Miss Hedgepenny's World

Just how hard can it be?

2011-09-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

I really ought to be updating about the happenings in the garden but that will have to wait. I just must get this off my chest. It's one of those stories that could only happen in this house. No one else has things like this happen, I am sure we must live on a ley line or something. Mind you that would be this house and the last which would be too much of a coincidence really. Anyway, this is what happened yesterday...

We have been trying to sell our camper van on EBay. We listed it for 7 days with a start price of 99p and a reserve. Naturally we got all the usual stupid questions about what is the reserve, do we have a buy it now price, will we take cash today, why has it been raised (it hasn't you moron its a 4x4) where is the cooker (look in the pic) and all sorts of other rubbish that I can't even remember now. Lots of people were very interested and wanted to buy it now but we decided to leave the auction to run. True to form all of the people who were so desperate to buy it today didn't even bother to bid. That's what bugs me about EBay, there are so many tyre kicking time wasters. So the auction ended and the van hadn't reached reserve so we were pretty cheesed off because as much as we love the van we are not using it and it's going rusty with this salty air here in Norfolk. We want to use the money to buy a boat which we should get more use out of.

Next day The Hairy Person got a phone call on his mobile. "Hello, my name is (something unpronounceable) I live in Poland and I want to buy your van". Erm OK so how are you going to do this? Turns out he intends to fly into Norwich airport buy the van and then drive it back to Poland!!! Honestly we thought it was a wind up. He said he would let us know when he had a flight. We didn't really expect to hear from him again. But on Monday he rang saying he was flying in on Thursday and would be with us mid afternoon, could we pick him up from a local rail station. Erm...yeah OK we can do that.

So Thursday arrives and we are still wondering if this is actually going to happen. Poland is a very long way to come to buy a camper van! The phone rang about half three, he was at the station so Hairy set off to pick him up. He took the camper so Polish man knew who he was. They arrived back at four o'clock and set about going over the van, explaining how things worked and where things were. Then Polish man wants a test drive. The trouble is he has never driven right hand drive before or driven on the left! Hairy said he had the ride of his life with Polish man almost putting them in the ditch at the side of the road at least twice. He looked very pale under his usual coating of oil and grease when they finally came indoors to complete the paperwork.

It was then that Polish man dropped his bombshell. In his broken English he announced that he needed insurance to drive the van. Erm...wouldn't it have been a good idea to sort that out before you left Poland? Then he asks if he can use Hairy's insurance for a day. Erm NOOOO! The next two hours (yes, TWO) were spent with him on the PC and ringing his wife in Poland trying to sort out insurance for one month. The cheapest he could find was £800...for a month! After about half an hour I had to run away, I made an excuse that I needed mushrooms and legged it to the shop, I couldn't stand it any more. It was still going on when I got back and I was informed that he was going to put the insurance at this address and we would pay for it on our card. Are you mad, Hairy, I asked!!!

Eventually we convinced him that his Polish insurance should cover him to drive it. Whether it did or not we didn't actually care because we were starting to lose the will to live at this point. After another conversation with his wife in Poland he was happy with that so we started filling in log books and the horrible form he had downloaded as a bill of sale which was in both Polish and broken English.

Finally at about seven o'clock we made it outside for him to drive away with the van. Then he drops his next bombshell. He intends to drive to London in it (120 miles) to meet his friend at an unspecified train station so his friend can drive it through London because of all the traffic. The trouble was he had no map. Honestly, hells teeth...no map!!! A friend of ours had turned up meanwhile and had been waiting about half an hour and he gave Polish man his own atlas just to get rid of him. You can imagine things were getting pretty desperate by now.

Eventually just to get rid of him Hairy drove our car with him following as far as the main 'A' road which is about 15 mins away. Then they guy points to his newly acquired map and tells us he will pull over on the M11 and ring his friend!!!! EEK oh no you won't matey! Hairy ended up going into the petrol station with him, helping him fill up and pay and buy some food and drink before setting off to meet his friend at Redbridge

It was quarter past eight by the time Hairy got home. Four hours to sell a vehicle. It has to go down as the most traumatic sale we have ever done and we have sold 100's of cars over the years. I was starting to think I was going to end up having Polish man stay the night. At one point I was hissing at Hairy 'He is not staying in our spare room OK!' Hairy said he would have to sleep in the camper van on the drive! I had a visions of me taking him a fried breakfast on a tray in the morning.

We were paranoid all evening, or what was left of it anyway that we were going to get a phone call to say he was lost, or crashed. I half expected to have customs and excise on the doorstep...or Interpol or the drug squad! What a night!

Introducing Baby Sparky!

2011-08-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

Sparky is growing fast. He is already about 2/3 size of a full grown dove. These littlies grow so fast. He is pretty much white now too, that didn't take long either. It was less than a week ago he was growing his little pin feathers. It's good that he has his feathers because they will keep him warm now that Esme is not sitting on him much. Mind you he is so big it would be hard to sit on him!

Baby's first photo!

We are NOT amused!

2011-08-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

We had an unusual visitor today. There are lots of rabbits out in the wood but they never venture into our garden. When it snowed I went out a little way into the wood, only a few yards and there were bunny prints everywhere but none at all in our garden. The snow is good for providing evidence like that. Anyway today there was a lovely flopsy bunny in our garden pootling about as bunnies do. We were so pleased to see him and were watching him out of the window saying things like "Ah isn't he cute", well I was anyway. Suddenly Rosie came into view, running at full speed with wings a-flapping, charging like a bull at the poor bunny. Naturally upon seeing the chooky apparition bearing down on him he turned and ran for cover. Rosie of course looked very pleased with herself and strutted about like a conquering hero clucking her head off. Obviously she didn't want bunnies in her garden!

The reason for Rosie's stroppy mood could have been the weather. It was foul this morning, absolutely teaming with rain. I had to don full waterproofs to go out there and let them out, feed them and poo pick the house. Not a pretty sight at 7am I can tell you. They were all very put out when I let them out. They poked their heads out very tentatively, peering about as if there was something really wrong with their world. You would think they had never seen rain before! Then they came down the ladder making scolding clucks as if it was all my fault and they were telling me off. They were definitely not amused!

A guest for breakfast!

2011-08-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

The doves brought a new friend home to play this morning. I had just got up and was outside feeding them and the chooks and thought to myself 'There are too many there'. A quick count up revealed seven birds not including Sparky. I ran indoors and grabbed my binoculars for a closer look and found that sure enough there was an extra bird on the bird table. He is smallish, looks quite young and has some dark patches on his head and back, so not quite pure dove but with a bit of feral in there somewhere. I knew that Hairy Hubby wouldn't be too amused that a mixed bird might be joining the flock (he wants them all pure white) so I decided to tell him that the new boy was a bit grubby. Sadly he didn't fall for that one and knew right away that they were darker patches not dirt. Luckily he didn't go too mad about it. I had visions of him running outside scaring the new boy off. It will be interesting to see if he hangs around, the new boy that is, not Hairy.

Sparky seems to be doing well. I heard him squeaking today for the first time. Usually he just sits there quietly but Esme was on the nest so he was probably harassing her fro more food. You can see his back quite well from the ground now he is getting bigger and starting to grow feathers. I reckon another week and he will be pretty much white. I just love Pidgie babies, they are so much fun!

At lunchtime I was thrilled to see Davey (Daisy) collecting nesting material. He and May have been 'doing the do' a lot lately so I was hoping for the patter of tiny claws. My elation was quickly doused when he flew off with the nesting material, over the house and over the road. What a cheek! The little traitors are nesting on the neighbours house! I was gutted. Heartbroken in fact. I should have expected it really but I just prayed they would come home to breed. I suppose really they live over there but just come here to feed and hang out occasionally. I wish there was something I could do to get them to come home. I keep dropping very loud hints to Hairy Hubby about making another dovecote. Maybe if there was an extra one which didn't have the resident Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey breeding in it they would feel more at home. Sadly my very subtle hints ("You need to make another dovecote") went unheard. It seems that The Hairy One is suffering from that deafness which so often occurs at awkward moments like when their other half asks them to do something....

The almost baby snatcher!

2011-08-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I was concerned that Esme wasn't keeping her baby warm. I couldn't get hold of Owlmomma for advice (she was on the phone giving advice about a crippled pigeon) and I was due to leave to go to The Haven for the day. I made a decision to take the baby out of the nest and take him into The Haven to be cared for. However, after lugging a solid wood garden chair down to the bottom of the garden so I was tall enough to look in, I found that the dear little fella was as warm as toast and looking pretty good. He was getting his pin feathers all over his body and was so cute he melted my heart. I popped him back in the nest and rang Eaglebeard for advice. After some discussion we decided to leave the little guy in his home and just keep an eye on Esme. He said it sounds like our little cutie is big enough to be left for a while by his mum. All I can say is thank heaven that I didn't take him out! I'd have been a real life baby snatcher. Poor Esme has waited all this time for her baby and I almost took him away and wrongly accused her of child neglect! Ohhh the shame and guilt of it all! Now that I have met him properly I have given the little guy a name. He will be called Sparky. I had actually chosen it a week ago but didn't want to risk naming him officially till I knew he had a good chance of survival. Cross everything for him!

Action Dog's paw seems better now. It was much less red yesterday morning and looked like something had deflated, there was a sort of burst blister looking patch. She was still a bit hoppy in the morning but better by evening when I got home so I was happy not to take her to the vet. I can only think that she had been stung by some rabid insect in the garden. She has been stung by red ants before but that was no ant sting!

I caught Ivy taking a paddle in the dove's bathwater today. She was just standing there up to her ankles looking very pleased with herself. Naturally as soon as she saw that I was there with camera in hand she got out fast and walked swiftly away like a pop star being papped! I did manage one spectacularly bad pic from a distance, it's zoomed right in so very grainy.

Ivy having a paddle

Munchhausen's by Pet?

2011-08-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

Blossom's limp seemed much better yesterday and today when she got up there was no trace of it. What a relief that was. It was so nice to see them all healthy and happy trotting round the garden. All was well in my chooky world. At least for a little while.

I went out for most of the day today. Shopping, which is not something I enjoy much but it had to be done. When I got back Hairy Hubby was screaming his tractor mower round the back lawn and making quite a good job of it. Oh good less chicken poop for me to pick up in the morning. Yipeee! As soon as he saw me he stopped and turned it off. I knew that had to be a bad sign, it takes a lot to separate that man from his mower! He told me that the as yet unknown new next-door-neighbour had knocked to tell us that all our chickens were in her garden. She didn't mind but thought we ought to know. Oh great! Two questions...how did the little s*ds get in there? and how was I going to get them out again? So there was me out in the wood with a jug of corn clucking my head off trying to get the little devils to come home. Then I realised that they were actually really agitated because they wanted to come home but couldn't find the way out! New tactics were obviously required!

After a sneaky wander around their perimeter fence I found a little part of the wire I could lift up a bit. So praying they wouldn't see me vandalising their fence I pulled it up, rattled my jug of corn and clucked like mad. Luckily the chooks got the idea and all but two came under the fence and into the wood quite quickly. Bessie and Wild Child (Maggie) took a bit longer. I had to walk away to get Wild Child back because she refuses to come within five feet of me! Eventually she followed the other girls and I piled a load of twigs and branches over the hole at the bottom of the fence so that a) they don't get in there by that route and b) the neighbours don't see what I did!

Flushed with success I went in to cook dinner only to spot that Action Dog has gone lame. She was fine this morning and I am sure was fine when I came home. Hairy says all seemed well all afternoon but suddenly she was hopping on three legs and looking very sorry for herself. On close inspection she has a great big red lump between two toes. The worrying thing is that it's on her bad foot, the one she had a toe amputated from earlier this year. I am hoping and praying (yes bigtime) that it is a sting of some sort. That's all I can think because surely she wouldn't have suddenly started limping like that if it had been there before. It would have shown itself before this. If it's still bad in the morning she is going to see the vet, no question. I'd have been tempted to take her tonight but it was too late by the time I spotted it. Why on earth don't they sell Calpol for dogs? You can give your child mild pain relief but not your pet. It does make me cross. There are no first aid creams either. So all I could do was bathe her paw in salt water which she didn't seem to mind too much luckily.

While all this was going on I noticed that Esme was off her nest. So with Action Dog under my arm I went down for a peek to see who was in there. I can confirm that there is one baby who seemed to be just getting his pin feathers on his wings. During all the drama of worrying and paw bathing I noticed that Esme was spending some time on the lawn. Too much for my liking and I was starting to get a bit worried. After far too long for comfort she got back on so I left well alone. I find it hard to believe that she sat on a dead egg yet left her baby for so long. Hopefully he didn't get too cold. I will check on them in the morning.

So that's my dramatic day. Honestly I think someone is going to accuse me of having Munchhausen's by Pet!

I should be bald really...

2011-08-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

It's been an 'interesting' few weeks. Good things and bad things have happened but it's certainly never been boring. The big news is that the newbies have moved into 'The Big House' which is great because it saves me a whole lot of poop cleaning with them all in one place. It happened naturally which is so much better than me trying to force the issue. I opened up the big house one morning, went to open the rabbit hutch and let the new girls out and realised that Bessie and Queenie were already behind me! Only Maggie and Victoria were in the rabbit hutch, no doubt enjoying the space but wondering if they were missing anything at the sleepover which was going on in the big house. So I decided that I would keep the rabbit hutch locked up and hope they would all go in together that night which they did. Maggie and Victoria weren't too amused, Maggie in particular was running all round the rabbit hutch trying to find a way in but when it started to get dark she just went up to bed with the other girls. Problem solved; well one of them anyway!

The next problem was getting them to lay in the big house like grown up girls. I kept weakening and opening the rabbit hutch in the morning to let them in because the sight of them all running up and down with their legs crossed needing to lay an egg made my eyes water. One morning I opened the door to see if there were any eggs and found Bessie and Maggie both in there with Snowdrop crushed up against the wall behind them! She had been taking a great interest in her old home and had been in to have a nosey round a few times. She must have snuck in there and got caught in the act and not liked to move incase the other girls noticed her in there. She had a very worried look on her face, it did make me laugh. She hasn't done it since! Bessie started laying in the big house on her own after I overslept one morning (bad chicken owner!), and let them out a bit late. This morning I decided enough was enough and just left the rabbit hutch closed. I made a point of not watching and the result was that everyone laid in the big house. Big phew from me!

Rosie became ill last week. She was very hunched and had an upset stomach (yes I know there is a proper word for it but I can't spell it ok?) She was still eating and drinking which was weird. I took her to see Owlmomma on Tuesday and she told me Rosie is as thin as a rake and put her on antibiotics. So poor Rosie spent the last five days in a puppy cage on the porch of the summerhouse. She could have wandered about but I needed to keep an eye on her poops plus I had such trouble catching her in the first place I wasn't going to let her go. It took me about 15 mins of chasing her round the garden throwing my coat over her to finally snare her. I kept telling her she was meant to be ill but she wasn't listening and ran like a greyhound. So anyway,I am waffling, she had to live in the cage and I had to inject her once a day. She seemed better within a day or so and has now finished her meds and is wandering round free and keeping right out of my way.

A couple of funny things happened while Rosie was in the cage. The first time I gave her a jab I had her on my lap wrapped up in a towel. She wasn't too amused and was clucking and wriggling. The next thing I knew Ivy who is not a touchy feely chicken at all had jumped up on my knee. That seemed to calm Rosie down and then Ivy jumped off. I can only think she was concerned about her friend because she spent most of the five days of Rosie's confinement sitting with her. It was really heartwarming to see. I had to laugh at Rosie this afternoon, you would think she would be sick of the sight of that cage but no there she was sitting inside it with the door open having a siesta with Ivy keeping watch over her. Chickens are strange creatures.

I've just had Hairy Hubby come in and tell me that Blossom has a limp. Honestly these birds give me stress, I have just got one right and another one is giving me worry. If I have to catch her up and treat her it will be a nightmare because I have never managed to lay a finger on her since the day I brought her home. The only thing I can think to do is wait till she has gone to bed tonight, grab her out of the coop and bring her indoors for a good look at it. Hopefully she has just jumped off something and given it a jolt. She was fine at lunch time.

First some good news. Mr and Mrs Harry Lovey-Dovey are proud to announce the hatching of their new baby. At last Esme's hard work has paid off! We were becoming very worried about her because she had been sitting for weeks even though I had removed the no good egg. We were thinking about blocking the nest hole to get her to come out and behave normally. I had made enquiries if I could buy some fertile dove eggs to pop under her like you do with a broody chicken but there seem to be none available. Last weekend Hairy was down there and shooed her off the nest to give it a double check before we blocked it and was shocked to find a tiny newly hatched chick. Talk about a surprise. Poor Esme she had finally become a Mummy and some hairy great human shooed her off it. As far as I know all is still well, she is sitting well (no change there, I think she will forget how to fly soon...) and Harry is taking food to them. I do hope all goes well, it would be great to have a new naturally reared bird in the flock.

The other drama is that Pinky went missing. Actually they all went missing for a day and returned without her. The really worrying thing was that May was as black as the ace of spades. It looked like she had been down a chimney or something. All her underwings were grey. As the days went by I became increasingly worried about Pinky and felt that something must have happened to her. I asked the new neighbours in the house they roost on (grrr) to keep an eye out for her and to let me know if they found her even if it was bad news. I even considered putting a missing ad in the local pet shop. Then yesterday she turned up as bold as brass as if nothing had happened. She landed on my head, pooped on it and flew to the bird table as usual. Heaven knows where she has been but I am very glad she is home. She really is a problem child!

So what with one thing and another it has been eventful. It's amazing I am not bald from tearing my hair out. Or maybe I will do that tomorrow....

Snowdrop popping into the kitchen for a visit

Blossom's Posse

2011-08-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

The newbies are settling in really well. Too well in fact, they keep roaming all over the wood and worrying the life out of me. They are far more adventurous than the ex-batts and Crazy have ever been. The other day they got stuck behind the one little bit of fence we do have and couldn't work out how to get home. The obvious answer would have been to walk round it but that soppy lot just stood there looking uncomfortable. In the end Hairy got a lump of wood and made them a bridge! Even that took some time for them to work out. I suppose I have to allow for the fact that they are babies really, only about four months old so this ole world is all new to them, but they do crack me up!

The past few days Blossom (Crazy Chook) seems to have decided that the new girls are her posse and she is going to be their leader. She hangs about with them all day. Not during the stuck behind the fence incident I hasten to add, even she has more brains than that. The five of them are like The A Team strutting round the garden like they own it. I feel a bit sorry for the ex-batts who seem to be staying out of their way most of the time. I even saw Bessie have a pop at Rosie today. I think there are big changes on the horizon, I just hope no one starts on poor little Snowdrop (yes I do have a very soft spot) because she has been through so much already.

The good thing is that they seem to be taming down a little now. Victoria is very friendly now and squats down in submission as soon as she sees me and lets me stroke her. Bessie and Queenie have done it a few times too. I even managed to pick Victoria and Queenie up today and they didn't seem too fussed about it. Maggie however is still very much a wild child and zooms off as soon as she sees my hand move. Maybe she and Crazy are kindred spirits because I still can't get near her either.

This ragged pile of feathers and dust is Snowdrop having a dust bath, not a dead thing on the lawn!

First Day of Freedom!

2011-08-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

First off, it's official, the new chooks have names. So now I can introduce, Queenie, the Sussex Ranger, Bessie the Amber Ranger, Maggie the Magpie Ranger and Victoria the Speckledy. It took me over a week to sort that lot out. I had loads of ideas but none of them fitted. In the end I let them be named whatever seemed right rather than trying to stick to the flower theme. I was never much for themes anyway, my brain is far too random for that. So far the only one who is remotely friendly is Victoria, the others freak when I go near them.

I let the new girls out to roam today. I had originally decided on tomorrow but as the weather is meant to be horrible then I thought I'd let them have their first day of freedom in the sunshine. They came out quickly. Almost as quick as Crazy Chook ran over there to see them. Honestly it was a top speed sprint accross the garden, that bird must have Ostrich genes in her somewhere, she is so fast! As predicted she had a bit of a pop at a couple of her new buddies. Bessie seems to be top of the hit list. Luckily so far at least it has just been a swift peck here and there, which is to be expected really so that's fine. I knew she would be the one who would follow them around because she was so interested while they were penned.

When they had been out for about an hour I sprinkled some corn for them all. I did it in two places so the two groups could eat side by side but without competition. Sadly the new girls didn't realise I had done this for their benefit and munched their way over to the other girls' patch. The next thing I knew Bessie and Snowdrop were having a bundle. Bessie was rearing up, stretching her neck to full length to be taller and Snowdrop was copying. Within about 10 seconds Snowdrop decided it was best not to take her on and trundled off clucking to herself. I imagine there was some very foul (fowl!) language being used if you could speak fluent chicken.

Apart from those few incidents so far so good. The next hurdle is bedtime. Hopefully the new girls will go off to bed without incident. The ex-batts and Crazy usually go a bit earlier than them which could work in my favour. Unless Crazy decides to sit up and annoy them instead of going to bed. I will find out in an hour or so.

The bad news this week is that Daisy has been confirmed to actually be Davey. He/She was seen strutting her stuff chasing the girls on the roof and there was no mistaking him for a boy. It's good in one way because it evens up the balance of males to females but its not good because he is in an incestuous relationship with his twin sister May. So no doubt any egg laying attempts will be a disaster. No change there then!

Doves, Chooks, Pen and Ink!

2011-07-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

Life has kept me away from my blog this past few days. Every time I thought, yes, sit down and update the news someone has called me away, or called me up or generally distracted me. It's all very inconvenient, you would think they would have more consideration for my literary (cough) needs. Anyway, onto the news...

Firstly Snowdrop is fine. I do apologise for not updating about her. I kept expecting to get frantic phone calls from well wishers requesting news. But no it looks like no one else is as sad as me and obsessed with my chickens! It turned out she was trying to lay again, poor love. When she got up the next day there was one of her little soft eggs sitting broken in the nest box. It makes me so sad to see them, thinking what the poor little thing has to go through to lay them and they can't even be eaten. I've got her on wet go-cat and cod liver oil as well as her layers mash and limestone flour now. I'm also worming all of them again. Just to be sure.

The new girls are settling in fine. They go to bed on their own now which was a big relief to me on their second night. They are pooping for England and it pongs. I mean the other chooks hum a bit but in a nice chooky sort of way. This is just plain nostril burning stench. I am hoping that it settles down when they are eating the same as the others cos it don't half pen and ink! It makes poo pick time most unpleasant. I have a few suggestions to try, live yoghurt being my favourite. I've always wanted to make my own yoghurt so now I have an excuse. I have named three of them but am still head scratching about the fourth. I did have a name but I'm not sure about it yet so won't officially announce their names till I have the full set.

