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Chicks wiped out (AGAIN) (1 Viewer)

Jeff Taylor

Well-known member
3:)


Good afternoon all.
Those Bloody Cat's have done it again.
The Second Brood of Blackbird Chicks have been wiped out.
The First clutch of eggs where got at by Magpies in mid March.
I had a feeling these eggs would not last long because the parent
birds had nested in the conifers near the top.This site open to
predation by the magpies.The second attempt by the parent birds
was in a old Russian Vine along the garden fence by the back
kitchen window.These chicks where about one week old & doing
well.Late yesterday evening i heard a loud alarm calls from the
Parent birds,it was just past dusk when this happened.Could see
the parent birds on the fence but nothing else.After a while the alarm calls stopped.Next morning parent birds could not be seen.
I waited & watched to see if the where around no sign,so i decided to check the nest.To my horror i discovered the remains
off the four young blackbird chicks.Under & around the battered
nest.Classic symptoms off a Domestic cat attack.
I know they are only Blackbirds,but to me they are little gems that
i welcome in my garden very much.I lay there i my bed some spring / summer mornings listening to them belt out there dawn chorus.Next time it will be a air pellet up the cat's ****.

Toodle Pip
Jeff Taylor
 
Jeff,

A little trip from the RSPCA might be in order.

It's in a cats nature to hunt, not nice but it's a fact of life.

So far my three cats haven't brought any nestlings home (just mice at the moment), but give them time........ then they usually clear the nest.

PS what's with the
Am i missing something.
 
I too have a nesting Blackbird and am keeping a watchful eye over it. There is a tabby cat that uses our garden to stalk birds.
 
I fully understand your anger but, as a Bird Forum moderator, I couldn't recommend members shooting lightweight 'subsonic' air-pellets at cats ... many would go back home injured and could result in a prosecution.
Maybe the owners who let these killing machines roam our country deserve a pellet up the ****
Andy
(try silenced rimfire?)
 
Andy,

Does that mean I get three pellets, hope my *rse is big enough, my 3 killing machines will be out in action again tonight.
 
Evening all. For my birthday in March, my wife bought me one of those high frequency cat scarers. I'd read about them and had presumed that it was all hype. However, I'm pleased to report that the resident killer cat, the bain of my life for the last 6 years, has not been seen in our garden since we plugged it in. It can't be a co-incidence. CATWatch, I think it's called and covers an area of upto 1350 sq ft. Not cheap but we've a very grateful pair of Song Thrushes at the moment, along with Blackbirds, Dunnocks, Tits, Doves and the occasional finch. It works [not sure how you get it up a tree though!]
 
Bob

Nice to hear about your cat scarer, but let me get on to something far more important...........welcome to Bird Forum! We're getting quite a few members in your neck of the woods. We hope you have a great time, and we look forward to hearing from you about your birding activities.
 
Hi Bob, and on behalf of all the Moderators and Admin, may I welcome you to BirdForum. You will find plenty of lively debate and helpful advice here and I hope you will continue to support the site. Do let us know where you do your birding and give us some insights into your corner of the world.

As for the Catwatch - and this has been covered in another thread a while back - we bought one a few weeks ago and I'm afraid our neighbour's cat is immune to it. He sits almost on top of it! Grrr!
 
The popularity of conifers, particularly Leylandii, in gardens and for hedging is a menace for nesting birds. Unfortunately they seem to be quite popular as nesting sites (I have a pair of Dunnocks and a pair of Blackbirds nesting in conifers within sight of my house at the moment), but they offer no protection from squirrels, magpies, crows, etc as they are so easy to get into. Not at all like the old-fashioned hedges, eg Hawthorn, which gave a lot more protection and were much safer from attack.

Alan Hill
 
Coincidentally, my own nesting Blackbirds lost their young to a Magpie today.... at least two nestlings carried away. I thought the birds were pretty safe being deep down in a dense Hawthorn hedge.... obviously not dense enough. Maybe they will relocate and get at least one more brood in.
At least the Magpies were a natural end for the nestlings.
Andy
 
10 million cats in this country, on average each taking 33 prey items a year.

Do the sums yourselves.

Now thought cats are taking the equivalent to each year's output of young House Sparrows.

That pony about it only being a natural instinct may be true, but you show me where you would find top predators in such density in the wild.

i think my hatred of cats must be genetic, there are a couple in the bottom of my Dad's runner bean trench that he caught in his garden.

On a lighter note, looked out of the window one evening and saw a grey Persian siting on the side of the pond. Grabbed the first throwable things that came to hand, a bowl of apricots, and shot out the back door. After couple of shots no movement, so off I stomp down the garden threatening all sorts of things only to find it was the pond dipping net. Well it was nearly dark
 
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Yes, Seb, I'm also puzzled by this one. But my pair of Dunnocks has persisted in building its nest in the same Leylandii for the last three years now. And every time a Magpie gets the eggs before they are hatched. Strangely enough each time it happens the Dunnocks don't seem to get too upset about it - they sit on a length of roof guttering nearby, and just watch the Magpie helping itself. Yet they never seem to want to find an alternative site.

Alan Hill
 
winkle said:
10 million cats in this country, on average each taking 33 prey items a year.

Do the sums yourselves.

Now thought cats are taking the equivalent to each year's output of young House Sparrows.


Not too sure about your figures, were they produced by cat haters?

I have three cats and if they catch 10 (mice/birds) prey items between them in a year they are doing well.
I also have a fish pond in my garden and the cats sit there for hours watching the fish and so far have never mananged to catch any in 3 years. It's normally only sick or injured fish they would stand a chance of catching.

The way I look at it 10 million cats, how many million mice/rats. Without those 10 million cats killing the rodents (who reproduce every 28 days), how many rats/mice would there be.

You do the math.
 
The answer is simple and not that drastic: collars with bells for the cats and the birds will hear them coming. I know there are cat owners who feel they have no obligation to the wider world (like dog owners and smokers generally) but if they want to show that they are not selfish and care for their cats (I'm all for water pistols against those not suitably handicapped by bells - not filled with petrol either Jeff, right?) then the answer is easy.
 
All fitted with bells, what a good cat owner I am :)

It gives the birds a fighting chance, but as for the nestlings :-(
By the sound of it they loose more to the Magpies than to the cats.

As for squirters, its the only way I can get to sleep, give 'em a zap when they are careering around in the middle of the night after a long days napping (the cats not me).
 
Figures from English Nature.

Cats do not limit themselves to House Mice and Rats.

The predation of cats is causing serious problems for already under presure species, in particular Slow Worms, Harvest Mice and as already mentioned House Sparrows.

We even had one around us that used to swat House Martins out of the air.
 
Butterflies, Moths, Sweet papers, leaves the list goes on. If it moves they'll have a go at it.

Cats have been around for quite a few years now, you can't really blame the fall in house sparrow numbers on cats.........or was it just one good year for the cats.

To mention an earlier thread, where have all the flies gone! Could this be a reason bird numbers are falling - no food.

My cats have so far never caught a house sparrow and as for catching house martins, Steve Austin they're not............

As for slow worms, what happened to evolution, you think they'd be quicker worms by now ;-)
 
Do what I did. Get yourself a natural cat scarer....A nice big Airedale Terrier. then when it kills the cats you can tell their caring owners that after all "it's only natural to hunt".

Quite a good subject for my first post!
 
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