our native robins

[Rogerb]

hiya all we have been in this house for about 8 years now a couple off weeks ago a pair of robins built a nest in our lean to at the bottom of the garden. all is going well they have 3 eggs so far can anyone tel me why she only sits and lays early in the morning and leaves the nest all day to return at the break of dawn . we feel :-D to have their trust to nest in the confines of our garden yes it is also true to say there is loadsa food for them as all the wasted seed goes on the bird tables hoping to get some good vidio footage later on :grin:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Roger,

I look forward to seeing the stills and the video footage of their progress.;)

Paul.:D

[vixen]

Hi Roger your robin will have her eye on that nest don't you worry.She will not start sitting until all eggs have been laid.She properly does not want to draw attention to the nest site until she has to.
Trudy

[Rogerb]

:-P today its 4 eggs thankx for the input vixen and paul I will keep you posted

[PAUL HEARN]

Hello Roger,

You will find that the Robin will start to incubate from the third or fourth egg, this is to ensure the chicks hatch around the same time, and will develop at a similar rate.

If the hen incubated from the first egg then the last chick to hatch would be too far behind from the first to hatch, resulting in the loss of the later hatched chicks.

Paul.;)

[Waxbillman]

i look forward to seeing the pictures Roger.

i take it my pair of robins have now commenced incubation as i hardly ever see them now

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
mine have a nest in the flowering potato right at the back,i am frightened that the crows will find it!

ken

[Waxbillman]

oh right, well keep an eye on it then

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
if you look across from the blue tarp you can see the potato plant next to the bird table infront of the shed on the right .i have just started putting mealworms out for them and i am keeping an eye out for the crows

ken



http://www.feathered-friends.co.uk/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=349&stc=1&d=1144680447

[Waxbillman]

great,

and that shed looks spot on there

Matthew

[Rogerb]

hiya all thankx for the info Paul :grin: as for the photos might let Laura do that as both robins trust her more than me they do let me video but only for a short time:-) so i don't want to push my luck or there patience

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Roger,

No worries mate,;-) you are right in saying that you don't want to push your luck or the Robins patience while incubating.
They will become far more trusting when the chicks have hatched and they have grown on to about two weeks old, their job will be almost over regarding feeding in the nest and photo opportunities will be far better.

And if the chicks remain in the garden after fledging, then obviously the chances of cute baby Robin photos are even greater.:grin:

Best of luck mate, Paul.:-D

[Rogerb]

:lol:hiya all she has been sitting now for 6 days :D she really is the prettiest little thing . she often pops out for a couple of minutes then back to her eggs . she lets me come and go but if I stop to long she gives me a look that only a female can give ;-) :lol:

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Roger,

It sounds to be going well so far mate,:D I hope we will lucky to see some great photos of their chicks progress when the time comes.:wink:

But would you be pushing your luck in taking some of the hen incubating?

Paul.

[kenny]

hi roger
i know that look......

ken

[Rogerb]

yep me to mate it aint good isit:-( . paul know what your sayin playin it mister cool till they are a couple of weeks old . ooohhh cant wait but IM gona haf to :-( sad today but :lol: in a few weeks

[Rogerb]

:D yep all going well so far laura puts a few meal worms for them they seem to like them :D she still gives me the evil eye :sad: he regularly brings her what I assume to be fly and lave .
evil eye I meen the robin honest :lol:

[laurab]

Here is a 'not so good' photo of the hen on the nest.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Laura,

It's good to see the hen Robin is sitting tight.:-D

Paul.:wink:

[Rogerb]

I went out to get elsa?s bike out today and was crashing and banging about she did not flinch she is some stern little lady siting tight paul :D

[laurab]

Hi all

I noticed the Robins were a bit more active today, awaited my moment, checked the nest, not an egg in sight! But there are tiny little babies taking there place....aaah bless :-P

[Waxbillman]

brilliant :grin:

Matthew

[kenny]

hi laura
i am so jealous.i want a robins nest full of babies aswell:mrgreen:


ken

[PAUL HEARN]

Congratulations Roger and Laura,

It would seem the protection you have paid toward this Robins nest is showing great benefits so far,;) well done to you both!:D

I just hope your own Birds aren't losing out on white Mealworms as a result.

