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Suzy's assortment of birds
Topic Started: Oct 5 2015, 11:56 PM (1,988 Views)
africamfan
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Night Owl
Apr 9 2018, 06:53 PM
:wave: Suzy.
The image uploader will only work for photos :yep: you would need to host your video on a site like Youtube to add it to your post :)

That's great news about the Blue tits :cool1: Fingers crossed!
Thanks Julie.
Now that you have mentioned youtube I remember being told that when I had a problem with video a few months ago but I forgot about it 😕
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africamfan
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Thanks Dave and Tabatha.
It rained this afternoon and I haven’t seen the bluetits since 😕
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Davebutterflyman
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Hopefully they will still be around Suzy.
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africamfan
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I haven’t seen the Bluetits near the box since but there is a Starlings nest in our roof! I have seen them flying in and out with nesting material. I can see the entrance quite clearly from my kitchen window. I’m away from home this week but I’m excited to see what’s happening with the nest when I get back home.
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Night Owl
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That's a shame about the Bluetits Suzy, we had a pair keep looking at our nest box but haven't yet decided to move in :(
That's great news about the Starling nest :cool:
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AnnB
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I often have Starlings nest in my roof too. They're a bit of a nuisance though as invariably when they try to fledge, they fall down the gap in the cavity wall. Luckily they always seem to make their way to an air vent which I can remove to release them but it causes a similar scene to a horror film with a group of adult birds swooping down and scolding me.
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africamfan
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Apr 25 2018, 09:42 PM
That's a shame about the Bluetits Suzy, we had a pair keep looking at our nest box but haven't yet decided to move in :(
That's great news about the Starling nest :cool:
I’m crossing my fingers Julie that at a later date the Bluetits might decide that the box is ok after all. I hope that yours do the same.
The one time that the box was used it was brand new and had only been up for a couple of weeks before they moved in to it. I googled to find out if I should clean it out in the Autumn and the information that I got said tha I should, so I did. I made sure that it was properly dry before putting it back but now I’m wondering if it would have been best to leave it well alone?
The sad thing is that when I did clean it out, there was a perfectly formed nest inside with 4 tiny eggs. I definitely didn’t Disturb the nest until well into the Autumn though, so I know they didn’t abandon it on my account.

I saw some nest boxes for sale yesterday at a reasonable price and I think I will buy one. Maybe the Blue tits only like posh new accommodation! 🤔
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africamfan
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AnnB
Apr 26 2018, 08:29 AM
I often have Starlings nest in my roof too. They're a bit of a nuisance though as invariably when they try to fledge, they fall down the gap in the cavity wall. Luckily they always seem to make their way to an air vent which I can remove to release them but it causes a similar scene to a horror film with a group of adult birds swooping down and scolding me.

That must be a tense time, waiting to see if they fledge ok.
My concern with the one in my roof is that when the young try and fledge that they might fall onto the very hard patio below!

How long are the baby Starlings in the nest for Anne,before fledging? I will keep my eye on them if I can and hope all will be ok. We have quite a few Crow and Magpies around by us though, so I hope they don’t get them!
I can just visualise you being scolded by the Starlibg parents Ann 😃
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Davebutterflyman
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That's a shame Suzy.

Incubation period is around 12-14 days for Starling eggs and then the young fledge after about three weeks.
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Goardo
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Sorry to hear about the bluetits. I hope they return. We had a nest of bluetits in a little birdbox that I put up on the outside wall a few years back, however, I was devastated to come home one day and found that the front of it had been pecked wide open by a woodpecker and all the little chicks had been taken :(

I had previously bought one that had a metal ring covering the entrance hole (obviously to ward off woodpeckers or any other threat), however, not a single bird used it until I removed the metal plate - at the time I didn't even consider that the metal plate was to stop woodpeckers opening the entrance hole. I feel as though I badly let them down and only aided in their death.

When the plate was on it, we had tons of birds check it out and not a single one felt it was right. I'd like to get some more nesting boxes but when our garden attracts woodpeckers (has done up until now), I don't want to promote any more deaths!

I really hope yours return. Great news on the starlings though Suzy!
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africamfan
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Davebutterflyman
Apr 26 2018, 10:04 AM
That's a shame Suzy.

Incubation period is around 12-14 days for Starling eggs and then the young fledge after about three weeks.
Thank you Dave for info.
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africamfan
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Goardo
Apr 26 2018, 10:13 AM
Sorry to hear about the bluetits. I hope they return. We had a nest of bluetits in a little birdbox that I put up on the outside wall a few years back, however, I was devastated to come home one day and found that the front of it had been pecked wide open by a woodpecker and all the little chicks had been taken :(

I had previously bought one that had a metal ring covering the entrance hole (obviously to ward off woodpeckers or any other threat), however, not a single bird used it until I removed the metal plate - at the time I didn't even consider that the metal plate was to stop woodpeckers opening the entrance hole. I feel as though I badly let them down and only aided in their death.