The original girls are very interested in the newbies. They sit outside their pen clucking away. It was hilarious this morning to see little bullied Snowdrop squaring up to the Amber Ranger through the wire. I doubt she would be that brave without the wire though, the other hen was rearing up and trying to kick like a cock bird! Lets pray she is a hen shall we, the way my luck goes I will have four cockerels by mistake...

I have had some lovely moments with the doves recently. The other evening Pinky came and landed on my head which I love, it reminds me of when she lived indoors with me. She does it every few days or so but this time when I got her down onto my shoulder May came and sat on my head in her place. Then Daisy kept dive bombing her trying to knock her off so she could sit there. Needless to say I was loving the attention!

They still all roost over the road every night. It's driving me nuts. They spend lots of time here sitting in the tree behind the dovecote and on the bird tables but always vanish over there to roost. Last night I went over there at dusk and caught them out. I really don't know what they are up to, Daisy and May were sitting huddled together on a window ledge and one of the others (couldn't see who in the gloom) was sitting in one of the roof valleys. I imagine the others were tucked away somewhere out of view. They looked very embarrassed when they saw me! I can't imagine the new people putting up with birds on the window ledge at night and surely when it's occupied they won't like it so much. I just want them to come home!

"Come out and play with me"

Introducing The New Crew!

2011-07-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

We went and picked up our new chooks yesterday. In typical style nothing went smoothly, Hairy Hubby left it to the last minute to make their temporary run (again in true style) and had to go to Clacton (95 miles away) to pick up a car in the morning. Then he was late back because he got stopped by the police on the way home because they were pulling all the vans over for a check. THEN just as he started his phone rang and he got caught chatting for about 20 mins. Finally we had to leave the run almost finished to leave for our 4pm appointment in North Walsham at the breeders. After a massive Satnav moment giving us a lovely ride through every country lane between Stalham and North Walsham we finally arrived amazingly pretty much on time.

We chose four. A Magpie Ranger who is black with a bit of white on her front, a Speckledy who is grey with a bit of white on her front, a Sussex Ranger who is pretty much a smaller version of Crazy chook and an Amber Ranger who is a creamy colour. They are all almost at point of lay, two of them are 18 weeks and two 20 weeks. We finally managed to get them into their new home by about 7pm so they had some time to have a drink and something to eat before bed.

At first they wouldn't go to bed, they were still scratching about about an hour after the other girls had gone up to bed. Finally they decided to roost on top of the rabbit hutch which is their temporary home for a couple of weeks while they are in confinement. I couldn't leave them there because they would be too vulnerable so I waited till it was almost dark and went down to pop them into the hutch. They didn't appreciate it much and squawked madly at me, the little Amber even tried to peck me which none of my girls has ever done. But I had to get them in there fairly sharpish before they woke up properly or I would have been chasing them round the pen and as its only four foot high that wouldn't have been fun at all. Anyway I popped them into bed and all was quiet so I was confident they would be safe and happy for the night.

This morning they all came out ok so I hope they know where the bedroom is now although they have roosted on top of the box this afternoon for their siesta. I had one major hiccup when I was poo picking thier bed. I hadn't quite pulled the door of the run closed. It was shut at the top which is the only bit I can get a grip on (The Hairy One's wonderful design has some flaws) but there was a couple of inches left gaping at the bottom and I hadn't realised. Well the next thing I knew the Sussex and the Magpie were the wrong side of the wire. I managed to grab the wriggling swearing Sussex quickly and pop her back with her friends but the Magpie who is the most skittish of all of them was really tricky. In the end between the two of us we managed to herd her towards the door and she ran back in by herself. I'm still blaming his design even though I know I am a total donut for letting it happen!

Sadly since that incident and me popping them in bed last night they now all think I am the Big Bad Wolf coming to get them if I go in their run now they hide in the corner and freak if I go near them. I have to say I am gutted, I really want friendly hens who love me as much as I love them. They were nervy when they arrived but not this bad, I was at least able to touch a couple of them. I have been going down and chatting to them but they just give me bad looks as if I am public enemy No1. Maybe things will improve when they are free in the garden or maybe they will always run away from me like Crazy Chook does. Ex-Batts really do seem the most friendliest.

On a footnote I am slightly worried about Snowdrop, she has been fine all day but went into the coop a couple of hours ago and won't come out. I offered her Pigeon Conditioner seed (Dove food) which is their favourite treat but she just turned her nose up which is very unlike her. None of them can resist that seed because its someone else's dinner. Maybe she just doesn't like to eat in bed. I do hope so because she has been so well and happy.

L-R Speckledy, Magpie, Sussex and Amber (no real names yet)

A bit of a scare

2011-07-23T02:10:00.000-07:00

I had a bit of a scare the other day. When I went to put everyone to bed there were white feathers everywhere outside my back door. I looked up on the roof and there were feathers stuck to the cobwebs on the satellite dish too. My heart sank and I had a bit of a scout around for more evidence but as I didn't really want to see what might be there it was a bit of a half hearted affair. When The Hairy One arrived home after dark he spotted them straight away saying 'Have you lost one of your doves?' This of course took away any faint hope I might have had about my possible paranoia. If someone else thought it too it must be true. I went to bed with a heavy heart wondering who the casualty was and if they were sitting somewhere injured and needing help or if they had just been gobbled up for breakfast by Mrs Sparrowhawks babies.

The next morning I went outside, stepping carefully over the sad carpet of feathers wondering if I could con Hairy into sweeping them up because they were breaking my heart and I didn't want to do it. I looked up on the roof to see if any of the little rotters had come home for breakfast (they still roost on the house opposite, more about that later) to see all six of them sitting there cheerfully awaiting breakfast. I had to count them twice just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Then I noticed that a couple of them were preening and causing a flurry of feathers. They are moulting! All that worry for a moult!!

Hairy Hubby went over for a chat with the man who owns the house over the road that afternoon. He does not live there, it's just his half a million pounds worth of waterfront holiday home. He wants to live there but his wife won't (madwoman) so he has just sold it at auction. His first words to Hairy were 'Have you lost one of your doves?' Apparently there were feathers everywhere on his back door step! Upon closer inspection there was also piles and piles of splatty dove poop. To the degree that they have had to put a door mat down to cover it from house viewers eyes! Oooops! Maybe a canopy would be better incase said viewers look upwards and really get it in the eye!

My only worry now is what the new owners will think of having my six beloved white doves roost on their roof and splat all over their patio. If I am really lucky they might just gently shoo them off and my wayward teens will come home to live again. Worst case scenario is either they decide to build a dovecote for the lovely birds to live in or they harm them in some way to get rid of them. In either case there will be hell to pay if they do.

We are off to buy some new chickens later...watch this space for more drama cos you can bet it won't be easy!

Goodnight Primrose, sleep well angel

2011-07-17T01:45:00.000-07:00

We said goodbye to Primrose today. She died in the night snuggled up in the rabbit hutch. It wasn't a massive shock when I went to check on her this morning, I knew how ill she was last night. It's still a bit of a shock though because of all my four ex batts she was the most robust and in the best condition. She was the biggest bossiest girl in the flock, in the best condition and the undisputed Boss Chook. I never expected that she would be the first one to leave us.

I just checked back on my calender and Primrose came to live with us 11 weeks ago today. It seems a lot longer but it is there in black and white so it must be true. That means she had 11 weeks of freedom after the hell of living in a cage her whole life. 11 weeks to scratch about and feel the sun on her back. It wasn't long but I am glad I was able to give her that time. I read recently that battery hens are only kept for 18 months before they are 'disposed of'. That means Primrose was just one and a half years old, that's no age for a chicken.

My favourite memory of Primrose was the time I came indoors and found her in the doorway of my study. The cheeky madam had wandered in for a nosey about. When she saw me she legged it back down the hall but missed the kitchen doorway and ended up in the lounge where she led me a merry dance trying to catch her.

She was the Boss Chook, no doubt about that. She kept a close eye on all her ladies, making sure they all went to bed at night, sitting up until they had all climbed the ladder. I remember one night Blossom was faffing about and wouldn't go up. Primrose was sitting patiently waiting for her, almost falling asleep while she did. She looked so relieved when Blossom finally went up and she could go to bed herself.

She wasn't all nice, she bullied poor Snowdrop to the point where she left home for a while. It pleases me that they had made it up before Primrose died so they parted as friends. She also put Action Dog in her place on many occasions, especially if there was food about. She would peck Action Dog to make sure her ladies got all the food and the dog didn't steal any of it. She was always submissive to me though, squatting down when I went to pet her and eating corn from my hand.

We buried her in the wood today, wrapped in a yellow sheet to match the yellow ring she took her name from. I am going to miss seeing her running accross the garden, wings flapping, trying to respond to my call as fast as possible. I wonder who will keep everyone in order now she is gone.

Sleep well my angel.

Primrose

I'm not getting up tomorrow!

2011-07-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Its starting to get so I dread getting up in the morning. It's been a horrible wet day which only let up at late afternoon when it was far too late to be of use. I let the girls out as usual when I got up. Which was far too early I have to say. This letting the chooks out is knackering me. I'm losing an hours sleep every day. I don't function well on seven hours. Last night I got about six. Not good, at my age I need my beauty sleep! Anyway, when I let them out Primrose was quiet, she didn't come out right away but as it was pouring with rain and I was still 90% asleep I let her have the lie in I would have loved to have had. Later after a shower and some breakfast (my breakfast, I give them theirs when I get them up) I noticed that she was still quiet but was out under the Laurel tree with the others so I didn't think too much of it. This afternoon she was very withdrawn. Hunched, eyes closed in a corner and had loose stools. To be honest she looked at deaths door. Panic started to set in. I brought her indoors to the summerhouse and put her into Snowdrops old rabbit hutch to keep her warm and dry.

I made an executive decision to give her some of Owlmomma's antibiotics. I was seriously concerned that the soft egg she laid yesterday left some deposits inside her and turned nasty. With the words 'Egg yolk peritonitis' ringing in my ears I brought her into the kitchen and jabbed her. It was Snowdrop's needle but thats the only one I had so needs must and all that. She lay in my lap motionless while I did it. Bearing in mind that this is Boss Chook who is very feisty that was not good news at all. She seemed in far worse shape than Snowdrop had been. I also gave her a couple of millilitres of water by syringe because I've not seen her drink all day. That woke her up! She was not amused at all when I stuck they syringe down her throat and wriggled and squirmed. She looked a bit brighter when I checked on her a little while ago but I could very well be clutching at straws. She went and hid in the sleeping compartment which means she now hates me cos I did bad things to her. At this rate they are all going to hate me cos I have done bad things to all of them now!

Add to all this the fact that I managed to put my watch through the washing machine while washing the jeans that Primrose pooped all down when she as having her meds it wasn't the best of days today. There is some good news though, the doves are all fine but Esme is still sitting on her empty nest sporadically, Snowdrop seems fine, oh and I made a pukka chocolate cake! But I am still not getting up tomorrow morning, I am having a day off from disasters and stay in bed all day eating my chocolate cake. Ok so I don't mean it but I can dream can't I?

A purely gratuitous flower pic just to end on something nice

State of play today

2011-07-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Snowdrop has been up and about all day. She has rested a few times but as she is full of antibiotics thats not surprising, they make me feel like death warmed up too. Actually I am allergic to most of them so am being really careful not to stick myself with the needle. The worst one was when Action Dog was on them and I had to crush the tablets and pop them on her tongue. It's the only way I can get tablets down her because she can't spit them out if they are powder. Anyway, one night she sneezed as I put the dust on her tongue and I got a face full. Oh was I paranoid that my face was going to swell up and I would look like Shrek. Antibiotics are wonderful things but they just don't agree with me. Anyway, I am waffling as usual and not getting to the point which is not good as this is only the first paragraph! To sum it up I am feeling increasingly encouraged by Snowdrop's progress. I didn't hear any sounds on her chest today but the washing machine was on and that might have masked it. To be honest I am doing everything I can so I am feeling that ignorance is bliss and I don't want to know what her chest sounds like!

Primrose had some trouble this morning. I noticed she had a bit of a runny bottom and that she had something nasty looking dangling from it. I won't put anyone off their tea and describe it. I went and got my rubber gloves (thank you to whoever invented them), grabbed her, tucked her under my arm and had a good look at the area in question. What I found was a soft egg shell half in and half out of her vent. I wasn't really sure whether to leave it alone to come away naturally but in the end I decided to gently pull and see if it came out, which it did. It was all rather gory and a bit bloody, poor girl. When I went to clean the coop I could see where she had laid the egg because there was some watery blood and the contents of the egg on the floor. I was happy that it hadn't broken inside her because that would cause peritonitis and she would probably die. At least now I know who is laying the other soft eggs. I've ordered some Cod Liver Oil from my friendly local pet shop. It's meant to help with calcium absorption. Cross everything!

I was advised last night by Owlmomma to remove Esme's egg for her own good. I felt like a baby thief when I dragged a kitchen chair down the the dovecote, She looked me in the eye as I climbed up and made me feel even worse. She didn't fly off when I slipped my hand underneath her into her nest (heck this is starting to sound like a bad porn story!) She didn't even peck me, just looked worried. I took her warm little egg away and she just sat and watched me. It was horrible. I was shocked when I saw the egg. It was tiny, half the size it should have been and the poor girl has sat on it hopefully for weeks trying to have a little baby. Honestly the whole thing broke my heart. To make absolutely sure I wasn't a child murderer I candled the egg, even though it was obvious there was no chick. Unless she had stolen a blue tit's egg that is. She is still sitting on the nest now. If she doesn't get off in the next few days I will have to shoo her off and pull the nest itself out which will make me a home wrecker as well as a baby snatcher.

On the left, Esme's tiny egg. On the right a dummy pigeon egg of the correct size.

A ray of hope

2011-07-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

My little madam has been much more active today, out and about with the other girls, scratching and munching bugs. She did go indoors once that I know of but it was pouring with rain so I don't blame her, I'd have gone in too if I had been out there! It is certainly heartening to see her acting more normally even though I still have concerns about the sounds on her chest. She hates having her injection but so far hasn't started running away from me when she sees me approaching with a towel to wrap her in!

Talking of the sounds on her chest I had a thought earlier. I can't hear the noise at all when I am in the garden, even if she is in my arms. You don't realise how noisy it is out there with the wind in the trees and the cars on the road at the front. This gave me a slight ray of hope that maybe, just maybe she has always had a wheezy chest and I just didn't know about it. Not ideal obviously but if the chest is normal for her then its not the cause of her being so withdrawn for the past few days. That would mean that seeing her trolling around the garden as if she doesn't have a care in the world means she is getting better. I may change my mind about all this tomorrow but at the moment its a happy thought and any happy thought is to be treasured!

The doves have been about more today, I think its due to the horrible wet cold weather. That high roof is very exposed so they are probably much more comfortable in their nice sheltered garden. I have said all along that they are like stroppy teenagers staying out late. Eventually all stroppy teens realise there is no place like home and nothing like Mum's cooking.

It's lovely to see the doves flying about and think to yourself that you knew them as little babies. Especially Pinky because she was so tiny when I took her from her abandoned nest. She still lets me pick her up and stroke her and has landed on my head a few times in the garden. Daisy and May are a little more reserved but I made a point of making them more independent than I did with Pinky. Sometimes I watch them fly and know they are doing it just for the pure joy of flying. They swoop and dive like jet fighters, circling round the roof and over the trees. They are getting on great with Harry, he is with them constantly. Poor Esme I wonder what she thinks about her husband going off and leaving her with the egg. I think I am going to have to take it away from her. Unless she has laid another it has been far far too long and no way is it going to hatch. The trouble is that she is always on the nest and I just don't have the heart to shoo her off and steal her little egg.

Snowdrop Update

2011-07-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

My relief was short lived. This morning Snowdrop didn't want to get up again. She only came out when I poked my head through the nestbox hole to see where she was. I took the opportunity to grab her and take her indoors to give her some calcium and antibiotics. My first time injecting a chicken. I'm not sure who enjoyed it least, her or me. She wriggled and I cringed. Actually it wasn't too bad for me, I found tube feeding Perky earlier this year much more scary, probably because he was so small and fragile. Mind you I had to put the syringe for the calcium so far down her throat to miss her tongue hole it was almost like tube feeding, and no, she didn't enjoy that either. I think my technique is not as practiced as Owlmomma's so it must have been like being treated by a junior doctor. Poor Snowdrop. What really worried me was that she seemed to have a click in her lungs and a little wheeze. It wasn't there yesterday. All I can say is thank goodness she is on antibiotics.

When I took her back to the coop area she had a few mouthfuls off food and went back to bed till early afternoon when she got up and wandered about the garden eating and scratching as if nothing had happened. Also I couldn't hear a wheeze or a click. I can't make it out. She put herself to bed early again tonight. It's obvious things are not right but I can't work out for the life of me what is going on. Maybe its morning sickness?

The lovely lady from Animal Tranquility sent her more Reiki today, I'm sure its that which is giving her the afternoon boost to come out and play. She has been so kind and supportive, she has chickens herself and knows how much they mean to their owners. The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me.

All the news, hot off the press!

2011-07-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well its been all go here lately. Some news in brief before the juicy bits.

Snowdrop is sleeping with everyone else EVERY night now. It may have helped that I kept the door locked on her rabbit hutch since she had that one sleepover! The rabbit hutch annex has now been removed so things are permanent!

Blossom (aka Crazy Chook) is laying at last. She only lays tiny eggs so far but they are eggs and things can only get better!

Hairy Hubby discovered that chopping down blackberry bushes is not a good idea if they have a wasp nest in them. I have never seen him move so fast. Much Piriton and antihistamine cream later he attacked the wasps in his own unique way using a can of fly spray with a nail banged in it. He threw it like a grenade and ran like hell. It worked though!

The big news is that my doves are free flying at last. I took the net off on Sunday and hoped for the best. It had been on for six weeks which is what the experts recommend but that didn't help me last time did it? They sat for a while looking bemused until suddenly WHOOSH they all took off together and few about. Pinky and Jed landed on my roof and stayed there all afternoon but typically Daisy, May and their new best friend Harry went and sat on the roof of the house opposite. Is this sounding familiar yet? They liked it so much they slept there for the night. And the next night. The little rotters only come home for something to eat! They treat this place like a hotel!! Admittedly the house opposite is worth half a million plus and has views of the Broad but thats not the point, the ungrateful little things! Seriously though, although they roost over there they seem to spend the afternoons chilling out in the big Sycamore behind the dovecote and have played on my lawn a few times too. And been chased off by Crazy Chook who seems to object to any bird being on HER grass especially if they are white like her. I am hoping that they will soon realise the roof over the road is not as warm and comfy as their nice dovecote and come home at nights. The dirty stopouts!

Snowdrop was poorly yesterday. She wouldn't get out of bed and when she did she hid behind a flowerpot. I had a feeling she was trying to lay one of her soft shelled eggs and looked up the treatment for eggbound hens. This gave me a happy afternoon of bathing, steaming and rubbing olive oil into a chickens bum. I found the latter a bit odd because I have rubbed olive oil into so many chickens bums but always eaten them afterwards. But let's not go there... Anyway this morning she wouldn't get up again till Rosie booted her out because she likes to have the whole place to herself when she lays her egg. I think Rosie is the only one who lays every day actually. I thought Snowdrop looked a bit more lively but she still went right back in the coop when Rosie came out so I popped her in a recycling box and took her off to The Haven with me. Conveniently it was my regular day there anyway. It makes a change for one of my birds to do something at a convenient time.

Owlmomma gave her some oral Calcium and an antibiotic jab just incase. She seemed a bit brighter after that and enjoyed ten minutes or so wandering round the hospital trying to terrorise Acorn the Little Owl who is so unbelievably cute that he has never had anyone be mean to him before in his life. He actually spend half the day sitting on my foot playing with my shoes while I was working. I kept expecting him to nip my toes but luckily for me he didn't, unlike Sid the Parakeet who tried to take a chunk out of my finger! Anyway, I am waffling, I must get back to the point. Now Snowdrop is home she seems pretty much back to normal. She is walking round the garden with the others and feeding happily. I have to say I am relieved. I still have to give her Calcium drops once a day and (oh lucky me) an antibiotic jab for the next five days. I can't say I am looking forward to that but after all my years or ear piercing and electrolysis I think I will cope. Snowdrop was also lucky that an animal healer sent her lots of Reiki. I am positive this helped her loads too. How lucky am I to know kind people who will help my baby girl?

Crazy Chook, the poser

Snowdrop, aww bless!

Have I cracked it?

2011-06-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

I had a shock waiting for me when I tucked my chooks up into bed the night before last. Snowdrop's rabbit hutch was empty. I momentarily panicked, where was she? Had she gone off somewhere and got lost? Had she been spirited away by a rustler? After panic came logic. I had a spark of an idea. But surely not! I tentatively opened the door of the big chicken coop and there she was. Sitting happy as you like snuggled in with the other girls! Honestly you could have knocked me down with a feather. I was so happy it was like my prayers had been answered. Little Snowdrop felt able to join in with the others again. I had been thinking for a week or so now that maybe it might be a good time to try her back with the other girls but wasn't sure how to go about it. Thankfully my little darling had made the choice for me.

Last night I sat out and watched as they started their bedtime preparations. It's quite nice sitting in the garden in the evening with a can of cider and some incense burning. Smothered in insect repellant naturally! Rosie and Ivy went up the ladder first. Blossom went up, came back down and faffed about as is her usual habit. Snow drop sat mournfully by the closed door of her rabbit hutch looking very put out. Occasionally she wandered up and down the length of her little home looking for a way in. Me and my can of Strongbow felt very sorry for her and more than a little bit guilty. Blossom went up again and stayed there. Snowdrop stood up and toddled over to the ladder. Would she or wouldn't she. Primrose was feigning sleep so was not intimidating her which was good. Finally after a tense five minutes Snowdrop climbed the ladder up to bed with the others. This seemed to wake Primrose who followed up behind her. My cup runneth over. Have I cracked it? I will see in a little while when I go to tuck them in for the night. I do hope I will not be playing 'Hunt the Snowdrop' by torchlight later on this evening!

