It’s so difficult feeding birds when the weather is so wet. The bird food is wasted by the never ending rain – a waste of my money and bad for birds The ground feeder needs cleaning more and with the rain lashing down on me, it wasn’t a job I wanted to do Even my [...]
This afternoon I’ve settled with my laptop in the sunroom to do a little writing. It’s a lovely post-Christmas summer’s day: around 30 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and a gentle breeze coming in through the window near to my left elbow. After all the food in recent days – we’ve had two [...]
Christmas greetings to all of my regular readers – and to those visiting for the very first time. Christmas in Australia is usually a special time of family gatherings, some people travelling long distances to be with family. This Christmas we had the delight of having all of our little family together, something of a [...]Happy Christmas Have a lovely, peaceful, stress free and loving day Here is Happy Christmas from 2009 A Yorkshire Church and a Nativity http://birdtablenews.com/2009/12/a-yorkshire-church-and-the-nativity/ The 2012 Nativity was lovely as well Of course they don’t. Do they? I suppose it’s just another day for our feathered friends Christmas Day! ‘Oh Little Town of Bethleham’ ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’. Just two lovely Christmas Carols that, in a lot of ways, sum up Christmas. We have thrushes in a corner of the garden now. I’ve been putting [...] I have had two comments yesterday,which were similar, because they are about birds being preyed on. John says - It’s a load of rubbish “sparrowhawks go for the weaklings They attack so silently and swiftl. They will kill and eat any bird up to the size of a pigeo. In fact one of their favourite meals [...]When you sit down to your meal, plate piled high with Christmas-time goodies, have a thought for the wild birds around you. What will they be eating for their Christmas dinner? Winter is a difficult time of year for birds, the days are short and the nights are cold, so they must eat a lot [...]The master of restraint and forward planning when it comes to finding food is the mistle thrush. This is the UK’s largest thrush and in early autumn birds gather in large flocks to feed together. But as soon as holly berries appear, they will split off on their own or into pairs and get defensive. Each bird or pair [...]
Last week we had a persistent three to four hours of rain. It was quite welcome after a long, dry spell and some very hot days. The cooling effect was noticeable. We always enjoy having good falls of rain as it helps the trees in our orchard and the many native Australian plants we have [...]Dawn was breaking when I heard the first blackbird of the day. I could follow his call as he flew from one corner of the bird feeding area to the other, so I went outside in the morning gloom and scattered wild bird seed and and an apple that was going soft. Blackbirds, especially, love [...]
No bird photos to show toady, but something just as beautiful. I recently took these photos of some native flowers in our garden. It made me think about ways of attracting birds to your garden. I’ve written articles on this topic before, including this one. Planting Australian native plants is the best way of attracting [...]
Mallee Ringnecks, a sub-species of the Australian Ringneck parrot, is a resident breeding species on our 5 acre block in Murray Bridge, South Australia. We see them every day, and they bring great delight to when we see their bright colourful feathers lit by the sunlight. On the other hand, we are not delighted when [...]
Earlier this week I was out in the garden taking photographs of some young Grey Currawongs being fed by their parents. After getting several good shots I went for a wander of The Estate; we live on a five acre (2 hectare) block. My attention was attracted to this Crested Pigeon perched in the sun [...]
Last week I wrote about the young Grey Currawongs being fed by the adults in our garden. They are still hanging around and squawking noisily whenever they get hungry – which seems to be most of the time. Yesterday morning I was doing some reading in our sun room when a sudden screeching noise outside [...]Bev has said I don’t think there is a simple way to keep food dry all the time but at least this ( see two previous posts ) helps to keep it drier a lot longer. I’ve been thinking about what Bev has said and thinking about the time I spend trying different ways [...]
Here is another photograph from Sandy. Isn’t it great that the blackbirds can feed in peace and the crows and pigeons can’t get at the food Isn’t it a great idea as well. A great invention! If anyone uses this idea I’d love to know TrishaThis was sent in 2010. Garth was watching wrens go into a normal sized bird box! It shows how important normal nest boxes can be! The figure of 20 (wrens) was soon passed and then 30, which we thought quite unbelievable in one normal sized bird box. A figure of 40 was then reached, with [...]
I had almost finished dressing this morning when my wife called to me from the kitchen. She had just seen a bird she didn’t recognise fly onto the branch of a tree in our garden. I grabbed the camera and headed out to capture said bird on film – well, digitally, anyway. It turned out [...]