Wednesday 16 November 2016

Feeding the birds, and what passes for normality at the moment


Morning all.  I am trying to live in what passes for normality here.  Trish is still holding on, despite being off the life support machine now, so I can only wait and hope and pray.

I will probably bake a cake this morning - apple-based to try and use up what we have over a hundredweight of, despite not picking two trees, or the small ones on another, and giving boxfulls away!

I need to top up the bird feeders, as they are mobbed.  This is what comes of living in the countryside and quite a heavily wooded area, so there is a constant flow of birds.  Dozens of "spadgers" (sparrows) as my mum used to call them, at the front feeder, which also hosts Coal/Blue/Great Tits, Chaffinches, a Nuthatch and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker.  I just have the sunflower heart feeder out there, but the latter two birds have learned that sunflower hearts are Good!  The garden is never still.

My other feeders are in the Damson tree which I look out on from the kitchen window.  Again, sunflower hearts (no waste with those) and a small round feeder of peanuts (as they are so expensive this year).  I have less sparrows, more Tits, and some Goldfinches visiting, plus the Nuthatch family and another Woodpecker, which again like an easy meal and seem to prefer the sunflowers.  It does my heart good to watch them, but they are too numerous to count for the famous Big Garden Birdwatch as they come and go in such numbers.

The cooking apple tree has now dropped much of its fruit that was too high (or small) to pick.  As I write the wind is getting up and shivering the yellowing leaves and the Jackdaws added to the number of apples floating in the big goldfish pond when they went for breakfast this morning.  There was a Treecreeper going upside down up the branches on Monday, and the Wrens and Tits are always searching for insects at the base of the leaves and in cracks in the bark.

I have 6 or 8 Blackbirds out in the garden, picking at the apples - their favourites are the sweet eating apples of which there are lots of small ones I've left on the ground for them plus the bigger ones on the ground from the two home-grown trees at the top of the yard, where life is quieter.

Right, your support over the last few days has been magnificent.  I will try and visit everyone's blogs and comment more often myself too (slap wrists).

15 comments:

  1. Our bird feeders get filled every morning when everyone else gets fed, within an hour the seeds are empty, the peanuts last about 2 days and the fat blocks about 5 days, its an expensive business feeding the birds, I buy the bird seed by the sack from Thomas and Sons for £10, occasionally I will put out a handful of meal worms if I have any, I buy them in for the chickens. We have had a woodpecker visiting he likes the peanuts.

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    1. Mine get done twice a day. At present, they're not that bothered with the nuts (we've had sacks in the past which aren't to their taste - sprayed with something?) but the sunflower hearts hurtle out as fast as the birds hurtle in! I now have Goldfinches front and back, same as the Woodpeckers and Nuthatches.

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  2. Sorry to hear about your old friend, it is very hard.

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    1. Thank you my dear - hard now, and going to get a lot worse as she has 4 - 6 weeks left now they have stopped the chemo.

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  3. I am so very sorry to hear about your friend - thinking of you at this difficult time. I hope your chest infection eases soon.

    Good to read about your garden birds - watching mine at the feeders and around the garden can help me live just in the moment when I am feeling totally stressed about other things.

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    1. You are absolutely right about the pleasure that the wild birds bring. They distract me wonderfully. Nothing rare at them though - a Siskin is abut as unusual as I get.

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  4. My feeder needs filling and I keep forgetting. Sorry birdies!

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    1. I have a routine with mine, and both are easily seen if I look out of the kitchen window, so I go out and top up (though it's expensive). I tried using the cheaper mix of food but there was a LOT of waste so a false economy here.

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  5. Another thing to look forward to when moving back to the country. We have feeders out here but nothing on them. Put out a bit of bread and 10,000 gulls swoop in! although we do see starlings and sparrows here and rarely saw them at Fareacre.
    Hope you are on the mend

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  6. I do feel better Sue, and have the steroid energy, which is useful! Controlling the Steroid Munchies too, which is nothing short of blardy AMAZING! I bet you can't wait to have birds (other than seagulls and starlings) to feed again.

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  7. Your postos are always so lovely and I so enjoy reading your stories.

    cheers, parsnip

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  8. Thanks parsnip. I'm very fond of the current header photo . . .

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  9. Keep strong for your old friend Delicious photos of cakes in the above blog, are you putting on weight? Or in the spirit of sharing giving them to others....

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  10. Keep strong for your old friend Delicious photos of cakes in the above blog, are you putting on weight? Or in the spirit of sharing giving them to others....

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  11. Hubby gets all our bird food off the net in big sacks, very cost effective.

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