Not eggsactly what I had hoped for

2011-06-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

The news isn't good. Esme Lovey-Dovey has spent most of the day off her nest. The egg isn't going to hatch. I can't blame her not sitting there any longer, she has devoted several weeks of patient attention to her little egg, she must be sick and tired of sitting in that hole all alone. I know that Harry is a new man since she came out. He is with her all the time giving her love and attention. He hasn't sat with the others at all today. He must have been very lonely with Esme out of action. Mind you I imagine thats the same excuse a lot of men use when they eye up other girls! I am disappointed though, I had been hoping a new life would begin in my garden. It would be nice to see my birds successfully raise a chick and see it fledge and grow up. Other people have a problem with overbreeding, I just can't get the little rotters to hatch anything. I have started to wonder whether they inbred too much at their old home. It was a large flock but you could see the potential for a bit of incestuous behaviour. Maybe that's why dear little Perky was a sickly lad.

My little flock of chooks seem to be pulling together more as a group. Snowdrop is hanging out with the others much more regularly. I am hoping that maybe next week I will start popping her in to sleep with the others once it's dark. I'd like her to get used to sleeping with them before winter sets in, I think she will be cold in her rabbit hutch all alone. Primrose and Rosie do still have a peck at her every now and again but it's not bullying like it was, it's more keeping order. They do it to Blossom too. Mind you so does Snowdrop!

The Hairy One is on about getting some more birds from one of his customers. As much as I would like more I still have reservations. It's me who has to deal with the chaos not him. He says I am too softhearted, which is probably true but these chooks do have a mind of their own and you have to account for that. Probably this time next week I will be posting pics of my new birds, I usually cave in and do what he wants. Plus it's ever so tempting!

Here come the girls...a purely gratuitous chook pic!

One egg is confirmed!

2011-06-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

I saw Mrs Esme Lovey-Dovey off her nest today. Twice. The first time she was on top of the dovecote flirting with Harry. I thought at first that Daisy had got out again but when I started walking down to check who was up there she flew quickly back to her nest. How awful that I had immediately thought it was Harry flirting with other women, as if he would do such a thing. Oh, yes, ok he is an awful flirt so that was the most likely scenario.

The second time I saw her she was on the bird table feeding. I have to say I was really glad to see that because I have not seen her leave the nest to feed for weeks. Common sense tells me she must have or she would be dead by now but I don't know when she does it. I took the opportunity to have a peek at her nest and I am happy to confirm there is one egg in there. She had been on there so long I was thinking there might be some babies but a lonely egg was all I saw.

These two sightings started me thinking that maybe she was going to give up on her brooding but she has been back sitting all day again. I still suspect the egg may be no good because it really has been weeks. HH and I have been discussing when she started sitting, he thinks its less time than me. I really wish I had kept up the garden diary I started in January. I suppose if there were some significance to her being off her nest could mean either that the egg is going to hatch soon or that she is starting to have doubts about it as I first thought. Knowing my birds its the latter. Only time will tell!

Two dramas in one day!

2011-06-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a day today. It started with our Grandaughter shouting that Action Dog had run off into the woods. What she didn't mention right away was that she was chasing Blossom the new white chicken. We managed to call Action Dog back but there was no sign of poor Blossom who appeared to have run off into the woods in panic. I found out later that the kids had been following her round the garden trying to stroke her so probably when Action Dog decided to chase her it was the final straw and she ran like the wind.

We searched everywhere but couldn't find her despite the fact that she is very large and pure white. I kept worrying that she would have run right into the depths of the forest and never find her way home. We warned Farmer Dan and The Gamekeeper to look out for her and went out for an hour to get some shopping.

When we came home she still had not come back in the garden. In my typical daft style I started asking the other chooks 'Where's Blossom?' As soon as she heard my voice the one and only Blossom came running at top speed out of the undergrowth and up to the little bit of fence behind the Chicken Housing Estate. I was so pleased not only to get her back but also to know that she knew my voice and even though she runs away from me obviously knew I meant safety and home. It took a few more minutes and a jug full of corn to show her the way back into the garden but thank heavens she is now home and safe.

We thought that was enough drama for one day but no, The Chooks had other ideas. After a very heavy shower which sent them all running for cover little Snowdrop was nowhere to be found. We were all searching the garden but she was nowhere to be seen. Only in this house could two chooks go missing in one day! In a flash of inspiration I thought 'surely she can't have got stuck behind my butler sinks?' I have four butler sinks on my patio with herbs growing in them. When we first got the chooks Rosie tried to get behind them and got into a pickle and had to be rescued. As I approached, calling Snowdrop's name I heard some quiet clucking. It sounded so pathetic I knew it had to be her. She has a very sweet pathetic little voice and I always know it's her behind me when I hear it. Sure enough the soppy bird had managed to get herself well and truly wedged behind a butler sink. She is the only one who is small enough to fit in there. I can only think she dived in there in panic with the rain. This is the first time they have ever seen real rain. Even using two hands I couldn't prise her out so I had to call Hairy Hubby to sift the sinks to get her out.

She seems fine now but wasn't very happy when I first got her out, she looked very sorry for herself. I think she had been behind there at least an hour. I gave her a cuddle and took her over to the food and in true style she scoffed for England! So now I have to go round checking for all places in the garden where a scared chicken could get stuck. Honestly I think I have the most complicated, accident prone birds ever!

Bed-hopping

2011-06-13T01:03:00.000-07:00

I will never understand my chooks. All this time little Snowdrop has gone to bed in her own private rabbit hutch quarters. Usually a bit before everyone else. She just sneaks off quietly and puts herself to bed. Then the others go up into their penthouse suite together a bit later.

Last night it was pouring with rain. When I looked out of the window to see how bedtime was proceeding and if it was time for me to go and lock them all in I saw that Snowdrop had as usual put herself to bed but that both Rosie and Ivy were in the outer section of the rabbit hutch des res sheltering from the rain. This was odd behaviour for a start but to make it even stranger Rosie was peering in at Snowdrop in bed. Were they jealous of her private little house? Were they doing it to annoy her? What would I find when I went to lock them in for the night?

What I found was Snowdrop and Ivy both in Snowdrop's bedroom settled down for the night. They weren't snuggled up together but they were fairly close cos there isn't that much space in a rabbit hutch. They looked cosy so I left them to it and shut them away. I wonder if Rosie would have stayed there too if there had been more room. I think Ivy outranks Rosie by being Boss Chook Primrose's best friend. Ivy doesn't chase Snowdrop nowadays, it's only Primrose and Rosie does when she feels like being annoying.

I'm not sure Snowdrop was too amused about the situation in the morning. When I went to let them all out Ivy was up and about on the outer part of the hutch (where Snowdrop usually is) but little Snowdrop was still in her bedroom, only coming out when she heard my voice. I wonder whether Ivy will sleep there again tonight or decide to go back to her friends. I have visions of going to put them away tonight and finding them all crammed into Snowdrop's little home and Snowdrop either in the corner looking very put out or in the main coop all alone having lost her home. We shall see!

The cute, the bad and the cheeky!

2011-06-12T11:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was quite eventful. Typically because I wasn't able to get on here and update right away I have forgotten half of it!

We had a little visitor yesterday morning. He wasn't totally welcome but he was very sweet. A little baby squirrel not long out of the nest. We had one at The Haven a few weeks ago who wasn't much younger. He held is little baby bottle of milk with his tiny hands. So sweet. Still don't really want him in my garden though because he will just grow bigger and become another or the legions who eat all my doves seed. They are costing me a fortune but more to the point my doves wake up to no breakfast!

The other adventure of the day was coming in from the garden to find that Primrose Chook had decided to come indoors for a nose about. Honestly those chooks are so nosey and she is the worst. I have caught them just inside the back door before and once I found Primrose in the kitchen but she had wandered right into the house and was having a good poke about. She took one look at me and knew she was in trouble so ran back down the hall, past the kitchen and into the Lounge. We had a lovely game of chase the chook round the room and under the table till I managed to shoo her out into the conservatory and back into the garden. Cheeky Madam!

Last night after dark our side floodlight came on. I shot over to the window because last time it happened there was a Hedgehog (the vicious variety which stalk HH) was running across the lawn. This time however the visitor was not so welcome. It was a large black cat, the first I have seen in the garden since moving in. I wasn't amused at all because my doves are under a net and if Mr Moggy decides to play with them they have nowhere to escape to. Rather worrying I think.

Updating all the drama and gossip

2011-06-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

Oh dear life became so complicated with Doves and latterly with Chooks that I got so behind with my blog that catching up seems like an enormous task. I will go for a very brief (you hope) review of recent events and dramas to bring things up to speed.

Firstly, Pinky. Pinky wasn't very happy outside all alone, she just wanted to come back indoors and be with me so I let her. The plan being that I would bring Daisy and May home and release them all together. They got on very well flying round my study (and pooping all over it) but one day I realised that Pinky wasn't looking too well so I took her into The Haven to let the expert have a look at her. We have no idea why but she wasn't eating and looked run down. I have jokingly called her anorexic but she was refusing to eat for no aparent reason. She stayed at The Haven a few weeks where Owlmomma hand fed her again until she was stronger. In that time she found herself a boyfriend. Another young dove who had been Sparrowhawked. She moved in with him and brightened up a lot. To cut a very long story short she is now living in my garden under a homing net with her boyfriend who I have called Jed. She seems healthy and is eating well but I noticed yesterday she is losing feathers on her face. I have no explanation and am rather worried but am praying its just a moult.

Daisy and May. They are living outside under the net with Pinky and Jed. They have been out about a fortnight longer and seem to be doing very well. I had a bit of a drama today when Daisy managed to get out of a hole in the net where Butterfly the Squirrel (cheers mate) had chewed his way in or out but after a couple of hours outside and a bit of a fly around she seemed very pleased to get back in the net with her sister. She was trying vainly to get through the mesh when I scooped her up and popped her back inside.

Mr & Mrs Lovey-Dovey. This lovely pair now have first names. They are now known as Harry and Esme. Harry bless him has spent the last three days or so breaking INTO the homing net. Yup, most other birds try to escape but Harry (Houdini) just keeps scrambling in through that dratted Butterfly's holes. I don't really mind but Esme is sitting on eggs, or maybe chicks and if he vanishes off round the corner and into the net she will abandon them. Personally I think he has a crush on May. He seems very interested in her. Poor Esme. Oh and she is called Esme because he is Harry Houdini and I used to have next door neighbours called Harry and Esme so named the birds in their honour.

On to the Chickens. Chicken Towers finally got finished and I went and collected four ex-battery hens from Little Hen Rescue. They have very different personalities and a little story each so I will introduce them individually.

First there is Primrose. She is the Boss Chook. She keeps everyone in line including other birds who land in the garden and poor little Lizzy dog. She scared Lizzy so badly earlier this week that she ran out of the garden, through Farmer Dan's yard, out into the street and up the road. Luckily a kind lady spotted her, stopped her car and grabbed her. I shudder to think what could have happened if she hadn't. I now have to be extra careful to make sure where Lizzy is. I think the problem was that The Hairy One was outside with her and when he came in the chooks were by the door so Lizzy was scared to go past them and got chased away. So I have to make sure she is always with me when I go indoors. I can't say I am happy about the situation.

Then there is Ivy. She is a lovey girl but has a wheeze. She is very good friends with Primrose and I like to think of her as the Lieutenant of the group. When she lays eggs they are long and thin!

Next is Rosie. She is in much poorer condition than Primrose and Ivy, she has a bald bum and raggedy wings. At first she was very easy to handle but after she developed a limp and I had to give her medicine by dropper twice a day she now runs a mile if I try to touch her. Poor love thinks I am going to do bad things to her like wrap her in a towel and hold her between my knees while sticking stuff down her throat.

Last of the ex-batts is my darling Snowdrop. I shouldn't have a favourite but she really is a little darling. She is much smaller than the others and in very poor nick. Her whole belly and bum are bald and most of her other feathers are knackered. The others bullied her so much in the first couple of weeks that she decided she couldn't sleep with them any more and went off alone to roost in the porch of my summerhouse. It broke my heart to see. She is now sleeping alone in a rabbit hutch so Chicken Towers has now become a Chicken Housing Estate. I tried to get her a little friend to boost her confidence which sort of backfired (will explain that in a mo) but in a way seems to have helped because she is trotting round the garden on her rickety little legs a bit more this week. Snowdrop lays jelly eggs every few days. They are perfectly formed but with a very soft jelly shell. I understand this is due to lack of calcium so am trying to build her up with supplements. I read that trying to lay a soft egg is rather like pushing a balloon full of water down a drain pipe so it can't be pleasant for her. The past few days her jelly eggs have had a bit of blood on the shell and I think its where she is straining to lay them.

The latest addition to my chook flock is Blossom. She is a 17 week old pure bred Light Sussex hen. I bought her as a young friend for Snowdrop. Unfortunately Snowdrop beat her up as soon as she saw her and Blossom flew out of the run and hid in the wood. I can't say I blame her really cos Snowdrop had blood on her claws! I managed to trap Blossom in the main chook run a couple of stressful hours later. That run has a roof so I left her in there for just over a week to learn where she lives and today have let her out to roam with the others. She is very nervous of them even though the only ones who chase her are Snowdrop (who does not live with her cos she is in the rabbit hutch) and Primrose who chases everyone who isn't Rosie or Ivy. I'm hoping bedtime is not too stressful tonight. Usually Blossom hangs around in the run scared to go in the coop so heaven knows what will happen now she is free. I do hope she doesn't roost in a tree!

So there you have it, all the latest. I have no doubt missed half of it out and will have to do another update but at least I have got the gist of it down on cyber paper.

The Joys of Spring!

2011-04-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

I have been so preoccupied with my Doves recently that I have forgotten to mention how lovely it is in the garden now Spring has sprung! When I was planning to write my last entry I had intended to talk about how I heard my first Cuckoo of the year while standing in the garden with Pinky on my shoulder. I also forgot to mention what a gorgeous day it was, the sun was shining and the garden seemed full of bees and butterflies. Today it is overcast out there but the sun is up there, just blocked out by some annoying clouds. It will return soon. Oh I just looked out and it is raining! The first rain in weeks so I will try and look on the bright side and hope it fills my water butts, which are numerous, so that I can water my herbs and seedlings with rainwater and thus avoid the daylight robbery which calls itself my water meter!

When the sun is out, which has been a lot recently the garden really is full of bees and butterflies. I have been trying to educate the Grandkids that bees are harmless unless you annoy them and that our planet cannot survive without them. I have explained about pollination in great detail but they still either run away screaming when they see on (which is often as we have tons of them) or try and kill them with a stick when they think I am not looking. We are also blessed with lots of butterflies. I have so far seen Orange Tip, Comma, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Brimstone and Peacock. I am sure the copious amounts of Stinging Nettles and Brambles help attract them. Hairy Hubby is always keen to strimmer them but I have saved them so far.

Speckled Wood

Another creature we have in the hundreds is St Marks fly. They are the most strange looking things which fly with their legs dangling and to me look like black fairies buzzing around the garden. They don't harm anyone but in the qualities we have them they can be annoying.

A pretty bad pic of a Long Tailed Tit but it gives a good indication of the volume of St Marks fly!

There have also been lots of plants coming up, Lesser Celandine, Red Campion and Vetch although I have yet to research which type. My wonderful Laurel tree has been blooming. I love my Laurel tree, it is always green and lush and the birds love to sit in it before they go onto the feeders. This does have the drawback of many of the leaves being covered in guano but for me it's a small price to pay. I think Hairy Hubby would like to take a bottle of Dettol and a steam cleaner to it but luckily we can't afford the water! My Bluebells finally made an appearance, they poked their little heads up just in time for lawnmower man to run them down. Honestly that man, you have to go round the garden pointing stuff out to him every time he gets behind the wheel, he is a menace!

The leaves have really grown on the trees this past week and the wood looks dark and lush again. The drawback is that with leaves on the trees it is much harder to see what is lurking amidst their branches. I have noticed that the birds are eating much less seed now Spring is here, it is saving me a fortune. I have also been putting out dog hair for them to use as nesting materials. I find it very satisfying to sit and watch them come down and grab mouthfuls of hair to make their babies comfy. It's not often you see a Bearded Great Tit! I do also empty our own hairbrushes onto the grass but I notice the birds don't like The Hairy One's old hair much. I can't think why.....

Pinky's big day!

2011-04-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

So today was Pinky's big day. To be honest I was much more scared than she was. I was actually close to tears, the old softie that I am. I went down to her cage first thing and opened the door. She just sat there and wouldn't budge, she always comes flying out as soon as I open the door. After a few minutes I told her 'Ok I am going in to have breakfast then', closed the door and started to walk back to the house. With that she went ballistic to come out so I opened the door and she had one massive fly about before coming to rest on the top of her cage.

It took ages for her to venture further, she mostly stayed on my shoulder but eventually I convinced her to sit on the bird table alone for a while. Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey then proceeded to fly about like loonies to get her attention. I thought they were being friendly and hoped that before long contact would be made and Pinky would spend the day in their company being guided by experienced doves. How wrong I was. When they eventually got on the bird table with her they fed with her for a minute or two before Mr Lovey-Dovey pecked at her and scared her off.

L-R Pinky, Mr Lovey-Dovey, Mrs Lovey-Dovey

It was a very long day in the end, most of it spend outside with Pinky either on my shoulder or sitting somewhere watching the other birds hopefully. She never went over to them but any time I put her on the Dovecote the male came down and shoo-ed her off. I always thought Doves were sociable creatures rather than territorial. It's all quite worrying.

Another thing which worried me was how Pinky tried to follow me indoors every time I went in. She would flutter against the closed door and eventually sit on the roof and wait for me. One time she even took to sitting on the opened part of the bathroom window. At bedtime I felt I should be bringing her indoors to the study but thought it better to persevere. I had to shut her in her cage again because otherwise she would be left out in the open, a sitting target for Sparrowhawks. As she hadn't voluntarily tried to get into the Dovecote herself all day and was chased off every time I put her there I knew she wouldn't be roosting safely inside it.

Let's hope tomorrow is another day....

Tales of Five Doves

2011-04-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

There is lots of Dovey news, so anyone who is a fan of my little white feathered family grab a coffee, sit back and enjoy a catch up. To anyone not interested in my birds, oh well, never mind!

First off Daisy and May went back to The Haven for a few days on Thursday. I was having trouble syringe feeding them and it didn't seem fair to keep them here and have to be virtually force feeding them four times a day. They were just not as easy to feed as Pinky and I am a novice at feeding babies. It broke my heart to take them back even though I knew they would be coming home again soon but I knew it was for the best. They had fun here and Pinky really took to them, she was even grooming them, it was very sweet.

Pinky preening Daisy and May and showing how to peck seed

The good news is that very soon after The Girls went back to The Haven they started eating big people seed and are now weaned! How fantastic is that! This should mean I can bring them home again on Tuesday when I go there for my regular day's volunteering. So that will be double trouble flying round my study and pooping everywhere! Does this look like a face who cares about the poop? Nah not really!

Pinky has been enjoying spending day times outside in her cage by the Dovecote with view to letting her live out there with Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey sometime soon. She is getting bored in the house and doesn't like being in her cage in the study, you can see she just wants to get out of it! I know the day will come soon when I have to let her fly free in the garden but it fills me with dread. I am very attached to my little girl and know I will worry myself stupid about her being out in the big wide garden all alone. I'm thinking about letting her spend tonight out there in her cage to get used to it even more but then I keep thinking that she has been in her cage all day so she will want to come indoors for a wing stretch. Oh this is so hard!

Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey had a tiff last night. They were seen sleeping in separate nest holes, obviously all was not well in Dovecote Towers. We did wonder if Mr Lovey-Dovey had been accused of looking at the gorgeous young Pinky too much and his wife had given him an earful! They seem to be friends again today so he obviously made it up to her by bringing her nesting sticks or something. They have been spending a lot of time in the garden up in the Sycamore behind the Dovecote, I don't know what has caused this change in routine but do hope it means impending egg laying!

Intruders, babies and baths!

2011-04-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

We had an intruder last night. We were watching TV, or should I say trying to because there was seriously nothing worth bothering with, when the side floodlight came on. Naturally we jumped up and looked out of the window to see who was trespassing in the garden. The Hairy One got to there first, "I don't believe it" he said, or at least that is the polite version. Peering under his arm (he is too tall to look over his shoulder) I saw a lovely chubby Hedgehog running full speed accross the lawn trying to get away from the light. I was thrilled because I love Hedgehogs and that is the first time I have seen one in the garden. Hairy Hubby however has some strange deep rooted mistrust of the poor little snufflers and was not amused at all. "Now I will have to watch everywhere I walk" he was muttering, along with several oaths. Apparently Hedgehogs stalk him, yes honestly they do, they follow him about in a threatening manner. He swears blind that in our last house one came under a car with him in the garage and snuffled down his ear (I would have liked that) so he swept it out with the broom and closed the door. Then a little while later the same Hedgie came merrily ambling in the other door of the garage having walked all round the back of the house, down the alleyway, up the road, in the front garden and up the garden path...just to stalk him! He also claims that they might go for the throat but I think this is a rare case of over exaggeration on his part!!!

I brought Daisy and May home today. They are dear little snowballs, all warm and squeaky. Pinky does not seem too phased by them, she came over for a closer look and they started screaming at her for food. She gave them her best "I'm not your Mummy" look and left them to it. Action Dog is really not impressed, even more feathered intruders to take her Mummy's attention!

I am not finding Daisy and May as easy to feed as Pinky and Perky were, they don't open their beaks for me and I am having to open them for them and squirt it in. Hopefully we will setting into a routine after a few days and it will get easier.

Talking of Pinky, she had her first bath today. I took loads of pics but will just post one here to brighten the page up. Pics of Daisy and May tomorrow hopefully!

Pinky bathtime!

Oh Fudge (Duck)

2011-04-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

I found myself back at Strumpshaw RSPB again today. My birdy friends were coming to visit with promise of a pub lunch in lieu of my birthday on Saturday, I never turn down a pub lunch so I was really looking forward to it. They arrived earlier than planned so we decided to go for the Fudge (Ferruginous) Duck at Strumpshaw before we went to the pub. Yes, the same duck which was conspicuous by its absence on Friday.

We arrived at the reserve in glorious sun to be told it had been seen earlier but was headed into the reeds. Oh joy! To be honest we have all seen Fudge duck a few times before so none of us were actually desperate for the tick but we had hoped to see it. We had a meander round to the Fen Hide, sauntered in, lazily opened the viewing flaps and I started to faff with my camera changing lenses etc. All very low key. Then I got a nudge in the ribs to say the bird was on full view. How jammy was that! I hadn't actually expected to see it at all, let alone have it come out and perform for us. So there were four happy birders all with another year tick in the book.

