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Fledglings!

wildlife, gardening, environment, Rural living, Pets and Vets
Slarti
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Fledglings!

#221337

Postby Slarti » May 13th, 2019, 4:40 pm

Today we have had young of Blackbirds, Starlings and Goldfinches being fed on the top bar of our feeding station and playing in the water of the bird bath, which I've had to fill up twice :D

Slarti

sg31
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Re: Fledglings!

#221638

Postby sg31 » May 14th, 2019, 5:53 pm

Slarti wrote:Today we have had young of Blackbirds, Starlings and Goldfinches being fed on the top bar of our feeding station and playing in the water of the bird bath, which I've had to fill up twice :D

Slarti


You are lucky, we have had very little interest in our feeding station so far, certainly no fledglings on it. We have seen a few young blackbirds but nothing else.
Previous years it has been a constant stream of birds until nesting finishes. I'm sure in years past the activity started before now.

We are feeding the same foodstuffs as in the past so it can't be that. We are on the edge of a forest in a very rural situation.

Very strange.

kiloran
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Re: Fledglings!

#222466

Postby kiloran » May 17th, 2019, 1:26 pm

Snorvey wrote:Edit: I've just been told a bird bath is a great addition to any cat free garden.

I'll second that. The starlings especially love it, often have 5 splashing around at the same time.

It's a bit high and deep for sparrows, so we have some flowerpot saucers on the ground full of water, and the sparrows love to splash around in those.

Endless entertainment.
Downside... they splash all the water out very quickly, so I am forever topping them up

--kiloran

PinkDalek
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Re: Fledglings!

#222489

Postby PinkDalek » May 17th, 2019, 3:17 pm

kiloran wrote:Downside... they splash all the water out very quickly, so I am forever topping them up


Large fat overfed pigeons do likewise. Not that we feed them, specifically. At least the robins wait their turn and bathe in a manner befitting them.

midnightcatprowl
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Re: Fledglings!

#222720

Postby midnightcatprowl » May 18th, 2019, 1:00 pm

although I'm told you shouldn't feed them in the summer?


That's outdated advice. Most experts now advise feeding through the whole year. In most places there simply is no longer a sufficient source of natural food even in summer and, in particular, the catastrophic decline in insect numbers makes things particularly difficult for birds especially in the breeding season. Food consumption in my garden is probably at its maximum at this time of year rather than in the depths of winter. The din from the garden at the moment is amazing as lots of young starlings seem to have fledged at the same time along with a lot of young sparrows.

Edit: I've just been told a bird bath is a great addition to any cat free garden.


I have four cats (with a cat flap), a very small garden (planted with a lot of attention to bird needs e.g. a really thick native hedge), five feeders and two bird baths, one at a lower level and one higher. Once upon a time as pet owner I didn't feed the birds. Then I read an article suggesting that the benefit of food and water (and hedging and non use of pesticides etc) for birds is so great that it outweighs the downside of cat catches. One thing I've found over the years is that the more birds you have visiting your garden the more difficult hunting becomes for the cats - even my black cat is spotted in the shadows by a beady eyed blackbird or starling who starts yelling a warning.

Am I suggesting the cats never catch a bird, no I'm not. I hate it when they do but as the bird population has grown and grown the cat success rate has gone down and down. N.B. Regardless of what the vet says, it doesn't hurt either if your cats are not fat but shall we say just a little rounded. Most cats will always hunt but it doesn't hurt to slow them down just a tiny bit!

UncleEbenezer
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Re: Fledglings!

#223004

Postby UncleEbenezer » May 19th, 2019, 5:54 pm

My neighbours have the ideal cat.

Big and black. Will drive other cats off their garden and mine, but far too fat and lazy to threaten the birds himself.

Mind you, the bird life is rarely anything exciting. Except the one year a nightingale (heard, but never seen) took up residence for a few days.


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