My feathered friend.

[Guest]

Aah, "The Tower Crane". A Hitchcock classic.

Talking of which... One of our ducks was killed the other day, a healthy 2 year old Khaki Campbell. We thought Fox or Mink, and took appropriate precautions. Heard a kerfuffle a week later & two big, gnarley old crows were beating the living b'jeezes out of another of our quackers.

She's OK but has a puncture wound to the neck & a hole in her head. Nasty baskets.

I never knew they took full size healthy birds.

Poor thing Dan ,hope she's ok. Didn't think they did either, have seen them go for a rabbit with myxomatosis, and peck at it. Very cruel .

[monica]

oh how sweet she is ,and how nice to have her there to get all the nasty bugs and grubs in your yard,
I have a few black birds and thrushes that come around dawn and dusk rooking about in the leaf litter I
on the garden to brake down and try to keep some moisture in the grand,but have to watch miss moggy
dose not make them a snack,and also have about 6 or so willy wage tails come around the outside in the
cover of the trees,ost morning as well,real nice to see and hear them each day, :smiling:

[rtfoe]

Lovely what you're doing John for the mummy Blackbird. Our neighbours scatter rice padi on the road outside our house for the birds and there is always a pair of burung Tekukur that pace the length of the road picking at the rice padi.The pair are often male and female, gay or lesbian...hey it's a free world. They get their name from the sound they make "Terr Kurr Kurr" and is a species of wild pigeon. I think. Slender and lovely markings that are blue gray and sometimes have a tinge of violet in the dusk. If you sit quietly, they can walk right up to you busy pecking the ground. With the cats around they don't come so often now. One day I will get a picture but for now here's a reference of one from Google...



Cheers,
Richard

[Jim R]

Hi John
I just love stories like this. No better feeling than when a wild creature trusts you.
Jim

[Tim Marlow]

Lovely what you're doing John for the mummy Blackbird. Our neighbours scatter rice padi on the road outside our house for the birds and there is always a pair of burung Tekukur that pace the length of the road picking at the rice padi.The pair are often male and female, gay or lesbian...hey it's a free world. They get their name from the sound they make "Terr Kurr Kurr" and is a species of wild pigeon. I think. Slender and lovely markings that are blue gray and sometimes have a tinge of violet in the dusk. If you sit quietly, they can walk right up to you busy pecking the ground. With the cats around they don't come so often now. One day I will get a picture but for now here's a reference of one from Google...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1156606[/ATTACH]

Cheers,
Richard

That’s got to be related to a turtle dove Richard, it looks so much like one. They are beautiful birds that are unfortunately very rare in our country now. They make a fantastic noise, almost like an oversized cat purring!

[Tim Marlow]

Poor thing Dan ,hope she's ok. Didn't think they did either, have seen them go for a rabbit with myxomatosis, and peck at it. Very cruel .

Trouble is John, they are not being cruel, they are simply trying to survive. Must admit I didn’t know crows did this though. I know Ravens do, they are known to attack new born lambs after all, but not crows.

[prichrd1]

We only get raptors eermm....... I mean seagulls!!
(Collective term - Herring Gulls are the worst offenders).



And yes they do eat other birds and small mammals!!
But their food of choice is anything that they can be "feed by" or "steal" from tourists.

Paul.
:smiling:

[CarolsHusband]

Trouble is John, they are not being cruel, they are simply trying to survive. Must admit I didn’t know crows did this though. I know Ravens do, they are known to attack new born lambs after all, but not crows.

Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise to us. First one we've lost to a predator in 12 years of poultry keeping. Crows & Jackdaws regularly come and eat the feed but there's not much you can do about that.
Any type of feeder that will outwit a Crow will definitely stump a duck.....

[Guest]

Just got home from my gardening job to be told by Christine that the bird had come into the open door way of the shed , walked through the cave and then under the carport by the open back door and looked it. Christine was sorting some raisins out for her, so gave her some on the ground which she ate, then walked back through the cave and into the garden !

I 've just received the mealy worms and took some out side, made the clicking sound and shes was down . Landing on the chair next to me and on to the table. Now eating away and flying off to feed the baby.

[colin m]

Nice one John. Our own Mrs B, normally sort of flops at my side when I'm digging in the garden. Sometimes I have to pause work while she inspects what I'm doing.

[rtfoe]

That’s got to be related to a turtle dove Richard, it looks so much like one. They are beautiful birds that are unfortunately very rare in our country now. They make a fantastic noise, almost like an oversized cat purring!

Hi Tim, have always wanted to know what Turtle Doves looked like since learning the lyrics to Twelve Days of Christmas. Looked it up in Wiki and yes they are both related and having the same markings. The Burung Tekukur is an Oriental Turtle Dove. Can't believe they come all the way from Japan, China, Korea and India during Winter. No wonder I don't see them now but more often nearer December. So it wasn't a strange coincidence that I saw a pair in a park in Tokyo.
Thanks for that Tim.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

Just got home from my gardening job to be told by Christine that the bird had come into the open door way of the shed , walked through the cave and then under the carport by the open back door and looked it. Christine was sorting some raisins out for her, so gave her some on the ground which she ate, then walked back through the cave and into the garden !

I 've just received the mealy worms and took some out side, made the clicking sound and shes was down . Landing on the chair next to me and on to the table. Now eating away and flying off to feed the baby.

One smart bird John and what a kind gesture you both are doing for her.

Cheers,
Richard

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Tim, have always wanted to know what Turtle Doves looked like since learning the lyrics to Twelve Days of Christmas. Looked it up in Wiki and yes they are both related and having the same markings. The Burung Tekukur is an Oriental Turtle Dove. Can't believe they come all the way from Japan, China, Korea and India during Winter. No wonder I don't see them now but more often nearer December. So it wasn't a strange coincidence that I saw a pair in a park in Tokyo.
Thanks for that Tim.

Cheers,
Richard

Ours breed in the UK and overwinter on the West coast of Africa, so long flight seems to be part of the breed ethos. Unfortunately loss of breeding sites has made them critically endangered. Numbers have dropped by 95% in the last twenty five years.
My favourite migratory UK bird is the Swift. From hatching in the UK they travel to Africa, back to the UK, back to Africa, and then back to the UK before they start to breed. In all that time they don’t land at all! They even sleep on the wing!

[rtfoe]

Ours breed in the UK and overwinter on the West coast of Africa, so long flight seems to be part of the breed ethos. Unfortunately loss of breeding sites has made them critically endangered. Numbers have dropped by 95% in the last twenty five years.
My favourite migratory UK bird is the Swift. From hatching in the UK they travel to Africa, back to the UK, back to Africa, and then back to the UK before they start to breed. In all that time they don’t land at all! They even sleep on the wing!

You sure they don't have their own KC-135 tanker of their own for air to air re-fueling. :smiling6:

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

Nice one John. Our own Mrs B, normally sort of flops at my side when I'm digging in the garden. Sometimes I have to pause work while she inspects what I'm doing.

Yes Colin, that's nice when they do that. Trouble I nearly tread on the bird !
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This morning she passed me sitting outside and went through the cave to the back door, looking for Christine I suppose. I followed her slowly and she was under the car port having a look around. Then jumped up on to the fence and flew back into the garden.

Then returned to the table after I had loaded the feeder.



No doubt she will be with me later as I sit at the table .