Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

Colonel Bloomer wrote:

big snip

Interesting points and quite feasible. However I don't wear it, in
my
garden the mags live happily side by side with the other birdies and
I
cant recall the last time I saw a bird of prey here, so not that
common I'd guess.

Magpies are corvids (crow family) and are scavengers. At nesting time
their opportunistic instincts take over and they thieve any eggs and
fledgelings they can find. Whether that equates to happy co-existance
is a matter of debate. :-))

--
ned

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

On 21 Mar 2004 21:34:23 GMT, (Doctor J.
Frink) wrote:

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 20:14:53 +0000, Colonel Bloomer wrote:

Interesting points and quite feasible. However I don't wear it, in my
garden the mags live happily side by side with the other birdies and I
cant recall the last time I saw a bird of prey here, so not that
common I'd guess.

As a datum-point: we had a sparrowhawk take a starling in our terrace
backyard the other day, in Milton Keynes. We've only had birds regularly
visiting for a few weeks prior to this (only recently set up food/drink
for the tweeters).

We're getting lots of sparrows, which appear to be scaring off the tits
which were the first to scout out the grub. The mixed seed is going down
very quickly whilst the peanuts are barely being touched.

Frink

Is the seed actually being eaten or is it all ending up on the floor
as the fussy gits spit it out?

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 21:48:02 -0000, "Christina Websell"
christina.websell@zoomdotcodotuk wrote:


Colonel Bloomer wrote in message
.. .

Meant to add. I reckon the nest sites is a major contribution as well.
As kids we used to rip the tiles up off old roofs in the city and
there were literally hundreds of nests in a single block of roofs.
These are all largely gone now, so no more nest sites. Must be a major
factor I'd have thought.


That was another of Kate's conclusions. My roof is absolutely stuffed with
sparrow nests, they can get in as I have sort of "wavy" rendering on the
house walls.
Just down the road a neighbour has a bungalow with shingles on the side.
One or two of them are broken, and sparrows are nesting in there, too.
They like to nest in occupied buildings. UPVC cladding, soffits and
bargeboards are a lot easier for maintenance, but they cannot get in.
Sometimes, in the very early morning, the males are chirping to attract a
mate and it wakes me up. I curse them a bit then..
I'm glad to have them though. Mostly ;-)
However, it is no good having nest sites if there's no food for the babies.


Shame the RSPB are not inclined to spend some of our millions and do
some serious research into this decline, especially as it's so topical
of late.

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

Colonel Bloomer wrote:

big snip

Interesting points and quite feasible. However I don't wear it, in
my
garden the mags live happily side by side with the other birdies and
I
cant recall the last time I saw a bird of prey here, so not that
common I'd guess.

Magpies are corvids (crow family) and are scavengers. At nesting time
their opportunistic instincts take over and they thieve any eggs and
fledgelings they can find. Whether that equates to happy co-existance
is a matter of debate. :-))

--
ned

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

On 21 Mar 2004 21:34:23 GMT, (Doctor J.
Frink) wrote:

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 20:14:53 +0000, Colonel Bloomer wrote:

Interesting points and quite feasible. However I don't wear it, in my
garden the mags live happily side by side with the other birdies and I
cant recall the last time I saw a bird of prey here, so not that
common I'd guess.

As a datum-point: we had a sparrowhawk take a starling in our terrace
backyard the other day, in Milton Keynes. We've only had birds regularly
visiting for a few weeks prior to this (only recently set up food/drink
for the tweeters).

We're getting lots of sparrows, which appear to be scaring off the tits
which were the first to scout out the grub. The mixed seed is going down
very quickly whilst the peanuts are barely being touched.

Frink

Is the seed actually being eaten or is it all ending up on the floor
as the fussy gits spit it out?

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 21:48:02 -0000, "Christina Websell"
christina.websell@zoomdotcodotuk wrote:


Colonel Bloomer wrote in message
.. .

Meant to add. I reckon the nest sites is a major contribution as well.
As kids we used to rip the tiles up off old roofs in the city and
there were literally hundreds of nests in a single block of roofs.
These are all largely gone now, so no more nest sites. Must be a major
factor I'd have thought.


That was another of Kate's conclusions. My roof is absolutely stuffed with
sparrow nests, they can get in as I have sort of "wavy" rendering on the
house walls.
Just down the road a neighbour has a bungalow with shingles on the side.
One or two of them are broken, and sparrows are nesting in there, too.
They like to nest in occupied buildings. UPVC cladding, soffits and
bargeboards are a lot easier for maintenance, but they cannot get in.
Sometimes, in the very early morning, the males are chirping to attract a
mate and it wakes me up. I curse them a bit then..
I'm glad to have them though. Mostly ;-)
However, it is no good having nest sites if there's no food for the babies.


Shame the RSPB are not inclined to spend some of our millions and do
some serious research into this decline, especially as it's so topical
of late.

