A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

Mrs_Chip

Oh shame about the dead birds Nicepeach - could you try putting up nets or stickers on the windows so they can see they are there? We had Goldfinches in London, and now in Wales. The take a few days to find the seed, but once they do they will gobble it at an alarming rate :rotfl:

Nicepeach

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

Oh shame about the dead birds Nicepeach - could you try putting up nets or stickers on the windows so they can see they are there? We had Goldfinches in London, and now in Wales. The take a few days to find the seed, but once they do they will gobble it at an alarming rate :rotfl:

Yes, I must remember to put something in the windows soon. I hate nets now (used to have them but banished them years ago - the difference in the amount of light coming in is unbelievable!). Best thing to do really is to keep curtains drawn as they have blackout lining but I hate to shut the sun out & it warms the bedroom up nicely. Hmmm, wonder if some paper doilies strung up on cotton wouldn't be too offensive & an effective visual deterrent??? Will get my thinking cap on... x

Softstuff

Nicepeach, they use stickers of birds of prey here on large windows to scare off other birds and stop them flying into it. It certainly works, if you could stand to have a piccie of an owl hanging there.

GreyQueen

Morning all.

Nicepeach, I'm baffled, what kind of bird is a spruggie? Never heard that. My Mum morphed into a birdwatcher on retirement (to my great astonishment) and started getting into the nyger seeds to attract goldfinches. Although they were regular visitors to the garden next door, they still took two weeks to find her feeder a few yards away. Little blighters eat her out of house and home. And the woodpeckers on the peanut feeders. And the upside-down squirrel which is tolerated because it's so cute. Plus it gives the cats some foe worthy of their bloodthirsty skills. It's far too fast and athletic for the mogs but they haven't given up hope.

Bread rolls turned out deliciously but I attribute this to my wholemeal flour from the windmill and farmers' market rather than any natural baking prowess on my part.

Unfortunately, I have to curtain -up with nets as the world and its wife has perfectly legitimate reasons to be right outside my windows and I'd live my entire life on display like a bun in a bakery counter if I didn't. They do cut down on the light. I've often meditated on the sheer stupidity of most domestic architecture which lays out windows which are right beside footpaths or other homes, so that a person needs to obscure them to have a modicum of privacy. Not that I'm up to anything particularly interesting in my flat, but I don't want an audience while I'm up to it. Or not, as the case may be.:p

OK, time for more tea, and your tea quote:

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. ~Bernard-Paul Heroux

Have a good day, peeps.

jpscloud

If I may jump in, spuggies are sparrows in my parlance - not sure where that nickname comes from though!

Goldfinches first came to my feeders to eat sunflower hearts, and they still prefer those if I put them out. That got a bit expensive because the sparrows eat them so fast I couldn't keep up - so I bought a sack of nyger seed and the sparrows make do with fat balls (which they eat a bit more slowly). The goldfinches haven't lost out because they happily eat the nyger when there are no sunflower hearts.

Still cold and rainy in these parts so I'm going to wrap up warm and go for a walk on Sunday - darned if the weather is going to stop me getting out and about any more!

Hobsons_Choice

You can buy peel-off stickers at garden centres, Nicepeach. We have birds of prey type ones, I think they're called "Guardians" and are just coloured peel-on-and-off stickers. We were getting a lot of birds flying into the windows where the sun shines through.
It took the goldfinches a couple of weeks to discover our nyger seed feeder, now there's no stopping them. The wood pigeons used to scoff everything on the bird table before the little ones could get any food, so we bought one of those two-tier hanging tables (plastic for water/meallies on top. larger mesh table hanging below) from B&M and that's fooled em!

Nicepeach

Morning all...

Hope you've all woken to a bright, sunny, cloudless sky today? Good for you if you have, it's miserable here again. Grey, overcast, nippy wind & heavy drizzle. Brightened a little since I first emerged so all hope is not lost.

Got to thinking about the "window of death" after I logged off last night & remembered Mum bought me one of those wheelie bin decorating kits & it's still sitting in the drawer unused (where do they get these ideas from & more to the point WHERE does Mum fund these things???). Don't suppose anyone would notice if I had decals of a couple of squirrels, a Kingfisher, various autumnal leaves, acorns & tufts of grass adorning my first floor bay windowed bedroom. To be honest, I do think they are just blinded by the reflection of the sun on the glass so I think keeping the windows full or partially closed is the only effective solution.

Greyqueen, JPS & I went to the same ornithological study group! Aye, spuggies are sparrows in this neck of the wood. Thought it was quite a generic term, we've always called them that & everyone else I know does too, maybe not (I'm always happy to be proved wrong, it's such a chore being right all the time ). I'd be interested to discover the origins of the term too. No doubt someone more knowledgeable will be along to enlighten us soon - this place is a veritable mine of VERY useful information.

I'm hoping the Goldfinches find the Nyger seeds but I was chatting to a chap who was perusing the bird-feeders in Wilko*s yesterday & he said it sometimes takes them a while to find them. He was searching for a squirrel proof nut feeder. Wished him luck & couldn't offer any advice as they've managed to conquer everything parents have tried. Personally, I love to see their antics & think it's well worth the extra cost of a bag of peanuts for the pleasure.

The sparrows devour fatballs so quickly here JPS that I must admit I've given up on buying those as they really were working out very expensive. Tried making my own with dripping & the self-same seed they gobble up from the feeders - not a single peck! I was flummoxed. Eventually had to take them down as started to go manky. I don't class myself as an excellent cook by any means but I'm not bad & was mortally wounded when spuggies turned their noses up!

No work again today but don't be too jealous I'm there all weekend so I can guarantee there'll be sunshine for as long as I'm inside!!!

Well ladies & gents the kettle's calling, again & here's my tea quote:

"Sort thissen out, get a grip & get t'kettle on"[/COL

Y'all have a good day now & I'll see you all Ron... Later Ron. x

Nicepeach

HC I have that feeder too as I was encountering the self same problem with Fatty Bulger pigeons finishing off everything in one sitting & nothing left for anyone else.

You know what they say "Great minds think alike" or "Fools seldom differ..." I prefer the former myself;)

I tried those meal worm things - yuk they really gross me out & the birds were distinctly unimpressed & promptly ignored them. Waste of pennies, sadly.

Blackbirds have made short shrift of over-ripe pears & plums I've put out in the last few days. I read years ago that they prefer to ground feed, preferably under cove of hedges etc. & I have the perfect site under the lovely Beech hedge in front of my kitchen window but I leave them out on the patio in the open as there are LOTS of cats around here & they sit under said hedge & wait, very patiently to pick off anything they can take a swipe at Grrrrr! Thrushes also enjoy these treats & I occasionally have the pleasure of their company.

[Deleted User]

Morning all, back in deepest darkest Kent where I come from originally sparrows are Spadgers!!!! The other thing with a funny name I remember from childhood (just!) is woodlice which were pilly bugs. DD1 had one of her pupils in stitches with that but then got told where this little one lives they are Chuggy Pigs. Any variations? BYATT - the lurcher sez he herd yew wos poorly an wansta no if youse betta now, he sends you lotsa E Bikkits fer yew an Bess anna big lick each wiv luv. Cheers Lyn.

Byatt

GreyQueen wrote: »

Morning all.

Nicepeach, I'm baffled, what kind of bird is a spruggie? Never heard that. My Mum morphed into a birdwatcher on retirement (to my great astonishment) and started getting into the nyger seeds to attract goldfinches. Although they were regular visitors to the garden next door, they still took two weeks to find her feeder a few yards away. Little blighters eat her out of house and home. And the woodpeckers on the peanut feeders. And the upside-down squirrel which is tolerated because it's so cute. Plus it gives the cats some foe worthy of their bloodthirsty skills. It's far too fast and athletic for the mogs but they haven't given up hope.

Bread rolls turned out deliciously but I attribute this to my wholemeal flour from the windmill and farmers' market rather than any natural baking prowess on my part.

Unfortunately, I have to curtain -up with nets as the world and its wife has perfectly legitimate reasons to be right outside my windows and I'd live my entire life on display like a bun in a bakery counter if I didn't. They do cut down on the light. I've often meditated on the sheer stupidity of most domestic architecture which lays out windows which are right beside footpaths or other homes, so that a person needs to obscure them to have a modicum of privacy. Not that I'm up to anything particularly interesting in my flat, but I don't want an audience while I'm up to it. Or not, as the case may be.:p

OK, time for more tea, and your tea quote:

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. ~Bernard-Paul Heroux

Have a good day, peeps.

GQ, have you see this, opaque window film? I've seen it on a couple of windows and thought what a great idea. Some have square see through shapes so you can still peer out if needed.

https://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=opaque+window+film&oq=opaque&aq=1&aqi=g4&aql=&gs_l=hp.1.1.0l4.4.4494.3.7215.9.6.1.2.2.0.260.1062.0j4j2.6.0...0.0.lNcN30F47Co&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=5af2b362263a1430&biw=1123&bih=422

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ADHESIVE-VOILE-EFFECT-DAMAST-WINDOW/dp/B00429I5FC/ref=tag_stp_s2_edpp_url

http://www.brume.co.uk/c/2/by-the-metre-window-film