The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Wildlife => Topic started by: Penninehillbilly on January 13, 2017, 09:29:38 pm
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Bird feeder outside kitchen window has been very busy recently, Normally Great and Blue tits, robins, blackbirds, and wren(s?), Coal tits now visiting, never seen them before, female Chaffinch today, and a spotted woodpecker over the last few days.
Trouble is i spend far too much time watching :).
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It's a bit like having a fish tank - mesmerising. We have a peanut feeder and a fat block outside the living room window, and a seed feeder outside the bedroom window. It's an excuse to stay a bit longer in bed, or to have an after lunch sit-down.
Coal tits are so tiny and delicate - I love them. We don't see wrens on the feeders although they are around. As well as the three tits, robin, chaffinches, house and tree sparrows, collared doves, blackbird, greenfinches, jackdaws, and the occasional sparrow hawk sitting on the top hoping dinner will come to her, there are dunnocks and yellow hammers on the ground underneath the feeders, mopping up the crumbs, sometimes a cock pheasant and partridges. We usually have woodpeckers, especially when the chicks fledge and the parents come to show them the feeders, but we haven't seen any for a few weeks now. Any day now we should get siskins - some years there are loads, other years hardly any.
We put out food for the wild birds all the year round, which is what the professionals recommend. It does cost a lot though, especially when a family of jackdaws decides to demolish an entire fat block in one big squabble.
Keep watching out your window penninehillbilly - it's good for the soul :thumbsup:
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The wren tends to be on the ground below the feeder, and i love the coal tits as well, thought it was a mis-marked Great tit at first glance (stripe down the back of its head).
Going down to the sheep I'm almost mugged by a female pheasant, she runs out from under a hedge, i can't resist throwing her a bit of mixed flake, then the male suddenly appears.
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One slightly weird thing we see is when a blue tit jumps off a feeder onto the window frame and starts drumming. We thought at first it was looking for spiders and so on, but it just drums away with its beak on the echoiest bit of the frame. We think it's some kind of display perhaps.
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Fleecewife, we have one that does that, jumps off the feeder and taps on the window.
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Fleecewife, we have one that does that, jumps off the feeder and taps on the window.
Do you think it is a display? They also apparently do it on nest boxes but I've not seen that.
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I'm not sure, this one taps on the glass whilst looking in at us, maybe it can see it's reflection?
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Yes it could be that. Wagtails go berserk at their reflection and attack the wing mirrors of our car.
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Because of the bird flu I haven't been feeding the wild birds but I miss them :-(
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We used to feed them near the hen hut, but we put a feeder up in front of the kitchen, about as far from the poultry as we could get, now we can monitor who is about, whether they look lively or listless etc.
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Our wild bird feeders are all in the front garden which doesn't have access we use in winter to the rest of the smallholding. We use the back door only for work, front door for garden, going out, visitors, and of course topping up the feeders. Different footwear and clothing for smallholding only. Good idea to monitor wild bird health from the comfort of your own windows ;D . Here they're shovelling down the feed, and seem to have all survived the blizzards and 5 inches of lying snow. All gone this morning :hohoho:
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Our feeder is at the 'front' of the house, unused this time of year. The door, yard and access to animals Is opposite side.