"Miss Perspicacia Tick" wrote in message
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Sheila Richards wrote:
"Miss Perspicacia Tick" wrote in message
...
Paul Taylor wrote:
On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 10:09:31 +0100, Willobie wrote:

Does anything eat ants - apart from an ant-eater?

Green woodpeckers seem to love them. I saw one happily filling
itself up for about 10 minutes at an ants nest. What you need is a
flock of them to discover your garden. ;-)

Regards,

Paul.

Not just green woodpeckers - *all* woodpeckers - they are their
staple diet. We have all three native species here in
Buckinghamshire and they gorge themselves.

--
In memory of MS MVP Alex Nichol: http://www.dts-l.org/


I wish! We have them in the vicinity but I've never seen them in the
garden... We have the 'normal' garden birds but they never seem to
eat our pests - too well fed!

Willobie

Where are you? I seem to be particularly fortunate here. My uncle (who
lives
in Sherborne, Dorset) is always amazed at the number of species we get
here - I think I can count at least 2 dozen - including 4 species of tit
(long-tailed, blue, coal and great), 3 members of the thrush family
(blackbird and the two species of thrush), 4 species of finch (chaff,
green,
gold and siskin (winter only)), 3 species of woodpecker, 4 corvidae
(magpie,
jay and hooded crow and jackdaw), 4 species of pigeon (and I include doves
in that), robins, dunnocks, wrens, treecreepers, nuthatches, starlings and
a
heron. That's 29*, and I've not included our other winter visitors which
have included fieldfares (again members of the thrush family) redwings
(ditto) and bramblings.

*MIA: - Goldcrest, yellow and pied wagtails, yellowhammer and cuckoo.

If you include everything, that's 37 species in one suburban garden - not
bad going, I don't think. When I did the RSPB's annual birdwatch (back in
February) the siskin, jackdaw, jay and heron very kindly put in an
apperance - and they've not been seen since (the siskin, obviously, only
overwinters, but the corvidae are usually very much in evidence - probably
seen the jay in the autumn when the hazel and oak are fully laden). Heron
I've seen 'fishing' in a huge puddle in the local pub car park and also
having an argument with its reflection!

Occasionally, because we're in the Chilterns, we occasionally see a red
kite
flying overhead but, to date, one has never landed.
--
In memory of MS MVP Alex Nichol: http://www.dts-l.org/


You are lucky! We get blue & great tits, blackbirds, robins, doves, wood
pigeons, jays, magpies and the occasional wren but we are in London - albeit
on the edge of a common. We have a tiny garden which is a third patio, a
third rockery and a third raised bed - all of which are over run with
ants...

Willobie