I have the feeder about 5ft from the window, and its light rain outside,
but on the feeder now are
5 long tailed tits,
1 blue tit,
1 great tit
1 Hedge sparrow (dunnock)
1 Female sparrow,
1 Robin
and for the first time in almost a year a male Black Cap

Most scattered now by the arrival of one of our Greater spotted woodpecker.
David @ a damp side of Swansea bay

On 21/12/2014 13:03, David wrote:
I have the feeder about 5ft from the window, and its light rain outside,
but on the feeder now are

Most scattered now by the arrival of one of our Greater spotted woodpecker.

Yes, we have one of those as a local thug too! GSW are bullies, happily
scaring smaller birds off, but seemingly scared of their own shadows -
as soon as I walk into the room they are off, whereas most of the tits,
sparrows, and the like stay on.

Mind you, it was rather pleasing a few months ago to see the mother GSW
feed a peanut piece to a baby, while father looked on, all on top of the
pergola from which the feeders hang.

Very few Lone Rangers (goldfinches) this year compared to the last few.

--

Jeff

On Sun, 21 Dec 2014 14:05:25 +0000, Jeff Layman
wrote:



Most scattered now by the arrival of one of our Greater spotted woodpecker.

Yes, we have one of those as a local thug too! GSW are bullies, happily
scaring smaller birds off, but seemingly scared of their own shadows -
as soon as I walk into the room they are off, whereas most of the tits,
sparrows, and the like stay on.

One of the most amusing clips a wildlife camera caught here was the
arrival of a GSW on the nut feeder with an exodus of blue tits, but
only for about 40 seconds, the Tits regained their composure on a
nearby bush and then returned en masse more or less pushing the
woodpecker out of the way. It came back later when things were
quieter. One young woodpecker would tolerate me gently approaching as
close as 10ft from the feeder but reverted to the normal off at the
first sign of presence as it got older.

G.Harman



G.Harman

Regular visitor to our feeders is a sparrowhawk.
Not after the nuts either !

All is peaceful sharing with the regular woodies though (:-)

Pete

"Peter & Jeanne" wrote in message
...


Regular visitor to our feeders is a sparrowhawk.
Not after the nuts either !

All is peaceful sharing with the regular woodies though (:-)

Pete

I stopped feeding the birds due to this very thing - a very persistant
sparrowhawk who saw my bird table and hanging feeders as an ideal
opportunity. It felt like I was just setting up a trap for the small
bird's demise.
Unfortunately, the sparrowhawk nested in my garden hatching 6 chicks so it
will be quite a while before I can feed the birds again.
Feeding the birds used to give me a lot of pleasure.

In article ,
says...

In article , Christina Websell
writes

"Peter & Jeanne" wrote in message
...


Regular visitor to our feeders is a sparrowhawk.
Not after the nuts either !

All is peaceful sharing with the regular woodies though (:-)

Pete

I stopped feeding the birds due to this very thing - a very persistant
sparrowhawk who saw my bird table and hanging feeders as an ideal
opportunity. It felt like I was just setting up a trap for the small
bird's demise.
Unfortunately, the sparrowhawk nested in my garden hatching 6 chicks so it
will be quite a while before I can feed the birds again.
Feeding the birds used to give me a lot of pleasure.

Then carry on doing so. Sparrowhawks deserve to feed, too, and each will
be satisfied by the equivalent of one starling per day. By having them
nest in your garden, they were taking up to 8 times that.during the
rearing period, so there's no logic in a different attitude during the
winter!

I agree, whilst it may seem upsetting at the time, they are a
wonderful bird in their own right and have to live!

I have found that, as I go away a bit, that as there are
periods of no food for either the garden birds, nor the sparrow
hawk, the latter seems to find sustenance in other pastures.
When I return, the garden birds are usually back within 24
hours, but the sparrow hawk takes a long time to reappear (last
returned on 8th Dec, no visit that I've seen yet!)

--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

"Roger Tonkin" wrote in message
...


