Feathered friends.

Rubylady...Just picking up on Shysal's mention of the RSPB, you might like to register on the RSPB website for the Big Garden Birdwatch on the weekend of January 24/25? It's good fun and, if you're new to bird watching, informative too. Enjoy!

Sorry! I see now that it was NfkDumpling who mentioned the RSPB.

Looking out of my window, I can see blackbirds, house sparrows, chaffinches, blue tits, great tits and one collared dove. The bird feeder, filled up yesterday is almost empty! We have more garden birds here than in any of my previous houses. It's lovely. I usually have robins as well, but they are absent this morning.

We have house sparrows. Lots. Enough to spare an odd one or two for the Sparrowhawks and not notice a difference in population numbers. Real little bullies they are. The other birds now have their 'slots' at the feeders mid morning and mid afternoon when the spudger mob are having their naps otherwise they don't stand a chance of getting a beak in!

We have a broad mix of birds and bird seed. The peanuts don't last long enough to get mouldy. We had the woodpecker today a few times. A neighbour has plenty of offerings for the sparrow hawk as she has three rather glamorous dovecotes with some very showy ,not very bright ,pigeons. The squirrels are very aggressive at the moment and answer back very rudely when I shoo them.

I too have to fill the peanut holder every day. The squirrels annoy me by taking them and burying them. Don't mind feeding them, but object to pointless planting. However peanuts are very popular with parakeets and jays, so I grit my teeth and refill. Fat balls are very popular, but the loose seed goes slowly. I tried buying a Niger seed feeder, but no takers for that, any suggestions?

Had a run in with a squirrel in my garden. Had not cut back my hazel hedge last year and had a good crop of nuts. Grey squirrel and I were taking turns gathering. But on one occasion when I was hanging out washing near the hedge he ventured forth and started gathering within a few feet of me.

They know no shame or fear do they? I had a grey squirrel sit in the tree, watching me plant bulbs so he could nip down and eat them as soon as I went in the house. I stalled him by bringing the dogs into the garden.

I've only received the feeders as yet and not the stand so I am still waiting to attract the birds. Although the handsome 19 year old from next door has said he will strip in my hallway! (Wallpaper)

In yesterday's snow storm, I caught a glimpse of crimson red and knew straightaway what it was. I went to the kitchen door and there was another on the bird feeder right ba the door, and several more in the ash tree at the side- such beautiful birds- bullfinches. Jet black head, and crimson chest- seen them many times before in late autumn, feeding on the last of the raspberries, and at times in Spring picking buds off the top of the alder tree- but never in mid-winter. Made my day.

We decided to have a walk along the local river today, and, unusually, not take a pair of binoculars. What did we see? Kingfisher! Spotted him on a low branch and then he spotted us and was off up the river in a flash of electric blue! B****r! Further down, on the opposite side of the river, a kestrel in a tree, looking at us, looking at him.

At DD's house last week I saw an unusual bird on her bird feeder. I was not sure what it was, and the nearest I could come to it was a waxwing. I did see two deer and a grey squirrel though.

For the last few years we've had a pair of goldfish and a pair of wood pigeons nesting in one of the conifers in the front garden. Last year another pair of wood pigeons nested in the other conifer and now, I've just seen a second pair of goldfish building a nest in this second conifer.

Is there some kind of symbiotic relationship between these two species of birds perhaps? We certainly get a lot of magpies and I wondered if the tiny goldfinches feel protected by having these huge, but amiable, pigeons nesting close by?

I was confused (but quite intrigued|!) by your first sentence, Anya, but now I realise it was just that darn predictive text again...

I'd love to see nesting goldfish!

Bum!!! GOLDFINCH

Just been watching a blackbird taking a bath and shower in our water feature. It consists of a series of pots. The blackbird is sitting in the second pot down and the water from the top pot is flowing into his back.

He's having a great time, flapping his wings and splashing about, and there's a female blackbird sitting on the fence waiting her turn.

It's raining hard here, but they still came for their daily bath

We have two Wood Pigeons who visit every morning. They sit on the tree and wait for ndn's to throw out the remnants of their breakfast.
For the last couple of mornings they have been joined by a much smaller version of themselves.
They are here now, sitting on a bare branch looking for all the world like mini-Vultures, huddled against the rain.
Could the small one be their chick? Are they a family or is it just coincidence?
I know I could Google but your answers will be much better.

Our birds are eating us out of house and home. I have one large feeder and one small feeder plus a ground feeder also a small "apple" near the kitchen.I also scatter live mealworms around at this time of the year. I fill them up every morning and everything is gone by the afternoon. I order the food from Titmuss or the RSBP it was late arriving this week, the birds hung around and looked as if they were starving I felt terrible!

After Spring's arrival for a few weeks, we've had tons of rain, and even snow the last couple of days... and the arrival of lots of lovely siskins (small bright yellow finches with black markings) and bramblings, a much larger finch with bright orange, black and white colourings.

Swallows should be arriving soon, so must open 'their' window into the barn for them. Let's hope the weather improves in the meantime- arriving from such a long journey and not finding anything to eat is not a good start. Black redstarts arrived a couple of weeks back- one of my (many) favourites.

How lovely granjura
We've got a Sparrowhawk here for the past few days, not a little bird to be seen

She's a beautiful creature but so murderous; I could hardly believe my eyes watching her fly straight through a large ball-shaped bay tree without any sign of slowing down when pursuing a Blue Tit.

I'd found blue feathers on the lawn a few days ago but blamed the neighbour's cat....

I managed to take a photo of her (much larger than the male) perched on the trellis but it's not clear enough to post on here.

Nature- we have a pair of sparrow hawks who feed on our bird feeders- and not the seeds but....

Does anyone see siskins and bramblings (which are called Northern chaffinches in French - pinsons du nord) in the UK?

I know they have a bad reputation, but I love sparrowhawks. I could watch them for hours on the wing circling and climbing, and we used to get one in our old garden regularly. He was a real beauty, and would sit on the branch of an old 40 foot ex-Christmas tree, not ten feet from our patio windows, have a bit of a preen and then fly off. His visits didn't seem to put off the local birds who also used the tree - goldcrests, three different kinds of tits, greenfinches....

Why should a sparrowhawk have a bad reputation for doing what it has to do to survive?

'Live and let live' comes to mind but not reassuring for its prey
We have buzzards by the dozen around here, and red kites not far away so there seems to be plenty of food for the carrion feeders too.

Magpies, crows, and several other birds have 'reputations' however someone one said Nature's red in tooth and claw, very true.