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Strange Blackbird?


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For the last week, I have got up to find on my drive a large amount of the big bits of gravel from my neighbours drive, all along the edge of my drive, this has never happened before as we are slghty higher and there is a edging between us. I havnt thought to much about it blaming it on the dogs maybe? but just brushed it up and put it back. But today I was sat on the edge of the pond watching the tadpoles quitley. when My resident blackbird flew down and started moving the gravel from my neighbours drive on to mine, and he moved a lot a good shovels worth? why would he do this, its a dry area no worms or other life of any kind. any how he gets well fed on my tadpoles, which i see him eating each morning. but he didnt look like he was looking for anything just moving it ? any ideas?  
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It's prabably the brother of MY mad blackbird, the one that attacks his image in my back door on a regular basis, even though I've put masking tape criss-crossed over it, and an anti-blackbird bit of conduit on the handle he sits on!

Yours is probably picking up stones for mine to chuck at my door[:(]

Alcazar

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Ah yes I think you might be right they are related, as (bob as we call him) sits early in the morning on our window ledge of the bedroom, he looks in has a peck of the window then lean to one side then leans to the other side, we cant deside weather he is checking us both out on either side of the bed or can he see himself and is just checking that his feathers arnt out of place before going for his tadpole breakfast. (I saw a newt in my pond today, very excited) he is friendlier and cheekier than our resident robin but thats another story. with yours i would advise GIVE UP screw a perch to the door for him to sit on and two little bowls of food  plus a mirror and call him a pet and give him a name................................take care  
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We have two patio doors opposite each other in our lounge and the amount of birds that think this is a short cut .[Www]

We have had a few birds hit the window, but it was only the lady black bird that hit it that hard that she died.[:(]

But I am pleased to report that her 'partner' now has a new bird.

 

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[quote user="beryl"]

 

We have had a few birds hit the window, but it was only the lady black bird that hit it that hard that she died.[:(]

But I am pleased to report that her 'partner' now has a new bird.

 

[/quote]

Now why dosnt that surprise me, who else would clean out his nest for him..............MEN......................

all men out there I am only joking ha.................. 

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[quote user="pads"]with yours i would advise GIVE UP screw a perch to the door for him to sit on and two little bowls of food  plus a mirror and call him a pet and give him a name................................take care  [/quote]

Oh, I've given him a name, alright, but I couldn't say it in polite company..........

Alcazar

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We have a blackbird with an odd sort of hump on his lower back (it maybe just the way his feathers fall) but its the Robin who has a name,  we call him Bobby - somehow he survived the pruning of the ivy last weekend, and flits backward and forward carrying worms in his beak. He is quite fearless and very  'busy'
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Last year, before we got the drive gravelled, I managed to get the car stuck in the mud (forgot it was FWD...). Eventually Claude my Good Neighbour got his tractor and dragged me out. Whilst we were standing chatting and staring into the holes I had dug our robin flew between us and into the disturbed earth  - not a care in the world.

According to David Attenborough before people started digging and disturbing the soil, robins used to hang out with boars and wild pigs, so I suppose a certain insouciance has evolved!

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I've been removing grass sods and some soil here for a patio over the last few days, (yes, I know, but I DO have other stuff that takes priority).

My blackbird, here in the UK, and his mate come down and watch, as soon as I'm off to empty the barrow, or turn my back, ONE of 'em will be down while the other keeps guard.

Yesterday  FIVE adult starlings and about 20 youngsters invaded the garden while I was working, completely ignored me and went about their business of feeding. The nearest one was no more than ten feet from where I was digging.

Just out of interest, can anyone say definitively, why we tolerate, nay, ENCOURAGE, birds, but would go mad if we saw a rat, or mice? BOTH carry diseases, and personally, I've NEVER had rat, or mice droppings on my car, washing, patio, windows, head, etc[:D]

Alcazar

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Now, here we go.  I would suggest, no, I would state, that it is a result of conditioning. Back to the same old thing, what we learn as kids and is re enforced by others throughout our lives because most people have learnt the same things. Some birds are useful, some cause us a fair amount of trouble, but most people like to see them in their gardens etc. It's exactly the same with butterflies, but people generally don't like caterpillars, bizarre!

There is no logical reason to make a distinction between rats and birds or anything else for that matter, in fact I rather enjoy watching the rats in my garden, they clear up a lot of waste.

Myths and conditioning, very little actual fact.

Re.the starlings. Young starlings form groups, often quite large, up to two or three hundred in my garden, as soon as they are capable of looking after themselves and will indeed descend on a food source. We have about 30 large cherry trees, hence the size of the starling group.

Chris.

 

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We have a mouse who lives in the stone wall behind the pond, each day he comes down the wall stops for a drink at the pond under a few plants till he gets to the base of the bird table where he gathers up the food dropped by the birds. I love to watch him and hes a big help keeping that area clean otherwise the seeds would grow. I have always fancied a rat but i have 2 cats so it wouldnt be fair. but i do have a headge hog at the bottom of the garden. i would be more than happy to see more mice in my garden, as long as they stay out of the veggies   
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Here in the UK we've had Magpies move in - well, they've been here all along, but there seem to be more of them. They are having violent territorial disputes with the crows - one huge fight on our living-room windowsill, and another tonight in a tree, followed by a lot of unnecessary flying about and cawing. The Woodpigeons are right out of sorts!

We are also getting visits from female Stag Beetles, presumably looking for mates, as I don't believe they eat in their adult state.

We could do with some bats. though. I love watching the bats at our French place, especially if you can get a light on them. One day I'll manage to photograph one!

What we don't have are sparrows - none at all. We were digging this afternoon and nothing came to scavenge, no sparrows, no robins (though there is one about). And we don't get woken up by the Blackbirds here, which I miss.

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We are pretty suburban here Dick, and we get lots of sparrows, blackbirds and of course robins

This web site has some good ideas for attracting different birds - they are a nice company to deal with too.

www.haiths.com

You may have read about me buying a hedgehog box ? The lady who's husband makes them told me that they had just moved to a garden with no planting at all, for the first week she saw no birds but then put up what she called a feeding station, and quickly had plenty of bird visitors. Bird baths or similar (the upturned dustbin lid filled with water) seem worthwhile as well.

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You don't get much more suburban than Carshalton-sur-Mer!

I think we have too many cats and dogs around, lots of urban foxes and so on. Even the squirrels seem to have scarpered (except for the local park, where there are thousands, plus ducks, swans, geese, moorhens, coots and a heron).

[IMG]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f338/dick_at_aulton/DSC_0061.jpg[/IMG]

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For a long time we had neighbours who had many cats (I'm talking 10 + at most times) the bird life in our garden was minimal (and the rat population next door was healthy, because they kept leaving food out [:(] )We have new, lovely, neighbours and a) we can enjoy our garden again without treading in cat poo b) we get lots more birds [:D]

Before you all start - I love cats and we have had several, but there is a limit as to how many its wise to keep in a suburban situation

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Yes - we have had as many as five, and they certainly cut a swathe through the local birds, squirrels, rats and Coy Carp (and on one occasion a plastic bag with five steaks in it)...

Incidentally, Gay, I picked up in another thread that you had taken Mr R out to buy him a telephoto lens. The heron photo was taken on my new Sigma 300mm (about 450mm equivalent on my D70) - which was less than £100. I'm pretty pleased with the quality - it isn't a Nikkor, but it's acceptable. What did you get the lucky man?

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