Not the best pic but you can tell he is Fudgy! Hint: the duck on the left!

Our pub lunch was very nice, when we arrived in the car park there was an unexpected welcome in the form of a lovely Swallow sitting on the wires above our heads singing his little heart out. You can't beat a swallow, they are total value for money, guaranteed to raise a smile!

What a little stunner!

The past few days it has been warm and I have been putting Pinky outside in her cage to get used to the big outside world. I have put it by the Dovecote in hopes she will watch the big kids and learn the etiquette of being a grown up Dove. She appears quite interested in the others but until today they took no notice of her, almost as if she was a second class citizen because she was caged. I wanted to tell them she was a bone fide local dove who was born in that very Dovecote but as I have not found an e-course in dove-speak that wasn't possible. Today however, the female of the pair flew up to Pinky's cage a few times and had a very brief look in. She didn't land but it was obviously Pinky she was interested in. The male sat on the landing platform trying to look very butch.

I think the transition from house to Dovecote is going to be as tricky for me as it is for her. She is raring to go, she does not want to be in her cage at all now, she is out of it the whole time when I am home. I don't put her in when I am out in case Action Dog climbs a ladder to open the door or Pinky manages to get stuck behind something. Yes I know one is more probable than the other! I know that sooner or later I am going to have to let her fly free in the garden but then what? I mean what if she doesn't sit in the Dovecote but won't come back indoors. What do I do, just leave her in a tree all night? What if when it gets dark she is trying to get in, tapping at the window and I don't know? What if she goes for a fly with the others and they fly off and leave her somewhere? Oh what if, what if??

Strumpshaw Fen RSPB

2011-04-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

I got up a bit late today, went into the kitchen to get some breakfast, checked my phone and found a text from a friend saying she and her hubby were going to visit Strumpshaw Fen today and would be there in an hours time! Well I wasn't going to pass that one up, I have been hoping to catch up with this particular friend for ages and had never met her hubby, plus I have been meaning to go to Strumpshaw for ages.

I had a bit of a dash about, gulping down some porridge, forgetting to drink my tea and making a jam roll (healthy eating or what?) for lunch because that's all there was in the house and managed to get there in reasonable time! We had a great walk round, there was nothing spectacular about, no Ferruginous Duck or Otters but some lovely migrants and a whole bunch of Black Headed Gulls showing off in front of the hide. It was also the first time I have ever gone all the way round so was also a landmark occasion!

This guy thinks he looks dead hard, shame he looks like a clown really!

Other news. Pinky is doing well, she has taken over my study and now spends most of her day flying about in there. I put her away when I go out just in case she gets into trouble and no one can help her but apart from that she seems to enjoy using my dresser as a tree and perching on my monitor. Oh yes and leaving copious amounts of poop everywhere. I noticed that she had done one on the chair and that Hairy Hubby had sat on it but I decided that it would be best to keep quiet about that one for diplomatic reasons. Heaven knows what it will be like when I have the new babies, Daisy and May, flying about. Double trouble! Pinky also likes sitting on my shoulder and preening my hair which is really nice except yesterday she managed to stick her beak right down my ear! Not pleasant at all I can tell you. Think sticking the cotton bud in too far! I could still feel it about two hours later. So now when she preens me or plays with my earrings I put my finger in my ear just in case!

Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey in the garden seem very happy. They have a couple of Collared Doves who come and visit sometimes which is nice. They have given them the guided tour of the des res bird table which is now basically theirs because not a lot else gets a look in. They seemed to be nest building earlier in the week but I haven't seen them do that for a while.

Peggy the Pheasant with a sore foot seems to be improving. I'm glad because she seems to be the favourite of the male bird who is often seen jumping on her back. I feel quite sorry for her because she can barely support her own weight let alone his hulking great bulk and she is the smallest of the group of females.

I'm still waiting for The Hairy One to get his rear in gear and finish my Chicken House. There is so little to do now it's really frustrating. Just a handle to fit, some predator proofing and a bit of sanding. It's like he has done the bulk of the work and moved onto new things. New things being some stupid car he is doing up for someone. I had hoped to get my new Chooks this weekend but that won't be happening now. Maybe next weekend?

Horsey Mere

2011-04-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to do the circular walk around the Horsey area since I moved here. To be honest the main thing putting me off is that I am too tight to pay the car park fee. Personally I think it's a liberty to make you pay extortionate prices to park somewhere like that. Anyway today I bit the bullet and decided to blow the budget and pay the darn fee!

I arrived and marched reluctantly to the machine to buy a ticket only to be greeted with a sign which told me the trail was closed due to flood defense works. How typical was that? It also said that the shop might be able to advise me alternative walks so I trundled over there and spoke to a very nice lady who told me that if the locals had opened the fence because they were sick of it being closed. Yipee said me and off I went and climbed through the gap in the fence. I love a bit of trespassing! After a while I realised that I was losing the trail. I think that some of the way markers had been moved during the works and the trails crushed under caterpillar tracks. After doubling back and finding a way marker I thought I must be on the right trail but eventually came to a dead end where a cut went right accross the path and there was no bridge.

Evidence that I can follow a path

I don't know exactly what was going on with the trail but despite having to turn around and head back to the car after an hours walking I am glad I went because I had a lovely view of two Common Cranes who were actually in the same field as me (probably a field I was not meant to be in...) They were just ambling along without a care in the world. It was probably one of my nicest Crane sightings because it was unexpected, I was alone and they were on the deck and fairly close.

When I got back to Horsey Mere I went back into the shop to check where I had gone wrong. The nice lady had been replaced by a very rude man who treated me like an idiot who couldn't follow a trail, virtually pushing me away from his kiosk window to serve someone an ice cream, which was obviously much more important than my enquiry. However I can follow a trail, see the evidence above!!! I feel an email to his employer The National Trust coming on!

Other purely gratuitous pictures from my walk today, which I really did enjoy before I met the rude man in the shop....

Synchronised Greylag

I never knew this existed

Horsey Mill, it used to be a donation to go up it, now its £2.50 a go!

Life goes on

2011-04-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

I had a surprise waiting for me at The Haven this morning. There were two baby White Doves in a brooder! Their mother abandoned them last night, she was a single parent and birds struggle to cope going solo as parents and often desert the nest under those circumstances. They are two dear little (with think) girls, just getting their lovely white feathers. The shafts are showing and there are tiny tufts of feather coming through. Probably by next week they will be well on their way to being totally feathered. I was able to have a cuddle with them and was asked if I would like to take them home maybe next week! Would I? OH YES PLEASE! I have named them Daisy and May which might be spelt Mae but I haven't decided yet. It was such a lovely surprise to see them especially after losing Perky on Monday. Life stops for no one.

There were also a couple of other new babies in the hospital. A baby squirrel for one. He was gorgeous, a proper squirrel but in a mini version. Full of fun and mischief. I was able to have a cuddle and a play with him, he ran right up my arm and down my back like I was a tree! I know I have done a lot of cursing about Butterfly the Squirrel but this little fella really was cute. He drinks milk from a tiny doll sized bottle and holds it in his little hands. Totally adorable. The Haven do not usually take any thing other than birds but there was no where else for this little lad to go so one of the other volunteers is going to take him home and rear him. She has done it before apparently.

The other new baby was the tiniest pink thing I have seen. Not even as big as my thumb and with his eyes still closed. Not a feather in sight and so young we can't even tell what species he will be yet. We are thinking maybe a Robin from the size of him or certainly something Robin sized. He takes his food in drops from the end of a cocktail stick because he is too tiny for a syringe. Apparently a cat got at the nest and killed all his brothers and sisters. This little lad only survived because he fell and landed accross a branch so the cat didn't find him. It's a horrible vision to think of a cat with the other babies because they are totally helpless, it makes me shudder.

An old friend came to visit me late this afternoon. Marilyn the white duck flew in with her latest beau. It was great to see her in the garden again. I often see her down at The Broad but she hasn't visited since this time last year when she was quite regular for a while. I wonder if Esmeralda will appear again, she was my favourite and used to come to the back door and quack for food! I have the feeling the ducks only come into the garden at around breeding time, heaven knows why but it seems to be the pattern.

Sad news

2011-04-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

I heard today that Perky died in his sleep last night. I knew he was very weak and sick, I knew this was probably coming but it is still a shock and still horrible. I'm glad that I was able to have him home for those two nights and spend some time with him. I'm also glad that he was able to spend some time playing with his sister Pinky. They sat together for ages on my desk preening each other. Perky had some adventures on my desk, he managed to flap onto the monitor shelf and got himself stuck behind the monitor. I had to move everything to get him out. He was very well travelled for a little bird who never really got to fly. He went from Rollesby where he was born to Stratton Strawless, then to Somerset, back to Stratton Strawless and then to Rollesby and back to Stratton Strawless again. He saw the world did out Perky!

I will never forget the way Pinky greeted him when I brought him home, or the way he cuddled into my neck the day I took him back to The Haven. He was a dear little bird and I'm glad I knew him, RIP Perks.

Once Bittern...

2011-04-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely walk around a very quiet Hickling NWT yesterday. It's usually quiet there so I wasn't fussed. I had really wanted to photograph butterflies but typically I didn't see a single one during the whole hour and a half I was there! There were Willow Warblers singing their head off on the trail which was lovely, I don't think the novelty of singing Willow Warblers ever really wears off even when you have heard a hundred this year.

The one star bird was my first Bittern of the year. I always peep round the side of the second hide (whose name escapes me) just incase there is something really nice on the pool. There never is but it makes me feel like a real birder to do it. This time I raised my bins to watch a Lapwing and Blackheaded Gull having a disagreement over some food when something caught my eye along the fringe of the reeds. Oh...my...God..a bittern..and out in the open! I never see them out in the open. I have seen loads in flight and half hidden by reeds but never out in the open. I crept into the hide and carefully opened the flap, praying it wouldn't creak. Creaky flaps are a speciality at Hicking, it's like they want you to scare the birds off! Anyway the god of birding was on my side for once because there was no creak and the Bittern was still there, creeping slowly along the fringes, doing his wonderful Bittern walk. I ran off a few shots, most were rubbish but one was not too bad.

Not the best Bittern shot ever, but its my best (only) one ever!

Big Sis, Lil Bro

2011-04-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting couple of days. Yesterday I had my birding friends come visit for the day. We went to the coast to try and find a reported Ring Ouzel at the Waxham pipe dump. When we left the car park at Horsey Gap it was breezy and not all that warm. We all wore jackets and fleeces when we started our trek. Naturally within five mins the sun came out and by the end of our walk it was 24 degrees and we were all about to collapse from heat exhaustion!

Looks more like The Sahara than Norfolk!

We never did find the Ring Ouzel but we had a great walk despite the overheating. The highlight was the most amazing Yellow Wagtail any of us had ever seen. It was right in the middle of the Waxham camp site just sitting there positively glowing in the sun. None of us can remember ever having seen such a bright yellow one. Absolutely the bird of the day. But a Ring Ouzel would have been nice....

The other highlight of yesterday is that Pinky's weaning is coming along nicely. I finally found some seed she likes. It was trial and error but I had given her some of the wild bird seed I use and noticed that she was picking out one particular tiny seed and actually eating it as opposed to playing with it and spitting it out. So I whizzed down to the pet shop to find a match. I came home with Budgie seed! My baby dove eats Budgie seed! Since then she has been munching for England and has not been wanting half so much food from me. She even turned down lunch today! The other good thing is that her poops are not so watery and so easier to clean up. She still produces copious amounts but thicker is better!

Today I had a garden treat. I was out in the garden hanging out my smalls when I spied a Marsh Harrier cruising over the garden at tree top height. He was well and truly in our air space, not just a 'seen from the garden' actually over the garden. I called to The Hairy One to look and he asked if it was the one I had been looking for. I wondered what the hell he was on about till I realised he thought it was the WT Sea Eagle! It's easy to forget sometimes that non birders will not clock the difference between a bird with a 3 foot wing span and one of 8 foot! Especially as he has seen both several times. Oh I do wish I had seen that Eagle over my garden at tree top height. Mind you I would probably still be talking gibberish now if I had!

Perky came home for a visit today. He is still sick, though looking a little better than when I saw him last on Tuesday. He was much better when having medicine but when the course finished he took a downturn so he is back on it for another go. Anyway, the people at The Haven have asked me to have him for a couple of nights so I jumped at the chance to bring him home to see his big sis. She was really shocked to see him and was jumping about in her cage shouting her head off to come out and see him better. I think he was a bit overwhelmed by it all and eventually I put him back in his cage with his stuffed pony, he is used to a quiet life. Pinky is now sitting on his cage, I am not sure if that's because she wants to be close to him or if it's because I have put his cage where my printer usually goes and she likes to sit on the printer! She is sitting over his head, I do hope she doesn't splat on him!!

Big Sis and Li' Bro (Pinky with red ring and Perky with green)

In order to bring Perky home I had to take a crash course in tube feeding birds. Very nerve wracking I can tell you but my first attempt seemed to go OK so hopefully I will be just fine feeding him later tonight. It's a very strange feeling poking a metal tube down a bird's throat and into it's crop. Seeing them side by side it really is noticeable how small he is bless him. Pinky is huge in comparison and has much more feathers. I'd say he is a good two weeks behind her feather wise. I do hope that one day he can come home to stay.

You win some, you lose some!

2011-04-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

A howl of despair was heard in my house last night when I looked at Birdguides after a manic day of Grandkids, Easter Egg hunts and baby dove feeds. A White Tailed Sea Eagle had flown virtually over my house and I didn't know! It had been seen in Martham and then in Ormesby and I am just about in the middle. If I had known I'd have made for open ground and looked UP! I can only imagine what such a massive bird would look like away from the vastness of the Scottish Highlands. Without those huge mountains as a backdrop it must look huge.

This morning I logged on after feeding Pinky and found that the bird had roosted locally! Oh no, if only I had checked Birdguides earlier. It was only a couple of miles away and the report was only an hour old. Maybe just maybe it would still be there. I grabbed scope and bins and was in the car and on the road within 5 mins of reading the report. What I didn't know was that just about the time I was leaving the house it was seen over Caister! You win some, you lose some! Mind you despite heading south and being seen over Lowestoft it was reported today back in North Norfolk! You can bet it will be sitting in a tree next to Rollesby Broad all day while I am at The Haven!

If you are sick to death of my Doves look away now!

2011-03-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

I brought Pinky home yesterday. It was bittersweet because Perky is still too poorly so stayed in his brooder at The Haven. The poor little fella really has lost weight and does not look at all well. If he recovers it might be that he will always be a weak sickly bird and have to stay at The Haven. He needs the remains of the last feed syringed out of his crop before every feed and really isn't absorbing his food well at all. I know he is in the best place, if he can be fixed anywhere he will be fixed there but it did seem sad bringing Pinky home alone.

Anyway, on a brighter note Pinky is home. She has a cage which I have put here in my study because I spend a lot of time in here and seems very at home tramping all over my desk. She has already pooped over just about everything including me (several times) in fact the first time she even went on my desk she managed to poop on the keyboard AND spill her seed all over it. Mr Houseproud Hairy Hubby is blissfully ignorant of this so far and long may it continue. As I am typing Pinky has discovered the moving cursor and is pecking at it! She pecks at everything. And poops on everything, I have never known anything to produce so much of the stuff. Honestly, four times in half an hour!

Action Dog is far too interested in Pinky and I am having to hold her while she sniffs at her incase she gets too rough. She spent most of last night standing on two legs trying to get a better look into the cage. I am trying to be very careful to fuss both of them so Action Dog does not get her nose put out of joint. Mind you it has been pecked a couple of times! Feeding Pinky is a doddle although I have realised I am going to have to show The Hairy One how to do it when I am at The Haven on a Tuesday. He will have to give her her lunch. That's another thing he is so far blissfully unaware of!

The older doves Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey are hanging round the garden much more these past few days. They spend a lot of time on the bird table scaring off the blackbirds and also on the roof pooping all over the path. I am hoping that maybe the change of behaviour spending more time close to the Dovecote means they will nest soon.

I have a poor little injured Pheasant visiting first thing in the morning and last thing at night. She has a nasty limp, it looks really painful and reminds me of Hoppy last year. I have named her Peggy. I make sure I don't go outside and disturb her when she is feeding because it takes her so much effort just to get accross the lawn to the feeders it would be horrible if she didn't get her breakfast. I know I wouldn't stand a chance of catching her, those birds move like lightening even with a limp! I really hope that her foot will get better on it's own like Hoppy's did last year. From what I remember his seemed even worse so I feel there is hope.

A well travelled bird!

2011-03-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

Things have been quiet lately, hence the lack of blog entries. There have been minor sightings, my first garden Great Spotted Woodpecker for instance but nothing really to write home about.

The only news I have today is that Perky is poorly. He hasn't been absorbing his food properly and was put on special medication over the weekend. I haven't seen him since last week but will see him tomorrow. I am told he has lost weight and has had to have his crop syringed out, something which I cringe at the thought of. So all in all our little lad is not too well. He has, however, had an adventure this weekend. The people who run The Haven had a family emergency and had to go to Somerset overnight on Saturday. It must have been very hard for them to make arrangements for all the birds in their care to be looked after but it shows the level of their dedication to helping birds that they took Perky with them! As he was so poorly they didn't want to leave him with someone inexperienced so they plugged his brooder into the car and took him to Somerset! Apparently he was an Angel! Pinky is in a cage now with Ready and Steady, she is fine and doing well, as are the two racers.

I am so blessed to have good friends at The Haven to look after my babies. They have done everything possible for Perky and I suspect a bit more. I will be eternally grateful to them.

Oh to bee up a tree

2011-03-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

I had a little wander around Hickling NWT today. There wasn't much about but it was nice to see the sun and some signs of spring. As I walked past some trees near the car park I thought I heard a swarm of bees. The noise was really loud, you couldn't miss it. I looked up and realised it was no swarm, just a tree covered in happy bees who were contentedly collecting pollen from the buds. It really was quite a racket!

Pass me a tissue, I'm gonna sneeeeze with all this pollen up my nose!

On a beautiful Spring day

2011-03-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

What a gorgeous spring day it was today, I was so happy to throw open all the windows and get some washing on the line. As they say simple things please simple minds! I was also really happy to spot my first Jay of the year in the garden today. I love Jay's, they are such bright birds both in plumage and in character. Last summer I used to put food on the lawn and watch the Jays come in and take it. They would only take one piece at a time, then fly back to the trees and keep repeating it back and forwards till all the food was gone. I also saw a Stoat running across at the back which I wasn't so happy about because I think they might go after my chickens when I get them. Funny how keeping birds makes you look at other creatures in a different way. Squirrels and Pheasants were very welcome in the garden at first, now I just see them as dinner thieves!

I walked down to the Broad to take some pictures today and was gobsmacked to see how many people had gone down to feed the ducks and then left the empty bread bag there. Some people are so stupid, don't they realise that the bread bag they leave behind could kill the very same creatures they took the bread for? I suppose it would help if the council would provide a bin but to be honest how hard is it to stuff an empty bread bag in your pocket and take it home? I came home with several in my back pocket today. The old granny's who were sitting on the bench looked at me like I was nuts picking up other peoples rubbish but there was no way I was leaving it there. Personally I think they were nuts to just sit there and leave all that plastic lying about. If I'd had a bin liner with me I could have picked up tons more rubbish. Maybe I will go back tomorrow and take one with me. That should get me some funny looks! Perhaps I should put on a high vis vest to make myself look official, it's common knowledge that you become invisible when wearing a high vis vest or jacket!

"Got any bread?"

I had a walk around Winterton again today. It was fruitless again but the sea was wonderful to see. It was as calm as a millpond, barely a wave in sight. The sky was azure blue fading into a misty pink on the horizon. I don't know what caused that but it was quite lovely. Out at sea every bird was highly visible. There weren't many of them but they really stood out against the flat sea. You could almost see the ripples coming away from them. I looked for Porpoise but all I could find were a couple of seals.

Barely a ripple

Other highlights of the day included :

A Chinese Water Deer in the Blackcurrant field, the first I have seen out there.

Heard my first Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming of the year.

Milestone day!

2011-03-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

It was a date for the Baby album today. Pinky and Perky, together with their roomies Ready and Steady had their first solid food! At first they were too hungry to even look at it but once they had gulped down a couple of syringes of baby gunk they began to peck little seeds from our hands then eventually from the towel they were standing on. It was so good to be able to watch a milestone in their little lives.

They pecked away for a good ten minutes. In the end Perky was so full he put himself back to bed in the brooder! He sat there with a look on his face like he had just eaten a big Sunday roast and was totally stuffed! It took about another five minutes before the other three decided they had eaten enough. There were four very full bundles of feathers in that brooder this afternoon!

They have come on so much again in just a week. They are almost totally feathered with just a few bald spots and really look like little Doves now. Pinky (it's always her) even stands properly on her feet like a grown up rather than crouching down like babies do. They are starting to use their wings a bit now too and Pinky (told you) even did a little flap up to get where she wanted to be.

I'm told I might be able to bring them home next week!

The Totem Pole, Winterton

2011-03-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

I went for a stroll around Winterton Dunes today, hoping to find some early migrants, maybe perhaps a Wheatear. Sadly there was absolutely naff all there apart from a few Skylarks who were singing their lungs out but nowhere to be seen! There were barely even any dog walkers which for Winterton is a miracle. At least it enabled me to blow the dust off my scope and get some exercise. Mind you there was no point in taking my scope because I didn't even need to set it up. It just acted as a bit of weight training to build up my post-winter fitness levels.

I did however use my camera. Not a stunningly beautiful photo but something I find interesting all the same.

In birding circles this is known as 'The Totem Pole'. It is used as a point of reference when reporting bird sightings. For example 'West of the Totem Pole'. It just gives people a bit of idea where to start looking. I was lucky enough to be told about this by a local birder when I first moved here or I would have found it very confusing!

The guy who told me about 'The Totem Pole' also told me a bit about it's history. He said that during WW2 it was used as a listening post. Basically some poor sod had to climb to the top of it and listen out for enemy aircraft approaching the coast. I imagine the post may have been taller then, it looks like it has been cut down at an angle at the top, I don't know this for sure however, it's just my personal thought. Can you imagine climbing to the top of a wooden post in the middle of the night to listen for the enemy, with the wind whistling round your ears? Not an appealing thought at all! There were some very brave people about in those days.

I have tried to research on the Internet to find out more about this 'listening post' but have drawn a blank. There seems to be no information out there at all which is a shame. There is other information about defenses in the area like pillboxes and tank defenses but nothing about this. I would love to hear from anyone who can tell me more.