Paul.:grin:

[kenny]

hi paul
i took this yesterday,if you can see it i daren`t go any closer but its a blackbird nesting at the bottom of my garden in an evergreen honeysuckle.but if you look close it has a white feather in its tail

ken



http://www.feathered-friends.co.uk/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=360&stc=1&d=1145882960

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Ken,

Nice one mate,:) I look forward to seeing the photos of the newly fledged youngsters at a later date.

Paul.:)

[kenny]

hi paul
i am really worried about her because she has moved the nest as the crows got her last lot of chicks i am constantly letting the dogs out to scare them away she is not bothered by the dogs herself but the mornings are getting lighter and so they are all out earlier than me .i just hope that she has picked somewhere deep enough into the hedge thid time

ken:-(

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Ken,

I hope all goes well for the Blackbird, but unfortunately the Blackbirds alarm call is it's downfall these days,:-( I have seen Magpies home in on the call knowing that they will either find eggs or chicks to feed on.:x

But who knows mate, she may be OK having her own Guard Dogs helping her out.;-)

Paul.

[Waxbillman]

get the gun out ans soot the buggers

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
there is also an added problem that they are right under my privet which is very tall and dense and next door has three moggies and i have heard the distress calls from starlings before today when they have had their chicks i used to put hanging boxes in the privet but stopped it since the cats appeared............i mean who has a cat called beckham


ken

[Waxbillman]

you know my views on cats Ken

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
i forgot that you have a dozen as pets:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


ken

[Waxbillman]

yeh right Ken, and the Queen is a brake dancer

Matthew

[vixen]

Hi all,i am very busy with the plants at the mo but i just thought you would all like to know about the nest we have got in our Geranium house (in the heater) which has been turned off now.Its a Pied Wagtail they have built in the heater for about 3 years running.One of them had so much stuff in her beak that she had to put her head down to look at me.will take some photos when i get Chance
Trudy

[laurab]

Hi Trudy, that's great news! I look forward to seeing your photos'.

I have uploaded some shots of the Robins that are nesting in our garden. They can be viewed in the gallery.

[Waxbillman]

hello Vixen, that great, i look forget to seeing photo's,

we have a pair of black birds with chicks in the hedge and are now building another nest in the hawthorn. we usually have a pair of great tits in out nesting box in the apple tree, i have seen them bother knocking about for weeks but only seen him putting a wee bit of nesting stuff in, i know there is not nest from last year as i cleaned it out.

what sorts of geraniums are they vixen? are they the proper ones or are they just f1 or f2 hybrids?
i don't like modern geraniums they have bred out all thier good traits, i grow the old varieties of zonals that i got from my Grandpa, he calls them 'proper geraniums' its what they used before these hybrids came about, the days when everything was done by cutting and stock plants were saved for years. i treasure these plants, even modern geraniums that are available from cuttings are crap in my opinion they are way too squat for my liking and never grown large enough to make the good speciemns that i have.

sorry laura abit off topic

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
i like to hear about the odd plant story now and again,am i right in thinking that the little puple ones with furry leaves are geraniums also/do they go by the name of cranesbill

ken8-)

[Waxbillman]

hello Ken

well i was talking about Zonal Pelargoniums, thats the correct name for them, the old boys call them geraniums, and still garden centre insist on calling then geraniums. you are right in thinking that cranesbills are the true geraniums they are hardy and are of no relation to pelargoniums.

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
yippee i know something about plants now!:lol:

ken

[vixen]

Hi Matt and Ken.The plants we grow are the zonal type from cuttings,they produce lots of flowers which is what the costumers want we do about 3 1/2 thousand.

[Waxbillman]

wow, do you do your own cutting in, i thought most nurseries bought the cutting plugs in these days, what variets do you grow?

Matthew

[vixen]

Hi Matt. The plants we grow are zonal geraniums not the pelargoniums,we buy them in and grow them on too much work to grow are own. They are the Toscana range and we do about 11 diff colors.How are the bedding plant going at your works.

[Waxbillman]

oh right, yes i know it. we stopped nursery production 2 years ago when we got took over by Strikes garden centres (whatch they are coming your way), they grow all their bedding in their nursery in Hartlepool which is massive, they even grow poinsettias, i have only been there once, as always they send us so good stuff and bad stuff, they send us loads of dutch trolleies every wee, what we cannot put on sale we keep in the greenhouses. sales are just starting to pick up now, but the weather is still cool

Matthew

[vixen]

Hi Matt we buy all are cutting and plugs from the dutch don't like to, but the quality you can rely on and also the price.we will have to talk about plants on the plant forum.The wag tails are still building.Our black necked swans should be hatched soon don't know how many yet.It takes around 35 days to hatch them will let you know when the are out.The father has been known to drown his new arrivals we don't know why he does it but thats nature you cant tell him not to although it is upsetting.
Trudy

[Waxbillman]

shame about the Black swan doing that.

