I have a plague of the blasted things, managing to keep them from my chicken food but would welcome suggestions as to how to keep them off my bird table and wild bird feeders.
Seriously tempted to borrow the neighbours .22!

Any thoughts/comments/ideas

On 08/11/2012 19:23, Johno wrote:
I have a plague of the blasted things, managing to keep them from my chicken food but would welcome suggestions as to how to keep them off my bird table and wild bird feeders.
Seriously tempted to borrow the neighbours .22!

Any thoughts/comments/ideas

Sorry no idea unless you can get hold of a sparrow hawk or a kestrel, I
don't know if a dummy one would work, but might also scare off your
other birds.
I remember the excitement in the 50's when they first appeared, we lived
in Hastings then and saw our first in 56 or 57, little did we know how
they would spread.
David @ the drying end of Swansea Bay

Put a wire cage over of suitable mesh size. But it'll keep off anything else of same size too.

David Hill wrote:
I have a plague of the blasted things, managing to keep them from my chicken food but would welcome suggestions as to how to keep them off my bird table and wild bird feeders.
Sorry no idea unless you can get hold of a sparrow hawk or a kestrel, I

Might not be a good idea if they take a fancy to chicken!

"Johno" wrote in message
...
I have a plague of the blasted things, managing to keep them from my
chicken food but would welcome suggestions as to how to keep them off my
bird table and wild bird feeders.
Seriously tempted to borrow the neighbours .22!

Any thoughts/comments/ideas

I lost all my collared doves to a female sparrowhawk and would be very glad
to see them again.

In article , Sacha
writes
We get one or two pairs here and then a sparrowhawk takes one or two! I
certainly couldn't begrudge them a feed. It's extraordinary how
numbers vary around the country.
--


I've got 7 fat pigeons waddling round my feeders at this precise moment
Sacha. They perch as best they can on the feeders themselves but it
seems to deter the little birds.


--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Seems like I am stuck with the blighters, not too keen on the Sparrowhawk idea, they are not fussy about the birds they take!
Keeping them off the chicken feed was easy, I have made a covered feeding station that works perfectly.
It is the hanging feeders and bird table that are plagued by them.

..22 idea is too risky, perhaps a blowpipe :-)

John

"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

In article , Johno
writes
Seems like I am stuck with the blighters, not too keen on the Sparrowhawk
idea, they are not fussy about the birds they take!
Keeping them off the chicken feed was easy, I have made a covered feeding
station that works perfectly.
It is the hanging feeders and bird table that are plagued by them.

.22 idea is too risky, perhaps a blowpipe :-)

Shooting Sparrowhawks by whatever means is illegal!

--
Malcolm

Yes, of course, but tbh I'd rather have collared doves in my garden than
sparrowhawks. They are a perfect nuisance here. They look at my baby hen
chicks every day with a view to getting them.

Johno wrote:

Seems like I am stuck with the blighters, not too keen on the Sparrowhawk idea, they are not fussy about the birds they take!
Keeping them off the chicken feed was easy, I have made a covered feeding station that works perfectly.
It is the hanging feeders and bird table that are plagued by them.

Wouldn't the anti-squirrel cages also keep large birds out of the
hanging feeders?

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

In article 09d930c6-1881-4456-9085-a05c9baecca1
@googlegroups.com, says...

I have a plague of the blasted things, managing to keep them from my chicken food but would welcome suggestions as to how to keep them off my bird table and wild bird feeders.
Seriously tempted to borrow the neighbours .22!

Any thoughts/comments/ideas

Delayed response, I've been away.

I have a lovely pair of collared doves that do a very good job of
hoovering up all the fallen seed from the hanging feeders. Never
seen them on the feeders, which are a mixture of ordinary and
squirrel proof ones.

I'm also surprised that the sparrow hawk doesn't take them, though
they are almost as big as he is, he is certainly much more agile.
Perhaps he prefers the blue tits!

--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

On Saturday, November 10, 2012 9:20:43 PM UTC, Malcolm wrote:
In article ,

Johno writes

Seems like I am stuck with the blighters, not too keen on the

Sparrowhawk idea, they are not fussy about the birds they take!

Keeping them off the chicken feed was easy, I have made a covered

feeding station that works perfectly.

It is the hanging feeders and bird table that are plagued by them.



.22 idea is too risky, perhaps a blowpipe :-)



Shooting Sparrowhawks by whatever means is illegal!



--

Malcolm

Who mentioned shooting Sparrowhawks???? Shooting Collared Doves yes, Sparrowhawks NO!

On Sunday, November 11, 2012 7:29:35 PM UTC, Malcolm wrote:
In article ,

Johno writes

On Saturday, November 10, 2012 9:20:43 PM UTC, Malcolm wrote:

In article ,



Johno writes



Seems like I am stuck with the blighters, not too keen on the



Sparrowhawk idea, they are not fussy about the birds they take!



Keeping them off the chicken feed was easy, I have made a covered



feeding station that works perfectly.



It is the hanging feeders and bird table that are plagued by them.







.22 idea is too risky, perhaps a blowpipe :-)







Shooting Sparrowhawks by whatever means is illegal!



Who mentioned shooting Sparrowhawks???? Shooting Collared Doves yes,

Sparrowhawks NO!



Read what you wrtote.



--

Malcolm

Suggest you read my original post! I mentioned there about a .22 and shooting the collared doves :-)

I have never mentioned about shooting Sparrowhawks and would in no way endorse this

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

In article , Johno
writes
Seems like I am stuck with the blighters, not too keen on the Sparrowhawk
idea, they are not fussy about the birds they take!
Keeping them off the chicken feed was easy, I have made a covered feeding
station that works perfectly.
It is the hanging feeders and bird table that are plagued by them.

.22 idea is too risky, perhaps a blowpipe :-)

Shooting Sparrowhawks by whatever means is illegal!

--
Malcolm

Yes, of course, but tbh I'd rather have collared doves in my garden than
sparrowhawks. They are a perfect nuisance here. They look at my baby
hen chicks every day with a view to getting them.

Perhaps I read the posting incorrectly, but I thought the OP was talking
about using a .22 against the Collard Doves

Bill

"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

In article , Johno
writes
On Saturday, November 10, 2012 9:20:43 PM UTC, Malcolm wrote:
In article ,

Johno writes

Seems like I am stuck with the blighters, not too keen on the

Sparrowhawk idea, they are not fussy about the birds they take!

Keeping them off the chicken feed was easy, I have made a covered

feeding station that works perfectly.

It is the hanging feeders and bird table that are plagued by them.



.22 idea is too risky, perhaps a blowpipe :-)



Shooting Sparrowhawks by whatever means is illegal!

Who mentioned shooting Sparrowhawks???? Shooting Collared Doves yes,
Sparrowhawks NO!

Read what you wrtote.

--
Malcolm

Interpret what you read, correctly. He didn't like the idea of Sparrow
hawks killing the
Doves so thought a .22 might do the trick

Bill

"Chris J Dixon" wrote in message
news
Johno wrote:

Seems like I am stuck with the blighters, not too keen on the Sparrowhawk
idea, they are not fussy about the birds they take!
Keeping them off the chicken feed was easy, I have made a covered feeding
station that works perfectly.
It is the hanging feeders and bird table that are plagued by them.

Wouldn't the anti-squirrel cages also keep large birds out of the
hanging feeders?



Yes, but it doesn't stop the sparrowhawks noticing the
small birds at the feeder and diving in to kill them here.
What would I prefer? The small birds.
If it was allowed to shoot a sparrowhawk, I would, they look at my baby hen
chicks with a view to eating them every day.
One took a collared dove out of my hand once. now that's scary.