h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Couldn't get the Osprey videos, and I am loath to download anything at the moment

Thu.17th April 08
Weather: Dry, Sunny with bitter cold wind.

I am getting really frustrated. I missed the badger again last night. It came some time between 9.30 and 10pm The dish was opened neatly and most of the food had disappeared. There was no sign of any activity at 3.40am either.

This morning I moved the peanut cake out of the cage and in to the holder, as the woodpecker came at 7.59am and looked disgruntled at no cake. She hammered away at the peanuts in the lilac tree, but made it clear she would rather have peanut cake and insects. I put a flat block in the cage for the little birds. She will have no excuse to tell her mate that she has a headache now .

I was out or busy for most of the day, but i did manage to see three blue s, one robin, one blackbird, and three great tits. They were followed by five starlings squabbling over a peanut cake block in a cage on the line. Bullfinches, long tailed tits and dunnocks fed quietly which Ginger looked on! A collared dove, two wood pigeons and a magpie flapped in and out. The magpie seemed surprised that the tray in the table was open this morning

Off to do some but I will be back tomorrow.



Websailor

Good Afternoon posters and ers,

Everyone following this thread is a bird and wildlife watcher at some level, so I just have to share this with you. Please spare a minute to look at this link. if you don't have time to read the whole article, read the first bit and scroll towards the end.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=560394&in_page_id=1965

Now, how many times have I pointed this out to everyone, and how many of you have noticed this very thing in your own observations? If the team from Bristol University had wanted to find this out, they had the BBC Natural History Unit and the BBC Wildlife magazine right next door, yet they needed a £300,000 grant to come to this conclusion.

I despair, I truly do

Websailor

It beggers belief WS! Birds are by no means the only ones to use this method - you only have to watch the Meercats. Mind you, the amount of studies which are carried out by various bods; at obscene expense, to reveal the patently obvious, is ludicrous.

Fri.18th April 08
Weather: Dry, Sunny with bitter cold wind.

Last night the badger turned up at 9.25pm and remained munching until 9.35pm when something startled him and he ran off down the left hand side of the garden, exiting left in a hurry . Nothing else was sighted during the night, when brilliant light plunged the garden in to like shadows. Not a night to be out and about.

At 7.25am a squirrel was stuck on top of the line prop, squealing and chattering as he tried to get down. He went down headfirst, then back up, then he tried feet first, and started to slide so he scrambled back up to the top. Then he tried a tightrope stunt and had to abandon that as he nearly fell off. At last he took a flying leap at the fence about four feet away, and nearly missed . Definitely a young one!

The robins, blackbirds, dunnocks, nuthatches, blue and great s all appeared to be laughing at him, poor thing!

The female woodpecker arrived at 9.25am and feasted on the peanut cake for a while, then two jays arrived, one on each bird table. A bullfinch, one wood pigeon, four starlings and Ginger visited too.

Mid morning I decided that two days of drying winds made cutting the lawn a distinct possibility. With much scolding from the birds and squirrels I managed to cut and strim, and clean the mower by lunch time. I was rewarded at 1.08pm by the appearance of a lovely greenfinch. There must be more than one. I do hope we get some more soon. The birds were delighted with the lawn and were soon down foraging for worms, insects and forgotten seeds.

And the plastic plate that the fox stole has re-appeared at the bottom of the garden just by the centre exit. Someone must have brought it back because it wasn’t there the other day and it hadn’t been thrown over by a neighbour.

It will be interesting to see if the badger likes the lawn. I hope he doesn’t take it as permission to dig more holes



Websailor

I am glad that was your reaction too. PHM pointed it out to me, and we also said more money wasted when a few questions to the right people would have given them the answers. It seems to happen in all parts of universities, yet they don't have the money to do the things they should be doing. I reckon these spurious grants are a tax dodge for companies etc.

Websailor

I'm surprised they needed to go to the Kalahari to observe birds being sentries I would have happily received 300k to watch the birds in my back yard and give them the same results

Sad to say there is a bit of snobbery amongst scientists about the reliability and veracity of *amateur* recordings I was caught in the middle a few years ago and it's not an experience I care to repeat.

Perhaps the fox brought the dish back hoping you would re-fill it for him WS!

Hello Everyone *Waves*,

Just been catching up on the 29 posts I missed .

