather hard to tell from the picture I am afraid.

Sitting still and observing does have great advantages. I am afraid it is a thing that I am not good at, but nearly so has produced a goldcrest sitting on my knee in the past while spinning.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Feb 28, 20 8:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Fantastic shot DPack.

I'm glad you asked MR because I was wondering what it was as well.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45321
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Feb 28, 20 10:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

falco peregrinus

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15510

PostPosted: Sat Feb 29, 20 8:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

In that case you were even more lucky to get the shot. I was only aware of the peregrine in our area because of the pigeon offerings and seeing it fly. I think it may be absent at the moment as the rooks are back in the pylon tower that the peregrine commandeered.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45321
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 20 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    



ms brack was quite busy this afternoon, so were the sparrows but less than during the week.

i recon a lot of folk feed them at weekends but not during the week as they are much keener to stay and snack all day on tuesday to friday/ sat AM than on a sunday.
they have the public firmly under the claw at times, mine will tap on the window if a feeder is empty.

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