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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. catbasket

    House Sparrows

    Try buying online, in bulk. I've used and would recommend both of these suppliers - http://www.food4wildbirds.co.uk/Sunflower%20hearts-c-669.html http://www.burnhills.com/bird-c7/wild-bird-c25 Our local house sparrows generally ignore bread and go straight for the sunflower hearts. It's the...
  2. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    I've just seen my first robin for about five weeks (heard loads). How very Christmassy!
  3. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    It seems to have been a good year for the local starlings. Normally the maximum number seen on the nearby pylon is just over a hundred - in this photo taken on 29th November I counted around two hundred and ten : Quite a few will have hatched under the eaves in our roof, which is a nice...
  4. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    Howdy folks. It's been a while ... but nothing much changes here in our tiny garden. The only thing of any note recently has been our first jackdaw feeding on the peanuts in the squirrel feeder (we haven't seen the squirrels since early spring). Here's some video from yesterday of blue and...
  5. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    Still no juvenile GSWs here :C However in the last week to ten days we've added great tit, greenfinch and magpie to this year's juvenile list.
  6. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    First fledgling blue tit of the year just spotted being fed sunflower hearts by an adult.
  7. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    Just seen the first juvenile goldfinch of the year.
  8. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    Juveniles here so far - blackbird, starling, house sparrow and collared dove.
  9. catbasket

    Cat deterrent

    Our neighbours bought a similar thing a few years ago. We were in the garden when Neil was installing it so he proudly told us what it was ... when he switched it on one of our cats walked up to it, put a front paw either side of it on the wall and had a good look/sniff at it to see what the new...
  10. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    I've just heard starling chicks in the nest under the eaves at the back of the house! B (:
  11. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    I know solitary bees like their nest holes to be 1m or more above ground level and south-facing. Ours are about 1.5-1.8m above ground (5-6ft). They can be fascinating to watch, so a position where you can see/photograph them easily is best!
  12. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    Fingers crossed you don't have chilli-head squirrels!
  13. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    An alternative to a special feeder is to add chilli powder to the feed. Birds are completely unaffected by Capsaicin, but the squirrels, being mammals, get the burning sensation we get from chillies :eek!: Put the peanuts in a bowl and add a teaspoonful of chilli powder and mix up well - a...
  14. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    The coal tit has become our newest regular visitor, here are the first pics - Hot off the bird table :t:
  15. catbasket

    greenfinch Trichomonosis

    They may be interested in doing a small article on the disease - there was a report in our local rag last spring warning that Trichomonosis was in the area. Luckily we didn't see any ill birds here, and this year greenfinch numbers are up - so fingers crossed for Blandford.
  16. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    Thanks folks! You could well be right. Here the sparrows are by far the dominant species but I've noticed how aggressively a solitary greenfinch will defend a perch at the seed feeder. The majority of times they'll hold their own against a mob of local house sparrows - it's not that often a...
  17. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    Sunflower hearts have been disappearing at ever higher rates - I suspected squirrels but haven't seen any since early August (chilli powder :t:). Starting to think it's just down to sheer number of bird visits, like this - I haven't taken any back garden pics recently but it seems to be an...
  18. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    Congrats on the nuthatch Michael :t: Surprisingly for such a sunny day we've had GSW visits. Today the adult female -
  19. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    A few more robin sightings, many more nuthatch sightings, and all the usual suspects visiting including ever-increasing numbers of house sparrows. Again the return of the rain brought the return of the GSWs, with a first sighting of one feeding on the back garden peanut-feeder. When I...
  20. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    Eight house martins feeding over the stream/field this evening. A stunning flying display.
  21. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    Great views of the local buzzards yesterday as first one was seen no more than twenty metres above the ground before it seemed to shoot upwards on the thermals, then a little later we saw two together, further away and higher, calling and pirouetting around each other. Video was as hand-held...
  22. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    We've had a relatively warm, dry week so all bird visits have been well down on numbers but I just saw the first GSW for three days and it was 'our' male juvenile - with quite a few black streaks through his crown. So he may be a little younger than yours. Nuthatch visits seem to be getting...
  23. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    The male has a larger red cap than the female. Which is something I only discovered recently. This Birdforum thread pointed me in the right direction. Being lucky enough to have both male and female juveniles at the feeders this year really helps see the difference - M: F: M: F...
  24. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    One compensation for the wet weather here is daily visits from GSWs. Mostly we see the juvenile male or the adult female but for the last few days a female juvenile has been visiting. Today she stayed long enough for me to get some footage. YouTube link At first she looked spooked Then she...
  25. catbasket

    Very busy at the bird feeder today!

    Congrats to all on the 10,000 posts! "Our" starlings have been loving the birdbath this year, especially on the rare sunny days. They are always noisy, squabbling fun and I was lucky enough to have the camera setup at the right time for yesterday's bathing session. Here's a still -...
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