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Thread: Business end - those challenging for Top Four + fixtures.

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Insidious View Post
    Thanks Noods! I see them regularly, but I want to see this particular female to see where she carries nesting material - I have a Raven pair and a Peregrine pair to watch this year, but a Sparrowhawk pair would be great. Saw a Hen Harrier last week for the first time in years, they're in real trouble, hope it breeds.

    Already have a beautiful rescue dog. Got him in 2014 - got him from Dog's Trust, who got him from a pound that has a 2-week policy (or the dog gets "the needle") after him being there for 11 days.....

    He is a mix of a Border Collie and a Golden Retriever. Basically I have a white and gold Collie that is Retriever-sized. He has a blue eye and a brown eye - hates dogs, loves people, insanely food-driven. Most loyal of companions. He's approximately 12 now based on Dog's Trust info - love him to bits, just have to enjoy him for as long as I can as he won't last forever. Absolute love Muffin.
    A fair few birds (and other wildlife) visit 'my' garden on a regular basis. I'd love to be able to set up some cameras and film/live stream what goes on. You should hear the racket they sometimes make on the flat roof above my bedroom and in the garden.

    Hopefully your 'companion' has many more good years in him.

  2. #12
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    We've got a pair of bastard Sparrowhawks who regularly frequent our back garden murdering Blackbirds and pigeons
    "If Everton were playing at the bottom of my garden, i'd close the curtains”

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nineteenx View Post
    We've got a pair of bastard Sparrowhawks who regularly frequent our back garden murdering Blackbirds and pigeons
    Sparrowhawks have to eat too my friend - we don't begrudge the predatory Robin for how many Worms he eats, much as the sight of a Bird being plucked apart is unpleasant.

    Predators help to keep the numbers from reaching a stage where prey Bird populations are too big for their food supply - starvation for many when overly numerous is no good.

    If you wish to give your Blackbirds more of a chance though, get some dense shrub around so they have something to dive into to aid their escape and keep food within a range of that whereby they have time to get there - it's a balancing act - you don't want to provide cover for Cats, the true enemy!

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Insidious View Post
    Sparrowhawks have to eat too my friend - we don't begrudge the predatory Robin for how many Worms he eats, much as the sight of a Bird being plucked apart is unpleasant.

    Predators help to keep the numbers from reaching a stage where prey Bird populations are too big for their food supply - starvation for many when overly numerous is no good.

    If you wish to give your Blackbirds more of a chance though, get some dense shrub around so they have something to dive into to aid their escape and keep food within a range of that whereby they have time to get there - it's a balancing act - you don't want to provide cover for Cats, the true enemy!
    There's nowt wrong with cats. They along with those robins of yours are also 'predatory'.

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by RedNoodle View Post
    A fair few birds (and other wildlife) visit 'my' garden on a regular basis. I'd love to be able to set up some cameras and film/live stream what goes on. You should hear the racket they sometimes make on the flat roof above my bedroom and in the garden.

    Hopefully your 'companion' has many more good years in him.
    You really should if you can get the chance!

    Thanks Noods, hope so too!

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Insidious View Post
    Sparrowhawks have to eat too my friend - we don't begrudge the predatory Robin for how many Worms he eats, much as the sight of a Bird being plucked apart is unpleasant.

    Predators help to keep the numbers from reaching a stage where prey Bird populations are too big for their food supply - starvation for many when overly numerous is no good.

    If you wish to give your Blackbirds more of a chance though, get some dense shrub around so they have something to dive into to aid their escape and keep food within a range of that whereby they have time to get there - it's a balancing act - you don't want to provide cover for Cats, the true enemy!
    Our cats hopeless at catching birds, although, we had Green Finches in our garden for the first time in years last summer and the twat murdered both of them because they're so docile and dozy, I was gutted, he can't catch the other birds in the day, but at night, particularly when it's been raining, the horrible bastard will sniff them out where they're sleeping for the night and bring one home every couple of months

    The Sparrowhawks kill our Blackbirds, Pigeons and Doves, they have good cover too, they also eat the mice, they're proper cheeky bastards too, our kitchen is on the back of the house, and when I look out I will often see one of them perched on the wall or on one of the bloody bird tables

    We do have plenty of Blackbirds and Pigeons though, my brother has an OCD about feeding the birds, you should see the amount of sunflower hearts, suet pellets and mealworms he gets through a week and all our bird visitors are bigger than any I see anywhere else

    Still pissed off about the Green Finches, they are so friendly and dozy though, because we feed them, one of them flew right to me and landed at my feet right by our back door, when the bloody cat was right there too
    "If Everton were playing at the bottom of my garden, i'd close the curtains”

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by RedNoodle View Post
    There's nowt wrong with cats. They along with those robins of yours are also 'predatory'.
    I actually love Cats - prefer Dogs but Cats are great - a client/friend has 5 Maine Coons and they are so entertaining and relaxing. When it comes to outdoor Cats though, whilst it's their "Nature" and I don't hold it against them as such, they're a pet, so in terms of the Ecosystem are "invasive" whereas a Robin or Sparrowhawk are native.

    Same way I wouldn't hate a Grey Squirrel for existing, but do begrudge it's negative impact on the native Red Squirrel as the Grey shouldn't really be here, but for human interference.

    Pine Marten recovery is helping the Reds to fight back though!

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Insidious View Post
    I actually love Cats - prefer Dogs but Cats are great - a client/friend has 5 Maine Coons and they are so entertaining and relaxing. When it comes to outdoor Cats though, whilst it's their "Nature" and I don't hold it against them as such, they're a pet, so in terms of the Ecosystem are "invasive" whereas a Robin or Sparrowhawk are native.

    Same way I wouldn't hate a Grey Squirrel for existing, but do begrudge it's negative impact on the native Red Squirrel as the Grey shouldn't really be here, but for human interference.

    Pine Marten recovery is helping the Reds to fight back though!
    Yep, that's why I get pissed off with the cat for killing birds, we feed him really well, he eats the mice he catches, but the birds he just kills for sport and the murdering them in their sleep, well, that's beyond the pale
    "If Everton were playing at the bottom of my garden, i'd close the curtains”

  9. #19
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    Nineteen, your Greenfinches - you described them as dosy and the ones I get are usually incredibly quick/nervous/shy - did they look puffed up at all?

    Google "Trichomoniasis" and look at some of he images - Greenfinches have been hit really badly with it since about 2006 - it's pretty rampant in the UK and depending on the species, the Birds worst-effected will change - in France the Goldfinches are the unluckiest with it, Greenfinches in the UK.

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Insidious View Post
    Sparrowhawks are successful in roughly 1 of every 10-30 hunts depending on the skill of the individual Bird so perhaps best modelling themselves after the African Wild Dog!
    We had scored 3 out of 70 shots before Jota burst the net the other night with an early taken instinctive strike so few on here can appreciate.

    The African wild dog is a pack hunter and useless on an individual basis - what we really need is a cat like lone predator who wants that damned ball in the net.

    Stick to Bird watching and rolling fields and let me direct the attack

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