Going Batty

2011-03-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

I took Action Dog for a walk out the back today. I can hardly call it 'The Wood' anymore because we can't actually go into the wood, just skirt around it which is pretty duff mostly and really does not hold the same appeal. Nevertheless I took her for her constitutional this afternoon. I don't think she minds where she goes so long as she goes somewhere so it's only me that needs variety.

While we were out I spotted something small flying in an odd way. It was flapping far too fast for any bird that size that I could think of. When I got my bins on it I was amazed to see it was a bat! Flying at quarter past one in the afternoon! I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I am used to seeing bats flying at dusk and once I realised what I was looking at the flight pattern was obvious, just unexpected. It was obviously feeding, flying this way and that in a dashing manner. I was fascinated to see one so well, usually its flashes of something dark in the gloom but this little fella was in broad daylight at 8.5x in my bins. I wasn't able to see any features on it but could see the shape of the wings well against the pale sky which you can never usually do at dusk.

It was a lovely encounter, I watched for about 15 minutes before moving off because although Action Dog had sat at my feet patiently all that time it was her walk after all so I thought we had better get moving. I had a peep on the way back to see if it was still there but it had moved off by then to be replaced by a year-tick Little Egret. Not a bad little afternoon's wander all in all!

This was the spot!

Pinky and Perky, the latest clip!

2011-03-19T15:32:00.000-07:00

A short clip courtesy of Jenny again. They are getting so big, check out how long those wings are! I can't wait to see them again on Tuesday. They are seen with their new room mates Ready and Steady who are baby racing pigeons who are also being raised at Wing and a Prayer. I'm so proud of my little puffballs!

Introducing Charlie the Chook

2011-03-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

Meet Charlie. Charlie appeared down at the Broad a few weeks ago. No one knows how he got there although a lady told me he had originally been with some other Chickens, from the sound of it there were three hens and another cockerel. It can only be assumed they had been dumped there by someone who couldn't be bothered to look after them any more. The lady I spoke to said that the others had disappeared one by one. Whether they were eaten by foxes of taken home by kind souls we will never know. All I know is that poor old Charlie remains there all alone. Well not actually all alone because there are loads of waterfowl there to keep him company and there people are always down there feeding the ducks so Charlie won't be going hungry in a hurry. He comes right up to me if I am down there without Action Dog. None of the birds like her, they all run away if she gets too close.

I'm sure if I knew what I was doing I could grab him and bring him home to live safely in the garden. The question is would he stay or would he run off down the road to get back to his duck and geese friends, risking getting splatted by the traffic on the way? I can't bring him home till I get the Hen House finished anyway. Also I want my hens to lay eggs and not go broody which they may do if they have a man about the house. Not sure I fancy him waking me up at dawn hollering his lungs out either. Oh decisions decisions!

What a fine boy he is!

The Doves have refused point blank to use their box feeder again today, preferring to use the Bird Table instead, which is fine but leaves them open to Sparrowhawk attacks. The idea of a box feeder is that they are protected on three sides while they are feeding. Also they like to sit and contemplate the world from the bird table which keeps the other birds from using it which is not either.

I sneaked another one in....

Rampaging Pheasants

2011-03-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

I knew my Niger Seed feeder was going to be a waste of money when I bought it. I really should have listened to myself but I never usually do so I thought why start now. This is the third one I have bought but the first for this garden, I had hoped that as this garden actually has birds in it something might be attracted by some lovely expensive Niger Seed. It was someones Twitter entry that started it, saying all about the Redpolls on the feeders. I don't have Redpolls but I did have a Goldfinch a couple of weeks ago and have the occasional Goldcrest in the woods over the fence. So stupid me thought 'Oh it's only 99p in Lathams let's give it a go' Of course then I had to buy seed, which isn't cheap. Why don't they do trial size bags of the stuff so that when you find out nothing wants to eat it you have only wasted 50p not about three quid. Maybe the birds don't like the fact that the feeder is purple, I have to admit that even though it's a lovely shade I am not too keen on it myself but at 99p who was I to argue? Actually I never understand how the birds are meant to hang on to Niger feeders, they don't have perches, just tiny slits for the seed to come out. Not much for the birds to aim at really. Maybe that's why they never eat from them!

Looking out of my window there are currently six Pheasants rampaging round the garden. Pillaging and plundering anything they can find to eat. Looks like the poor Doves will have no breakfast again once this mob have cleaned up and moved off. Mind you it's their own silly fault, they have lots of lovely Pigeon Conditioner seed out for them in their new recycling box Dove feeder (Hairy Hubby's new patent design) but they choose to ignore it. I have been down there rattling the seed bowl and let them see me put food in there. I have even put some tasty morsels of bread and fat ball around the seed dish to tempt them. I have to add that the seed dish is BRIGHT RED and hard for them to miss. I can only assume that they are ignoring out out of pure bloody mindedness. Honestly though, those Pheasants are like garden hoovers, they walk around sucking up anything and everything. I have lost count of how many times I have thrown the window open today and hurled abuse at them, clapping my hands to shoo them off the Doves food. I wouldn't mind but I put seed out specially for them to keep them away from the Doves'. I bet they would eat the Niger Seed if they could get to it!

One Year Today!

2011-03-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to say (do I hear a voice say 'you never do'?) but I felt the need to make an entry today to mark the first anniversary of my moving to this house. I believe that exactly a year ago today I was eating burnt pizza and drinking my way to a very bad hangover on housewarming Red Wine. It was a crazy day where I did nothing but clean at both ends, a day I wouldn't want to repeat but it was worth it.

News in Brief

Woke up to the dopey Doves sitting on the bird table rather than use their new feeding box.
Disturbed two Muntjac feeding next to the garden, the first time in ages there have been more than one.
We officially have another problem squirrel, much screaming out of the window anticipated.
It's cold. I want Spring back please. Now, right now!

Packing boxes, a sight I don't want to see again!

A few snippets

2011-03-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

A few snippets of news today. I saw a Waxwing on my way to The Haven today. I was driving along in a little world of my own and happened to look up at a telegraph wire and thought 'Blimey, you can't mistake that silhouette' So that made me happy, a good start to the day despite it being murky and foggy. It was pretty naff all day really, even when I was driving home it was still misty.

I got to play with my babies again today. They are starting to look like birds now instead of little dinosaurs. Pinky in particular has lots of feathers, especially on her wings and breast. There is still a lot of pink skin showing but she really looks like a little white dove now. While I was there they had colour rings fitted so that when they are all grown up we know who is who. Pinky has a red one and Perky has a green one. They didn't seem bothered by having them. In fact Pinky was more interested in preening her new feathers. I was also able to feed them again, which I do love doing. They are so greedy, even when they are full they still shout for more and peck at your hands.

The big doves now have a new temporary feeding box. It's a recycling box on it's side nailed to a stake, a proper Hairy Hubby special! Hopefully they will get the hang of using it but at the moment they are paying it no attention at all. It will keep those greedy guts Pheasants off the food and also keep the Sprawk off the Doves and the rain off the food. I wonder how long before that dratted Butterfly Squirrel finds it!

Let Migration Begin!

2011-03-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

I spotted my first Chiffchaff of the year in the garden today. I almost said 'had' but after confusing someone recently by using the 'correct birding term' I thought I had better stick to plain English in case they thought I had eaten it, or worse! It was hopping about merrily in my big Sycamore tree, I thought I was seeing things at first so grabbed my bins (which live on the kitchen window ledge and now smell of sausage sarnies courtesy of HH) to confirm the sighting. I knew if I tried to run outside and listen for it singing it would have it away on it's toes (or wings) so I wasn't able to hear it which was a shame.

Flushed with early migrant success I decided to go mad, blitz the diesel and go to Winterton on a migrant hunt. Naturally there was naff all there but it was nice to hear some Dunnocks singing and spot a few Gannets out at sea. It was also nice to wander around with my scope and feel like a proper birder again. This fuel saving lark is starting to affect my sanity. Hopefully my new car will be ready soon with her supadupa fuel saving engine. Or so I am told. She looks very pretty though so if nothing else I will have a decent looking car again instead of driving about in a grubby white skip like I have done for the past year since my car was stolen.

The Sparrowhawk visited us again today. I was watching the Doves out of the window when they suddenly flew off in a mad panic along with everything else in the garden. The Sprawk came down just outside the garden behind a blackberry bush, I don't know if it caught anything but there were no feathers. The main thing is that it seems my birds have become a bit more Sstreetwise. Or Sprawkwise if you like. Later in the day they had only just flown in for lunch when they flew off in panic again. I couldn't see what had put them up but obviously something spooked them. I am currently waiting for The Hairy One to make a Sprawk proof bird table (basically a box on a stick) but he has been so engrossed in Chicken coop making that he has had no time. Today he had a rest from the coop and worked on my new car trying to find somewhere to fit some electric power steering. Personally I'd have rather delayed the car for a day and got my Doves sorted but it's not wise to push your luck with these matters. They really do need some where else for their food though because Sprawks apart the blasted Pheasants have found how to jump up onto the box we put their food on and are stripping it bare as if they were half starved, which is what my Doves will be in the morning when they come out to find there is no breakfast left.

Dinner thiefs!

Scandalous behaviour on the lawn!

2011-03-11T12:13:00.000-08:00

A gorgeous day today, I couldn't resist a walk with Action Dog out in the wood. She is now back in four wheel drive now her toe has almost healed. Or her lack of toe. Anyway she had her first walk out there for a while and thoroughly enjoyed herself plus no more bunny-hopping on three legs. What a difference losing a toe makes. It was a horrible thing to have done but seeing the result I am glad its done and over.

I saw my first daisies on the lawn today. I love daisies, they smile up at you out of the grass and are so cheerful. My mother has a friend (a mad one) who won't cut her grass because she can't bear to cut the heads off the daisies! I'm not that bad, actually I am sure they duck when you drive the mower over them because they always seem to be back the next day. I suppose it won't be long before Hairy Hubby has to suffer the traumas of his tractor lawnmower again. I think the novelty wore off a bit last summer, I know his big soppy grin certainly did! I was also pleased to spot some Crocus bulbs which had survived the rampaging Pheasants. They have eaten just about everything else. They munched my tulips right down to the ground. They don't seem to like the leaves of they Crocus just the flowers. I did also have some Bluebells which I planted last Autumn. They were specially bought for me by my mother and sent in the post, carefully packaged. Hairy Hubby planted the Dovecote on top of them. It says it all really!

Happy smiley Daisies!

A few Crocus bulbs which survived the rampaging Pheasants

I had intended to attempt to write a Dove free entry but as there is hot news from Dovecote Towers I feel it my duty to report it, as scandalous as it is. Today, on my lawn there was a scandalous show of exhibitionism! Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey not only shared a bath together but were later seen to be 'doing the do' in full view of anyone who cared to look! I have to say I was shocked by such behaviour. Have they no modesty? Morals aside it is good news because it means there may be the patter of tiny claws before too long. Or should I say the squeek of tiny beaks because those dovey babies do make a racket! It will mean that Pinky and Perky have some cousins to play with when they come home.

Another Dove pic? How did that get there?

A Dovely Day!

2011-03-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

What a lovely day I had today. The sun was shining although I didn't see much of it. I was inside the hospital at Wing and a Prayer which is one of my most favourite places to be. It's always great to be surrounded by so many wonderful birds (and three hedgehogs) but today was a red letter day! Today was the day I was able to feed one of my baby Doves for the first time! Yes, sorry we are back to Doves again, never fear I am getting chickens soon so I will be boring the world about them in due course.

Anyway, back to my baby Doves. They are doing really well, their lovely white feathers are coming through already, you can see the feather shaft with tufty bits coming out of it and in places there are largish flight feathers coming through. It's really interesting, if you find that sort of thing interesting which I do, to see the actual layers of feathers, especially on the wings. I have always tried hard to learn the names of different types of feather, Primaries, Secondaries etc but sitting gazing at my little ones I can really see the separate areas. I also found it fascinating how there is a gap at skin level before the actual feather starts. So you have the quill part and then the feathery bits. I'm imagining this gives the bird insulation by trapping air close to the skin. Mind you, what do I know the whole thing could look totally different before they are fully grown. It's just that where the feathers are coming through you can see the base of each one. Totally amazing.

So, as I was saying, I was able to feed one of them with a syringe. They have a special mix made up of powder and water, it's the colour of biscuits and about the consistency of thick custard. You hold the birds beak between your index and middle finger, with your fingers pointing down and palm towards you. As you grasp their beak they open their mouth and you squirt a little amount of food in, then they swallow and scream blue murder for more. Absolutely wonderful! I fed Perky, the slightly smaller one because Pinky the bigger and just a little more developed one is a loony and jumps all over the place. After they had been fed I was able to have both of them on my lap for a cuddle. At one point I had the two White Doves on my lap, Woody the Collared Dove on my shoulder and Twizzle (who was called Wurzel but has now been found to be a girl) was sitting on my handbag in the kitchen. How cool was that. Who would have thought I would be doing that a year ago when I was so desperate to get out of London?

Taken on Sunday, they have even more feathers today (Tuesday) Pinky on the left, Perky on the right

A little update on my older birds (you were wondering weren't you?) I still have two birds out there. They seem very settled and often go for long fly abouts. I'm also pleased that they are definitely a pair, they share the same nest hole, so that should encourage them to stay plus gives me the chance they will have babies. My only worry now is that dratted Sparrowhawk. I saw him land in my big Sycamore tree tonight and I never thought I would see the day but I opened the back door and scared him off. I know he is only looking for dinner but I don't want my Doves being the main course!

So, did I mention I am getting chickens? Hairy Hubby is getting on well building my chicken coop. It is all out of scrap wood donated by Farmer Dan and son so is taking a bit longer than it would if we had just gone to B&Q but beggars can't be choosers as they say. It's looking really good and also pretty large. We think there is room for 12 chooks in there but I want to start with 4-6 ex-battery hens. Yes, I am very excited!

Sundown Dreams

2011-03-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

I love sundown in my garden. There is a certain point everyday where a beautiful stillness falls. After a sunny afternoon the light changes subtly to a rich golden colour making everything look soft and warm. The sun has gone from the garden but still shines through the trees, illuminating one side of their trunks, giving them a magical quality. I like to sit and watch from my window at this time of day.

One of my favourite things is to look through the trees to the Blackcurrant field which takes on the appearance of a painted backdrop, like on those old films where they had a painted background beyond the window. It has a hazy dreamlike quality, feeling almost surreal even though I know it is really there. At sundown the garden becomes shady and dark yet the sun is still shining beyond the trees, almost as if it’s another day over there beyond the trees, maybe today starting over; maybe tomorrow starting early or maybe even a glimpse into another world.

At this time of day the birds’ activities start to die down. Mostly the little birds stop visiting the feeders apart from the occasional hungry one popping in for a snack before roosting. The Pheasants can be still seen wandering about in the wood but even they seem to take on a much more relaxed manner. Almost as if they are out for an evening stroll, enjoying the last burst of sunlight.

As I look above the trees I see Woodpigeon flying overhead. The sun shines on them, illuminating them making their pink breasts glow and the white on their neck and wings shine brightly. They seem at their most graceful at this time of day, soaring above the wood, enjoying the last rays of the sun. Occasionally a flock Jackdaws will come over on their way to roost, they soar above the trees calling their ‘Jack, Jack’ call. To me the Jackdaw has a very atmospheric call; it is a sound of freedom and open spaces.

It becomes very quiet and peaceful out there. The only sounds being the occasional Pheasant calling or distant dog barking and the relentless song of the Song Thrush. He calls on and on, repeating his sweet song over and over, never seeming to tire. It is such a loud song from a small bird. To me his song is the sound of my late Grandmother’s garden; there always seemed to be a Song Thrush or two around in her garden or in the wood behind it.

Eventually the light fades, becoming pink and then finally giving way to darkness. The Song Thrush calls on until the light has totally gone. Night time begins and the Tawny Owl and the bats come out to play.

Woeful tales

2011-03-05T07:45:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to feel sorry for anyone reading this. Honestly I am even depressing myself by writing it. Just as well I don't have hundreds of followers or there might be mass suicides across the country. I am sure there will be some good news soon, after all Spring migration is coming so who knows what will appear in my garden. But until then here is some more doom and gloom.

On Thursday I went out to only three dove. You may remember that on Tuesday I had lost one to a Sparrowhawk. The white feathers are still piled up by the fence, I just can't bring myself to pick them up. Anyway I don't have a clue what happened to Thursdays missing bird. Maybe he went off with the racers to join his friends, maybe the Sprawk got him in the woods I will never know. This left me with the Little Mummy on her egg and a pair who I believe are the pair who had the baby who died. See you are crying already aren't you?

On Friday I went out and found the little Mummy gone and her egg cold. Are you calling The Samaritans yet? I would be. Again I don't know what happened. Maybe she decided her egg was no good and went off to look for her mate.

So all I have left now are the mated pair. Good enough to carry on with, many people start with just one pair and let the dovecote fill naturally. If I can hang onto them that will be fine. You can sense my pessimism can't you? I had such great hopes of having a lovely flock of white doves in the garden but right now I feel like a mass murderer. The pair seem happy and settled, I just hope the Sprawk leaves them alone.

Pinky and Perky the little babies are doing ok at The Haven although Perky still has wind in his crop and is not digesting his food properly. He has been put on antibiotics so fingers crossed it will do the trick.

Anyone who has been affected by issues raised in this blog can talk to The Samaritans in confidence. Call them on 08457 90 90 90.

Birdy frustrations

2011-03-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

I got up this morning to find only four Doves and a pile of white feathers. I love Sparrowhawks but not when they do things like this. I know they have to kill to eat and it's just nature but I do wish they wouldn't do it in my garden and especially with my Doves! Four seems a fragile number, not like a proper flock and I am worried about them now. They didn't look phased by it at all though, there were three of them sitting on the ground waiting for breakfast when I got up this morning.

Naturally there was no see left this morning because the dratted Pheasants had scoffed the lot last night. Honestly they come along and hoover up every last grain, it looks like a load of mice milling about down there, especially now we have so many females visiting. There were about ten last night. Hairy Hubby reckons we should ask the gamekeeper for some of their seed to supplement what we are paying out for! We have been told that she is collecting them all in to put in pens ready for breeding, maybe she would like to put one or the traps in our garden because most of the birds seem to be in there!

I saw Pinky and Perky today. They have really grown and have pin feathers coming all over them. I was able to hold them and they pecked my hands and face looking for food. The smallest one had wind in his crop which isn't good. It's not clear how it happened but it's unusual for such a young bird. He is being fed Molasses today which apparently helps disperse it otherwise (this makes me cringe) they may have to put a pin in his crop and let the air out. This is drastic for such a tiny one so I hope it does not come to that. The main thing is that I know they are in the best place being looked after by someone who knows what they are doing.

On the way home I spotted what I am sure are my missing birds. There are some racing pigeons not too far from here, I had not noticed them before but they have no doubt always been there. I have seen several white doves flying with them for the past few days so I am pretty sure its my deserters. The ungrateful lot, I fed and cared for them for six whole weeks and as soon as they got the chance they naffed off to live with someone else. I wonder if the other owner is letting them in the pigeon shed at night or if they are content to sit on the roof. They will be sorry when they find out I have just brought home some supadupa Pigeon conditioner seed with added aniseed. A totally luxury seed for pampered birds. Oh yes they will rue the day they ran away from home when they find out what their friends are having for breakfast!

It's getting dark now and I am looking down at my Dovecote with pride, knowing my four remaining doves are tucked up safely in their beds. Meanwhile underneath the Pheasants are scoffing all the supadupa seed I had put down for their breakfast. I can't win!

Proudly Introducing Pinky and Perky

2011-02-27T09:54:00.000-08:00

Here they are in their debut video, Pinky and Perky the most gorgeous little things on the planet. I'm so proud of them. Their eyes are open already and they have primary feathers growing. Huge thanks to Jenny for filming them and making my day!

The Abandoned Wives Club

2011-02-26T11:38:00.000-08:00

Well it all went wrong yesterday. My birds didn't come home to roost. Two of the birds who were on nests deserted them. I found a dead chick in one, about the same age as the two I took to The Haven, but I think it had been dead a while because it looked squashed. In the other there was a cold egg. The mothers spent the night sitting on the roof of the house opposite, presumably waiting for their mates to return. At dusk there was just one poor little girl left sitting resolutely on her nest. I don't think she had even come down to feed all day. I think she probably only has eggs because she was the last one to build her nest.

I spent the day anxiously looking out of the window praying to see a white bird. I was so upset, I had put so much love into those birds it was horrible to think they had just deserted me the first day. When it was dark I put the floodlight on and thought they were all back but it was an optical illusion and all the nest boxes were empty. Except of course the one with the poor lonely little girl but she is round the back so I couldn't see her.

In the morning the two birds were still on the roof opposite. It's the highest point and I think they were watching for their mates. I put some food in one of their red dishes on the front lawn hoping they would see it and come down for it but they just sat stubbornly up there. The poor little mother was still on her nest and was not coming down so I put some seed in her nestbox for her incase she was going to starve rather than get off her eggs. I had to go out shopping and spent the whole time looking out of the car window to see if I could spot my birds! I felt totally miserable with them being missing.

When I got home at around lunchtime I was thrilled to see that the two birds off the roof had come home and were feeding on the ground. What's more the lonely little mother was down with them feeding. All I could think was thank heavens at least with three of them I still have a little flock. I named them 'The abandoned Wives Club'

At about 2pm I went outside to hand the phone to Hairy Hubby when he started pointing behind me and grinning. There were clearly now FOUR birds feeding under the dovecote. I sneaked round the back to see if the little Mummy was still on her nest and she was! He told me that two birds had just flown in right over my head! I was almost jumping for joy. That made FIVE birds in total. Where the other two had come from I don't know. If they wanted to stay out all night they could have had the manners to leave me a note!

So at dusk tonight there are five birds in the dovecote which means that four are still on the missing list. Pinky and Perky are still doing fine at the Haven. I can't wait to see them when I go in on Tuesday. I wonder what tomorrow will bring? A nervous breakdown maybe???

Dove release day!

2011-02-25T05:56:00.000-08:00

Well the big morning arrived, today was the day to take the net off the Doves! Typically just as we were about to go out and do it someone arrived wanting the Hairy Hubby's attention so I had to kick my heels for half an hour. Oh the frustration.

We started by taking off all the logs which were holding the net down then peeled it back so that most of the dovecote was open. I didn't want to steam right in and just take the whole thing down and scare the birds incase they all flew and never came back because we were so horrible! One bird flew almost immediately, we had barely walked away and he was off, circling the garden in glee.

Removing the net

Freedom!

It was ages before another one would go. They all just sat there looking out. It was nice in a way to think that they were happy there and didn't feel the need to escape. After a while I decided to put some food down for them to tempt them down to the ground. Two came down quite quickly and had a fight before flying off. Eventually there were five of them all flying round the garden together. It was a lovely sight to see them and also nice to think that they were waiting for each other. We had a very tense moment when the local Sparrowhawk appeared. Now I know what they mean when they say 'my heart was in my mouth' I could barely breath! He was very close to them so he must have seen them but he didn't make a strike at them. I think I would have had heart failure on the spot if he had.

Flying together, such a lovely sight!

This left four still in the Dovecote. I knew there were three females on eggs so thought they probably wouldn't go anywhere in a hurry but one of the males was sticking with his mate. Eventually he flew onto the ground and went for a walk about. It was like he was trying to play it cool saying "I'm really not making a big deal out of this, I'm just having a stroll" before he finally flew upwards. The surprise was that the rest of the flock appeared from nowhere and he joined them. It was like they had been waiting for him. Well actually they must have been. They did a big lap of the garden and flew off, leaving the girls sitting on their eggs.

So now I am playing the waiting game hoping they will all come home after a good fly. I have put the Haven on alert incase they turn up there because that was the last place they were at. If they go back home to Happisburgh where they came from originally I will never see them again. I did see two of them fly over the garden about half an hour after they went but I was indoors so couldn't see if the others were about. I just hope they are all together. Mind you the girls are all sitting there waiting too!

Update on Pinky and Perky

The news is that the little babies from yesterday are doing OK keeping warm in their brooder at the Haven. They must have been very cold because it took them ages to digest the seed in their crops but had some supper before bed and "took it like pro's" I am told. I'm just so glad I had somewhere to take them. I know this sort of thing will happen again if I am going to let my birds breed occasionally so I am now on the lookout for a cheap secondhand brooder. It may be an impossible thing to find, I don't know yet. All they have on EBay are new ones at £250 so not really within budget!

Happiness is a warm bed and a full tummy!

Babysnatching!

2011-02-24T07:51:00.000-08:00

The more I had been watching the Doves the more I became convinced it was Mrs Bullyboy who had died. She never left her babies for more than a minute and even then only to feed and she would be right back on the nest. Whenever I looked out this morning there was no parent bird on the nest. All I could see was a wiggly pink back. I was becoming more and more concerned about them so I rang The Haven and spoke to the experts. I was told if in doubt bring them in.

I marched down the garden with a mixing bowl full of the dog's towels in one hand and a kitchen chair in the other. After a wobbly experience standing on a chair down there yesterday I wasn't especially looking forward to climbing on one again. The added difficulty was getting it under the net and into the Doves enclosure. The net is nailed to great lumps of wood and I had to get one high enough with one hand to shove the chair under it with the other. It wasn't elegant but at least for once no one was watching. Luckily I managed to climb up without incident and found two darling little pink babies with their eyes still closed. They were completely exposed and must have been getting cold so I took them down and put them in the mixing bowl to keep warm.

I would have liked to have kept them and looked after them at home but I don't have the equipment or the experience so I drove the poor little things to The Haven, feeling like a baby snatcher, wondering if I had done the right thing. I had to take Action Dog with me because she had her sore toe amputated yesterday and I didn't want to leave her alone incase she started chewing her bandages so I had a car full of precious cargo.

When I arrived at The Haven some 35 mins later they were taken and put in a brooder to keep warm. It seems they were well fed (oh no..guilt!) but at only about a week old they should have had a parent on them all the time to keep them warm so it seems I had done the right thing taking them in. Oh relief! I was told that they had a bit of a rattle in their breathing which could indicate a chest infection and would need some medication. I do hope they survive, they are such sweet little uglybugs, like little dinosaur babies. They were even making a little cheeping noise. I named them Pinky and Perky, it was the first thing which came into my head when I was asked what to call them.

Action Dog had a great time when we were there. I had to carry her because she was far too interested in the caged birds on the floor when I put her down plus I was concerned about her dressing getting wet. I have been told it must stay perfectly dry so I am really paranoid, even putting the hairdryer on her other feet if she has been out in the garden incase they soak her bandage. She has to wear two sandwich bags and a rubber band over the dressing when she goes outside. The highlight of her visit (for me not for her cos she wasn't amused) was when Woodie the Collared Dove who loves everyone tried to sit on her head. Poor little dog, she has had a bad week! Actually, what a week I have had come to think of it! Monday I found Mrs Bullyboy dead, Wednesday Action Dog had her operation and now Thursday I had to do a mercy dash to save the babies. I am not sure I want to get up tomorrow just incase!

Losses and gains

2011-02-23T07:52:00.000-08:00

I lost one of my Doves the day before yesterday. They were all fine in the morning, I went out to the pet shop to get them some new food and when I came back one was dead on the floor. It was still warm, very warm so only just dead a matter of minutes. There was barely any sign of damage, just two tiny dots, on just above its beak and another to the side. It can't have been the Sparrowhawk, I wondered if a Stoat had grabbed it through the side of the net and the shock had killed it. I will never know but it was very sad and left me with the question of who was it that had died. The trouble with Doves is they really do all look the same. Whoever it was I was really sad to see one of my friends dead.

I thought at first it was Bullyboy because he was not sitting on the perch outside the nest hole. Then I started to worry that it might have been Mrs Bullyboy because the bird sitting on the Bullyboy family nest was not sitting in the same way as Mrs Bullyboy. She always sat facing outwards and all puffed up, keeping her nest warm. This bird was sitting facing in with it's tail sticking out. Also Mrs Bullyboy was rarely seen off her nest. On the very rare occasion I would see the nest without her and go down to try and peep in she would fly back up and sit there glaring at me like I was a babysnatcher. The past two days the nest has been unattended a few times.

This afternoon was one of those times and I spotted The Hairy Hubby straining his neck trying to see in. He approached my study window with a big grin on his face. Apparently he saw two pink bald babies in there. Typically he saw something before me as per usual!! I went down there armed with a chair from the kitchen table and my camera. The Hairy One is much taller than me and he struggled to see in so I knew I would need some extra height. I am not so keen on standing on things since my recent undignified tumble off the step-stool while trying to rescue a Dove stuck under the net. Actually that was six weeks ago and I still have the bruise. I planted the chair on the grass carefully and it sank in over an inch where the grass is so soggy. Not terribly encouraging. I climbed carefully up fully aware that The Hairy One was watching out of the kitchen window waiting for me to do ariel acrobatics again. I could see something pink but it was not moving and not clear, I am pretty sure it must have been babies. I did try and get a picture but as I tried to focus in the parent flew back in and sat on the nest.

I am still undecided which parent is left. My gut feeling says it is Bullyboy because of the change in brooding tactics but was that due to the eggs hatching? Not having any experience of this I don't know if they brood tiny young differently to eggs. I am fairly sure it was one of the Bullyboy family though. I will keep observing and see if I can work it out. The net comes off on Friday so I will be able to get closer and have a better look then and maybe some photos!

Sparrowhawk v Woodpigeon

2011-02-22T09:25:00.000-08:00

There was drama in the garden this afternoon. I had been working at Wing and a Prayer and had not been home long, I sat down at the computer with a cup of tea ready to catch up on emails etc when suddenly there was a big CRASH on the window about three feet from my head. I jumped out of my skin and looked out to see a Sparrowhawk and a Woodpigeon locked in mortal combat.

The Sparrowhawk got the poor Woody on the ground and proceeded to pluck him ready for dinner, there were feathers everywhere. I find it amazing how a Sparrowhawk which is a similar size to a Woody, but more slightly built can overpower one so easily. I know from experience that Woodys can be powerful birds, their wings are really strong yet the Sprawk can bring one down so easily. Maybe it's like a champion wrestler taking on a large but lardy man. Although the lardy man would have a weight advantage the wrestler is faster and has the skills to take him down.

Not wishing to have a death on the lawn I opened the window and screamed at the Sparrowhawk, telling him he was a bully and to leave the poor Woody alone. It's lucky I don't have close neighbours really because I seem to always be hanging out of the window screaming like a fishwife at some creature or other. More often than not though it's Butterfly the Squirrel eating the Dove's food, the greedy thing. He runs now as soon as my window opens. So anyway, as soon as I screamed abuse at him the Sparrowhawk dropped the Woody and flew off fast. The poor Woody flew off in the other direction at a rate of knots and made his escape into the wood.

I took the flying off strongly as a good sign but still went out into the wood in search of the Woody because from the chunks of feathers on the grass he was obviously injured. I couldn't find him anywhere despite searching for ages.

I have seen Woodys and Doves survive terrible injuries at the hands (claws?) of Sparrowhawks. The damage they can inflict is incredible, they just open the poor Woody like ripping open a tin can with an old fashioned can opener. However I have also seen Woodys survive injuries like that. There is one at Wing and a Prayer at the moment who had half his back torn off and his ribs exposed which was walking round the hospital as if he didn't have a care in the world. A couple of weeks on his skin is starting to granulate and grow across the gaping hole and today we noticed new feathers starting to grow. Mind you he had his wound cleaned and dressed and is recovering in a nice safe environment with regular food and water. My poor Woody is taking his chances out in the wood tonight. Unless he has the sense to come and find me that is.

Things that go nibble in the night

2011-02-18T05:34:00.000-08:00

Not so long ago I was gushing about how wonderful it was that the bulbs I planted were coming up and were going to look so beautiful around the garden. At about the same time I was also wondering what to put out for Muntjac to lure them out of the wood and into my garden. Well I should be careful what I wish for. Some rotten Muntjac has eaten all my Tulips! I went out to check the progress of my new plantlings and found them all chewed neatly off at the base. Needless to say I am not happy! I wouldn't mind but the wood is wall to wall with Daffs and the little ratbags haven't touched them, just my Tulips! It also looks like one of the Pheasants has been trying to dig up my Crocus bulbs. Maybe this is why there are no plants growing in the garden!

There is now a sign on the fence which states 'All Muntjac must be muzzled before entering'!

Visiting the tree graveyard

2011-02-14T12:13:00.000-08:00

I visited Hickling NWT today, the first time this year. Last time I went it was flooded and I had the choice of turning back or swimming for my life so I have been avoiding the place till the weather cheered up. I am pleased to say I did not need my life jacket or even my wellies today, there was lots of mud but us hardcore birders (cough) are not phased by things like mud.

The reserve was quiet which is not unusual, I always think of Hickling as somewhere nice to go for a walk rather than a birding extravaganza. Sorry to anyone who thinks its the birding capital of The Broads but usually I don't even take my scope. The highlight of my walk was spotting a Skylark in full song flight. Not rare but it always lifts my heart to see such a little bird so full of himself, singing his little heart out so ridiculously high.

There is a lot of work going on at the reserve, they are putting in new flood defenses and have been chopping down half the trees on the trails to make room for the machines. Every few feet there was a pile of shredded tree, it looked like rows of tree graves. I hate to see trees cut down even if they are diseased or dead but seeing the slaughter of innocent healthy trees really saddens me. My common sense says that flood defenses are very important. After all I live locally, I don't really want my village to become an island in the new lake called Norfolk! Also clearing trees and overhanging branches will make the trail easier to walk along, a lot of the path was single file so now it will be much wider on the rare occasions I am with someone else.

There are signs saying that visitors should make themselves known to the workforce who will stop work and escort you past the workings. That should be interesting. Imagine approaching a big digging machine with its engine running. You cough politely, they don't hear you. You say 'Excuse me'. They still don't hear you. Yes it will be fun. Not. I can imagine they will love having to keep stopping to let all those birdy types go past, they will be real happy chatty bunnies as they escort you safely through!

Yes, they will really hear me making myself known...

The workforce we expect....

When I got back to the car there was a wonderful showy tit flock and two Treecreeper right in front of my car. Typically by this time my phone had rung and I was trying to hold a sensible conversation while trying to take photos one handed. It sounds flash but it really wasn't, I dropped the phone twice trying to zoom in and all the best angles were blurred. I would love to know why all the good birds come out the moment your phone rings, I am sure they know my ringtone!

Getting Nostalgic

2011-02-10T08:34:00.000-08:00

It has been a grey day full of drizzle today. The only real high point has been the Song Thrush which has sung his little lungs out all day long. He is the first I have heard this year. I love those season's firsts, especially the Spring ones because they are so full of promise. I like to think it is the same Song Thrush which sang all day every day last year. I know it is probably not but the romantic in me likes to think it's the same bird back up in his high tree singing his song for me. I think Song Thrush is just about my favourite birdsong, there is something comforting about it's repetition. I can still remember identifying my first Song Thrush by song, I was walking my dogs in Claybury Woods. Obviously I knew what they looked like but I was so chuffed to have picked one up on it's song. It never ceases to amaze me how I have a terrible memory yet can remember most of my birding 'firsts' as clearly as if it were yesterday. In fact sometimes yesterday is a bit blurry with me so even clearer than yesterday!

I could pretty much tell you were I was when I saw/heard my first of most birds, not just the rare ones but the commoner ones too. I especially remember my first Wren. It's a very precious memory to me because it's one of the few really clear happy memories I have of my late father. We were somewhere in North Norfolk on holiday. We had hired a horse drawn gypsy caravan for a week. It seems the most bizarre thing to do looking back now but that's what we did. The three of us and our little Cairn Terrier, Sally, all together in a tiny gypsy caravan. We spent the day clip-clopping along the country roads and in the evening would pull up on any available patch of grass, like a village green, tether the horse and camp for the night. Thinking about it now I can't believe we were not moved on by the police of lynched by angry villagers but that's what the people who rented the caravans out told us to do. Add to that we had no experience with horses at all it could have been a total disaster but it was actually really fun. Anyway, on the day in we had stopped for the day on a common somewhere, I remember there were gorse bushes. Dad and I were sitting on a blanket and I had my treasured bird book out. I still have that book and I still love it. I remarked to Dad that I had never seen a Wren. He appeared shocked and looked around for about 20 seconds before saying 'There's one' and pointing to a lovely little Jenny Wren sitting in the bushes. I was dead chuffed and so impressed that he had found one just like that. So that was my first Wren and a lovely memory.

This was our home for a week!

The new-fangled garden microwave!

2011-02-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

Sometimes The Hairy Hubby comes up with ideas which are really good. Other times they are just plain wierd. Check out his wonderful idea of how to defrost the fish for our tea tonight quickly..

I am not sure if it was total insanity or pure genius because it did actually work. But I spent the whole afternoon watching out for swooping Herring Gulls trying to make off with my Haddock!

Spring fever...and Butterfly again!

2011-02-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

Spring was bursting out all over in the garden today. My grandson and I did one of our 'nature trail' walks around the garden looking for all the bulbs we had planted in the Autumn. I am pleased to say that they all seem to be coming up. There are crocus shoots everywhere and also some Tulips that I had forgotten about! There are lots of snowdrops now too. I have some extra ones which The Hairy One dug up from a corner of the wood where no one goes shhhhh.

There are also tiny leaves on my Elder tree, I was most excited to see them! It's not much of an Elder tree, actually it's a bit small and sad. I'd love it to grow nice and bushy so I could harvest elder flowers for cordial and later berries for wine. I am hoping to make some wine this year. I've never done it before so lord knows what will happen. My Dad used to do it and I always remember lying on the sofa with appendicitis and the doctor coming (they used to do that in those days) and all Dad's wine bubbling away behind the sofa and letting of a pong like a brewery. I don't know what Mum was more worried about, my health or what the Doctor must have thought! Anyway I want to have a go so will be on the lookout for some of those demijohn things at the boot sale. Probably because I want some there won't be any!

I also have great drifts of Daffs coming up on the bank with the Sycamores, they even have some flower buds just beginning. It's a shame but Hairy Hubby is planning to chop the trees down and dig up the bank to build yet another shed. A double garage, summerhouse and lawnmower shed is just not enough storage space for all his ~~crap~~ important items. I suppose that come next September/October I will be spending hours replanting the bulbs somewhere else that I will have to dig them up again from to make way for one of his projects. I am sure that in five years time my garden will look like a housing estate with buildings everywhere!

My grandson and I also had a good look at my herbs and were thrilled to spot the first signs of growth on the mint. We had a fantastic supply of mint for our locally grown new potatoes last year so seeing that really cheered me up. The other herbs seem to have survived, even my Parsley which I was sure would go to the frost. My plan for this year are lots of tubs of herbs. I certainly need a new Rosemary, I totally butchered my old faithful one last year and it needs a rest!

We also had some drama today with my old adversary Butterfly the Squirrel. He had found his way into the Doves enclosure again and got trapped in there....again! The trick really is to watch how he eventually gets himself out because that's where he got in. Then you have to block his entry route. This time the little rat-bag had chewed a hole in the net. I can tell you I am not amused! Well, actually it was amusing watching his antics trying to get out of the net, he was hurling himself about and doing somersaults trying to remember how he got in there. He is going to be a problem along with the Pheasants when the net is off because he will eat the Doves food and cost me a fortune. I always loved Squirrels before I moved here but this one (yes I know it's not just one, far from it) is doing my head in.

If you go down in the woods today...

2011-02-03T07:41:00.000-08:00

Two entries in one day, I am surpassing myself! After my chat with The Gamekeeper and my subsequent blog entry here I think I lasted 10 minutes before my feet forced me to go out for a walk round the Blackcurrant field. I can't really call it the wood because I would only be walking through about 100 yards of wood. Anyway after trying to look cool and nonchalant I grabbed my boots and went out there.

It was strange walking along the path after so long. Like I had never been away but like it had been years. Rather like visiting an old friend. I walked slowly to savour the moment, stopping at the beginning of the path and just watching the birds and enjoying the sunshine. It looked very much the same as the first time I ever went out there, which will be a year ago in March.

I stood here for ages just looking

Last time I saw my wood she was wearing her summer clothes, decked out in shades of green and full of promise. It's strange to think of the changes which have gone on since I last walked that path. There has been harvest time, autumn time with falling leaves and not forgetting the snow. I would have dearly loved to see the wood in all her colours and stages.

The route I am allowed to take now goes through Home Wood then along the side of the blackcurrant field with the broad to your right through the trees. Then a left turn where I like to look down the rows of blackcurrant plants to spot deer. There were no deer today apart from a half eaten dead one which I assume had been shot. Maybe it had just died, who knows but if it had been shot and not used for meat what a terrible wasted of a life. At the end of the field you turn left down a lane then right back along the field again bringing you back to Home Wood. It's not a very long walk. I was out there about an hour today and I was walking very very slowly, stopping frequently.

One thing I have noticed about the wood is that it never fails to deliver at least one magic moment every time you go out there. Perhaps that's why I love it so much. Today as I walked along the path through Home Wood a female Kestrel took off from the undergrowth, with her kill still in her talons. She took me totally by surprise, absolutely stunning and very close. Then as I reached the blackcurrant field there were three Common Buzzard circling over the trees, crying their mewing cry. One flew slowly towards me with the sun making it glow. It went right over my head, I could see every detail through my bins. Absolutely gorgeous.

I am very sad not to be able to go into the wood properly but am determined to make the most of what I am allowed to do. Not everyone has something like that on their back doorstep so I really ought to be grateful and just enjoy it.

The reason for the ban

An expected disappointment

2011-02-03T05:15:00.000-08:00

I just spoke to The Gamekeeper about access to the wood this summer. Luckily I had not been banking on getting full access again because if I had I'd be heartbroken right now. Well actually I am but not as bad as I could have been because I'd not got my hopes up, plus I'd had a bit of a warning that things would be different this year.

Apparently the pens containing the birds are going to be further up this end this year. Or something like that. So I can only walk around the blackcurrant fields. Still nice, still better than nothing but when you have found somewhere that for some reason touched you more than any place you had ever been it just breaks your heart when you can't go there any more.

The upside is that I can photograph the deer again. I probably won't see Hare though, and I will miss sitting by the lake. Plus it has to be better than the past seven months of looking out of my window and not being able to set a foot out there. You can hear that I am trying to convince myself can't you?

It's a conspiracy!

2011-02-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

We have had a Muntjac deer visiting us twice a day for the past week or so. Apart from a couple of brief sightings I have not seen Muntjac from my window in several months. This little fella has been coming right up to the fence, at one point he had his head and foot in the garden. Typically I was on the phone so was not able to appreciate the moment properly. One hand on the phone, the other on the bins is not a good viewing position. Why do people always ring me when there is something good out of the window? I can go days with nothing much to watch then bang the phone rings and suddenly the wildlife springs into action. Yesterday our deer was very close to the house, just behind my Laurel tree. I tried to take photos but my auto focus just wanted to focus on the wire fence and sadly my manual focus skills leave a lot to be desired. I could really do with some camera use instruction actually.

After this close encounter I thought what a nice idea it would be to put some food out for the deer and try and tempt them into the garden. As I always do I asked Google 'What to feed Munjac deer in my garden?' I found a couple of useless threads but came upon one with some really sage advice which I am sure would work. It said "Go to the garden centre, buy something you really, really like, or something very expensive. Plant it in your garden, step back and watch" With past experience of other wildlife, I reckon that would probably work!

We have also had a Tawny Owl visit several times at night. I often hear him but he only comes into the garden when it's Hairy Hubby's turn to put the dog out. I hear a shout of "Oh look, big owl......too late." Apparently it flies across the garden when the floodlight goes on so it must be sitting in one of the trees. There is a large ivy covered one in that sort of area and I have read that Tawny's like ivy covered trees so I suspect it's that one.

I have been promised by The Hairy One that an Owl box will be made. However with past experience I know not to hold my breath. He never specified which decade he was going to start making it! Maybe if a large sheet of ply was to appear very cheaply I might have a hope but I can't see him dashing off to the wood yard and buying some. But the main point is what sort of luck do I have that the dratted bird is never there when it's me putting the dog out? I am sure the wildlife conspires against me!

A garden resident who does not mind me seeing him!

Big Garden Birdwatch

2011-01-30T06:28:00.000-08:00

I filled my feeders and tables with great hopes today ready to do my hour of 'Big Garden Birdwatch'. Typically I am almost out of Black Sunflower seeds which are the favourite seed in my garden, ooops! Note to self to get to the pet shop and buy more first thing tomorrow or there will be a lot of fed up birds out there.

