[fishini]

 isleaiw1, on 17 June 2021 - 08:20 PM, said:

I would have thought that was less likely than Derbyshire now I have vaguely worked out where you are...

Red Kite's are the thing round here, apparently a breeding pair were released a fair few years ago and now they are a B****Y pain....! Love watching them but Kestrels are my fave....

The Hobby is my favourite raptor. The fastest falcon in the world level in level flight. The only bird the can out manoeuvre and catch Swift's, swallows and Martin's on the wing. Truly an amazing sight

[azul]

 fishini, on 17 June 2021 - 08:52 PM, said:

The Hobby is my favourite raptor. The fastest falcon in the world level in level flight. The only bird the can out manoeuvre and catch Swift's, swallows and Martin's on the wing. Truly an amazing sight

My favourite moment with raptors was when one nestling ate its weaker sibling live on Springwatch a few years ago.

This post has been edited by azul: 17 June 2021 - 09:02 PM

[fishini]

 azul, on 17 June 2021 - 09:00 PM, said:

My favourite moment with raptors was when one nestling ate its weaker sibling live on Springwatch a few years ago.

They do this when the parents cannot supply enough food to feed all the young. Nature and survival at work.

[Mr Mercury]

 fishini, on 17 June 2021 - 08:52 PM, said:

The Hobby is my favourite raptor. The fastest falcon in the world level in level flight. The only bird the can out manoeuvre and catch Swift's, swallows and Martin's on the wing. Truly an amazing sight

Falco subbuteo..an old chestnut of a quiz question was regarding where the famous table football game got its name from!
Never been fortunate enough to see one.

[fishini]

The kestrals who took over my owl box have just fledged

[spireitetoo]

 fishini, on 26 June 2021 - 12:10 PM, said:

The kestrals who took over my owl box have just fledged

Kestrels wow, I still get the crows, and about a thousand starlings.... lol

At least they're well fed.

[fishini]

 spireitetoo, on 26 June 2021 - 01:53 PM, said:

Kestrels wow, I still get the crows, and about a thousand starlings.... lol

At least they're well fed.

First time. The box has been up 10 years. Had squirrels and pigeons for years. For the first time last year I had a pair of tawny owls. Kestrals this year. A total privilege imo

[spireitetoo]

 fishini, on 26 June 2021 - 02:10 PM, said:

First time. The box has been up 10 years. Had squirrels and pigeons for years. For the first time last year I had a pair of tawny owls. Kestrals this year. A total privilege imo

Definitely, we had 1 at work using the canopy on the building, (kestrel) it used to fly into the building the odd time, but soon found its way out, ..
I used to love seeing dell the different birds of prey sat roadside around the country when I was hgv driving...

[spireitetoo]

Just sat watching the birds feeding this morning, (the tables have been very quiet recently) and a sparrowhawk?, (was far to big to be a kestrel)dived in, missed his prey, hit the fence, flew over to the other fence where it sat for a few seconds before flying off over the fields, needless to say, there's no activity on the garden now... might be a while before I fill the feeders again...

[fishini]

 spireitetoo, on 14 August 2021 - 09:05 AM, said:

Just sat watching the birds feeding this morning, (the tables have been very quiet recently) and a sparrowhawk?, (was far to big to be a kestrel)dived in, missed his prey, hit the fence, flew over to the other fence where it sat for a few seconds before flying off over the fields, needless to say, there's no activity on the garden now... might be a while before I fill the feeders again...

Kestrals very rarely hunt birds. It would have been a sparrowhawk. I often get one feeding off birds on my feeders, not a problem really as it's natural and the sparrowhawk has to feed as well as other birds. They will make no difference in the numbers visiting your feeders.

[spireitetoo]

 fishini, on 14 August 2021 - 12:33 PM, said:

Kestrals very rarely hunt birds. It would have been a sparrowhawk. I often get one feeding off birds on my feeders, not a problem really as it's natural and the sparrowhawk has to feed as well as other birds. They will make no difference in the numbers visiting your feeders.

Tbh I loved seeing it, obviously the usual birds will do one whilst a predator is about, but were back after a while, tables have been alot quieter recently tho, even the fat balls last all day now...

[fishini]

 spireitetoo, on 14 August 2021 - 01:40 PM, said:

Tbh I loved seeing it, obviously the usual birds will do one whilst a predator is about, but were back after a while, tables have been alot quieter recently tho, even the fat balls last all day now...

Plenty of natural food about at this time of year hence quieter tables. They will get busier mid September as the birds begin preparing for winter by putting building thier fat reserves

[spireitetoo]

Well here we go again, I've spent all winter stocking up whilst the tables have been quieter,..
So what to do about squirrels, last yr we only had the 1, this yr it seems to have a friend, as last week, there was 2 of the buggers enjoying the fat balls, now their getting kinky and have introduced a 3rd wheel, little sods even torment our dogs, I'll never get any sleep this yr...
And before anyone suggests, our lass won't let me shoot them...

[spireitetoo]

I now have a pheasant visiting the garden regularly, sits under the feeders waiting for bits dropping from the other birds feeding from them. Lol

[fishini]

First of my young birds have fledged today from one of my nest boxes. Straight onto my feeders. So just a reminder to keep your feeders topped up. This will help the parent birds keep their strength up during this very busy time for them. It will also help the young to get off to a good start

[Mr Mercury]

 fishini, on 20 May 2022 - 07:20 PM, said:

First of my young birds have fledged today from one of my nest boxes. Straight onto my feeders. So just a reminder to keep your feeders topped up. This will help the parent birds keep their strength up during this very busy time for them. It will also help the young to get off to a good start

I’ve replaced my fruit flavoured cake with peanuts in a different feeder due to a mother starling and four young uns destroying the lot in less than a day. The chicks line up on the decking rail and the mum just ransacks the lot to feed them.

[spireitetoo]

 Mr Mercury, on 20 May 2022 - 07:31 PM, said:

I’ve replaced my fruit flavoured cake with peanuts in a different feeder due to a mother starling and four young uns destroying the lot in less than a day. The chicks line up on the decking rail and the mum just ransacks the lot to feed them.

I've got starling feeding the young uns too, I recon if I kept topping up the fat balls,they'd get thru about 40 a day...as it is its about 10 a day, Good job I stocked up thru the winter..

[Search & Destroy]

https://raptorpersec...f-hen-harriers/

[Misnomer]

 James Rowe is dynamite, on 29 May 2022 - 02:08 PM, said:

https://raptorpersec...f-hen-harriers/

Terrible. Love to tie them naked to a fence post and shoot them in their ball sacks.

[Search & Destroy]

 Misnomer, on 29 May 2022 - 06:19 PM, said:

Terrible. Love to tie them naked to a fence post and shoot them in their ball sacks.

Yep total scum