Friday 5 June 2015

Done and dusted.

Just a short post today as it is already almost seven in the evening and I still have everyone else's blogs to read.  A busy day today with various things to do, but home now and settling down for the evening.

This afternoon we paid our fortnightly visit to our Feed Merchant in the little town of Masham.   Here is a photograph of the farmer going into the store, and then one of him coming out, well stocked up.   That is wild birds, hens,  farm cats stocked up for another week or two - and a new collar for Tess as her's broke this morning.

We feel it is very important to feed the wild birds this time of the year.   They have such a hard job to keep up with the feeding of their broods, it is a help if in the short time they have to get themselves fed, it is only a short trip to a feeder.

Looking out of the window a short time ago there are hedge sparrows, tree sparrows, two male yellowhammers, goldfinches, greenfinches, spotted woodpeckers, blue tits, great tits, a coal tit,collared doves - all within the past half hour or so.  Most of our hen pheasants have disappeared - the cock wanders around like a lost soul all day, never going far from the bird table.   Over the last few days a hen pheasant has joined him there; we can only assume she has lost her eggs to some kind of thief - maybe a magpie or a jackdaw or even a rat.

Coffee morning tomorrow morning so something to do tomorrow too.





 

12 comments:

Mac n' Janet said...

We feed the wild birds year round, it's such a thrill to see them. Plus the cat loves to watch (from inside).

angryparsnip said...

Exciting photos today.
I think I am able to see many birds at the tiny ponds but your list is wonderful.

cheers, parsnip

Rachel Phillips said...

Nice to see the farmer in action. I was expecting to see him coming out with a sack over his shoulder though.

Joanne Noragon said...

I feed the birds year round, for the very same reason. I've seen the male cardinal head to the nest in the pine tree and mama cardinal head straight over the road to my feeder.
Yesterday we watched a parent robin lead two baby robins across the yard, explaining "This is how to do it. You listen for the worm, you grab the worm." It turned around worm in beak to explain how to eat the worm, to face the two youngsters, beaks up and open, eyes closed, "Feed me. Feed me."

Frugal in Derbyshire said...

We don't get yellow hammers here. I found a dead one about 20 years ago and had to look it up I was so unfamiliar with it.
We feed the birds here too, but not as much as in the winter.
I seem to spend most of my life at the fodder rooms.
Gill

Heather said...

We feed the birds all year round and get so much pleasure from watching their antics. The pigeons try to do a hummingbird act in their efforts to get to the fat balls. We don't have such an interesting variety at our bird table, but considering we are not in such a rural area as yours we do quite well.

Cro Magnon said...

My goodness Weaver, no wonder you have so many birds in the garden. I only feed ours through the worst of the winter, and get through two 5 kilo bags at most (plus those nasty grease balls etc). Your wild birds must be queueing up.

thelma said...

Well there seems to be two camps on this, RSPB apparently says don't feed birds in summer, whilst most of us feed the birds. It is probably necessary, the old meadows with their seeded grasses have long gone, and though I know farmers incorporate bird friendly strips in their rotations, I think birds need every scrap of food out there if we are to slow the sad decline of them..

The Weaver of Grass said...

Yes, Cro, I am sure that is why the birds are queueing up - but on the other hand I do
get great pleasure from watching them - so perhaps worth the money.
Thanks for calling in.

Gwil W said...

Blimey. Those are the biggest sacks of wild bird food I have ever seen.

Mary said...

Bob says we seem to spend more on birdseed than on our own food sometimes! It is expensive here - how about there Pat? We do buy good quality seed because the cheap kind is mostly millet and our birds don't seem to like it - they want sunflower, safflower, peanuts etc., picky little devils!! We love them so much though, a garden is so static when there are no featured friends around. This morning I've been watching robins bathing, wrens, cardinals and bluebirds eating, and our big old woodpecker hiding his peanuts in the tree bark! We also had a huge bunny hop by, eyeballing my hosta plants - haven't seen one for some time, perhaps because a nearby neighbor has two large dogs patrolling the back fence!

Happy weekend on the farm. I'm off to tidy the garden as we come home to Devon on Friday - I can hardly wait, especially as the weather forecast for Torbay looks so promising - perhaps our granddaughter WILL actually get to swim in the sea, which will be lovely. I will just be satisfied with a paddle!

Mary -

Mary said...

P.S. That should read 'feathered' of course!!!