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#1
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
Well, the fieldfares are so busy fighting each other and the blackbirds that
none of them seem to have time to eat. I've increased the number of feeding stations to try and split them up, but there are still too may birds to feed peacefully. Earlier there were just loads of blackbirds - seven or eight males - all sitting on the fence or surrounding trees. For terrritorial birds this is most unusual. The main problem is finding a snow free area to hold the food. Under the table, the swing chair, and the sun lounger are the only snow-free areas. It is also snowing again. Things must be getting pretty desperate in the avian world now that the normal food sources are covered in snow and ice. I am now contemplating on how to build a bird table (or snow shelter) to keep the bird food free from snow. BBC are now running clips from previous severe winters and talking about what it was like to be snowed in for months. Also, local radio is talking of panic buying in the food shops. Interesting times. Dave R |
#2
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
"David WE Roberts" wrote in message ... Well, the fieldfares are so busy fighting each other and the blackbirds that none of them seem to have time to eat. I've increased the number of feeding stations to try and split them up, but there are still too may birds to feed peacefully. Earlier there were just loads of blackbirds - seven or eight males - all sitting on the fence or surrounding trees. For terrritorial birds this is most unusual. The main problem is finding a snow free area to hold the food. Under the table, the swing chair, and the sun lounger are the only snow-free areas. It is also snowing again. Things must be getting pretty desperate in the avian world now that the normal food sources are covered in snow and ice. I am now contemplating on how to build a bird table (or snow shelter) to keep the bird food free from snow. BBC are now running clips from previous severe winters and talking about what it was like to be snowed in for months. Also, local radio is talking of panic buying in the food shops. Interesting times. Dave R I have bought the feeding in under the veranda. Had Blackbirds, Robins, Sparrows etc all under and working quite close together. They don't mind me just the other side of the glass as long as I don't move too fast all of a sudden http://www.myalbum.com/Album-347A8J7...%20-Other.html -- Mike The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association www.rneba.org.uk Luxury Self Catering on the Isle of Wight? www.shanklinmanormews.co.uk |
#3
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
David WE Roberts writes
Well, the fieldfares are so busy fighting each other and the blackbirds that none of them seem to have time to eat. I've increased the number of feeding stations to try and split them up, but there are still too may birds to feed peacefully. Earlier there were just loads of blackbirds - seven or eight males - all sitting on the fence or surrounding trees. For terrritorial birds this is most unusual. A lot of the ones around at the moment are migrants, so would they be acting territorially if they're not planning to breed here? http://www.bto.org/gbw/PDFs/FocusOn/Focus_BLABI.pdf Things must be getting pretty desperate in the avian world now that the normal food sources are covered in snow and ice. Also lack of water is a problem. ot just for drinking but also for keeping feathers clean and fluffy to keep out the cold. -- Kay |
#4
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
"K" wrote in message ... David WE Roberts writes Well, the fieldfares are so busy fighting each other and the blackbirds that none of them seem to have time to eat. I've increased the number of feeding stations to try and split them up, but there are still too may birds to feed peacefully. Earlier there were just loads of blackbirds - seven or eight males - all sitting on the fence or surrounding trees. For terrritorial birds this is most unusual. A lot of the ones around at the moment are migrants, so would they be acting territorially if they're not planning to breed here? http://www.bto.org/gbw/PDFs/FocusOn/Focus_BLABI.pdf Things must be getting pretty desperate in the avian world now that the normal food sources are covered in snow and ice. Also lack of water is a problem. ot just for drinking but also for keeping feathers clean and fluffy to keep out the cold. -- Kay De iced the water twice so far. Just had a Starling and some Sparrows bathing in it! -- Mike The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association www.rneba.org.uk Luxury Self Catering on the Isle of Wight? www.shanklinmanormews.co.uk |
#5
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
On 2010-01-07 09:32:03 +0000, "David WE Roberts" said:
Well, the fieldfares are so busy fighting each other and the blackbirds that none of them seem to have time to eat. I've increased the number of feeding stations to try and split them up, but there are still too may birds to feed peacefully. Earlier there were just loads of blackbirds - seven or eight males - all sitting on the fence or surrounding trees. For terrritorial birds this is most unusual. Yes, we've seen this here, too. The main problem is finding a snow free area to hold the food. Under the table, the swing chair, and the sun lounger are the only snow-free areas. It is also snowing again. Things must be getting pretty desperate in the avian world now that the normal food sources are covered in snow and ice. I'm sure they are. We keep the bird feeders filled, both in the garden and the greenhouses but they're going through it like nobody's business. I go out two or three times a day to throw food down for the ground feeders but then we're not getting the sort of snow falls others are - none today, for example. I am now contemplating on how to build a bird table (or snow shelter) to keep the bird food free from snow. BBC are now running clips from previous severe winters and talking about what it was like to be snowed in for months. Also, local radio is talking of panic buying in the food shops. Interesting times. Dave R In 1963 I was at school in the Malvern Hills. I do remember the bitter cold and depth of snow and also that at one time the school was getting a bit panicky about running out of food. The delivery vans and lorries couldn't get up the steep roads out of Great Malvern into West Malvern. We use to sleep with our day clothes under the mattress to try to keep them warmed up for wearing in the morning! And I think we were let off hockey on the grounds that they couldn't find the pitch! -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.com Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics. South Devon |
#6
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
Sacha writes
And I think we were let off hockey on the grounds that they couldn't find the pitch! I can't think of any other reason why they'd let you off hockey in those days! I can remember many miserable lessons shivering in shorts and t-shirt with just a thin pullover, while the games mistress was bounding around happily in trousers, duvet coat, hat and gloves. -- Kay |
#7
