Just had cracking views from the bedroom window, of a dog fox and a vixen, going through the long grass in the field next to the house.
Rich
Rich
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Very busy at the bird feeder today! (12 Viewers)
- Thread starter Moraybirdlover
- Start date
Chiffchaff singing away next to the house yesterday.
Rich
Rich
aroundthebirdfeeder
Alan Barnard
Lots of finches around the feeders!
Worked from home this afternoon. Had Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Siskin, Dunnock, Nuthatch, Robins and the first Blackcap of the year:t:
Just had the first barbecue of the year. Whilst sitting in the garden reading a Mike Tomkies book a Red Kite circled no more than 20 feet above the roof top. Siskins fed on the feeders. Ravens cronked overhead and a Blackcap warbled in the trees at the end of the garden. Oh. And I totally cremated the sausages:-O
Rich
Rich
Bananafishbones
Incoherently Rambling .....
apart from the Bangers, that's a good set :t:
Cant match that but I have had a pair of Bullfinch for the last few days and my first Holly Blue Butterfly
Garden continues to attract good numbers of birds. Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Buzzard briefly in the tree a few days ago, Nuthatch, Siskin, Greenfinch, Golldfinch, Bullfinch etc.
Rich
Rich
Hello back for a rare visit - must come by more often! Jealous of your holly blue, BFB, but I have had siskins (gone now I think) and an orange tip last week.
The usual goldfinches and sparrows - less goldfinches this year though. The starlings don't seem to be using their nest from last year in my corner eaves, but they are about - they come over to tell me off when I do any gardening.
The usual goldfinches and sparrows - less goldfinches this year though. The starlings don't seem to be using their nest from last year in my corner eaves, but they are about - they come over to tell me off when I do any gardening.
Elmer Fudd
Well-known member
The (almost) daily visitors:
hawfinch/grosbeak
greenfinch
bluetit
great tit
long-tailed tit
bullfinch
blackbird
woodpigeon
great spotted woodpecker
nuthatch
and another guest not so pleasant:
rattus norvegicus collecting the leftovers from the sunflower seeds by browsing through the shells on the ground.
I got one of them trapped for rat heaven.
hawfinch/grosbeak
greenfinch
bluetit
great tit
long-tailed tit
bullfinch
blackbird
woodpigeon
great spotted woodpecker
nuthatch
and another guest not so pleasant:
rattus norvegicus collecting the leftovers from the sunflower seeds by browsing through the shells on the ground.
I got one of them trapped for rat heaven.
birdmeister
Well-known member
A White-crowned Sparrow was a good bird for my feeders. I get them about twice a year.
Bananafishbones
Incoherently Rambling .....
Just had a Red Kite fly over the garden, only other occasion was in 2012.
aroundthebirdfeeder
Alan Barnard
We had an Oak Titmouse to the feeders for the first time the other day.
kimhauceramics
New member
Birdhouse Question
Hi everyone! I make these birdhouses out of clay and was wondering if anyone on here could give me some advice on where a good place to hang them? And what kinds of birds may be attracted to living inside one? The hole is about 1.5" wide. Here are some pictures. I tried adding the link so you can see more pics but it's not working. It's on Etsy. It's my first time on these forums so I hope I'm doing this right. Thanks so much!
Hi everyone! I make these birdhouses out of clay and was wondering if anyone on here could give me some advice on where a good place to hang them? And what kinds of birds may be attracted to living inside one? The hole is about 1.5" wide. Here are some pictures. I tried adding the link so you can see more pics but it's not working. It's on Etsy. It's my first time on these forums so I hope I'm doing this right. Thanks so much!
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Torchepot
Well-known member
Hi Kim
Beautiful workmanship and a very striking design. :t:
If I saw something like this in the UK I would be inclined to try using it as a bird feeder rather than a bird house. But there may be species in the US which would be happy (and safe) to nest in it.
I make a lot of nest boxes out of pieces of deadwood, generally for bids like titmice, and the recommended designs these days (at least over here) generally avoid perches near the hole as it makes it easy for predators to perch and raid the nest. For the same reason the depth from the hole to the base of the house needs to be deep enough to prevent eggs or young being predated by birds reaching in (like crows or grackles for example).
There's a style of nest box here which is a more open design and is intended for birds like thrushes (though I've never had much luck with anything using them) - your design with the two holes might be more attractive to birds like that.
A couple of questions - are the holes of different sizes? and am I right in thinking that the overall size is about that of a grapefruit or coconut?
Beautiful workmanship and a very striking design. :t:
If I saw something like this in the UK I would be inclined to try using it as a bird feeder rather than a bird house. But there may be species in the US which would be happy (and safe) to nest in it.
I make a lot of nest boxes out of pieces of deadwood, generally for bids like titmice, and the recommended designs these days (at least over here) generally avoid perches near the hole as it makes it easy for predators to perch and raid the nest. For the same reason the depth from the hole to the base of the house needs to be deep enough to prevent eggs or young being predated by birds reaching in (like crows or grackles for example).
There's a style of nest box here which is a more open design and is intended for birds like thrushes (though I've never had much luck with anything using them) - your design with the two holes might be more attractive to birds like that.
A couple of questions - are the holes of different sizes? and am I right in thinking that the overall size is about that of a grapefruit or coconut?
kimhauceramics
New member
Thanks for all your tips, Torchepot!! Greatly appreciate it!
