Blackbirds and Busy Lizzies.

I've had a trio of young blackbirds, in the garden, feeding on mealworms which I've put out.

Recently, under one of my Callistemons, I planted out some New Guinea Impatiens, which were devastated by slugs, (or so I thought). Sitting in my conservatory, last weekend I happened to notice one of the young blackbirds pecking the leaves and unopened buds off my Impatiens. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!!

Goodness, that's very impolite of them!
I've seen sparrows at the crocuses and pigeons on the cabbages, but haven't ever come across balckbirds with a taste for impatiens. What a shame. Can you cage the plants or something until they get bigger?

Fortunately said blackbirds have now fully fledged and gone off to annoy someone else. I hope!

Whew, that's a relief. Hopefully they have now graduated to worms - or, even better, slugs!

I've not seen them do that either, perhaps it's just your blackbirds ;)

We have trouble with the yellow flowered early spring plants, seems the birds pick on those the most. The bolackbirds around here are nesting again, one was watching me walk by with her beak full of dried grass.

The blackbirds in my garden are busy feasting on the Mahonia berries just now, but none seem to have raised any young yet. The Magpie took a nest full of fledglings from the hedge yesterday, so that pair will have to start again poor things. I had heard that nasty rattling noise the magpie makes, but wasn't sure where it was until it was too late.

We are also over run with cats. My cat, Blossom, has got a taste for Dunnocks at the moment. We are now reduced from three pairs to one and two halves since she had two in two days. I tried to get one off her, but she took it under a bush and ate it, then sicked it up outside the backdoor. Horrid creature. She also likes to sleep upside down.

We'd had a bit of a downpour late this afternoon so it was wet when Bo and I went for our evening constitutional. Bo wandered off and trod on something that shrieked loudly. I thought it was a mouse at first so I went to see if it was OK, only to find a fledgling tit bird, soaked to the skin and caught up on some weedy things.

I was unsure what to do, if I was sensible I'd have left it there for nature to run it's course but not being terribly sensible I picked it up and carried it home, the least I could do was to allow it to die dry and warm, rather than soaked and freezing. I set it in an old towel all bunched up, and it started to dry out nicely. It's in the front room at the moment in Beetle's large house cage, it was almost dry and had it's head tucked back, asleep standing up when I last saw it so I may be having to look for a wildlife rescue place tomorrow.

This has meant that the two cats are still out, Rosie came back and I let her in the kitchen but since she has me listed as the bane of all felines called Rosie everywhere she decided to go back out again. No doubt at 3am a pesistant whinging meow will go on until I get fed up enough to go and open the door and go through the rigmarole of trying to look as though I'm unaware that she has crept in. Tabby may or may not be with her. I don't like them being out all night, I like to know where they are and I dn't feel it's particularly good for the local wildlife but until we can find a suitable tether.............!

Hi Baa. If the tit is a fledgling it will call for its parents and they will feed it. One plan would be to return it near to where you found it and see what happens. mum and dad may take over.
Tits go around in a family group for quite a while after the young leave the nest.

I've often seen various birds packing at my plants, and was never sure what they were doing, looking for insects, or just pulling off the buds for the sherr hell of it.

Luckily our last remaining cat Gizmo, is now too old and decrepid to chase any form of wildlife , it's as much as he can do is to sit on the patio table and snicker at them ..

My garden at the moment is swarming with frogs, we've been sat out on the patio the last few evenings, and frogs have been crawling out from the pots/plants etc, they even walk accross your feet if you sat still enough, something my hubby wasn't too keen to do!..

Our blackbird that was nesting obove the garage dorr seems to have lost their babies, there was a lot of commotion out in the garden the other day,I could hear the Magpies going, so maybe they got them, poor things.

Hows the baby bird Baa? still o.k.

Thanks Philomel I'll know better next time!

Rosie did indeed start whining to come in at 3am and then continued to whine after she was let in, all night! I'm so cross with her but it feels silly to be cross with someone for being who they are. I shouldn't pander to her, letting her in at that time but I'm a light sleeper and it grates on my nerves, not that leaving her outside last night would have made the blindest difference!

That said I won't make Rosie the excuse for what happened this morning. She'd been going on all night so I ran down the stairs this morning to find one whinging cat at the kitchen door, one at the back door and a present no one wants. After clearning it up, letting out one cat and letting in another I went in to see how the little bird was doing. It did survive the night but wasn't in it's cage, it was just inside the doorway ........... I'm sorry to say that I trod on it quite by accident and the poor bird died very quickly.

I feel absolutely dreadful about it and we had a small funeral, the poor little chap is now buried under St Francis.

Almost as bad, and since I'm in a confessing mood... Last year we used some of those wildlife friendly, only kills molluscs type of pellets and within a short time 10 frogs had died. I dread to think how many other creatures did too as we have two pairs of blackbirds among other birds nearby, the occasional slowworm and toad. Has anyone else used these kind of things and had the same happen.

Oh Debby, so sorry about your accident, I do know how awful you must feel. I ran over a badger recently and still have goosy bump moments over it, though I couldn't possibly have avoided it.

I thought I was going to have another sad tale too with the hens. I heard a chich cheeping very loudly and went to investigate. Somehow it had got into a water dispenser and couldn't get out. It was so chilled it couldn't use its legs! I dried it hurredly and gave it back to foster mum, but rather than brood it back to warmth she didn't seem to recognise the floundering pathetic thing and attacked it. I took it away and put it under my brooder lamp til it was warm, fluffy and running around again. I was very hesitant about reintroducing it to the mum, but now that it was back on its feet and able to run after her all was well and now it's back with its fellow hatchlings. Whew

Pest about the cats - but as you say, they can't help being them lol.......