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
In article ,
K wrote: Sacha writes And I think we were let off hockey on the grounds that they couldn't find the pitch! I can't think of any other reason why they'd let you off hockey in those days! I can remember many miserable lessons shivering in shorts and t-shirt with just a thin pullover, while the games mistress was bounding around happily in trousers, duvet coat, hat and gloves. In my school, they merely instructed us to draw lines in the snow before playing. I have been forced to play cricket when the pitch was partly under water. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#8
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
On 7 Jan, 11:36, wrote:
In article , K wrote: Sacha writes And I think we were let off hockey on the grounds that they couldn't find the pitch! I can't think of any other reason why they'd let you off hockey in those days! I can remember many miserable lessons shivering in shorts and t-shirt with just a thin pullover, while the games mistress was bounding around happily in trousers, duvet coat, hat and gloves. In my school, they merely instructed us to draw lines in the snow before playing. *I have been forced to play cricket when the pitch was partly under water. Regards, Nick Maclaren. I should think 2 reasons for calling off a hocky match in those days would have been 1. The balls we used in those days were white so wouldnt show in the snow and 2.White balls going into the snow would be hard to find. David Hill |
#9
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
On Thu, 7 Jan 2010 11:36:03 +0000 (GMT), wrote:
In my school, they merely instructed us to draw lines in the snow before playing. I have been forced to play cricket when the pitch was partly under water. Regards, Nick Maclaren. Seems to me, Nick, that anyone expected to play cricket under those difficult conditions would have been stumped! Geoff |
#10
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
Sacha writes
On 2010-01-07 11:10:10 +0000, K said: AND we had to take a morning walk, before breakfast, about a mile through the grounds and a mile back. There was a prefect there to ensure you did it, too. When I was one of the younger ones, I *hated* those prefects and then when I became a prefect I realised we had to get up earlier than everyone else to be there on time! I think we probably set off at about 0715 - hellish! Luckily, it was dropped for the winter terms after a few viciously cold days (pre 1963) and probably some danger of broken limbs on the ice. We lived opposite the junior departments of one of the public schools. Every morning (if we were up early enough) we'd see all these tiny girls streaming out of one of the gates, running along the road to go back through the far distant gate and back through the grounds. Still, I've just read an account of the Lygons (the local aristocracy where Sacha was at school), and their children allegedly had to swim either in an outdoor unheated pool or in the sea, every single day all the year round. So, relatively speaking, you were lucky, Sacha :-) -- Kay |
#11
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
Sacha writes
On 2010-01-07 15:07:27 +0000, K said: Certainly were - we didn't have to go in until the water was 60F! The Municipal swimming pool was Heated - ie a nominal 68 for the main pool and 70 for the beginners pool. Don't believe it was as 'warm' as that though. I don't believe the Lygons went to my school - literally too close to home, probably. This was the previous generation - the Brideshead generation. Home educated. The last Earl didn't have any children. -- Kay |
#12
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
K wrote:
Sacha writes On 2010-01-07 15:07:27 +0000, K said: Certainly were - we didn't have to go in until the water was 60F! The Municipal swimming pool was Heated - ie a nominal 68 for the main pool and 70 for the beginners pool. Don't believe it was as 'warm' as that though. I don't believe the Lygons went to my school - literally too close to home, probably. This was the previous generation - the Brideshead generation. Home educated. The last Earl didn't have any children. Probably brass-monkeyed. -- Rusty |
#13
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
Sacha writes
On 2010-01-07 17:45:25 +0000, K said: I don't think ours was heated - not sure but pretty sure. We just had to wait for the dread day to arrive... Our school pool wasn't. We just swam in the summer term. I loved it - it was the one physical activity I was reasonably good at. In later years I managed to persuade them to let me do 'double swimming' instead of 'double games'. I don't believe the Lygons went to my school - literally too close to home, probably. This was the previous generation - the Brideshead generation. Home educated. The last Earl didn't have any children. I don't know of them at all, not that there's any reason why I would. We were very sequestered in our school days - nothing llike the freedom and home clothes etc. that they have now. The Countess was very involved in the Girl Guides Association, and let the Guides hold their jamboree in the grounds, and run wild through the maze. In return, we had to provide a group to sing carols from the minstrel gallery for their Christmas dinner - very feudal ;-) -- Kay |
#14
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
"David WE Roberts" wrote ... Well, the fieldfares are so busy fighting each other and the blackbirds that none of them seem to have time to eat. I've increased the number of feeding stations to try and split them up, but there are still too may birds to feed peacefully. Earlier there were just loads of blackbirds - seven or eight males - all sitting on the fence or surrounding trees. For terrritorial birds this is most unusual. The main problem is finding a snow free area to hold the food. Under the table, the swing chair, and the sun lounger are the only snow-free areas. It is also snowing again. Things must be getting pretty desperate in the avian world now that the normal food sources are covered in snow and ice. I am now contemplating on how to build a bird table (or snow shelter) to keep the bird food free from snow. BBC are now running clips from previous severe winters and talking about what it was like to be snowed in for months. Also, local radio is talking of panic buying in the food shops. Interesting times. Don't forget water too, most of it out there is frozen solid and the birds need to find some to drink. They use the filter outfall into our pond which always stays unfrozen. -- Regards Bob Hobden W.of London. UK |
#15
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Fight! Fight! Fight!
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
... Snip Don't forget water too, most of it out there is frozen solid and the birds need to find some to drink. They use the filter outfall into our pond which always stays unfrozen. The overflow pipe from my neighbour's toilet is dripping [has been for months - her landlord keeps putting off fixing it]. I watched to day as a whole host of different birds lined up to take turns perching on the pipe - bit of a job for the doves - and sipped the water from it. -- Kathy |
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