On 2013-09-27 13:04:21 +0000, Jake said:

On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 11:23:45 +0100, Sacha
wrote:


We rarely see magpies in the garden, possibly because we have a
rookery. But if seen, they're shot. And farmers here shoot them and our
rooks, unfortunately! Yesterday I saw a rather dishevelled young
buzzard sitting on top of a telegraph pole and Ray thinks it's the one
he'd seen earlier, being mobbed by the rooks!

You've started me thinking now! Usually birds in quantity are a
constant here. But now I think of it, I haven't noticed any birds,
other than the occasional blackbird, at the feeders or table for weeks
now and I've started removing the uneaten stuff before it rots. The
cotoneasters and pyracanthas are usually stripped of berries before
they've fully ripened but this year there's a good display. The
September invasion of starlings hasn't happened either. I wonder why!

I did fill some bird feeders but they took several days to empty, so
for now I've left them empty. There are lots of seeds etc. around and
Matthew even grew a row of sunflowers in the field for the birds to
take. When it gets colder, I'll start filling them again but the
weather is still very mild here.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon