On 30/11/05 16:23, in article ,
"Klara" wrote:
snip

I suppose the sparrowhawk needs to feed too, but do grudge it raising a
large and hungry family! I have been more or less glued to the computer
for more than a year with too many deadlines, but even in my occasional
glances out the window I have seen a lot of birds taken, and it only
takes a few seconds ... usually the prey is carted off to be consumed
elsewhere - my guess is that we must lose a bird a day (often, I think,
ring-necked doves). The pheasant did have a second hen months ago, but
that one, judging by the sad little pile of feathers, may have been
taken by the vixen with her brood. But I keep on feeding the birds, in
the hope that that does more good than harm - because the sparrowhawk
will prey somewhere anyway.

I'm always a bit ambivalent about these things. I do realise that the
sparrowhawk - and the slug and the snail and the deathwatch beetle - all
need to feed and breed but am also aware that part of the reason for their
apparent rapaciousness increasing is that man has 're-arranged' their
habitat. So do we manage the situation or do we stand back and let nature
take its course, hastening the evolutionary process whereby ring-neck doves
develop natural camouflage, get a good price on Uzis and/or learn to be less
bird-brained. ;-) Here, a little pile of feathers usually means a
sparrowhawk as it makes its hit.
BTW, I've always been told that sparrowhawks dive in, make their hit and
disappear. But here, in our garden, I have seen a sparrowhawk sit in a
hedge and on the branch of a tree, watching our white doves which were
inside some netting over their dovecote, being 'homed'. It flew down and
pounced on one through the netting and was chased off. But it came back day
after day and sat there. I wonder if that's normal - if they have always
known when some kind human has provided them with a running buffet, or if
this is in itself, a form of adaptation to finding and harvesting what is
easily available.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

"Sacha" wrote in message
.uk...
On 30/11/05 16:23, in article ,
"Klara" wrote:
snip

I suppose the sparrowhawk needs to feed too, but do grudge it raising a
large and hungry family! I have been more or less glued to the computer
for more than a year with too many deadlines, but even in my occasional
glances out the window I have seen a lot of birds taken, and it only
takes a few seconds ... usually the prey is carted off to be consumed
elsewhere - my guess is that we must lose a bird a day (often, I think,
ring-necked doves). The pheasant did have a second hen months ago, but
that one, judging by the sad little pile of feathers, may have been
taken by the vixen with her brood. But I keep on feeding the birds, in
the hope that that does more good than harm - because the sparrowhawk
will prey somewhere anyway.

I'm always a bit ambivalent about these things. I do realise that the
sparrowhawk - and the slug and the snail and the deathwatch beetle - all
need to feed and breed but am also aware that part of the reason for their
apparent rapaciousness increasing is that man has 're-arranged' their
habitat. So do we manage the situation or do we stand back and let nature
take its course, hastening the evolutionary process whereby ring-neck
doves
develop natural camouflage, get a good price on Uzis and/or learn to be
less
bird-brained. ;-) Here, a little pile of feathers usually means a
sparrowhawk as it makes its hit.
BTW, I've always been told that sparrowhawks dive in, make their hit and
disappear. But here, in our garden, I have seen a sparrowhawk sit in a
hedge and on the branch of a tree, watching our white doves which were
inside some netting over their dovecote, being 'homed'. It flew down and
pounced on one through the netting and was chased off. But it came back
day
after day and sat there. I wonder if that's normal - if they have always
known when some kind human has provided them with a running buffet, or if
this is in itself, a form of adaptation to finding and harvesting what is
easily available.

I think it is normal for them to learn to exploit promising feeding
opportunities, and to move on when things get tougher. I saw a goshawk
(presumably an escapee or feral descendent of one) in a stand of trees near
me this summer, and it took only a few days crashing about to clear out the
resident squirrels and pigeons, and I haven't seen it since.

When the birds take advantage of the food we put out for them, do they know
where it comes from, and thank us for it?

Alan

"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
...

When the birds take advantage of the food we put out for them, do they
know where it comes from, and thank us for it?

Alan

By crapping all over the place

"middleton.walker" wrote in message
...

"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
...

When the birds take advantage of the food we put out for them, do they
know where it comes from, and thank us for it?

Alan

By crapping all over the place

Much better than dog or fox crap though.

Alan

"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
...

"middleton.walker" wrote in message
...

"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
...

When the birds take advantage of the food we put out for them, do they
know where it comes from, and thank us for it?

Alan

By crapping all over the place

Much better than dog or fox crap though.

