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Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 21 9:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We went up to our 'yard' yesterday to check that all was well, and were greeted by the robin. We thoughtfully cleared away some of the leaves so it could get to the ground, but it was hopping around hopefully for crumbs. It particularly likes my biscuits crumbled up. Plenty of good things in there for it to see it through the winter.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45376
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Dec 30, 21 4:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

homemade shortbread biscuit crumbs were grannie's bait of choice when taming a dik

the nightingale seems to be proclaiming from the tallest trees around a rather nice territory

from behind here it goes 250 m either side and further than that over the park towards the ings

maybe a km sq patch?
there are roads and houses but most of that is garden, park or green with a huge diversity of microhabitats etc to feed and nest and assorted big trees to show off the opera skills

a few years back i noticed nightingale song, now i might know enough to find the nest for some snaps, the 100 to 400 mm lens might help avoid being too intrusive, well at least for the birds
i wonder where it has pitched up?

this is probably the northern end of their range, it is oddly mild and has everything needed from "dining table" open land to thick bushes as cover for nesting to opera house

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Dec 30, 21 8:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I believe they need open ground with good cover for nesting and thicket stage scrub is preferred habitat. Not sure if we have them. I tend not to go to the most likely areas during the evening, and don't really know their song well enough to identify them. When my parents lived in Kent after WWII, the nightingales used to drive my father mad as they kept him awake.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45376
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Dec 30, 21 1:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

that describes the territory perfectly

folk might think park, lawn and hedge etc a bird that wants open and scrub might move in and ignore the bits with a hard surface

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45376
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Dec 30, 21 3:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

a local dik is claiming territory.

Slim



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6533
Location: New England (In the US of A)
PostPosted: Fri Dec 31, 21 7:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Over the past couple days a ruffed grouse has been hanging about, feeding in birch trees just outside the house. Glad to finally get a good look at the critter to know what species it is that occasionally startles us with its drumming when we're walking.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sat Jan 01, 22 9:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Have just read up about it. Sounds an interesting bird.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Jan 06, 22 8:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Had a robin perching on a heap of pallets yesterday that posed for pictures. Not the one that is round our shelter as this one had white on its breast and under its wing. Also a wren hopping around in the leaves quite close to the van. Son got some pictures of the robin but not the wren.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Thu Jan 06, 22 10:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I do like a wren and you don't see them very often up in our parts. We did have one at the last house we lived in.

Here we get sparrows (lots of them) a blackbird, a robin, a blue tit, occasionally some starlings and a couple of wood pigeons. We did have a couple of gold finches but I've not seen them in a while.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45376
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 22 2:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

there are quite a few around here, there were plenty in west yorks, iirc they are everywhere apart from the high tops of central scotland

they are very common but can be hard to see
small fast brown rummaging in a bush etc.

they semi hibernate in very cold weather often to share heat many snuggle together in a nest built for a family unit

check out their singing on the rspb site, it might be you hear them but do not see them(there a few species i know are local from the sounds but i have never seen them)

domestic wrens can be given a bit of help:

thick, vertical evergreen stuff to nest in
vigorous ivy on a wall trellis or tree seems to work if it is fairly cat proof

nesting material= mosses, long stem grasses etc

plenty of invertebrates with legs for lunch is essential, they eat a lot

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 22 8:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We have wrens in the garden. Seldom seen, but hear the song quite often. To me it is like an explosion of singing. We have too many pigeons, have had either a goldcrest or firecrest sat on my lap in the garden, but only once and have never seen them otherwise, blackbirds, occasional thrushes, sparrows, greenfinches, robins. In the woods we have a good range of birds.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 22 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Up in the woods yesterday our robin came to see us. The one with the white on it is the same one that comes round the shed. Also heard owls calling and there are a number of cock pheasants. One or two seems to have set up territories but several are still feeding together. In the hedge at home there were a two robins together, so assume they have paired up.

Went for a walk in the woods a couple of days ago and found a few bluebell leaves starting to come through. Not particularly early for them, but nice to see them.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 22 8:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Robin came round again today when we were up in the woods bothering us until we put out some crumbs for it. It was also checking up on me when I was working up birch and making besoms. It likes to know what's going on in case there is something in it for him/her.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 22 10:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I was changing the battery in Mrs C's car yesterday and Mr. Blackbird kept coming over to see what I was doing. He seems like a nice chap. I've never been that close to a blackbird before.

We have a robin that comes to the feeder but he seems a bit skittish and flies off if we even get up and move in the living room.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45376
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 22 11:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

mr blackbird is a good chum to make, the others do seem to think of them as tribal elder

dried meal worms and pleasant greetings are a good start at this time of year

the local one just asked me to move a lump of serpentine to get to the "live snacks"under it

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