For WHO's birders

[Nurse Ratched]

"I thought you might like this video.



It's a compilation of different birds singing. Beautiful photography. If you expand the 'title' under the video it gives a list of species and the times they pop up in the video. Most of the species are familiar to us in the UK, but there are some 'exotics' (the cranes - wow, what a noise!) It was filmed in Belarus. The guy has a channel you can subscribe to. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and maybe it'll take your mind off you-know-what for a few blessed minutes."

[Trilby55]

I’ve probably mentioned this before on this thread but I’m sad at the lack of swallows martins and swifts . Less each year . As a youngster I remember having twenty or thirty above me at any time . I’ve heard a cuckoo each day for the last few days and ravens are getting about . I think the noise they make is called gronking ! 

[zebthecat]

That is wonderful.

[Nurse Ratched]

SWIFTS!

[WHU(Exeter)]

I've surrounded the remaining geums with chilli powder now and hoping that'll work, as they've already ripped up and destroyed enough for one year. Get foxes rooting around too.

[Nurse Ratched]

Anyone got any tips on stopping squirrels ripping out buds and small plants? Read that a few spices could work, but anyone had the same and been able to put a stop to it?

I found the most effective deployment of chilli/capsaicin as a squirrel deterrent was when I bought really strong chilli oil off Amazon and put it in an oil-spray bottle to squirt over the feeders. The effect on the squirrel was immediate and dramatic. It didn't return that year. But the downside was it made it more annoying to clean the feeders. So overall I wouldn't do that again. 

Anybody wondering about the safety of the birds: birds do not have capsaicin receptors (unlike mammals) so any format of chilli doesn't affect them. 

[Nurse Ratched]

Nurse- I don't know if it's the same your end but there seems to be a lack of birds coming to our live meal worm feeder- this time last year ,I'd be getting through a kilo bag a week ..maybe it's a bit early for nesters.
I'm happy to report that our resident pair of Firecrests nesting in our Cypress tree -the Chiffchaff, blackcap and garden sparrow are singing their little hearts out and a full set of woodpeckers are present lesser ,greater and green - sad that there's no sign of our nuthatch yet. Song thrush ,wren ,dunnock and tawny owls all here too.
We're in farming country and 20 years ago ,our feeders would be full of linnets,yellowhammers,siskins and redpolls - not so much now -  maybe due to the housing estates that have gone up - the greenfinches,goldfinches and bullfinches
seem to be made of sterner stuff and empty our big seed feeders in a week !

Now you mention it, yes.

They were coming into my sitting room to take the worms more frequently a few weeks ago but I wonder if that was to do with courtship feeding. Less interest currently. That's a bit odd though because you would assume the mild Spring would have encouraged early breeding. Possibly there are abundant natural sources of food about because of the mild spring. There has certainly been significantly more airborne insect activity this spring compared to recent years. 

[WHU(Exeter)]

Cheers, tried the ground black pepper and that put off the cat (the little git), but not the squirrels - I'll give the chilli pepper a go though. They seem to have a real 'thing' for geums. 

[Aalborg Hammer]

Exeter - sprinkle some chilli powder or ground pepper around their foraging spots

[WHU(Exeter)]

Anyone got any tips on stopping squirrels ripping out buds and small plants? Read that a few spices could work, but anyone had the same and been able to put a stop to it?

[Aalborg Hammer]

Nurse- I don't know if it's the same your end but there seems to be a lack of birds coming to our live meal worm feeder- this time last year ,I'd be getting through a kilo bag a week ..maybe it's a bit early for nesters.
I'm happy to report that our resident pair of Firecrests nesting in our Cypress tree -the Chiffchaff, blackcap and garden sparrow are singing their little hearts out and a full set of woodpeckers are present lesser ,greater and green - sad that there's no sign of our nuthatch yet. Song thrush ,wren ,dunnock and tawny owls all here too.
We're in farming country and 20 years ago ,our feeders would be full of linnets,yellowhammers,siskins and redpolls - not so much now -  maybe due to the housing estates that have gone up - the greenfinches,goldfinches and bullfinches
seem to be made of sterner stuff and empty our big seed feeders in a week !

[Mex Martillo]

Zeb, I used to get that pollen or spring and autumn allergies thing when the seasons were changing. Then after 8 years of seeing different doctors about a minor but very annoying sore tummy, 2 years ago I had an appointment with a smart female doctor who after a few tests found I was celiac and put me on a gluten free diet. My tummy is much better now and I no longer get allergies and a snotty mess twice a year. Not sure, but I wonder if it is all related?

[Nurse Ratched]

[zebthecat]

It is wonderful Nurse and such a contrast to last year.
Loads of bees and butterflies already, the apple trees in my garden are about to come into blossom and the bats are stuffing their faces at dusk every day.
Four years ago I planted a tree (Amelanchier Lamarckii) in my front garden and it has struggled but is full of blossom this year.
Then there are the owls.
The one downside is the epic pollen count - 5 seconds and I am a snotty, bleary choking mess even with allevia. Worth it though for sure.

[Nurse Ratched]

How beautiful is this Spring? I've been grinning like a simpleton. Blue skies, bright, fluffy blossom on the trees, loads of bees about and the birds are wonderfully busy and shouting their heads off. 

[Mex Martillo]

I was walking in the hills and saw that the swallows are back here. Also for quite a while I watched some large buzzard like bird riding the thermals on some cliffs. It was impressive how fast it fly up a cliff without even flapping it's wings.

[Aalborg Hammer]

..a bit like the time when I'd loaded the Merlin app on my phone and I was sitting in the garden - there was a bird singing that I could not identify nor could the app - until I walked into the kitchen and realised it was by daughter's new bread maker- stupid boy

[zebthecat]

Hmm...
You have a point.

Well this is a bit embarrassing. Re Merlin telling me I had a tawny owl in my garden/environs. I have one of those kitsch RSPB wall clocks that plays a different birdsong on the hour...

Arf!
That's brilliant.

[Nurse Ratched]

Hmm...
You have a point.

Well this is a bit embarrassing. Re Merlin telling me I had a tawny owl in my garden/environs. I have one of those kitsch RSPB wall clocks that plays a different birdsong on the hour...

[F 129 Row66]

I just love watching the Cassowary birds fly into my garden at this time of year.

[Tomshardware]

I always notice the chiff chaffs at this time of year. They sing from the silver birches in our street.  I also saw a very dapper pied wagtail yesterday.

[zebthecat]

Hmm...
You have a point.

[Nurse Ratched]

During the day? And in Da Hood?

[zebthecat]

As it happens I would not be surprised if it was a tawny owl Nurse.
It is owl chorus time here,. There are a male and female calling each to other from the same oak tree over the back of my garden right now with other hoots responding from further away as well. I love this time.
 

[zebthecat]

Yes there do appear to be more insects out and about and it is still early.
Two cool things this week - Saw a Red Kite cruising overhead yesterday for only the second time here. Also the bats came out to hunt for the first time on Tuesday (All those yummy insects and warm weather). I love watching the little critters dart all over the place for their snacks.
Love starlings too..

[Trilby55]

Seeing a few more insects now it’s turned a bit warmer . There were a pair of Oystercatchers amongst gulls on a football pitch here in Eversley this morning .