Matthew

[Rogerb]

today 3 of our fleges left the nest and ar being fed by the mum and dad they are in the lean to hoping around all over the place so iv put up a gate to stop our dogs geting at them so far so good hopefuly laura will take a few photos for you all to see :grin:

[laurab]

Here are a couple of shots....

[Waxbillman]

:grin: brilliant, very nice indeed,

Matthew

[kenny]

hi laura
dont you just want to pick them up and rub them on your face mmmmmmmm
cute and cuddly is what they are

ken

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Roger and Laura,

You have both made a good job in protecting the Robin chicks from outside threats, and the results great to see.:wink:

Paul.:D

[Rogerb]

thanks mate it was a mad rush hear today to get that gate up so they would be protected :lol:

[Rogerb]

hiya all just to say that they now have all flown the nest we think they are all next door in the thick bushes the cock and hen are still coming to us for food which is realy good I had a rare experence today esta who lives next door had a bird in her shed I went in :lol: it was our hen robin put my hand out she stood realy still let me pick her up took her outside let her go she flew to the top of our wall her mate was ther like a shot whith a beak full of mealworms she had the lot . bless her . the things we see when you aint got the camcorder :oops:

[Waxbillman]

thats brilliant that is Roger.

i wish we had Robins nesting in our garden, they allus disappear this time of the year to nest in the trees at the other end of the field.
we do have Great tits though - in the nesting box of course, the feathered variety, and also blackbirds have raised the first lot of chicks and are on the next round. last year we had a wrens next in the honeysuckle, now they are lovely little things, they fledge with no tail feathers and look even smaller.

Matthew

[kenny]

hi roger
its a good job she spotted it as she may have been shut in and starved to death,glad she was on the ball

ken8)

[Rogerb]

matt IM so pleased you have great tits :lol: :lol: kenny yep she was realy happy to get out of the shed :D

[kenny]

hi roger
i wanted to say that,and you beat me to it:lol:


ken

[laurab]

Hi all

the Robins are still frequent visitors, especially at breakfast and tea time!

[kenny]

hi laura
they are really fantastic pictures.i am afraid i lost all my blackbird chicks to the crows,and at the moment the young starlings are clinging to the wall under the eaves and the crows are trying to winkle them out while i stand in the garden waving my arms trying to scare them away but they just come back again.across the avenue to me the crows are trying to get inside the burglar alarm where there is a nest of starlings.i know the crows have to feed but why they cant do it on eggs instaed of live chicks i dont know

ken:x

[Waxbillman]

Ken

get a gun and shoot the vermin.

Matthew

[kenny]

:roll: hi matt
nice idea if i could get one but i dont think my neighbours across the avenue would appreciate me blowing their burglar alarm off the wall


ken

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Ken,

As an all round Bird lover I still can't help in backing up Matthew's sentiments, in recent years there seems to be a very strange trend towards an increase of predatory Bird Species and an abnormal decrease of nearly all other Bird Species.:(

Corvids and Raptors seem to be increasing in numbers at a rapid rate, while most other Bird Species are obviously declining in numbers at a far greater rate.:(

I'm sorry to say that I'm in favour of a cull of certain Corvid, Raptor, Larus and Columba Species for the benefit of many other Bird Species in order for them to make a come back.

I also propose a programme devoted to the Song Thrush in the UK, this is a Bird Species that was once commonly known as a garden visitor during my childhood, but now exists as a rarity to me.

I am very interested in reports from fellow U.K. members regarding their sightings of Song Thrushes this year.

Paul.

