--
..
"Sacha" wrote in message
.uk...
On 17/12/05 15:51, in article
, "Richard Brooks"
wrote:

snip


I'm planning on making a minature diving board next spring to go with
the bird pool!

We've sort of got one

yes well ..................... ;-(

Sacha wrote:
On 17/12/05 15:51, in article
, "Richard Brooks"
wrote:

snip

I'm planning on making a minature diving board next spring to go with
the bird pool!


We've sort of got one and it's a source of enormous amusement to us and tea
room customers and of great use to the birds. It's a granite trough and Ray
has rigged it up with a pump and a very much smaller trough inside. The
large trough is filled with water and a few pebbles and the smaller is also
filled with water and has a couple of pebbles for the birds to stand on.
From the pebbles, they can 'dive' into the small trough. This they do,
splashing and frolicking and fluffing out feathers and sending great sprays
of water in all directions. Sometimes, they are literally queuing up for
their bathroom and small squabbles break out about whose turn it is next.
I'd love to think that humans get as much pleasure from their baths as our
birds do but I do draw the line at drinking the bathwater, as they do!

I'm surprised the news item only made a few channels some years back but
does anyoen remember the Japanese kids who would play on a park slide,
the proceedings being watched by (I think) a Raven.

They'd then have to get to school and the Raven would fly to the top of
the slide, slide to the bottom then fly to the top again repeatedly.

Who says birds aren't like people! ;-)


Richard.

"Mike Coon" wrote in message
...
Mike Williams wrote:
After spending ages collecting a maximum load, they don't return
directly to their nest, but go to a nearby flower border and carefully
wipe each one in the soil.


Could that be because they are not distinguishing between the dried fruit
and slimey slugs which the picky chicks won't eat unless they are
de-slimed
first?



Mike.
--
If reply address = connectfee, add an r because it is free not fee.



No No No
they are killing the sultanas!

:-)


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James (ukjay)
http://www.ukjay.co.uk

Garden WebCam Guestbook/Message Portal
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let me know if this works please

On 17/12/05 18:37, in article
, "Richard Brooks"
wrote:

snip!

I'm surprised the news item only made a few channels some years back but
does anyoen remember the Japanese kids who would play on a park slide,
the proceedings being watched by (I think) a Raven.

They'd then have to get to school and the Raven would fly to the top of
the slide, slide to the bottom then fly to the top again repeatedly.

Who says birds aren't like people! ;-)

Missed that one in the news, I'm afraid. But aren't ravens known for doing
this sort of thing? My ignorance is profound, BTW!


--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Sacha wrote:
On 17/12/05 18:37, in article
, "Richard Brooks"
wrote:

snip!

I'm surprised the news item only made a few channels some years back but
does anyoen remember the Japanese kids who would play on a park slide,
the proceedings being watched by (I think) a Raven.

They'd then have to get to school and the Raven would fly to the top of
the slide, slide to the bottom then fly to the top again repeatedly.

Who says birds aren't like people! ;-)


Missed that one in the news, I'm afraid. But aren't ravens known for doing
this sort of thing? My ignorance is profound, BTW!

That's the beauty about growing old! There's a point where you are
quite content that you know nothing whereas the old ego as a youngster
is bubbling away and God forbid a youngster getting something wrong.

Richard.

"Spring Bored" wrote in message
...

"PammyT" wrote in message
...



Would soaking them first to get the water back in be a good idea ?
Yes, especially on very cold days where water freezes. This might be the
only source of water they get. Feeding dry stuff to them which them
absorbs
moisture from their bodies and requires them to drink more, at a time
where
there is little do drink, means they soon die of deyhydration.

Utter nonsense!

On that basis, every bird that comes to my garden and gorges itself on
sunflower hearts, niger seed peanuts and any other seed you care to name,
should be lying in the garden, legs pointing to the sky. Or perhaps you're
suggesting we should soak all bird seed before putting it in the feeders?

Anyway, all the people I know who feed birds, also provide them with
water.
Which is why your statement above is slightly ridiculou. Not every person
who feed birds is unlucky enough to live in suburbia where their neighbours
provide drinking water. Some of us live very rural where all normal water
sources will have frozen hard.
This morning I spent half an hour with several buckets of hot water,
defrosting all of my poultry drinkers as they were frozen solid. 24 hours
without water and my fowl will begin to suffer kidney damage so why would
wild birds be anuy different?
On days such as this when the water will have refrozen by midday, I feed a
warm sloppy mash to the fowl and give them fresh fruit to ensure that they
take in ufficient liquids if they cannot get a drinker from the drinkers.

"Kate" wrote in message
...

"Richard Brooks" wrote in message
...
Spring Bored wrote:
"PammyT" wrote in message
...


snip
Anyway, all the people I know who feed birds, also provide them
with water.


I'm planning on making a minature diving board next spring to go
with the bird pool!

Richard.

We have one of those "water features" (don`t all groan at once!) where
water bubbles up through a hole in an upturned concrete bowl thingy
which stands in a larger bowl which is the reservoir. We have the
water reaching a height of about 4 inches and during the summer a
female blackbird took showers, rather than baths, by standing almost
on top of the water jet and ducking her head right into the water. She
would then turn around and wash the other end - bit like a bidet,
really!
I bet that would make a fantastic picture if you could have photographed
it.
I turn off my big pond pump in winter because apparently it circulates the
cold surface stuff and harms the fish hibernating in the deep parts.

--
..
"PammyT" wrote in message
...

"Spring Bored" wrote in message
...

"PammyT" wrote in message
...



Would soaking them first to get the water back in be a good idea ?
Yes, especially on very cold days where water freezes. This might be
the
only source of water they get. Feeding dry stuff to them which them
absorbs
moisture from their bodies and requires them to drink more, at a time
where
there is little do drink, means they soon die of deyhydration.

Utter nonsense!

On that basis, every bird that comes to my garden and gorges itself on
sunflower hearts, niger seed peanuts and any other seed you care to
name,
should be lying in the garden, legs pointing to the sky. Or perhaps
you're
suggesting we should soak all bird seed before putting it in the
feeders?

Anyway, all the people I know who feed birds, also provide them with
water.
Which is why your statement above is slightly ridiculou. Not every person
who feed birds is unlucky enough to live in suburbia where their
neighbours
provide drinking water. Some of us live very rural where all normal water
sources will have frozen hard.
This morning I spent half an hour with several buckets of hot water,
defrosting all of my poultry drinkers as they were frozen solid. 24 hours
without water and my fowl will begin to suffer kidney damage so why would
wild birds be anuy different?
On days such as this when the water will have refrozen by midday, I feed
a
warm sloppy mash to the fowl and give them fresh fruit to ensure that they
take in ufficient liquids if they cannot get a drinker from the drinkers.


Doesn't that mash smell tasty when warm and wet ? :-))

Something I used to do was to collect the greens trimmings from my local
greengrocer and hang then in home made wire netting baskets hanging from the
roof in the poultry house. 3ft wide 2 inch wire mesh, formed into a tube of
about 12 inches diameter with another bit of netting as a bottom.

Mike

Mike wrote:
Are you going to provide a clean towel each day as well? ;-)


Did you see the video (dunno on what programme) years ago of a tame crane (I
think)
that bathed and then dried itself with a towel?



Mike.
--
If reply address = connectfee, add an r because it is free not fee.

--
..
"Mike Coon" wrote in message
...
Mike wrote:
Are you going to provide a clean towel each day as well? ;-)


Did you see the video (dunno on what programme) years ago of a tame crane
(I
think)
that bathed and then dried itself with a towel?


and we think we are clever;-)?

No I didn't see that.

Mike