When the plate was on it, we had tons of birds check it out and not a single one felt it was right. I'd like to get some more nesting boxes but when our garden attracts woodpeckers (has done up until now), I don't want to promote any more deaths!

I really hope yours return. Great news on the starlings though Suzy!
That is such a shame that the Woodpeckers had all the chicks.
Although our logical minds tells us that the Woodpecker has to feed a family too, it still is never easy to accept it, especially when it happens practically under your nose.

Strange that the birds wouldn’t use the box until you removed the metal plate but maybe it seemed more natural without it to them?
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Davebutterflyman
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A pleasure Suzy.
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Goardo
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Yes, I think you're right suzy. I have a client who has recently started making sparrow nesting boxes. He's into sparrows in particular and has created something quite unique. It uses barley straw that replicates thatched rooves where they used to nest historically... apparently once out, they are likely to attract sparrow 3-4 times quicker than standard boxes...
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Davebutterflyman
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That's very interesting Gary, not heard of that particular construction before.
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africamfan
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Goardo
Apr 27 2018, 07:42 PM
Yes, I think you're right suzy. I have a client who has recently started making sparrow nesting boxes. He's into sparrows in particular and has created something quite unique. It uses barley straw that replicates thatched rooves where they used to nest historically... apparently once out, they are likely to attract sparrow 3-4 times quicker than standard boxes...
Those sparrow boxes sound great Gary.
I don’t see Sparrows around here much at all anymore 😕 At the farm we were staying at in Shropshire though, I could walk past the Hedge and there was loads of them! They didn’t seem to care about people walking by either and hardly moved when they saw us!

Got home yesterday afternoon from Shropshire. The weather here was grey and cold and I got the impression that not much at all had been eaten from my bird feeders all week 🙁 The only one that was empty is a bell shaped feeder which I had filled with meal worms. I am quite sure that the Starling which nests in the roof has taken all of those.
Up until 10 minutes ago I was sure that the Starling roof nest must have failed because it all seemed so quiet but a few minutes ago I saw a Starling go under the tiles in the roof again. He didn’t seem to have any food in his beak though and he didn’t come out with anything either.

Just a thought but in the Hedgehog thread recently, Marg (I think) gave us info about mealworms being empty calories for them. That wouldn’t be the same for baby Starlings would it?

I have a million and one photo’s from Shropshire to sort out and will post some at some point but of course being back home from our week away means washing,shopping cooking, etc etc, boring housework etc lol.
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Goardo
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I'm not promoting this as a business as I only recently helped this chap out. This is a passion for him. His actual business is construction.

I did not build this but this is his website: http://www.originalgoldensparrowbox.com/

As they are handmade, I've no idea what he can commit to in terms of orders placed but I know he is currently looking into the production of these boxes. He already has the patent so I believe he is protected. He's now just looking into getting them mass produced more cost effectively.

Thought you may be interested to visit and have a read about the boxes. I can't guarantee orders that are placed as I have asked him for one myself but still don't have it!
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africamfan
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Goardo
Apr 29 2018, 02:05 PM
I'm not promoting this as a business as I only recently helped this chap out. This is a passion for him. His actual business is construction.

I did not build this but this is his website: http://www.originalgoldensparrowbox.com/

As they are handmade, I've no idea what he can commit to in terms of orders placed but I know he is currently looking into the production of these boxes. He already has the patent so I believe he is protected. He's now just looking into getting them mass produced more cost effectively.

Thought you may be interested to visit and have a read about the boxes. I can't guarantee orders that are placed as I have asked him for one myself but still don't have it!
Thank you for the link, those boxes look really good! I hope you get yours soon.

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africamfan
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Yesterday I noticed the Starling that is nesting in the roof of my house was sitting for a long time - at least ten minutes,right outside the entrance to the nest and he looked to be waiting/looking for something.
I don't know if male or Female - how do you tell the difference from a distance ?? But either way, I got the impression that it was waiting for its mate to return with food, either for itself of for chicks. Today I have only seen the Starling once. I hope it and its family are ok.

Here, hopefully, is a sequence of photo's of the Starlings behaviour while it was waiting around. Pics are not very clear as taken through a window and zoomed in. The 4th photo shows her?him laying down very low in the guttering as if not wanting to be seen but at the same time not wanting to go elsewhere out of view.
Also, in the photo showing its head peering into the nest, I don't think it had any food in its beak before doing that as I was watching it for quite a long time and I didn't see anything.
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africamfan
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This afternoon I went for a walk over the farmland where my husband Sam keeps his JCB digger. He wanted to get it ready for work tomorrow after his week away from work. The farmer has given me permission to walk anywhere I like, within reason of course. I saw and heard a bird that I didn't recognise. I did manage to get quite close and the photo's could have been great but the leaves kept blowing around in the way.
I expect the bird is quite well known to many here but not to me, I have no idea what it is. The colouring was quite distinctive,as if it was split in 3 sections, a grey head, brownish back and black in the tail.

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