The message
from "Mike" contains these words:

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
.........................

I had no idea that seagulls were so discerning...

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

The message .com
from "La puce" contains these words:

) 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!

Beware the Ideas of March...

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

In message , Sacha
writes
I just don't know what the answer is to this and I do so wish I did.
The RSPB insists that sparrowhawks are not reducing songbirds and we
are absolutely sure that they are! We have had a sparrhowhawk chase
sparrows into our largest glasshouse and try to catch them in their
hideyholes behind various big pots. That bird was chased out but has
returned more than once, intent on slaughter. And now, hen pheasants
with you! That's quite ambitious, surely? I'm afraid our Jack Russells
have driven off the pheasants but at one time we had one cock pheasant
with five wives and it was the most charming and beguiling thing to
watch. He would come onto the lawn to feed, all the time making this
low, chucking call and his harem would emerge slowly and shyly onto the
grass, feeding beside him. Sometimes, we would wake up in the morning
and look out of our bedroom window to see the wives sitting on a garden
table, waiting to be served their breakfast. I do miss them very much
but the much loved but equally cursed dogs do not encourage them. OTOH,
if I take some of the bird food down into the shrubbier areas of the
garden, who knows......? The only hopeful thing I can say is that a few
days ago we drove through a farmyard very close to us and there was a
cock pheasant with several wives, so I hope and pray the sparrowhawk doesn't spy them.

Your pheasant cock with his five ladies sounds charming ... I can
imagine that you miss seeing them in the morning. I'm afraid our cock
had been sending his one remaining lady out to test the waters before he
would venture out into the open, and that, no doubt, led to her
downfall. But now that she is gone, either he stays away, or ..... He
certainly wasn't afraid of our (very well fed) cat - I once saw them no
more than three feet apart, both ignoring the other.
One way or the other, the wildlife in our garden has changed completely
in out 30-odd years here, from a rather idyllic playground for rabbits
and hedgehogs and small birds to daytime visits by foxes and deer and
once, we think, some large cat. (Certainly something took a chunk out of
our labrador, and I don't think it can have been another dog.) And far
more predators: crows, jackdaws, magpies, and, of course, the sparrow
hawk. A change that, to me, mirrors the way the world seems to have
changed in those three decades?

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

In message , Janet Baraclough
writes
The message
from Klara contains these words:


Your pheasant cock with his five ladies sounds charming ... I can
imagine that you miss seeing them in the morning. I'm afraid our cock
had been sending his one remaining lady out to test the waters before he
would venture out into the open, and that, no doubt, led to her
downfall.

For many years we had a flock of pheasants in the garden, which had
been hatched under a broody bantam. They lived wild on the adjacent moor
but would return to feed from my hand. One day , someone came to
interview me for a job with Gardener's World in which my garden could
feature as a wildlife garden in "reports from gardeners round the
country".) As we walked round, this very elegant city lady from
Birmingham asked asked what sort of wildlife I could provide. "Deer,
foxes, birds Let's see what's around today" I said, and called the
birds. A dozen pheasants promptly flew over the drystane dyke, glided
down the garden and landed at our feet. Her jaw dropped, and the job was
mine :-)

Janet.

With a leading role as Dr Janet Dolittle?

--
Klara, Gatwick basin

On 3/12/05 1:46, in article , "Janet
Baraclough" wrote:

snip
For many years we had a flock of pheasants in the garden, which had
been hatched under a broody bantam. They lived wild on the adjacent moor
but would return to feed from my hand. One day , someone came to
interview me for a job with Gardener's World in which my garden could
feature as a wildlife garden in "reports from gardeners round the
country".) As we walked round, this very elegant city lady from
Birmingham asked asked what sort of wildlife I could provide. "Deer,
foxes, birds Let's see what's around today" I said, and called the
birds. A dozen pheasants promptly flew over the drystane dyke, glided
down the garden and landed at our feet. Her jaw dropped, and the job was
mine :-)


How absolutely lovely! There is a sense of enormous privilege in being so
close to wild creatures and having them trust you.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

In article , Sacha
writes
How absolutely lovely! There is a sense of enormous privilege in being so
close to wild creatures and having them trust you.

This morning I watched a small deer daintily pick up her toes and walk
across my frozen garden - to the left of her was a pheasant looking
around for his mate who usually sits on top on the greenhouse beside
him. The partridge were pecking at frozen sprouts and the squirrels
were playing at Tarzan in the trees. I am so privileged to be a part of
this as an onlooker.

--
Judith Lea

In message , Judith Lea
writes
In article , Sacha
writes
How absolutely lovely! There is a sense of enormous privilege in being so
close to wild creatures and having them trust you.

This morning I watched a small deer daintily pick up her toes and walk
across my frozen garden - to the left of her was a pheasant looking
around for his mate who usually sits on top on the greenhouse beside
him. The partridge were pecking at frozen sprouts and the squirrels
were playing at Tarzan in the trees. I am so privileged to be a part of
this as an onlooker.

