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[jaypo]

Oh thank you Taz,going to order some,it's so distressing,we get about half a dozen birds a day doing it,most ok but it's so sad when they don't recover,even when the vertical blinds are pulled together (but not closed) they still bang into the window 

[CLKD]

Lace curtains fixed on the outside of the windows?  Something that flaps a bit to cause a movement  ....... they can't see the glass, sadly.  Don't know how good those silhouettes might work - let us know. 

Glad that the visitor is eating Taz2. 

[CLKD]

5/6 red admiral's on the budleah this afternoon 

[jaypo]

At last,think I've found a feeder that keeps starlings at bay. The speed in which they ate those sunflower hearts was frightening,at one point there were about 8 of them hanging on,all squabbling with each other,so hopefully now,the seeds will last a bit longer

[Taz2]

I used to have that problem with the sunflower hearts and starlings. Now the starlings eat the fat balls (they get through nine each day) and then the sparrows discovered the sunflower hearts! I definitely need another pension to afford this hobby! I do love the starlings though. Twenty plus out there as I write this.

I still have the Java Sparrow/Finch visiting. He's a right character and does sing when I go out with the breakfast but not tame enough to come down. He's having a great time with either the flocks of goldfinches and blue tits. Watching him as he flies off with them so fast and so agile in the trees makes me feel that he's enjoying himself more at the moment than in the aviary he's obviously escaped from - though I know he wont survive the winter if he's not recaptured.

Taz x

[CLKD]

He may survive if we have a mild Winter.  As you mention, he's enjoying his freedom.  He doesn't think of time or weather.

Hedgehog here last night, I nearly trod on it!  Not many butterflies other than Red Admirals on the budleah bushes. 

[Taz2]

We had our first hummingbird hawk moth of the year yesterday. Lots of red admirals but, sadly, no tortoiseshells yet.

[jaypo]

Hahaha tell me about it Taz,the money I've spent on sunflower hearts,I must be mad but it's so lovely to watch from my living room window all the birds in the hawthorn tree,they don't even fly away now,when I refill the feeders,wow,speak about impatience lol

[Peana]

Slightly off topic, but I read an article on the BBC this morning about swallowing spiders (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-66319172).  Apparently it's a myth that we swallow them in our sleep, but I'm not so sure.  With them being so active at the moment I wondered what your experiences had been?

I used to be scared of them in the house, but my nan told me that if you give them a name and talk to them they become pets, so I've tried to use that philosophy and now I'm much less bothered, and they are great at controlling more annoying insects (I'm especially keen on them eating mosquitos).  If one runs at me quickly I'll probably still shriek, but then I remember what allies they are in the garden and try to take a more friendly attitude towards them. 

DON'T read on if you don't like spiders. 

One night I was having real problems sleeping, I'd been tossing and turning, my mouth was dry and scratchy, and by the time I woke up I felt pretty miserable and so my husband made me a cup of tea in bed.  I had to get up, and when I was brushing my teeth I dislodged what I thought was a blood clot (I sometimes get micro nose bleeds when my allergies are bad, so just thought that must have been the cause).  However, on rinsing my toothbrush the water moved the 'clot' and spread it's legs - you've guessed, it was a spider!  I freaked out my husband as I couldn't help but scream, but when he looked in the sink he understood!  How it was still in my mouth after 2 cups of tea I've no idea.  Has anything like this happened to others?  When I read the article about spiders not going into peoples mouths I just had to share and what your experiences have been - sorry if it's a bit grim, but don't have nightmares, spiders are great!

[CLKD]

Spiders have the ability to curl up tightly which means liquids run off the body.  Hence they survive the U-bend in the sink as well as falling in the bath: I often rescue small ones, putting them onto a tissue where they dry out.  Then the legs give a gentle stretch 

Think of it as protein ;-).  It's the legs that I would have problems with as I have uneven teeth 

[3_claire_3]

I had to rescue a bird that had gotten itself lodged in a birdfeeder!!

I was at my mums and looked out the window in the morning to see all the birds happily chomping on the fat balls in the feeders, and beside them there's a bird which must have gone head first down the feeder (the lid had broken off) and then tried to turn around to come out again and got stuck across the way!!  (I think it was a starling)

So I'm outside (still in my PJ's) trying to get this feeder apart to help this bird,  It was very calm when I tried various things - screwdriver, little hacksaw, brute force - to make a bigger opening.  Forty minutes and a cut thumb later I managed to pry the metal cage open and maneuver birdy round so she could be free.  There was a bit of blood under the wings where she'd been struggling, and on her butt (I think from others pecking!) - but as soon as there was room she took off, over the dogs head and away across the gardens. 

In my mind birdy is still out there, perhaps even returned to the scene of the incident to feed again.    I am a sucker when it comes to animals.

[SarahT]

Clair I think our neighbours are used to seeing me in my pjs.... Am always running up and down the lane clapping and shouting at predators after the nesting birds! The amount of wildlife me and husband have stepped in to help,sheep, parrots, cats, dogs, horses, birds you name it we've been bitten by it! And will.always help if we can. Fingers crossed your little bird will be back in its flock with a take to tell!
Well.done you

Ps.experience tells me always have some wife cutters nearby! 🐦🐦🐦 x

[CLKD]

Parrots  ....... wife cutters     

Many years ago I had a similar experience 3_claire_3 - puppy needed to P in the early hours and I noticed a greenfinch head first in a feeder without a lid.  It was quite soft wire so was easy to open so that birdy flew away.  Such a sense of satisfaction.  Sadly, very few greenfinches these days 

[CLKD]

A pair of blackbirds are back 

[jaypo]

Just heard geese flying overhead