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 22:22:23 -0000, "ned" wrote:

Colonel Bloomer wrote:

big snip

Interesting points and quite feasible. However I don't wear it, in
my
garden the mags live happily side by side with the other birdies and
I
cant recall the last time I saw a bird of prey here, so not that
common I'd guess.

Magpies are corvids (crow family) and are scavengers. At nesting time
their opportunistic instincts take over and they thieve any eggs and
fledgelings they can find. Whether that equates to happy co-existance
is a matter of debate. :-))

Opportunistic and actively seeking out are completely different
issues, certainly in my garden the mags will not actively seek out
birds nests or chicks. Last year we successfully saw blackbird and
blue tit chicks leave the nest.

I think this is a bit like the hedgehog cull fiasco on the Uists. Yes
of course hedgehogs, like most wildlife will eat eggs if it should
chance upon them, but they don't go out of their way to steal eggs.

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

Colonel Bloomer wrote:

big snip

Interesting points and quite feasible. However I don't wear it, in
my
garden the mags live happily side by side with the other birdies and
I
cant recall the last time I saw a bird of prey here, so not that
common I'd guess.

Magpies are corvids (crow family) and are scavengers. At nesting time
their opportunistic instincts take over and they thieve any eggs and
fledgelings they can find. Whether that equates to happy co-existance
is a matter of debate. :-))

--
ned

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 22:22:23 -0000, "ned" wrote:

Colonel Bloomer wrote:

big snip

Interesting points and quite feasible. However I don't wear it, in
my
garden the mags live happily side by side with the other birdies and
I
cant recall the last time I saw a bird of prey here, so not that
common I'd guess.

Magpies are corvids (crow family) and are scavengers. At nesting time
their opportunistic instincts take over and they thieve any eggs and
fledgelings they can find. Whether that equates to happy co-existance
is a matter of debate. :-))

Opportunistic and actively seeking out are completely different
issues, certainly in my garden the mags will not actively seek out
birds nests or chicks. Last year we successfully saw blackbird and
blue tit chicks leave the nest.

I think this is a bit like the hedgehog cull fiasco on the Uists. Yes
of course hedgehogs, like most wildlife will eat eggs if it should
chance upon them, but they don't go out of their way to steal eggs.

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 22:14:37 +0000, Colonel Bloomer wrote:
On 21 Mar 2004 21:34:23 GMT, (Doctor J.
Frink) wrote:

As a datum-point: we had a sparrowhawk take a starling in our terrace
backyard the other day, in Milton Keynes. We've only had birds regularly
visiting for a few weeks prior to this (only recently set up food/drink
for the tweeters).

We're getting lots of sparrows, which appear to be scaring off the tits
which were the first to scout out the grub. The mixed seed is going down
very quickly whilst the peanuts are barely being touched.

Is the seed actually being eaten or is it all ending up on the floor
as the fussy gits spit it out?

A lot is ending up on the floor, although it's hard to tell how much as
it's all stones under the feeders and we have the occassional dunnock
clearing up after them. Watching them eat they are regularly spitting
out seeds, but it's hard to tell what the ratio is of eaten seeds to
spat out ones.

I must assume they're eating some of it, otherwise why would they keep
coming back? ;0) Anyway, we put bread out as well and something keeps
clearing most of that up.

Frink

--
Doctor J. Frink : 'Rampant Ribald Ringtail'
See his mind here : http://www.cmp.liv.ac.uk/frink/
Annoy his mind here : pjf at cmp dot liv dot ack dot ook
"No sir, I didn't like it!" - Mr Horse

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

In article ,
says...
On Sunday, in article

"Colonel Bloomer" wrote:

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 17:43:09 -0000, "ned" wrote:

Colonel Bloomer wrote:

snip

Maybe the buggers are getting fussy in their old age, maybe seeds
aint
what they used to be?

Well there's a truism.
I'll bet that 50 years ago, sparrers weren't being offered marijuana
seed in their bird seed mix!
But it has appeared under my feeder before now.

Lol sshhhh!

Isn't that a legal crop now in the UK, the sanitized version of
course?

Making hemp!

The legal varieties have very low levels of the interesting active
ingredient. Still needs a certain amount of licensing hassle, and not
to be planted by public rights of way. Apparently the Home Office
doesn't trust ramblers.

Partly, it can all be blamed on the EU. The fibre gets userd as a
binder for biodegradable mouldings, stuff like that, in those expensive
German cars.



I read somewhere that mdf board made from hemp is 2.5 times stronger
than common or garden mdf.

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 22:14:37 +0000, Colonel Bloomer wrote:
On 21 Mar 2004 21:34:23 GMT, (Doctor J.
Frink) wrote:

As a datum-point: we had a sparrowhawk take a starling in our terrace
backyard the other day, in Milton Keynes. We've only had birds regularly
visiting for a few weeks prior to this (only recently set up food/drink
for the tweeters).