I seen a Jay bird this morning hoovering up the bits of biscuit that fell off the bird table. They are lovely and hadn't seen one so close up as I did this morning . I rushed to get the camera but as always it had gone when I came back to the window . It must be because they are camera shy .

Nigel

They are quite shy Nigel and will run away easily. Strangely I saw what looked like a pair pulling the felt off the shed in my garden earlier, the quite tough black roofing felt. They were really pulling it hard and ripping it off in chunks to get to a sort of white lining a bit like cotton wool underneath, presumably for their nest! They are fantastic looking birds though.
What was also strange was a Blue Tit actually on the ground which seemed quite unusual in my garden as usually in trees and bushes and avoid the ground. However once again it was a bird seeking nesting materials as had a beak full of what looked like white cat fur.

Hi, SS,

I commonly have blue tits, great tits and even bullfinches feeding on the ground, but maybe it depends what food is on the ground, how hungry they are, and how safe they feel. They seem quite content at ground level.

I had better not tell PHM that birds pull the roofing felt off or he will go ballistic. There are rough patches where they and the squirrels scrabble around on the roof, but nothing that drastic yet

Websailor

Sat.19th April 08
Weather: Dry, cold, windy. Sunny spells with rain later.

Whoops! That is beginning to sound like a weather forecast.

The fox was on patrol last night at 10pm, zig zagging back and forth across the garden but only coming up as far as the stone table. By 11.30pm there was no sign of a badger.

3am the dish was open, badger style and appeared empty but there was no sign of life.

7am and the blue s and great tits were flitting around, a female blackbird was chasing off a male, and the robin was tripping around picking up scraps. Three beautiful male bullfinches arrived with one female Now is she in the process of choosing a suitor or does she plan to have them all? Alternatively are all the females taken but this one, and the boys are competing for her favours? Really the things that go on in this garden are most enlightening

A crow was sounding off in the oak tree this morning, three wood pigeons were cleaning up the scraps and a lone collared dove toddled up very discreetly to help herself. The silly squirrel was back to slide up and down the poles. I must clean the poles and silicone them, then he can have even more fun …..and so can I

A magpie was chasing all and sundry off the feeders and tables, while two fat nuthatches sampled every feeder and table in turn. Ginger has tried his luck a few times without success thank goodness. Eight starlings were fighting noisily over the peanut cake, dropping bits all over the floor for the dunnocks and the robin

Last visitor of the evening was the female woodpecker at 7pm.

The mad dash to cut the lawn yesterday has taken it’s toll today. I forget sometimes I am a and expect to carry on as I did years ago

Nite all, *see* you tomorrow,



Websailor

WS, you are right as all the food available that Blue Tits like in my garden is on trees so don't have to go to ground unlss for nesting material.
The Jays certainly were really going for the shed felt and it is pretty tough, perhaps the need to nest gives extra drive and strengh. Mind you jays are pretty big birds and have fairly large beaks.

Hi SS,

The Jays are wonderful intelligent birds, always getting into mischief like with the felt . It is around the right time for Jays to nest and have noticed the males in particular, have fairly large beaks.

I like the Jay birds but some people think the long beaks make them look like crows and they frighten them away .

Take care.

Nigel

Hi, Nigel,

Jays are part of the crow family, but as you say they are very shy, though ours seem to be getting bolder. Of course it may be because it is the breeding season and they have to be more adventurous in order to feed themselves and offspring. Their colouring is beautiful and they have a lovely crest on their heads which comes up when they are showing off or chasing another away!

Websailor

if memory worksI think some folk in a university once, even got paid for doing a study on the make up and viscosity of tomato ketchup.

must be far more important than discoveries for ailments and life saving cures

Websailer for the info on the Jay's .

Prof, you are exactly right. Why don't they donate to people in need, such as the Youngsuper_Nigel charity .

Nigel

Prof, you are so right. If we went in to all the money wasted I think we would all be shocked, and I agree with Nigel, why can't it go to a good cause.

I think it needs a really good housewife to be Chancellor of the Exchequer. She wouldn't be popular but this country might just get back on its' feet!

Off to now, back later with news of some new visitors to McWebbie's Diner.

Websailor

folks, been very busy. I will catch up with you tomorrow

Websailor