I stopped feeding the birds due to this very thing - a very persistant
sparrowhawk who saw my bird table and hanging feeders as an ideal
opportunity. It felt like I was just setting up a trap for the small
bird's demise.
Unfortunately, the sparrowhawk nested in my garden hatching 6 chicks so
it
will be quite a while before I can feed the birds again.
Feeding the birds used to give me a lot of pleasure.

Then carry on doing so. Sparrowhawks deserve to feed, too, and each will
be satisfied by the equivalent of one starling per day. By having them
nest in your garden, they were taking up to 8 times that.during the
rearing period, so there's no logic in a different attitude during the
winter!

I agree, whilst it may seem upsetting at the time, they are a
wonderful bird in their own right and have to live!

I have found that, as I go away a bit, that as there are
periods of no food for either the garden birds, nor the sparrow
hawk, the latter seems to find sustenance in other pastures.
When I return, the garden birds are usually back within 24
hours, but the sparrow hawk takes a long time to reappear (last
returned on 8th Dec, no visit that I've seen yet!)

Positioning of the feeders can also be a factor. If way out in the open then
the hawk
will have a better chance of the upper hand. If positioned in an area with
much tree branch
adjacent cover - then the little birds can shelter amongst them in relative
safety.

I have had similar worries to Christine, but have never witnessed a strike,
helped I feel
by much nearby cover that the hawk seems unwilling to enter.

Pete

In article ,
says...
Positioning of the feeders can also be a factor. If way out in the open then
the hawk
will have a better chance of the upper hand. If positioned in an area with
much tree branch
adjacent cover - then the little birds can shelter amongst them in relative
safety.

I have had similar worries to Christine, but have never witnessed a strike,
helped I feel
by much nearby cover that the hawk seems unwilling to enter.




My feeder is about 20 ft from the house and 20ft from an ivy
covered trellis that the birds dive into. Sparrow hawk seems to
suddenly appear from around the side of the house at a fairly
high level, swooping downwards. Of observed pases, I would say
its success rate is about 1 in 10

--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

In article , Christina Websell
writes

"Peter & Jeanne" wrote in message
...


Regular visitor to our feeders is a sparrowhawk.
Not after the nuts either !

All is peaceful sharing with the regular woodies though (:-)

Pete

I stopped feeding the birds due to this very thing - a very persistant
sparrowhawk who saw my bird table and hanging feeders as an ideal
opportunity. It felt like I was just setting up a trap for the small
bird's demise.
Unfortunately, the sparrowhawk nested in my garden hatching 6 chicks so it
will be quite a while before I can feed the birds again.
Feeding the birds used to give me a lot of pleasure.

Then carry on doing so. Sparrowhawks deserve to feed, too, and each will
be satisfied by the equivalent of one starling per day. By having them
nest in your garden, they were taking up to 8 times that.during the
rearing period, so there's no logic in a different attitude during the
winter!

I don't care what you say, I'm not going to feed birds in my garden while I
have sparrowhawks here that will pick them off the birdtable.
I so wish they were not protected.

On 28/12/2014 20:25, Christina Websell wrote:
"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

In article , Christina Websell
writes

Unfortunately, the sparrowhawk nested in my garden hatching 6 chicks so it
will be quite a while before I can feed the birds again.
Feeding the birds used to give me a lot of pleasure.

Then carry on doing so. Sparrowhawks deserve to feed, too, and each will
be satisfied by the equivalent of one starling per day. By having them
nest in your garden, they were taking up to 8 times that.during the
rearing period, so there's no logic in a different attitude during the
winter!

I don't care what you say, I'm not going to feed birds in my garden while I
have sparrowhawks here that will pick them off the birdtable.
I so wish they were not protected.

If you are willing to skew the prey/predator balance by feeding the
prey you can have no complaints when the predator takes some of the birds.

I wish I could attract a peregrine by feeding the pigeons.
--
Phil Cook

I don't care what you say, I'm not going to feed birds in my garden while
I
have sparrowhawks here that will pick them off the birdtable.
I so wish they were not protected.

wrote Christina.