[Waxbillman]

hello Paul

thats a good idea about the thrushes i only know a couple of pairs nesting in the area.

as far as the increase in predatory species is concerned i think its due to a few different factors, such as the banning of harmful pesticides which used to pass through the food chain and kill hawks etc, i cannot recall any recent pesticides but DDT of the 1940's did decades of damage and very nearly wiped out some species. Another reason is they don't get shot as much in days gone by land managers, farmers and gamekeepers would hoot the hell out of anything bigger than a blackbird this led to a dramatic drop, this caused certain species to become protected, and in the last few decades farming has decreased dramatically and also the way the land is managed, the emphisis these days is on conservation and recreation rather than to produce food as in previous years we produced too much, i think its a combination of all these factors that have caused raptors and the like to increase so much

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
i havent seen any kind of thrush for ages one used to use my greenhouse doorstep as an anvil for getting snails out of their shells,but since i got rid of the greenhouse i havent seen any sign of a thrush the odd pied wagtail has paid a visit and the odd wren but apart from that its just your usual starlings ,blackbirds ,tits and the resident robin.when i used to take shotgun cartridges up to burton constable hall i used to watch the gamekeeper just blow the nests apart of crows jackdaws rooks and the like to protect the pheasant chicks

ken

[Waxbillman]

what a shame Ken, the decline of thrushes, what will be next

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
you have got me thinking there,do you know i haven`t seen any sparrows in my garden this year or most of the common birds that you would normally find ,apart from what i mentioned in my last post .we are the only garden with a hedge at the bottom of the garden because i wouldn`t let the council cut my privet down and since then i have hardly seen any wild birds nesting in there.

ken

[Waxbillman]

thats a dam shame Ken, Sparrows were once incredible numerous around town and city housing, i'll allus remember the sound they make, it is the epitomy of suburbier.
i am lucky where i am we have sparrows still, i think they have stayed on the urban fringe and outside of that, as there there plenty round me, perhaps towns and cities are becoming too urbanised for them, and theres not enough food to feed the youngsters, thats what the RSPB claim after research, there not enough insect life for them. i never used to think that sparrows are the insectivourus as they spend allot of time on birds tables, traditionally. but over the last few years i have watched them whilst at work catching the thousands of insects that the greenhouses trap.
if things carry on as they are (certainly around me) then this year is going to be good for sparrows as there is tonnes of insects about, just like how there used to be

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
the thing is you must know the area where i live as you have been to bishop burton which is only about 10miles from me i am only 6 miles from beverley and about 1/2 mile from cottingham so i am hardly living in the suburbs i can get in the car an 5 minutes either way and i am in the country the river hull is 1/2 mile the other way and to not see any wid birds in great numbers worries me to death the swifts that are flying round our houses now travel to the river and come back....but we used to have a sparrow nesting in the eaves but they have even gone.one answer is that we have had an incresed number of cats in the area so that would possibly be one reason.

ken

[Waxbillman]

hello Ken

i went to Askham Bryan in York not Bishop buton (how dare you insult me, lol, Askham bryan is the beeter of the two)

Matthew

[kenny]

hi matt
sorry for the insult i meant thet you may have been to the village itself without entering the portals of the great unwashed bishop burton college

ken

[Rogerb]

just to say the young robins are still around and coming back to feed in our garden saw 2 today in the lean to they look realy plump and healthy :D :D

[kenny]

hi roger
thats fantastic that they are sticking round,they are such lovely birds.dont forget nature watch starts on monday mate

ken;-)

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Roger,

I'm sorry for hijacking yours and Lauras thread on the Robins you had nesting in your garden,:roll: I'm pleased to hear you have seen a couple of the chicks since they left the nest, it must be great to see the results from you efforts in ensuring these chicks had a good start in life.:D

I will start another thread regarding Song Thrushes etc.

Paul.:wink:

[vixen]

Hi all,flat out at work.Had not seen our wagtails for a while,then saw both in greenhouse with loads of food so had a look in heater and there are 4 little heads. will get some pics soon also have 5 black neck swan babies.Mum and Dad looking after them well at the mo.
Trudy

[kenny]

hi trudy
great stuff nice to be near a bit of wild life while you are working,i had some wagrails in the garden today but they were only picking spiders out of the pebbles

ken

[vixen]

Hi All,i managed to get some pics of the wagtails.the first is the greenhouse,you can see the heater where the nest is with parent sat on top,then one of the parents.then as much of the nest as i could see with the camera.they have 4 babies have not come out yet.
Trudy

[kenny]

hiya trudy
the wagtail next to all those brightly coloured fowers makes a lovely photo,great stuff

ken8)

[Waxbillman]

great pictures Trudy

and like Ken said, great geraniums

Matthew

[vixen]

Hi Matt and Ken, thanks for that,they are all sold now.:razz: :razz:
Trudy