I spent an enjoyable hour with my pad and bins watching out of my back door (better all round views than in my study or kitchen) typically the birds all buggered off somewhere just as I began but it wasn't a bad list. There were some notable missing birds, for example where the hell are my Jays? And only two Dunnock and two Chaffinch? That's not normal. I am sure they know it's "The day", it's a bit like when I used to carp fish. You would go and check out the lake the night before the fishing season and there would be huge carp basking everywhere. Come the next morning not one to be found. You could sit there with your flask and sarnies all day and not get a bite. But you just knew they were over in the reeds laughing at you "Stupid fishermen hahahahha"

I did learn a few things though. Like its really hard to count Blue Tit and Great Tit in my Laurel tree cos it's evergreen and you just can't see how many there are let alone which species. There was also a lovely moment where there were three Robins all sitting on one branch and the middle one, presumably a male showing off (don't they always) who threw back his head and sang his little lungs out. It was enjoyable to do though and I think maybe (I did say maybe so don't hold me to it) I will do my own count once a month just out of interest to see how the numbers fluctuate. Of course when I am not going to be submitting figures to anyone they will all be out tap dancing on the lawn!

The List, for anyone who wants to compare and gloat ....

Blackbird 5
Great Tit 5
Blue Tit 6
Coal Tit 2
Chaffinch 2
Robin 4
Long-tailed Tit 13
Dunnock 2
Pheasant 1
Wood Pigeon 1
Jackdaw 3
Crow 1
White Dove 10 (no I didn't submit that)

Bullyboy

2011-01-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

Bullyboy had been at it again today. There were fisticuffs on two occasions, one I am sure was Singleton standing up for himself at last but I suspect that another skirmish was with one of Bullyboy's next-door neighbours. They locked beaks and wings were flapping madly. It was quite dramatic. He really is a trouble maker and I can see him being issued with an ASBO if he keeps this up. He is still nest building so I imagine Mrs Bullyboy has not laid eggs yet. Maybe he will calm down when she has and he is bogged down with parental responsibility.

A candid 'through the net' shot of Bullyboy and his wife in their des-res penthouse. Note how he keeps an eye on the vacant plot bottom left making sure no one moves in.

Dovey obsessions

2011-01-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

My doves are a very consuming pastime. Every morning I go down to their little enclosure and have a chat with them. I pretend its so they get used to my voice but really it's because they are the only one who will listen to my ramblings. I try not to notice that they are in a net and therefore unable to escape. They appear to listen very attentively and occasionally join in with some coo-ings of their own. If all conversations were like that my world would be a nicer place!

They are also fascinating to watch. Hairy Hubby and I are often to be found gazing out of the kitchen window at their antics. There are three pairs nest building now. I had a check today, the female birds looked at me most suspiciously and made me feel like a peeping tom! I have been collecting nesting materials for them and popping it under the net when I feed them. Doves make very messy nests from sticks and poop. In fact the nests I have seen are really a poor excuse for a nest, almost like the male brought in some sticks and the female thought "What the hell does he expect me to do with these? Oh well I will pile them all up in here to make him happy". I can't tell if any eggs have been laid yet, not without standing on a stool but the last time I did that I fell of and still have the bruises so I will pass on that one.

They now seem to have a routine at roost time. Everyone has their own place to roost. Except one poor singleton that is. He is always the last to try and roost, he sits on the lower perches around the base of the dovecote while all the pairs settle down. Then you see him psyching himself up to try for the empty roost hole at the front. The problem he has is that every time he goes up to it the male from the next door hole chases him off. I have no idea why this bully boy feels the need to defend two roost holes. He has a mate in the one he roosts in but he just does not want anyone else to move into the other one. Their performance goes on right till it is dark. Singleton flies up to roost, trying to time it when Bullyboy is not looking, only to be chased back down to the perch again. You can see Mrs Bullyboy rolling her eyes and saying "Come back to bed, dear" I keep telling Singleton to stand up for himself but he is obviously a pacifist because he backs down every time. I assume that once darkness falls he sneaks into the empty roost hole because if I look out on a moonlit night he isn't on the perch and there is nowhere else he could go. Unless he shacks up with another single bird when no one is looking. Or has a threesome with another couple but let's not go there! I do feel sorry for him though, I suspect that when the net is removed he will be the first one to vanish.

Spring is arriving!

2011-01-25T09:30:00.000-08:00

I have neglected my poor blog over the winter. Now the New Year is here I feel more inspired to write again. I am hoping to be allowed back in the wood in February which will inspire me even more!

I have some new additions in the garden. 10 white doves living in a dovecote at the bottom of the garden. At the moment they are netted but after 6 weeks they can fly free and hopefully will not fly free back to Happisburgh where they came from! Hopefully they will stay because they are starting to pair up and one pair are already building a nest. Just think ugly little dove babies in the garden. I adore dove and pidgie babies, they are the cutest ugliest thing you ever saw and so demanding. When we have them at The Haven they go nuts every time you go near them, asking for food. If you put your hand into the cage they peck between your fingers looking for food even if they have just been fed. You have to love them.

There are signs of spring everywhere now. It's so nice to think that the darkness of Mother Nature's rest time will soon be over. Some days it has barely seemed to get daylight. The birds are starting to sing again, all you can hear outside are Great Tit's going 'Teacher, teacher, teacher'. The bulbs I planted last Autumn with the Grandkids are starting to come up. I am really pleased because I planted about 200 but was prepared for none to come up because they were only cheapie ones from Wilkinson's. Plus I suspect the kids planted half of them the wrong way up! But I can see Crocus shoots under the Laurel tree and along the edge of the back garden so some must be doing OK. I also managed to get my first nettle sting of the year while clearing soggy fallen leaves from around the shoots so the nettles must be coming up again too!

I noticed a Blue Tit checking out one of the nestboxes my late father made. If they only nest in one box I hope it's in one of his two. He used to make them for the local RSPB group to sell at meetings to raise funds. Actually he used to make them for everyone, he must have made hundreds in his time. I often wonder how many are still around. He will have been gone 20 years in June but to think that his beloved birds might still be nesting in some of his boxes is a nice legacy. I have several boxes out now, including my posh one that my friend Gill gave me last year which became home to the Hornets for a short while last summer and a couple of new ones that Hairy Hubby has made recently...and put up, that's a shock!

I had a new garden tick today. Typically not spotted initially by me. I swear that Hairy Hubby is a secret birder, he often spots things out in the garden. As I was in the study at the time I viewed the bird through my late father's binoculars which I keep on the window ledge for such emergencies. My own bins live on the kitchen window ledge and seem to smell permanently of sausages because the Hairy one cooks so many for sausage sarnies. Anyway, I digress. It was nice to see a new bird through Dad's bins. Not nice in a visual way because they are crap but nice in a sentimental way. Maybe he looks down and sees through them with me occasionally. Anyway it was a fine male bird with a neat black cap and glowing breast. He had flown off showing me his white rump by the time Hairy Hubby brought my own bins in for me to look through but I didn't really mind, I was just glad to have known he had visited us.

Much ado about the weather

2010-11-12T09:56:00.000-08:00

It's been unbelievably wet and windy here this week. There has been rain every day and it has been dark most of the time. This time last week there were still quite a lot of leaves on the trees but in the past few days they have all been stripped off and scattered over my lawn, it looked like a leaf patterned 1970's carpet. If you can call it a lawn that is, it's more like a patch of grass, weeds and fungus which just happens to be outside my back door and that's just how I like it. Anyway, the wind. I have laid in bed every night listening to the trees being thoroughly whipped by the wind, hearing watering cans and other small objects going crashing across the patio. It's actually been quite dramatic but it was really getting beyond a joke.

This morning I got up to a lovely sight. Bright sunshine coming through the bare trees. It was still windy but it had changed direction. After strewing (is strewing a word?) the leaves all over the lawn it had blown them all neatly to the edges of the wood, just as if Mother Nature had been out there with her garden vac/blower all night. Very tidy. Even better it was not raining! It was however still howling a gale and the trees were thrashing about in all directions.

I did my usual dash out into the garden to see a flock of about 100 Pink-footed Geese come over at about 10am. I still can't stop myself dropping everything and dashing out to see them, they are just wonderful. It was still blowing strongly and I stood frozen, battered by the wind, staring upwards with my hair blowing in all directions. Then after I went indoors the strangest thing happened. Within about two minutes the wind totally dropped. It was really eerie, we actually saw it stop. I can't say I have ever seen anything quite like it. After a while a breeze came up but not proper wind like it had been. All very strange. Another of Nature's mysteries.

A sunny window

2010-11-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

It was a horrible day today, the only time it stopped raining was when it was drizzling. Then just before sundown the rain cleared and suddenly everywhere was bathed in the most beautiful lemon light. This prompted a mad panic, grabbing my camera, hauling on a coat and unsuitable shoes and running down to the broad as fast as possible.

As usual there were people in the way. I waited for them to pass but they decided to come almost up to me then turn round and go back again! Grrrr I need a delete button for people!

After that I had a go at photographing some unhelpful swans. Sadly they were camera shy but I did manage to get one or two that were almost good.

If only he had held his head up

Then I photographed an alien spacecraft. Well, obviously I know they are not but just think of the fun I could have with them! Check out the local news tomorrow for other sightings....

Spacecraft approaching....

Just leaving......

Just time for a few more shots, purely gratuitous but it's been a while since this blog has had photos!

As soon as darkness fell the rain resumed. I think I was lucky to get that little window on such a rubbish day.

Percy the frustrated Pheasant

2010-11-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

There is a very frustrated Pheasant in my garden at the moment. I decided that the smaller birds needed some assistance getting their share of the food. The Pheasants are basically greedy eating machines and have their own food left out by the gamekeeper, so as much as I like to encourage them they are not exactly 'in need'. Recently they have been stripping everything I put on the ground for Robins, Chaffinches and Dunnocks.

I have been thinking about this problem for a while. The obvious solution is one of those posh cage things The RSPB sells but at over 25 quid each depending on which model you would like to spend your life savings on they are out of my reach. Honestly you could spend a fortune kitting out your garden with just the basics! I had toyed with stealing a basket from Tesco's and putting it upside down over the food but decided theft was going a bit too far. Anyway I had a flash of inspiration this morning that the box type squirrel proof (shhh don't listen butterfly) fat ball feeder I have hanging from the laurel tree (he hasn't noticed it) might just work on the ground too. Obviously it's not ideal but I am hoping it will help. The bars are too close for blackbirds and thrushes but at least it will keep those greedy Pheasants off some of the food.

So I dashed down to the local shop and purchased another feeder for the affordable sum of £2.49. I can't understand why they are so cheap but am not going to argue. It is now proudly sitting under my laurel tree with a fat ball in the middle and assorted seed inside the cage. I also put plenty of seed down elsewhere for Percy & Co. No small birds have ventured near it as yet but the Pheasants found it right away. Apart from Percy (perseverance) they all quickly realised that they were not able to get into it, so got down to the business of munching all the other seed. However Percy has spent the last 15 mins walking in circles round it pecking at the ground in a most self pitying manner. His friends found him embarrassing and left but he has stayed alone, walking round and round. I am sure there will be a bald circle around the feeder when I go out there!

Havoc the Kestrel

2010-10-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

I had great fun at The Haven yesterday. The Kestrel which was new in last week has found his feet and come to life. He is far too tame to be a real wildie but I am told does not seem to be trained to the glove so it would appear has not been used by a falconer. It seems he has had a bleed behind his eye at some stage so can't see well enough to hunt. When he first came in all that was in his pellets were beetles. Not good food for a Kestrel but no doubt all he could find, poor thing. He is now wolfing down day old chicks like they are going out of fashion. It was great watching him tearing at them with his wonderful beak.

He is now happy to fly around free in the hospital, landing on whatever and whoever he feels like. It was so mad having a Kestrel whizzing past your head! At one point he landed on my chest and sat picking at the logo on my fleece. He must have been there quite a few minutes and it totally made my day. He landed on the new volunteer's head and 'blessed' her and also on the shoulder of a visitor who was bringing in the cutest fluffiest pigeon I have ever seen. He flew into the kitchen and landed on a plastic beaker of water, spilling it all over a bag of chick crumb. He has now been christened 'Havoc' which I think is an absolutely brilliant name for him!

Pinkies!

2010-10-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

It was a gorgeous morning so I decided to go for a walk around Rush Hill Scrape and follow the path along the wood where I had never explored before. I set off with my bins and camera on the seat next to me, ready for anything. I had only been driving a couple of minutes when I had to do an emergency pull in to a layby. Well actually the entrance to a farmers field but he wasn't there so what he does not know will not hurt him. This is what I had seen.

Pink Footed Geese

There were about 1000 - 1500 of them grazing in the sugar beet field behind the field where I went strawberry picking earlier this year. Obviously I have seen Pinkies en masse before but never within spitting distance of my home. What a treat! Hopefully this is just the start of seeing them grazing locally.

My walk was fairly uneventful, although very enjoyable. I had been craving the smells of Autumn and this was the closest to a forest I could think of locally. Having grown up so close to Epping Forest I have taken Autumn walks through the leaves for granted and have really been missing it this year. There are just not any forests round here. There is my wood of course but I am still banned. I will either have to find somewhere localish to crunch through the leaves or make a long pilgrimage back to High Beech to get my fix!

Hairy hairy quite contrary

2010-10-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

"Dinner's in the garden" said Hairy Hubby as we drank our coffee. I knew exactly what he meant, he has been waffling on and on about eating Pheasent ever since the shooting season started. I looked out of the window to see what seed the bird was eating.

I am currently doing my own little survey of which seed the birds eat. They don't seem very keen on anything but Black Sunflower seed and I am hoping to attract a wider range of birds to the garden with a wider range of food. Owlmomma at The Haven gave me some of the seed they use their for the wildies to see if that was better than the floorsweepings they sell in the shops. Up to yet nothing has touched it apart from Pheasents and only then if it is strewn all over the lawn.

I was knowledgeably telling The Hairy One about my survey and that the Pheasant would eat every seed put out except what I had put in the tray when typically the dratted bird called me a liar and began to clear the plate.

The Hairy One thought this highly amusing and started musing about his air rifle again. I told him that as soon as he opened the window the bird would be gone, they are very skittish. I should have known better with this bird. Hairy Hubby quietly opened the window, mimed cocking his rifle, aimed and pretended to fire. The soppy bird just kept eating the seed I said he wouldn't eat and didn't move a muscle. Even when I slammed the window with a bang he kept right on munching. Dratted bird, at least it amused His Hairiness!

The villan, The Lads and the leaves

2010-10-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

Well I think I have met the culpret of last weeks slaughter. While sitting in my study chatting to Hairy Hubby and gazing out of the window at the feeders (as I seem to spend half my life doing) a massive juvenile Sparrowhawk landed in the big Sycamore. Honestly it was huge, it looked like a Golden Eagle sitting there. So massive that when I grabbed my bins, which were conveniently on the desk for once and looked for it I couldn't see it. Muttering curses I scanned the tree. The Hairy One helpfully jabbed his finger at the window saying 'Look there it is' and of course it flew off. I think it should of been me who wrote the book 'How to be a bad Birdwatcher'

We are having increasingly frequent visits from a band of male Pheasents who I now call 'The Lads'. They come in a few at a time, very cautious and skittish. If they see a mere shadow of you through the glass they are gone, running away with that comical gait they have. They are mostly young, a couple of them barely have tail feathers but one is a fine old gentleman dressed in full Pheasent finery. I like to see him as the wise old man of the group, teaching The Lads the ways of pheasentry. Showing them the best places to feed (my garden being top of the list of course) and how to avoid the perils of shooting days. I have been told by Hairy Hubby via The Tree Surgeon that The Gamekeeper is not allowing shooting of the Pheasents just yet because they are too young and can't fly. Shooting is confined to Red Legged Partridges at the other side of the wood, which explains why I have seen no signs of it.

Autumn seems later here in Norfolk. I know for a fact that Spring was so I shouldn't be surprised really. Most of the trees are still green. There are a couple which are shedding their leaves, making my garden look very autumnal. I love it but Hairy Hubby keeps muttering about playing with his garden vac. Personally I think he should leave it a while yet until there are more leaves. To save his back you understand, not because I like seeing the leaves! I am really looking forward to the wood being in full autumn colours.

It is noticeable now how much more of the sky can be seen through the trees and how much more light is in the forest just from the few leaves which have fallen. We were even able to see a Muntjac out there last weekend. That is the first time for months. I would love to know if they have been there all the time or not. Maybe we just could not see them. Because I can't go out into the wood I don't have a clue if they still lie in the blackcurrant field in the afternoons. I would love to know. I was told there are Red Deer out there in the winter. I won't know that either. Ok time to stop and give myself a slap on the wrist for moaning!

Right time wrong place

2010-10-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hairy Hubby and I walked Action Dog down to The Broad today. Himself wanted to have a look off the bridge for pike. We think there was one lying there but it zoomed off in a cloud of mud as we approached. More stealth needed next time!

As we got near the bridge (before the pike) I noticed that the gulls on the other side of the road were going mad circling and the ducks were all making a racket and sploshing about. I assumed that someone was feeding them. Wrong. When we crossed the road there was a fisherman in waders standing up to his thighs in the water. Why do they do that when there is a perfectly good platform to stand on. I will never understand the logic. Anyway, Hairy Hubby asked the man if he had caught anything and he said no and doubted that he would because an Otter had just gone through. That was what all the commotion had been about. Oh bum I missed it!

There's a killer on the loose!

2010-10-07T02:54:00.000-07:00

There was a fine sunset last night. Very moody and dramatic. But sadly it was the last sunset one local resident will ever see.

You see, there is a killer on the loose. You would think that in a rural village such atrocities would not happen but it seems nowhere is safe from violence and truly this poor resident met a violent end. I came out this morning to find carnage everywhere, a trail of poor little white feathers led me to the victim who was in a sorry state. His neck had been plucked and eaten, just leaving the spinal cord, one leg appears to be missing along with most of his innards.

I will be asking the Nature Detectives who they think the killer may have been. Perhaps Forensic evidence may give some clues, or maybe a Psychological profile. I need to know who committed this terrible crime in my garden because I am hoping to have some new residents soon. Some lovely white Doves in a pretty Dove Cote. If there is a killer on the loose I may have to take some action or my new lodgers will be murdered!

I hope this was a random ariel attack, there are several suspicious characters in the area who I am sure would be very capable of such a deed. I pray it was not a land based attack, I fear that may be more difficult to defend. I know The Gamekeeper takes care of land predators for the good of her Pheasants but maybe one has slipped the net and is on the loose.

Now it is left for me to clear away the grisly remains before the start to stink out my study. One thing I do know is that everyone must be on their guard!

Mixed feelings

2010-10-06T04:42:00.000-07:00

I have been told via Hairy Hubby that shooting starts in the wood today. As yet I have seen or heard nothing but I would imagine they start at the other end. My end is the most distant point. I am told the beaters may come down here with dogs to flush the birds back to the main part of the wood so I am being careful when Action Dog goes out incase there are any stray gun dogs in the garden.

The whole shoot thing stirs such mixed feelings for me. It seems so horrible to shoot such daft, soppy birds who really have no clue about life in general. Most of them are this year's babies and are not even fully grown. The are so stupid they run rather than fly and dart out of cover when you approach making themselves an easy target. If they stayed lurking you would not even know they were there. I still have not forgotten poor old Hoppy who hid behind a tree in my garden because he knew he could not run with his bad leg. How can anyone shoot something that dopey.

I also keep telling myself that the birds would not even exist if it were not for the shooting. That is what they are bred for, rather like cattle and sheep. It is not like fox hunting, which I am totally opposed to, where the poor things get torn to bits by dogs. At least they just get shot and then hopefully eaten so it's not all a total waste. I apologise to any Veggies out there but I do eat meat so I can't be a hypocrite about people eating game birds. If they were wild creatures being shot, like they do on The Continent I would not agree with it at all.

My other feeling is rather shocking. I am a bit envious of the people out there with guns. Not because they are out there shooting things but because they are out there in my beloved wood. Why are those b*****ds allowed to go tramping around shooting the birds when I am not allowed out there quietly walking incase I scare them!!

So in all very mixed feelings. Feelings which do not really make sense, but then feelings often have no logic.

Fungus fungus everywhere but not a thing to eat

2010-09-18T03:46:00.000-07:00

I wish I was one of those clever (and brave) people who know about fungus. I have some crackers growing in the garden at the moment and I would love to know if they are edible. Wild mushrooms have always fascinated me since I was a child. We were a boating holiday and my parents bought some wild mushrooms from a lady working at a local windmill. She had picked them in the fields that morning. When they got them back to the boat they decided not to risk it and binned them. Since then I have had aspirations about gathering food from hedgerows and taking it home for a free meal. I have never had the courage to follow it through, apart from a few apples and blackberries of course. I don't even think a good field guide would help, I would still not trust myself. Sickness or death is not terribly appealing so I will continue with Asda's own brand!

Mmmm yummy....maybe.....

Probably not....although they do remind me of bread rolls

The least appetising looking, rather like dead flowers. Probably the only edible ones of the bunch!

Excitement in the village!

2010-09-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

We had great excitement here today for about 2 mins! The Tour of Britain cycle race came right past our door. There have been notices up warning about it for a few weeks. I had read about it being the UK answer to The Tour de France so I was well looking forward to it. I made sure I would not be going out because I knew the roads would be chaos and also because I wanted to see it go past. The signs said 2pm - 4pm.

While I was waiting I made some Plum jam and Green Tomato Chutney to while away the time. From 2pm onwards I kept looking out for signs of cyclists. The Hairy Hubby told me there were crowds on Rollesby bridge so I was getting pretty excited. The traffic seemed to be moving as usual outside so all seemed fine.

Just after 3pm just as my jam was ready to bottle there was a massive commotion outside. Horns blowing, police sirens, you name it. I looked out to see streams of police bikes going past the house at speed with sirens blaring. I have to say I am not sure I have heard a motorcycle siren before, it's a funny noise. There was so much racket we thought there had been a major accident!

I ran to the top of the drive and looked down the road, all I could see coming were more streams of police bikes with lights flashing. This must be it I thought. "Oh hell, my jam...oh lord where is my camera?" I ran back in to grab my camera yelling to the hairy one that if he was not interested would he take care of the jam please? He is a very versatile hairy man I have to say and did manage to save the jam. I legged it back to the road took about two photos and the camera went flat! Grrrr why does that always happen!!! Then I had to sprint back in to find my little camera (yes, I ran, it really was a special event!) Luckily that one had some charge and I was able to get back to the road just before the cyclists arrived.

