Grandads Garden Wildlife - The 2015 Season

[Grandad]

A new year and a new wildlife season ahead. Horus gets out and about with Annie and comes across some good photo opportunities of flora and fauna. Kiya can just look out of her windowa and one day I am sure she will get a great pic of an albatross or a hump back whale. LLL still has humming birds and now nesting swans at the bottom of her garden. So I already can sense the challenges of this new year.
I have noticed some indications already of some early pairing going on and reading an article on the RSPB site, small birds WILL use nest boxes for refuge in winter and before mating commences. So today I checked the old nest boxes and as they were beginning to rot, I made two new ones. I have only had modest success with them fixed to a small tree but that could be because they were too close to the 'feeding station' and also faced in the wrong direction according to the RSPB.

So I have mounted the new ones on the house a little further from the feeding station and facing eastwards as suggested. If nothing more exciting, I would hope to get at least one nest of blue or great tits.

I still have one white squirrel and hopefully that one will produce some white kits. I have re-fixed the sweetcorn feeders to the small oak tree so they will soon learn where their sweet treats can be found. The foxes should have mated by now and cubs should be born sometime in March. We will increase the supply of jam sarnies so they also know where to visit every day.

So I am all set and ready to hopefully have something to challenge all you other wildlife fanciers. The new boxes cost less than £4 to make and here they are in production and hung on the wall.



So, let battle commence

[LovelyLadyLux]

The gauntlet has been thrown!! I'll see your bird houses and - well - soon as I get some I'll raise you!

IF the fog ever lifts so I don't get lost out there I'll be doing a review of what I have and what all I need.

I NEED to get some iron hangers (the decorative black things you nail on posts so you can hang things off of) as I have 2 feeders that are cylindrical metal. They are each different sized holes that you fill with seeds and I have another long metal general seed feeder however before I get these outside I need to get hangers and prior to that I needed the landscape guy to finish making the garden beds. The garden beds down at the bottom are done (really just raised boxes) so now I need to get some hangers (am sure the boat with them will arrive any day now) and then I can start attracting birds.

I do have 2 hummingbird feeders out and have had hummers all winter but soon the Rufus hummers will arrive. They're green with brilliant red throats and apparently are more aggressive than the Annas hummers. I also have one suet feeder hung off the porch but rarely see anybody at it yet.

I want to erect a post like in my other house and put a feeder on top but need to get both post and feeder........and I need to get something going out back to ensure I attract the quail (that I haven't seen since fall - do they migrate?) back. I'm hoping a well placed seed feeder will put spillage seeds onto the ground and the quail will arrive to eat them.

Not sure about fox and I'm definitely NOT going to entice the bears or cougar (We keep having to shoot them when they wander into people areas) but if I had a chance I'd try for a safe photo of one...... well not a cougar cause it would get me before I got it. They're darn fast as the local Mill Manager can attest when he tried to sprint from his car to office and barely made the 10' before the cougar covered the 100 feet.

My PLAN (albeit nefarious) is to really give Grandad and Horus a run for the money in the 2015 season!

[LovelyLadyLux]

Oh, and, BTW Grandad - your birdhouses look terrific and I'd of never thought about them having to be placed in a certain direction.

I'm thinking of 2 birdhouses and 1 bat house (but they're soooo expensive I dunno)

[Grandad]

Looks like you'll have a forest of bird feeders LLL. But cougars and bears and quail, I can't compete with them. I shall be lucky if I see a badger let alone have an opportunity to snap one.
It is a good plan for some seed to fall to the ground. My mixed feed has a lot of wheat and sunflower seeds that the small birds discard. But larger birds, squirrels and wood pigeons do the clean up.
I intend to hang at least one more feeder on the fence. One with specifically finch seed hoping to get more chaffinches, and particularly goldfinches that are doing very well after some decline in numbers. A spotted woodpecker was trying to get at the fat balls yesterday but I couldn't get a shot. I did hear him pecking nearby this morning in that short 'machine gun' burst of pecking. I hope he stays arround.
So heres looking forward to some great shots with that new Fuji. And Kiya, I hope the Canon is still performing well. We know that Horus's Fuji is now run in.