How deep do you recommend the hole from the base be to have it safe enough for the little ones? I made the perches so the parent birds can use it to stand on and feed their young. Is that something I should consider placing elsewhere? I've seen many birdhouses with the perch below the hole and have seen pictures of birds using the perch so thought it was something birds like. Maybe certain birds like it? If it's hung, would it be safer for the birds even with the perch?
The size of the birdhouse is about the size of a coconut. That's a good description of size. Thanks for that!
How deep do you recommend the hole from the base be to have it safe enough for the little ones? I made the perches so the parent birds can use it to stand on and feed their young. Is that something I should consider placing elsewhere? I've seen many birdhouses with the perch below the hole and have seen pictures of birds using the perch so thought it was something birds like. Maybe certain birds like it? If it's hung, would it be safer for the birds even with the perch?
The size of the birdhouse is about the size of a coconut. That's a good description of size. Thanks for that!
Torchepot
Well-known member
Hi Kim
I read somewhere that the bottom edge of the hole needs to be at least 125mm from the floor of the box - though the bigger the hole the deeper the box would need to be. It's partly to prevent cats reaching in and scooping out the chicks (a major nest predator in UK gardens).
I just had a thought that your design could prove very popular with wrens - I've had them nest in ceramic flower pots left on their sides in our outbuilding before (also in the space behind our fuse board!!). Hopefully someone with better knowledge of species in the US will contribute.
Incidentally most of my boxes have holes of just 25mm - I also make some with 28mm holes and a few with 32mm.
Regarding the perch thing - years ago boxes here were often sold or made with perches and I don't think anyone questioned it, but now it's not recommended and the nesting birds just land on the edge of the hole and scoot straight in.
I just showed your design to my sister who used to make ceramics and she really loved it - very organic looking - like some strange exotic seed pod (the birdhouse - not my sister
)
She agreed that it would make a great feeder - have you tried filling one up with seed and hanging it out?
Cheers :t:
Phil
I read somewhere that the bottom edge of the hole needs to be at least 125mm from the floor of the box - though the bigger the hole the deeper the box would need to be. It's partly to prevent cats reaching in and scooping out the chicks (a major nest predator in UK gardens).
I just had a thought that your design could prove very popular with wrens - I've had them nest in ceramic flower pots left on their sides in our outbuilding before (also in the space behind our fuse board!!). Hopefully someone with better knowledge of species in the US will contribute.
Incidentally most of my boxes have holes of just 25mm - I also make some with 28mm holes and a few with 32mm.
Regarding the perch thing - years ago boxes here were often sold or made with perches and I don't think anyone questioned it, but now it's not recommended and the nesting birds just land on the edge of the hole and scoot straight in.
I just showed your design to my sister who used to make ceramics and she really loved it - very organic looking - like some strange exotic seed pod (the birdhouse - not my sister
) She agreed that it would make a great feeder - have you tried filling one up with seed and hanging it out?
Cheers :t:
Phil
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kimhauceramics
New member
Hey Phil!
I'll try that and let you know! Thanks for sharing with your sister and for your help. Maybe I'll start another thread on it's own to get more feedback from U.S. bird experts/lovers. Always trying to improve my work somehow. I'll read more on wrens, too.
Cheers back!
Kim
I'll try that and let you know! Thanks for sharing with your sister and for your help. Maybe I'll start another thread on it's own to get more feedback from U.S. bird experts/lovers. Always trying to improve my work somehow. I'll read more on wrens, too.
Cheers back!
Kim
We are visited by an insanely aggressive male blackbird that we have nicknamed "Scruffy" due to his untidy appearance. This is obviously his territory as he defends it with a vengeance as if it's his iron throne. Apart from one female who I assume is his mate, he attacks all blackbirds that happen to be visit our garden.
His technique when he spots another blackbird in the garden is to fly off the other way and within seconds you can see him sneaking around the other side of the garden on to the fence - he makes sure he has a good vantage point then bang, swoops in, feet down and sends the other blackbird off. When other species feed around him he is a bit of a bully but wont attack them, its just a "Get off my seed, biatch!" hit and run, enough to make them plod off a few feet elsewhere. Totally surprised tonight to see all the birds fly into the air as a Crow lands on one of our ground feeders and starts tucking in - who comes speeding out of the blue to take this huge crow on ? Scruffy!! He comes racing at the crow, feet first, pushes the crow off the feeder then Scruffy scuttles back into the nettles. The crow looks around , shakes his head then flies off, confused! I wish I'd filmed it as he has some balls!!!
His technique when he spots another blackbird in the garden is to fly off the other way and within seconds you can see him sneaking around the other side of the garden on to the fence - he makes sure he has a good vantage point then bang, swoops in, feet down and sends the other blackbird off. When other species feed around him he is a bit of a bully but wont attack them, its just a "Get off my seed, biatch!" hit and run, enough to make them plod off a few feet elsewhere. Totally surprised tonight to see all the birds fly into the air as a Crow lands on one of our ground feeders and starts tucking in - who comes speeding out of the blue to take this huge crow on ? Scruffy!! He comes racing at the crow, feet first, pushes the crow off the feeder then Scruffy scuttles back into the nettles. The crow looks around , shakes his head then flies off, confused! I wish I'd filmed it as he has some balls!!!
My feeders are getting hit fairly hard, mainly the open tray, but I don't really see what's going on it as it's dark when I go to work and getting dark when I come home. I did come home early on Tuesday and saw my robin on the feeder tray and a male blackbird taking some of the remaining cotoneaster berries on the bush while out loading up my garden waste bin.
Been very busy at my feeders with lots of Sparrows and young Tits eating the seed feeder and gets empty every day. There have been lots of Starlings at the Cocunut feeder too.
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