First there was some sort of support car, a bit like they have on the F1 after a crash, followed closely by two cyclists pedalling like fury and having a chat, well more like a shout, with each other. Then some more police bikes. I hope there were no criminals in Norfolk today because every police bike owned by the Norfolk Constabulary was on the A149! Then in the distance I could see a crowd (flock, gaggle, bunch???) of cyclists streaming down the road. I have to say it was very impressive, the noise their wheels made was incredible and they whoooshed past me so fast I felt the need to step back a pace even though I was on the pavement. There must have been about 50 of them, all bunched up. They were past in about 2 seconds, I was barely able to get any photos because the camera I used takes ages to reset after each shot. Following on from them was a fleet of cars, all with bikes on top. I am assuming they were the riders support teams. They streamed past.

After they had gone it was straight back to business as usual on the road, not a police bike in sight. I had imagined streams of bikes going past for ages, a bit like you see when the London Marathon runners go past. It was all over in seconds, I was a bit disappointed really. The whole thing must have cost a fortune with all that police presence. I am sure four bikes would have been all that was needed really.

PS There are THREE Butterfly squirrels in the garden tonight, I bet the little rotters are all flushed with excitement over yesterdays spilled seed and are planning an fresh attack on my feeders!T

Seasonal wind

2010-09-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

It's been howling a gale here today. I had intended to go to Breydon for high tide but thought better of it. The last time I went there in the wind the tide was all messed up because of it. Plus the hide was swaying like a palm tree. Not that I am a coward you understand, usually with things like that I tell myself its perfectly safe but lets face it how do I know that anyone has checked the safety of that hide in the last hundred years. It's planted there on stilts in the mud wobbling away in the wind. It could be a death trap. The whole thing could collapse into the mud at any moment, with me inside it. Even worse with my scope inside it, and that does not bounce and does not heal. OK, I admit it I am a coward!

The wind did cause me other problems too today. It blew over my feeding station. It's only the second time that has happened. Luckily the big ugly squirrel baffle survived again, lord knows how, but one of my seed feeders broke. Well actually the crash finished off what Butterfly the Squirrel had started when he was raging his terror campaign on my feeders. So that's more money I have to find for the birds. Honestly they are eating me out of house and home. I hope they show their appreciation soon and invite one of their rarer cousins for tea! At least I was able to get everything put to rights before Butterfly spotted it and thought it was Christmas come early. I think he had a lovely time with all the spilt seed on the lawn though, I hope it does not give him ideas.

Mostly I rather like the weather now I live here. By that I don't mean its always pleasant because its not but somehow you feel more part of it than you do in a town. When it's windy the trees in the wood rage with it. When it rains it lashes with venom. When it's hot its just great! There seems to be more power behind it, you can really feel the force of mother nature and what she is doing.

I am also noticing the seasons more. Not that I haven't always taken an interest but again you feel more part of the changes, more connected. I am watching crops being harvested that I remember as tiny shoots out of bare soil. On Sunday I went Onion picking in a field I watched grow all summer. There are fruits everywhere you look. As you drive down the road there are various coloured plums dropped all over the road and pavement. One stretch was striped purple then yellow then red. The garden opposite us has trees dripping with pears. What a waste, they live in The States and are rarely in residence, oh the temptation to scrump them! When I go birding along the dunes I feast on blackberries, the sweetest I have tasted in years and no I am not being over romantic, it's true!

We are even eating the seasons more than ever before thanks to our local farm shops. They only stock things which are in season for obvious reasons and when they have things they are so fresh I just have to feast on them. The latest addition is sweetcorn fresh from the fields and speedily onto my barbecue! Through the year I have picked my own Strawberries, Raspberries, Gooseberries, Plums, Runner Beans and Onions. According to the notice at the onion field it's spuds next month.

Until this week I have been buying home made jam from the local farmer too but now I have my own massive pan which was delivered this morning I can at last make my own jams and preserves. I made Beetroot and Orange Chutney today with Beetroot and onions from the local farm of course. The whole house stinks of vinegar now but I am sure it will be worth it in a couple of months when we taste it. Tomorrow it will be Plum jam made with the Plums I picked today. I like picking plums, you don't have to bend over for them. I am a slacker as well as a coward! At this rate I will be joining the Women's Institute and learning how to crochet those ~~horrible tacky~~ pretty little dolls you put over toilet rolls!

Once in a lifetime

2010-09-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

Today was a long day, I had been up at 6am to go to the Wing and a Prayer Wild Bird and Owl Haven Open Day. I was on face painting duty. When I finally arrived home the Hairy Hubby wanted to go to Asda, it was the last place I felt like going but I was so glad I did.

When we came out I saw the most panoramic sunset I have ever seen in my life. Our Asda is next to Breydon Water and is very open all around so you get pretty much a 360 degree view of the sky. I will not be able to do justice to what I saw but I will try. The sun was low, almost gone. A great burning ball on the horizon over the estuary, if you call it an estuary. What was totally amazing was that the sunset covered the whole sky. Everywhere I looked there was sunset, all around me and above me. It was as if the world was on fire and I was in the middle of it, feeling very small. The colours were incredible, peach, amber, purple, gold, pink, and an amazing aqua blue in addition to the classic blue sky. There were dramatic cloud patterns, huge mountains in the distance, wispy streaks above me. Swirls of colour shooting through the clouds as if by laser. I felt as if I was inside a giant painted dome. You can keep your Sistine Chapel I will take the natural world any day. If I had painted it the only thing I would have added was a skein of geese flying across the sky but a lonely Gull sufficed.

I watched the sky driving home and the colours intensified as the sun slid away. I knew that by the time we arrived home the show would be pretty much over. As we drove across Rollesby and Ormsby Broads the colour had gone from most of the sky, just leaving the area around the sun a blazing orange and purple. The water on Rollesby Broad was totally still and glowing gold and peach.

It was one of those experiences you just know is once in a lifetime, never to be repeated. You could never plan to see something like that, it just finds you.

By the time I ran back with my camera it was too late to do it justice

Foiled again!

2010-08-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

I realised that high tide at Breydon was actually about 2pm today so my arrival at 10am should have been very early. Wrong. Yet again there was no mud. Honestly I am going to burn the tide table book and take pot luck in future. It is starting to feel hopeless. Or maybe I should arrive at low tide and take lunch! I am dying to pick through lots of waders. It has always been one of my favourite ways of birding. Mind you today sitting in the raised hide was a bit hairy to say the least. With the high winds it was rocking and swaying something chronic. Quite scary if you thought about it too much. I did think about it too much so I went back to the car and off to Winterton for a seawatch!

When I arrived at Winterton I was pleased to see a small collection of birders standing by the huts. That was a first in itself. Even more pleasing was seeing the man I have chatted to twice before, once at Rush Hill and once at the Nelson's Head track, so at least there was a familiar face. There were some other birders there who I was told were local experts but they were not very chatty and seemed to keep themselves to themselves.

Aparently there had been streams of skuas past before I arrived but typically wasting time at Breydon looking at naff all I had missed the good stuff. After the other birders left I got onto a Bonxie and a Sooty Shearwater. I am positive about the Bonxie but the Shearwater was a probable. Either way it was very satisfying to pick up and ID some nice birds by myself. Especially the Bonxie because it was really good in the sunlight, you could see the white on the wings glowing. All in all I had about an hour and a half of quite nice seawatching. It was howling wind but the sun had come out and it was dry for the first time in days. Result!

Now I must get out my 'Flight ID of European Seabirds' book and start swotting up! I am at The Haven tomorrow so there will be no seawatching or mud spotting until Wednesday. Fingers crossed for a law abiding tide and dry weather!

STOP PRESS!!

There are TWO male Pheasents in the garden!!!

Still getting it all wrong...

2010-08-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

Flushed with previous success I have made a few trips to Winterton this week hoping to get better at the ole seawatching lark. Sadly things have not lived up to expectations despite promising weather conditions. On Friday I was sitting watching Gannets Gannets and more Gannets. I got home and checked Birdguides to find that Rainham had been having a fantastic day, Scoter, Bonxie, Sandwich tern, all sorts up and down the river all day. I texted H to say that they had been having a better day there than here on the coast. He replied 'I am in Norfolk....' I felt his pain!

Today Hairy Hubby was watching the F1 and I was bored stiff so I decided to head off for the coast again. It was howling with wind and I thought I might be in with a chance. Sadly I spent more time in the car with the scope poking out of the window than I did outside and all there were was...you guessed it Gannets! When I got home there was a late entry to say that at 10.30am (when it wasn't raining...) someone had seen Barred Warbler AND Pied Flycatcher at Winterton Dunes. Isn't hindsight wonderful!

I have also decided to try and get Breydon Water right. Friday morning looked a good timed tide so I headed off, this time a good two hours before high tide thinking that should be ample. After all everyone tells me to get there an hour before. Typically there was no mud left at all and all the birds were huddled in the undergrowth. I did manage my first Golden Plover of the year (that is sad) and a few other nice birds but it did not fulfill it's promise. You can see a pattern emerging here. High tide tomorrow is about 1pm so I am going to get to the hide for 10.30. I bet there is no mud.......

The garden is continuing to get busier. Not busy but busier. Monty the mole has been visiting again. I like to see his little piles under the Laurel tree. Hubby snarls every time he sees one but, well...tough! Butterfly the squirrel has visited a few times too. I have not seen him much since I barricaded the feeders. So long as he does not find a way to eat all the bird food again he is welcome. I have also seen The Jays and Woody the Great Spot so fingers crossed for a busy winter in the garden.

I do enjoy the drama of the weather now I live surrounded by trees. You really notice the wind and rain from what the trees are doing. It's nice to feel surrounded by the elements. Well when it's not messing up your birding that is. When you sit indoors on a windy day the trees are a constant background roar, it's very dramatic to listen to. We went and got a quote for a log burning stove yesterday so I am looking forward to winter curled up in front of the fire with a good book listening to the trees singing. I would have liked a fire today...some August Bank Holiday!

Sunny seawatching off Winterton

2010-08-25T04:06:00.000-07:00

In a moment of madness today I got up early, went without my normal marathon hairwash etc and took myself off to Winterton for a seawatch. I managed to get there for 8.30 which is late for most birders but a bloomin' miracle for me at the moment! It was a gorgeous morning and I felt very smug when Hairy Hubby rang from London where he is working to tell me it was horrbile and overcast.

At first the sea looked very quiet and as there were no other birders there I thought I had probably got it wrong again. Mind you no doubt all the 'proper' seawatchers had already ticked everything and packed up by the time I arrived. Any of them who are reading this are probably throwing their hands up in horror at my laziness. Either that or saying 'why did you go to Winterton, it was much better for Horsey today' or that sort of thing. That's the trouble, I really just do not have a clue where to go and when.

Anyway, I had a decent couple of hours, I spotted my own Black Tern and I am 99% I also had a White Winged Black Tern. Lots of Gannets were out there, mostly immatures to confuse me at a distance. My seawatching is so rusty it has siezed up. I think its been pushing two years since I have had a proper seawatch. What I need is a seawatch buddy. If I could find the local birders and find out what time they go to Winterton it would help! I could just latch onto some poor unsuspecting soul and hope they help me.

I also saw another Harbour Porpoise. I am really surprised to have seen two in so short a time, I suppose that must mean they are always out there but you only see them when the sea is calm. Other stars of the morning were Arctic Skua which I really had to think about until it decided to harrass the terns, at which point I muttered confidently 'Arctic Skua' like I knew what I was doing.

I got onto the two female/immature Velvet Scoter which I have seen on Birdguides for a couple of days. I was well pleased with myself, that is the first time I have seen one all by myself. I really must start that 'self found' list.....! I decided to do the right thing and report the sighting to Birdguides when I got home. I typed in the details, adding the harbour porpoise for good measure and hit send. Then I got a message telling me that my news was 'local' and they might not use it! Well, cheers Birdguides, considering you have published two reports of the birds by others in the past week that made me feel really good. Maybe next time I will just tell myself that I live in Norfolk so I don't have to bother with reports! Hmmmmf!!

Lottie, Smartie and Mr Dunnock

2010-08-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

The little residents at Wing and a Prayer are always entertaining. Take today, Lottie the Little Owl was flying free in the hospital. Lottie is almost mature, as far as I know she has been in the hospital about 3 months but don't quote me. She has a damaged retina so her eyesight is not so good and therefore will not be able to hunt for herself in the wild so will no doubt be looking for a home at some point.

I was changing the water for one of my favourite little birds Smartie the House Martin and his room mate Dunnock. Smartie as usual was all mouth and feathers, clamouring to get out of the cage and climbing all over my hands. While I was trying to get him off my hands so I could close the cage door Mr Dunnock (sorry I am sure he does have a real name but I don't know it) decided to make a bolt for freedom and flew out of the cage door. He looked very pleased with himself flying round the hospital and eventually came to rest smugly on top of the baby Pigeon cages.

Lottie's reaction was instant, she was so interested in him, her eyes were following him everywhere and she started head bobbing and all sorts, you could almost see her mouth watering while thinking 'Mmmm Dunnock for lunch'. So maybe her eye is not as bad as it seems! It was so fascinating to see such an instinctive reaction from her, as she would in the wild.

Mr Dunnock of course had no clue of his close shave and was most put out when he was returned to his cage. Apparently he is about ready to be released. Smartie sadly is not, he is so keen to get out but for reasons unknown he is not a good flyer. He was released a couple of weeks ago but was brought back the next day after being found in the mouth of next doors dog! When we let him out in the hospital he ends up on the floor. The same goes for the two Swifts, they just don't fly. Goodness knows what will happen to them because all the other Swifts have gone back now and the House Martins are gradually going. They can't really be released in winter with no other birds of the same species about. I am told that all the ones who were left behind last year just seemed to pine away and die because the urge to migrate was so strong they could not bear it. Poor little Smartie I will be so sad if he suffers the same fate.

Never have a birder for a mother....

2010-08-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

I had a little excitement today in the form of a mini-twitch. I read on Birdguides this afternoon that there had been an Osprey at Strumpshaw Fen RSPB at lunchtime and also yesterday. After muttering curses that no news had been put out yesterday (it would have been out within 5 mins if it was Rainham) I sweet-talked my darling daughter into coming twitching.

Poor Bonnie has had a few twitching experiences with me over the years. The first being the Spotted Crake at Cornmill Meadows where we waited 3 hours for a 3 second view. Then there was the time we were heading off to Lakeside shopping when I dropped it into conversation that we were going on a diversionary twitch to Rainham for ...oh what was it now...oh yes another Spotted Crake. So she now had a list of two rarities but they were both the same. Then there was the Grey Phalerope at Abberton. That was a 'lets call in on the way home' job, which involved racing down the A12 from Clacton chasing daylight at 80mph, getting low on diesel, blagging a permit for the dam and then (this is the bit she has not forgiven me for) having to climb fences to see the bird. We also went to Rainham and saw a Spoonbill from the centre. That one she enjoyed because a) the bird was hilarious to watch feeding and b) she did not have to walk far.

Anyway in typical style Bonnie has already seen an Osprey in Scotland years ago, before her mother turned into a monster who drags her all over the place in search of birds. That day was eventful too. She and I were watching the bird through the Centre's scope when one of the wardens came in rather flustered saying he had just had to throw two blokes off the reserve for Pike. Bonnie and I gave each other horrified looks and said 'please God no don't let it be them' We dashed back to the camper van to find Hairy hubby and son looking most fed up. Yes they had been trying to fish in a nature reserve and could not understand what they had done wrong. Apparently there were no signs telling them not to fish there. The fact that it was a nature reserve and that you would have to be a moron to think you could fish it did not enter their heads!

Thinking about it I was lucky she came with me today! We were lucky though, the bird showed after about 5 mins, flying right over our heads giving lovely views. I think she rather enjoyed it, I know I did!

Diversions

2010-08-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

It's been so quiet recently in the garden that there really has been nothing to write about. Thankfully I am noticing a few small birds returning, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit and Chaffinch. Still nothing larger though, Jason the Jay has vanished, I can hear Pheasents out there but no sign of them yet. I keep sprinkling a trail of seed into the garden in hopes they will pick up on it. I put a whole loaf of stale bread out the other day and it just sat there going mouldy until the lawnmower picked it up. Mind you I should not be surprised because that lawnmower has eaten just about everything else!

I have seen a grass snake a few times along the fence line. The first time I was on a morning nature trail round the garden with the Grandkids when Dylan and I both shouted 'snake' at the same moment. The second time he was in just about the same place so I am intending to put a few more mats about to attract him. I have one sad little Tesco's value brand rubber car mat at the moment but as the Hairy Hubby has finally tarfelted the Summerhouse (hoooooray!) there are lots of offcuts of tarfelt so I will be liberating some of them tomorrow and dotting them round the garden. It will be interesting to see if I find anything but beetles. I know some people find beetles riveting but they are not my favourite wildlife. Especially after finding one in my sleeping bag on a school trip at the age of 8, but that is another story.

My excitement recently has been volunteering at Wing and a Prayer. Mostly I am cleaning out birds but I have been able to handle several species including, House Martin, a ducking (awww) lots of pigeons and Doves and also Crow and Herring Gull who were a bit scary. Last week the young Herring Gull had got so big I asked the owner to get her out of her cage incase she ~~bit me~~ fought me too much and hurt her broken leg. I have also hand fed some baby blackbirds and seen a House Martin Released.

It's not all happy though. There is a viral infection in the area affecting the local population and also some of the birds in The Haven. Last week when I was there a little blackbird, one of the ones I had hand fed, was fine one minute, collapsed 10 minutes later and was dead within another 10 minutes. It was so shocking how fast he went. I know he was fine when I arrived because I had a little chat with all the birds before I started work and he was chatting back to me.

I have managed a bit of seawatching this week. Sadly I missed out on what I have heard was a seawatch bonanza last weekend but never mind (actually I do mind) I just am not familiar with what is good conditions for which place yet. It is a different style of birding round here to what I am used to. At least that's how it seems. I have had contact from a couple of local birders via a Yahoo group so fingers crossed I may have some birding buddies in the area before long. Lord knows I could do with some contacts.

A glorious midsummer afternoon

2010-07-20T03:05:00.000-07:00

It was a glorious midsummer afternoon at Hickling yesterday. Almost devoid of birds but totally gorgeous anyway. Everywhere I went there was the sound of seed pods popping. There were butterflies and dragonflies in abundance and it was a good chance for me to test my photographic skills. I came home realising I need a lot more practice both at the photography and the Butterfly ID! Even with my photos in front of me I am still struggling to ID them. Were they Gatekeeper or Small Heath? Was that a Small Skipper? Sadly there were no Swallowtail about, I can do those!

It really was very hot and I had to rest by the tower hide. I spotted this poor crow suffering from the heat. He really does look comical trying to cool off with his wings spread and beak gaping.

Hot Crow

View from the Observation hide

There has not been much about in the garden recently. Butterfly is still about although not as much since I stopped him abusing my bird feeders. The main birds I see now are juvenile Great Tit and Blue Tit. I have seen the Jay on occasion but he does not come down as much as he did. I just hope the lack of birds is not due to my moving the feeding station. That Butterfly has a lot to answer to.

We discovered a wasp nest under the roof yesterday. This time we are sure they are wasps, they are nowhere near as large as the hornets. Hairy hubby put his extermination skills to the test again by standing on the wheelie bin and attacking them with fly killer. I don't know how successful he was but you could hear they did not like it one bit! When it's a bit cooler he will have to get into the loft and see if there is a nest in there. At the moment I think anyone who ventured up there would die of heat exposure within minutes.

We did have one new visitor yesterday. At least I have never seen one in the garden before. A lovely Comma butterfly down by the Silver Birch where the Hornets nested. He was having a lovely time winding me up when I was trying to take his portrait. I wish I had taken more notice of the butterflies in the garden earlier in the year. I know we had Orange tip and there were some lovely small blue ones which I meant to get around to identifying. I suppose now I have lost my wood I am focusing more on the garden again.

Comma

My delivery did not arrive!

2010-07-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

I whizzed over to Rush Hill Scrape this morning to see if the White Tailed Plover that I had ordered had been delivered. Sadly it is obviously running late and has not arrived yet. Maybe tomorrow? Honestly you just cannot rely on delivery services nowadays.

While waiting for it to drop in I kept myself amused by talking to a local birder. Yes you did read that right, a LOCAL BIRDER! It is true they do exist! I was starting have serious concerns that they had become extinct, only appearing as the stuffed version for twitches. Anyway this rare breed was happy to chat to me about local paths and access to reserves etc and generally share some local knowledge with me. What a nice way to spend a morning.

There were some nice waders there too. No megas (due to the delay) but several Ruff in various stages of moult, Dunlin, Green Sandpiper, Avocet and Greenshank. Not to mention two lovely Little Gulls, one juvenile and one adult. There was also a very young fluffy Black Headed Gull chick wandering about on the mud. Surely he should not have left the nest yet? There was no way he was going to get back in because the nest is on a platform 3 feet off the ground. I fear the little fella will be gone by morning.

It was a lovely walk to and from the hide. The path goes through several different types of habitat, starting with cornfields, then a wood, then the reeds fringing Hickling Broad. I was amazed how much the vegetation had grown up since I was there last which was only a month ago. Some of the paths were very overgrown, one was impassable. Nature amazes me how fast it gets on with the cycle of renewal every year. No matter what, you can always rely on it. We all witness it every year and yet people still keep asking to see a miracle. The true miracle is out there under our very noses and most people don't even see it. What a criminal waste!

Not what I wanted to hear

2010-07-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

I had a text from The Gamekeeper today. As of today would I keep out of The Wood till February. I had to read it twice before it sunk in what I was reading. I knew I would be asked to keep out for a while but never in a million years thought it would be for seven months! Words fail me. I am even more gutted about this than I am about missing out on the White Tailed Plover. I have been saying all along that it was like a dream and that I couldn't believe my luck. Well, now I am back to earth with a bump and a big 'no entry' sign.

It's always the way with me. I always play by the rules and it always backfires. If I had just gone off wandering in there without permission none of this would have happened. But typically I had to go and ask permission which has now been withdrawn. If I just go ahead and walk over there anyway I will doubtlessly find myself banned for life or done for trespassing. I am sure that the various people I have seen over there who and heard of that go over there will continue to walk over there all through the winter. They will enjoy all the Autumn leaves and Winter frost and snow that I was looking forward to seeing. They will no doubt see the Red Deer I have been told go there in the Winter months. That is because they did not ask permission first.

Doing the right thing does not always pay. In fact most of the time I have found it does not pay at all but still I always have to do it. Bah I am fed up!