Hi Judith. Sound lovely but...... _Frozen_? Blimey. M-in-l hasn't
mentioned anything about 'frozen' in Wymondham. We will be up there in
February but by then, hopefully, it will be a little warmer.
--
June Hughes

The message
from Judith Lea contains these words:
In article , Sacha
writes

How absolutely lovely! There is a sense of enormous privilege in being so
close to wild creatures and having them trust you.

This morning I watched a small deer daintily pick up her toes and walk
across my frozen garden - to the left of her was a pheasant looking
around for his mate who usually sits on top on the greenhouse beside
him. The partridge were pecking at frozen sprouts and the squirrels
were playing at Tarzan in the trees. I am so privileged to be a part of
this as an onlooker.

Yesterday in Norwich I sat on a bench on Orford Hill yo enjoy an Oggy
(Cornish pasty) and you'd be surprised how bold the pigeons are.

St. Francis has nothing on me with an Oggy in hand.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

"Judith Lea" wrote in message
...
In article , Sacha
writes
How absolutely lovely! There is a sense of enormous privilege in being
so
close to wild creatures and having them trust you.

This morning I watched a small deer daintily pick up her toes and walk
across my frozen garden - to the left of her was a pheasant looking
around for his mate who usually sits on top on the greenhouse beside
him. The partridge were pecking at frozen sprouts and the squirrels
were playing at Tarzan in the trees. I am so privileged to be a part of
this as an onlooker.


I agree with you, but, unfortunately, there are those who would probably
regard your complement of animals as 'invasive aliens' (unless your
partridge was a grey one, which is recognised as native) to be exterminated
if possible.

"Judith Lea" wrote in message
...
In article , Sacha
writes
How absolutely lovely! There is a sense of enormous privilege in being so
close to wild creatures and having them trust you.

This morning I watched a small deer daintily pick up her toes and walk
across my frozen garden - to the left of her was a pheasant looking
around for his mate who usually sits on top on the greenhouse beside
him. The partridge were pecking at frozen sprouts and the squirrels
were playing at Tarzan in the trees. I am so privileged to be a part of
this as an onlooker.

--
Judith Lea

As an onlooker-. I can seen why you added those words. Apart from looking
for a mate I can't see much joy in eating frozen sprouts or doing a Tarzan
impression at this time of year :-)

"Dave the exTrailer" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 9 Dec 2005 10:24:04 +0000, Judith Lea
wrote:

In article , Sacha
writes
How absolutely lovely! There is a sense of enormous privilege in being
so
close to wild creatures and having them trust you.

This morning I watched a small deer daintily pick up her toes and walk
across my frozen garden - to the left of her was a pheasant looking
around for his mate who usually sits on top on the greenhouse beside
him. The partridge were pecking at frozen sprouts and the squirrels
were playing at Tarzan in the trees. I am so privileged to be a part of
this as an onlooker.

You watched them and didnt shoot them ?

Wot --why shoot those lovely birds

In article ,
BAC wrote:


I agree with you, but, unfortunately, there are those who would probably
regard your complement of animals as 'invasive aliens' (unless your
partridge was a grey one, which is recognised as native) to be exterminated
if possible.

All British mammals, except Mountain Hares, Stoats and perhaps
Weasels, are invasive aliens. Similar remarks can be made about
birds.

Exterminate! Exterminate!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , June Hughes
writes
Hi Judith. Sound lovely but...... _Frozen_? Blimey. M-in-l hasn't
mentioned anything about 'frozen' in Wymondham. We will be up there in
February but by then, hopefully, it will be a little warmer.

Wymondham is only a couple of miles from me as the cock flies - it was
very frozen there this morning resulting in a car smash which blocked
the main route from Wymondham into the City of Norwich. We had freezing
fog until around 10a.m. this morning. I am in Wymondham tonight to pick
up some friends for a meal out - I may well use a taxi if the roads
freeze up again.

--
Judith Lea

In article , Rusty Hinge
2 writes
Yesterday in Norwich I sat on a bench on Orford Hill yo enjoy an Oggy
(Cornish pasty) and you'd be surprised how bold the pigeons are.

St. Francis has nothing on me with an Oggy in hand.

What were you doing there - on the way to that place at the top of
Westlegate that is selling ceramic pots very cheaply at the moment?
--
Judith Lea

In article , BAC
writes
I agree with you, but, unfortunately, there are those who would probably
regard your complement of animals as 'invasive aliens' (unless your
partridge was a grey one, which is recognised as native) to be exterminated
if possible.
Goodness! I love them in the garden and I have been known to stop my
car in the middle of the road to let hedghogs, baby ducklings and
squirrels cross the road (and frogs) all this despite being honked at by
other motorists. I had to get out of my car, in the middle of the road,
and kneel on the ground to shoo off little ducklings who ran underneath.
I did an emergency stop so that I wouldn't kill any and mother duck was
very happy with me - she quacked as they all went off safely, I wish my
fellow motorists did likewise.

--
Judith Lea