We're getting lots of sparrows, which appear to be scaring off the tits
which were the first to scout out the grub. The mixed seed is going down
very quickly whilst the peanuts are barely being touched.

Is the seed actually being eaten or is it all ending up on the floor
as the fussy gits spit it out?

A lot is ending up on the floor, although it's hard to tell how much as
it's all stones under the feeders and we have the occassional dunnock
clearing up after them. Watching them eat they are regularly spitting
out seeds, but it's hard to tell what the ratio is of eaten seeds to
spat out ones.

I must assume they're eating some of it, otherwise why would they keep
coming back? ;0) Anyway, we put bread out as well and something keeps
clearing most of that up.

Frink

--
Doctor J. Frink : 'Rampant Ribald Ringtail'
See his mind here : http://www.cmp.liv.ac.uk/frink/
Annoy his mind here : pjf at cmp dot liv dot ack dot ook
"No sir, I didn't like it!" - Mr Horse

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

In article ,
says...
On Sunday, in article

"Colonel Bloomer" wrote:

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 17:43:09 -0000, "ned" wrote:

Colonel Bloomer wrote:

snip

Maybe the buggers are getting fussy in their old age, maybe seeds
aint
what they used to be?

Well there's a truism.
I'll bet that 50 years ago, sparrers weren't being offered marijuana
seed in their bird seed mix!
But it has appeared under my feeder before now.

Lol sshhhh!

Isn't that a legal crop now in the UK, the sanitized version of
course?

Making hemp!

The legal varieties have very low levels of the interesting active
ingredient. Still needs a certain amount of licensing hassle, and not
to be planted by public rights of way. Apparently the Home Office
doesn't trust ramblers.

Partly, it can all be blamed on the EU. The fibre gets userd as a
binder for biodegradable mouldings, stuff like that, in those expensive
German cars.



I read somewhere that mdf board made from hemp is 2.5 times stronger
than common or garden mdf.

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

Quoting from message
posted on 21 Mar 2004 by Colonel Bloomer
I would like to add:

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 22:22:23 -0000, "ned" wrote:

Colonel Bloomer wrote:

big snip

Interesting points and quite feasible. However I don't wear it, in
my
garden the mags live happily side by side with the other birdies and
I
cant recall the last time I saw a bird of prey here, so not that
common I'd guess.

Magpies are corvids (crow family) and are scavengers. At nesting time
their opportunistic instincts take over and they thieve any eggs and
fledgelings they can find. Whether that equates to happy co-existance
is a matter of debate. :-))

Opportunistic and actively seeking out are completely different
issues, certainly in my garden the mags will not actively seek out
birds nests or chicks. Last year we successfully saw blackbird and
blue tit chicks leave the nest.

Magpies will actively seek the nests of domestic hens, whether in hedge-
bottoms or nesting boxes inside henhouses - the reason why Dad always had
a catapult and pile of pebbles to hand.

As stated above magpies will thieve eggs and fledglings. Magpies are on
the increase and are pests+++.

--
....ElaineJ... Home Pages and FAQ of uk.food+drink.indian can be viewed at
....Kinetic... http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/ejones/ufdi/index.html
...StrongArm.. Under construction, FAQ, recipes, tips, booklist, links
....RISC PC... Questions and suggestions please, email or to the newsgroup

Lack of invertebrates / house sparrows (was Reed Buntings)
 

Quoting from message
posted on 21 Mar 2004 by Colonel Bloomer
I would like to add:

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 22:22:23 -0000, "ned" wrote:

Colonel Bloomer wrote:

big snip

Interesting points and quite feasible. However I don't wear it, in
my
garden the mags live happily side by side with the other birdies and
I
cant recall the last time I saw a bird of prey here, so not that
common I'd guess.

Magpies are corvids (crow family) and are scavengers. At nesting time
their opportunistic instincts take over and they thieve any eggs and
fledgelings they can find. Whether that equates to happy co-existance
is a matter of debate. :-))

Opportunistic and actively seeking out are completely different
issues, certainly in my garden the mags will not actively seek out
birds nests or chicks. Last year we successfully saw blackbird and
blue tit chicks leave the nest.

Magpies will actively seek the nests of domestic hens, whether in hedge-
bottoms or nesting boxes inside henhouses - the reason why Dad always had
a catapult and pile of pebbles to hand.

As stated above magpies will thieve eggs and fledglings. Magpies are on
the increase and are pests+++.

--
....ElaineJ... Home Pages and FAQ of uk.food+drink.indian can be viewed at
....Kinetic... http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/ejones/ufdi/index.html
...StrongArm.. Under construction, FAQ, recipes, tips, booklist, links
....RISC PC... Questions and suggestions please, email or to the newsgroup