dita keep your pictures comeing,look in your bird books i think your little bird is a blackcap any other offers.
I ask John about he kestrel he better with the birds of pray than me in other words hes got better eyesight.
Caught these lovely Goldfinches having a few peanuts today, they are very elusive and I had to crawl on my hands and knees until I reached the nearest window to get a shot, thus they are not perfect.
Also, the Housemartins have arrived today, there is lots of chatter going on now under the apex of our house.
I agree Rowan. I would much rather see them living free than couped up inside a small cage and if you feed them, they ARE pets.
I had a Butcher Bird here the other day. I have seen them here before but this one must have been used to people because he quite happily took small pieces of minced meat from my hand and kept coming back for more. Normally I leave the meat on the railing of the sundeck and then watch them come for it from inside the house. I wonder how many calls he has every day.
When I lived 'dan sowf' we had four pairs of housemartins coming back, year after year. A few tweaks to the nest, and they were comfortable! I noticed they never built their nests above the windows. They were the opening out sort, and I suppose if someone was inclined they could have knocked the nests down.
Have you got a foty of a Butcher Bird in your garden Hazel? The wee one has that Lorikeet one up on the wall!
The bloke opposite has been getting prepared today because the house-martins have been taking over his eaves, the previous owner encouraged them, but had to frequently clean her bedroom window which was alway's open in summer, due to droppings. Since he bought the house he has neglected to clean the window and it finished up last year with so much mess piled on it we were all moaning, so he cleaned it then hung 4 or 5 carrier bags up to stop the birds nesting, did it work? NO and he finished up with about 10 nests. However he did keep the window shut. Today he hung up loads of CD's I will let you know the outcome.
This is the Butcher Bird that I could hand feed Mons, unfortunately he wouldn't keep still for me ! The other photos are of a Butcher Bird up in Yandina in Queensland that my friend Anne has been feeding since it was a baby. Not long after I left, it found its way inside the house and stayed there for about an hour and a half before kindly condescending to stroll out of the open door.
Probably checking the frig to see how much meat was left............