Alan

On that I totaly agree...at least the rain washes of the bird crap....there
is one exception tho.....I feed the crows with dog food and periodically a
seagull swoops down for a feast....I shoo them off but one of the buggars
got its revenge last year and I got a dollop of seagull crap in my hair....a
blinking mess to be sure....in that case think I would rather have had a
pile of fox crap

On that I totaly agree...at least the rain washes of the bird
crap....there
is one exception tho.....I feed the crows with dog food and periodically
a
seagull swoops down for a feast....I shoo them off but one of the buggars
got its revenge last year and I got a dollop of seagull crap in my
hair....a
blinking mess to be sure....in that case think I would rather have had a
pile of fox crap


or cat crap :-((

When I was on H.M.S.Gambia the cruiser, we were sailing out from Rosyth,
upper decks all lined with sailors in their tiddly suits and as we went
under the Forth Bridge, a Seagull chose one person lined up to crap on :-))
Me!! Supposed to lucky and looking back I have nothing to complain about so
.........................

Mike
The truth will prevail

middleton.walker wrote:
On that I totaly agree...at least the rain washes of the bird crap....there
is one exception tho.....I feed the crows with dog food and periodically a
seagull swoops down for a feast....I shoo them off but one of the buggars
got its revenge last year and I got a dollop of seagull crap in my hair....a
blinking mess to be sure....in that case think I would rather have had a
pile of fox crap

Take revenge. Crap on a pigeon.

(copyright - my son's sticker on his bedroom door)

"Mike" wrote in message
...

On that I totaly agree...at least the rain washes of the bird
crap....there
is one exception tho.....I feed the crows with dog food and periodically
a
seagull swoops down for a feast....I shoo them off but one of the buggars
got its revenge last year and I got a dollop of seagull crap in my
hair....a
blinking mess to be sure....in that case think I would rather have had a
pile of fox crap


or cat crap :-((

When I was on H.M.S.Gambia the cruiser, we were sailing out from Rosyth,
upper decks all lined with sailors in their tiddly suits and as we went
under the Forth Bridge, a Seagull chose one person lined up to crap on
:-))
Me!! Supposed to lucky and looking back I have nothing to complain about
so
........................

Mike
The truth will prevail

If it was on your cap am sure much easier to clean than on my hair.....the
only place I sailed out of a Scots port area was out of Greenoch but that
was on the troopship the good old Queen Mary but my 'tiddly suit' was well
packed away in the duffle bag.

"La puce" wrote in message
ups.com...

middleton.walker wrote:
On that I totaly agree...at least the rain washes of the bird
crap....there
is one exception tho.....I feed the crows with dog food and periodically
a
seagull swoops down for a feast....I shoo them off but one of the buggars
got its revenge last year and I got a dollop of seagull crap in my
hair....a
blinking mess to be sure....in that case think I would rather have had a
pile of fox crap

Take revenge. Crap on a pigeon.

(copyright - my son's sticker on his bedroom door)

At least I will not ignore you

"Mike" wrote in message
...

---
Yes Mike, I have two peanut containers, a wire mesh type and a clear
plastic
long tube type, and one lantern style bird seed feeder.

Mine are 'Apple shaped' and 'Pear shaped' (would take a photo and post it
but it seems a bit dark outside:-))

As luck would have
it, after posting my last message, I spotted a blue and a coal tit on one
of
the feeders.

:-)) great isn't it??

The biggest threat to all our smaller birds is a female
sparrowhawk whose diet thank goodness, mainly consists of collared doves
and house sparrows.

I wish we had sparrowhawks here, they could help contain the damned
parakeets!

Alan

middleton.walker wrote:
At least I will not ignore you

) Too kind. It's a terrible thing, frustration. There's so much one
wants to say and just can't. If only I had the courage to go through
all the wads of info I have ... I'm juggling too much. Can't wait for
March so that I'm out rather than in so much!

.. Can't wait for
March

:-((

Don't wish March to come too soon :-((

Mike
The truth will prevail

Mike wrote:
. Can't wait for
March
:-((
Don't wish March to come too soon :-((

Why not?

The message
from "Alan Holmes" contains these words:
"middleton.walker" wrote in message
...
"Alan Holmes" wrote in message
...

When the birds take advantage of the food we put out for them, do they
know where it comes from, and thank us for it?

Alan

By crapping all over the place

Much better than dog or fox crap though.

I don't have problems with dog or fox crap on my washing-line, though...

--
Rusty
horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/