Raining again ...

My father, Lancashire born and bred, used to refer to my ex as a nowt. I never heard nowty before; useful one to add to my vocabulary.

Wrapped in an anorak I ate my lunch outside yesterday in the garden and thoroughly enjoyed the birdsong. I only recognise a couple - one is like a squeaky gate and I looked it up on the internet and it's a great tit. The bats are beginning [well the first time this year I've noticed them] flying about too. Our bird table has seen all sorts and I've put a poster up so the GC can learn to identify what they see - however the sizes on the poster are grossly out of proportion but they are learning and enjoying pointing out the ones they see.
I also learned last night on a programme about Owls that their feathers can't cope with the wet unlike other birds. This means that feeding the partner nestling on eggs is very dependent on the weather. I also learned that squirrels [greys] are not averse to seeing off owls and taking over their nesting places!!!

Cherrytree59---thanks, but it's not a robin. I know that one well. I don't think I'll be standing outdoors listening for the song today, it's bucketing with rain--again.

Chicken_a Robin makes tick tick sound

I am a northern lass now Iam64, but only due to the length of time I've been here for. Welsh originally, but I keep a foot in both camps!

Lemon, in Lancashire, a maungy person is someone who's always wailing and crying; a bit of a wimp or wet blanket.

Mrs Blackbird has been busy raking the grubs out of my front garden flower beds earlier this evening. Her mate sat on the fence singing his heart out. Love watching them!

Nowty is Lancashire speak, growing up in Yorkshire we said morngy ( or maungy) I have seen it written in a book as morngy but always thought it would be the other spelling.

Just stopped feeding the birds as there are insects around and we had blackbirds tapping snails on the patio this morning.They nest in the hedge every year.

My farmer friend told me that her son saw a swallow last Wednesday.

Today our male blackbird was doing his little tap dance on the lawn,
Unfortunately on this occasion no worm pulled up.
He had to make do with bird food.

This evening he is singing his little heart out.
Intermittently calling Georgie Porgie!

Chewbacca, you must be a northern lass like myself. Nowty is a cracker. My grannie and my mum were totally opposed to nowty behaviour.
There is a an Arundhati Roy novel called The God of Small Things. I loved the book, the writing and the story but best of all, was the title. It reminded me so much about my mum and her life message to us, that we get this day once so find something good in it.
This probably accounts in part for my Pollyanna gene which is a blessing.

We've had blackbirds nesting in the hedge in our garden for years - I'm sure it's many generations of birds They've seen many generations of our cats too who don't seem to faze them although they make a heck of a racket telling them to go away every morning.

Our blackbirds who have nested now for 3 years are back and busy. They get very agitated if someone is working near their nest.
I just love it ,but it is a triumph of hope over experience as they have certainly lost young each year, it upsets me but it is nature.
Last year they had 3 goes.
Lots of blue tits but they have only nested in my box once, I'm afraid we have too many marauding cats.

We don't have marsh tits around here, so that call is unfamiliar to me. Good luck, I hope you track it down.??

I've just been listening to umpteen song calls on that site, starting to doubt my memory of birdcalls! Anyway, I've a feeling that it might be a marsh tit. Shall have to listen hard outdoors tomorrow to see if it is that call. It's either that or the one you suggested, the Eurasian great tit. The marsh tit has more of the two syllable sound.

I was going to suggest a great tit, not exactly tuneful!

You've got me going now chicken, I'm on a quest to track it down.
www.british-birdsongs.uk/eurasian-great-tit/
Try this one!

hildajenniJ--thanks for the suggestion, but the chiffchaff sings just one syllable, and this bird definitely sings two syllables, over and over again. It must be a fairly common bird as my friend hears it all the time and she lives several miles away.

"And a chaffinch sings on the orchard bough, in England now". (R Browning, Home thoughts from Abroad)

In our garden the thrush has returned, he sits in the top of a tree and sings all day. Rival blackbirds are fighting over a female, and the house sparrows are feathering their nests.
My Dad used to ask if the bats were back yet. They come to my roof every year to have their baby, I love watching them emerge at twilight.
chicken, I wonder if your bird is a chiffchaff. www.british-birdsongs.uk/chiffchaff/

Thanks Nanabilly, but I'm an old fossil who doesn't have a mobile phone! I've got a CD of bird calls but can't find it on there----50 of them!

Chicken. Download a bird app on your phone , they are normally free and some have sound effects with the birdsong on them. You just might identify your unknown bird. Let us know if you do.
My gs who is 5 loves to listen to the birds on it .

Chewbaccs - I’ve said nowty often enough but never seen it written down before!
I was taking minutes in a meeting and one person told another to ‘stop being mard!’ Another lovely expression. Skipped it in the minutes
Back to topic - loving hearing the blackbirds at dusk as well. Memories of stopping up late in school holidays...

Re birds singing, there's one in my garden that sings nonstop and I don't know what it is. It's just one note, two "syllables" like " tysick, tysick".A friend also doesn't know it, she and her OH call it squeaky Joe. Any ideas? I love watching the birds, and for the last few days a collared dove has been seeing off the magpies who come down to feed. Fascinating.

Bad tempered, irritable or cross jenpax. It's a Lancashire saying

Chewbacca what does nowty mean? ?

We have a couple of blue tits making a home in our bird box, how lovely. ?

I was nowty this morning at the sight of yet more rain, but then I saw a sparrow on my kitchen window sill, tugging at something he'd spotted to line his new nest with. I watched him laboriously pulling it out and flying off, only to repeat the process over and over again. I sneaked out and put a few mealy worms nearby for him. He must have been hungry after all his hard work because they vanished in an instant!