Perhaps you could consider your feeding methods.

I use caged in feeders, protecting the food from the squirrels
and the feeding birds from the hawks.

The little bird population in my area seems to thrive with this method
(:-)

Pete

On 28/12/2014 20:25, Christina Websell wrote:
"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

In article , Christina Websell
writes

"Peter & Jeanne" wrote in message
...


Regular visitor to our feeders is a sparrowhawk.
Not after the nuts either !

All is peaceful sharing with the regular woodies though (:-)

Pete

I stopped feeding the birds due to this very thing - a very persistant
sparrowhawk who saw my bird table and hanging feeders as an ideal
opportunity. It felt like I was just setting up a trap for the small
bird's demise.
Unfortunately, the sparrowhawk nested in my garden hatching 6 chicks so it
will be quite a while before I can feed the birds again.
Feeding the birds used to give me a lot of pleasure.

Then carry on doing so. Sparrowhawks deserve to feed, too, and each will
be satisfied by the equivalent of one starling per day. By having them
nest in your garden, they were taking up to 8 times that.during the
rearing period, so there's no logic in a different attitude during the
winter!

I don't care what you say, I'm not going to feed birds in my garden while I
have sparrowhawks here that will pick them off the birdtable.
I so wish they were not protected.

Have you thought of trying to teach the sparrowhawk to get your mole?

"Phil Cook" wrote in message
...
On 28/12/2014 20:25, Christina Websell wrote:
"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

In article , Christina Websell
writes

Unfortunately, the sparrowhawk nested in my garden hatching 6 chicks so
it
will be quite a while before I can feed the birds again.
Feeding the birds used to give me a lot of pleasure.

Then carry on doing so. Sparrowhawks deserve to feed, too, and each will
be satisfied by the equivalent of one starling per day. By having them
nest in your garden, they were taking up to 8 times that.during the
rearing period, so there's no logic in a different attitude during the
winter!

I don't care what you say, I'm not going to feed birds in my garden while
I
have sparrowhawks here that will pick them off the birdtable.
I so wish they were not protected.

If you are willing to skew the prey/predator balance by feeding the prey
you can have no complaints when the predator takes some of the birds.

I wish I could attract a peregrine by feeding the pigeons.
--
Phil Cook

If you like to see a predator killing the birds you've attracted, well, it
must be a man thing is all I can say.
Actually, I won't be kind to you, it's sick if you deliberately do it and
it's why I've stopped feeding on the birdtable when I know the sparrowhawk
will come. I'm setting up the small birds to be killed.

On 29/12/2014 00:21, Christina Websell wrote:
"Phil Cook" wrote in message
...
On 28/12/2014 20:25, Christina Websell wrote:

I don't care what you say, I'm not going to feed birds in my garden while
I
have sparrowhawks here that will pick them off the birdtable.


If you are willing to skew the prey/predator balance by feeding the prey
you can have no complaints when the predator takes some of the birds.

I wish I could attract a peregrine by feeding the pigeons.

If you like to see a predator killing the birds you've attracted, well, it
must be a man thing is all I can say.
Actually, I won't be kind to you, it's sick if you deliberately do it and
it's why I've stopped feeding on the birdtable when I know the sparrowhawk
will come. I'm setting up the small birds to be killed.

It's not sick it's nature.

You are the sick one in wanting to do a sparrowhawk harm. "I so wish
they were not protected."
--
Phil Cook

"David" wrote in message
...
..

Have you thought of trying to teach the sparrowhawk to get your mole?

I wish! still haven't caught the little blighter, he laughs at my
moletraps. I'm almost with Jasper's idea, sitting up all night with a
shotgun ;-)
Until I had a mole I hadn't realised how much damage they do. And despite
liking all animals, I'd be prepared to bomb him out of wherever he is. He
was almost going under my blockpaving, which cost thousands, but fortunately
he diverted. Nevertheless he is a real nuisance. I suppose you can get a
catch alive mole trap but you then give someone else your problem unless you
can release him miles into the fields. Mine is a catch dead one- but he
ain't stupid