[Horus]

Mmm, I can see that the gauntlet has been well and truly thrown by you guys, all that I can say is that I accept the challenge. Hopefully the weather will improve this year and if so I plan to put more effort into my garden this year as it has become a bit neglected of late. I can compete with Grandad’s bird boxes as I do have an existing box that is usually occupied each year by Blue Tits, I also have one for Robins and the likes, but it has never been occupied as yet. I cannot put out bird table feeders as I have a cat that would treat it like a McDonalds outlet, also for some reason Little Annie chases anything with wings that dares to perch in HER garden, especially a pair of Wood Pigeons that never seem to learn their lesson.

I also have this sneaky plan to get some shots of Foxes ………………….. AND Badgers at my friends house as they both visit the garden nightly.

The rest will be down to what I spot on my walks with Annie and hopefully as the new tablet regime seems to be having a beneficial effect on my foot problem we will be out and about a bit more …………. Weather permitting.

[Grandad]

I have had an open fronted robin box in the past Horus but without success. I have since read that robin boxes need to be hidden behind bushes or otherwise obscurred. And they don't want to be very high, robins tend to move around at a much lower level than the tits and do a lot of ground feeding. I might make another box and try for robins one more time.
My big hope is that I can attract more finches, such pretty birds.
So, we are agreed, let battle commence.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I'm wanting the finches, hummers and whatever opts to summer in the marsh. Right now swans and mallard ducks. Since I'm new here I don't know if the ducks are year round or visitors. The Canadian geese that flew threw last fall didn't stay more than an overnight.

I've basically got a blank slate here (empty gardens) so will be starting with new plants, bird feeders hung.

What stymies me here is that stuff is brought in in waves so I have to wait 'til the boat arrives with the garden offerings. I saw veggie seed put out in one store (but it also might have been last years). Need to work on finding the hangers first but will see what all turns up and out!

The challenge is on!

[Horus]

LLL, seeds are usually viable for a few years especially if they are in a sealed foil inner packet
A good tip is to pop them into the salad basket of your fridge until its time to sow them, this will stratisfy the seeds.

[Kiya]

Grandad your boxes are looking great I hope you manage to get shots of all the birdies your hoping to see

As for my Canon it is still the same since coming home from Rome....one shot at a time, switch off camera & switch on for each shot....not that I've done much with it for months & any ways everything is still looking so grey out there & I've been very busy lately but hopefully will get back to it soon

[Horus]

I thought that you had paid to have the camera fixed Kiya?

[LovelyLadyLux]

@ Horus - Seeds here are sold in paper packets or lightweight cardboard packets. Don't think I've ever seen a seed packet with foil inside and almost all the seeds sold here have expiration dates on them and seen viable for 1 growing season only. I'm sure they're hybridized and sterilized and everything-ized that makes them cheap crummy seeds.

I remember years ago (like 40 years ago) when I was planting a garden to live through the winter. I know I kept seeds for years and they never expired. Occasionally a few would not germinate but now if you keep seeds past their expiry they're gone

[Kiya]

No Horus.............I had the camera fixed with Jessops a while before my holiday when it was showing the black screen but since it got a soaking in Rome I still have the slight problem.

I really do not want to go back to Jessops after last time with their wasted time & rudeness

[Horus]

Kiya if you think it was the soaking that caused your problem, then it may be moisture inside the camera. Try putting it in the airing cupboard for a week or so, or in a sealed plastic bag with one of those moisture gel things you often get with electrical products, or failing that some dry rice, it may help.

[Kiya]

Ok Horus will try that....thanks Wondering too if I'll set it back to default setting too when I take it from the airing cupboard ?

[Horus]

Setting it back to default should not do any harm as all you are doing is restoring the 'factory settings' you would however lose any personal settings you have made previously such as screen brightness, sound levels etc.

[Grandad]

We have had albino squirrels for around 20 years at least. I think there is just the one at present and she was out with a grey kit yesterday PM. The kit would sit comfortably in the palm of my hand, a little boy 'and proud of it' I assume the white is mum but on closer inspection she looks rather plump and could be pregnant.

[Horus]

The Albino is a lovely little thing and looking at mum she seems to have been cleaning herself so maybe just had babies or is due to.

[Kiya]

Great photos of the squirrels, love how we see all em hairs close up

[LovelyLadyLux]

Excellent photo of the squirrel! Absolutely lovely!

[Grandad]

With the prospect of LLL having her 'forest' of poles with feeders on I have just purchased another one, this time it is 3 in 1. Peanuts, fatballs and finch seed. I had a Coal Tit (I think it was) on it immediately.


And LLL, when you next go on holiday would you kindly leave your camera at home to give us Brits a chance.