What birds (are you/have you been) watching? What birds have been watching you?

[oddoneout]

Have you got many feeders up? My RSPB ones are thronged with all the tits and finches, Dunnocks and Robins too, and I hear a continuous treetop twitter for most of the day, most of all from those Goldfinches, ....(two Nyjer Seed dispensers a little further away from the house...)....

No, I don't use them and my neighbours have removed theirs for now since a rat appeared again in the locality - coming under their back yard fence, walking across my back yard 4 foot away from my door - too close for comfort!
My garden usually has a wide selection of birds and song, hence noticing the recent lack.

[gradus]

No, I don't use them and my neighbours have removed theirs for now since a rat appeared again in the locality - coming under their back yard fence, walking across my back yard 4 foot away from my door - too close for comfort!
My garden usually has a wide selection of birds and song, hence noticing the recent lack.

Rats seem to be everywhere this year, I'm going to have to place the Dalek composter that we use for food waste on a paving stone to stop the b*****s burrowing in.
The cats occasionally drag a rat through the cat flap as a special gift to us, the biggest rat recently, 18'' from nose to tip of tail.

[oddoneout]

Rats seem to be everywhere this year, I'm going to have to place the Dalek composter that we use for food waste on a paving stone to stop the b*****s burrowing in.
The cats occasionally drag a rat through the cat flap as a special gift to us, the biggest rat recently, 18'' from nose to tip of tail.

Might not make any difference. They only need a very small gap to get through/under, and failing that can chew through plastic - no problem!

[ardcarp]

Since using one of those 'walk through' rat bait devices, we've not seen a rat in our garden. Last year we discovered one had gnawed through the back of a garden shed where some bird seed was stored. Hence the rat bait. Some may shudder at its use, but it's surely them or us?

[Bryn]

Chances are, if you think your domain is free of rats, you are simply not seeing them.

[greenilex]

Young sparrows exploring all around the house just now, bobbing and fluttering wings as they cling to bits of ivy etc. I think they are asking for food at the windows..but I will continue hard-hearted.

[gradus]

Might not make any difference. They only need a very small gap to get through/under, and failing that can chew through plastic - no problem!

I've had a bin chewed through but another on a paving stone was left alone - maybe it depends on the rat!

[gradus]

You see rookeries all over the place and sometimes next to roads but I'd never before noticed the one in a tall oak tree that arches over the A14 near Rougham with traffic running underneath. Odd that the birds aren't disturbed by the mighty whooshes of air every time an artic. thunders by but I suppose that the warm air from exhausts might make the location more bearable especially in Winter.

[oddoneout]

You see rookeries all over the place and sometimes next to roads but I'd never before noticed the one in a tall oak tree that arches over the A14 near Rougham with traffic running underneath. Odd that the birds aren't disturbed by the mighty whooshes of air every time an artic. thunders by but I suppose that the warm air from exhausts might make the location more bearable especially in Winter.

And closer to a food source?

In my garden the magpies have started trying to pull twigs off the neighbour's buddleia trees. Seems odd when there is so much already broken material on the ground, due to the neglect of the garden. Perhaps it's all part of the 'I'm the best mate for you' swagger that precedes breeding? Entertaining to watch the transport of sometimes quite sizeable bits, especially in the current draughty conditions.

[Serial_Apologist]

And closer to a food source?

In my garden the magpies have started trying to pull twigs off the neighbour's buddleia trees. Seems odd when there is so much already broken material on the ground, due to the neglect of the garden. Perhaps it's all part of the 'I'm the best mate for you' swagger that precedes breeding? Entertaining to watch the transport of sometimes quite sizeable bits, especially in the current draughty conditions.

Magpies seem to be getting bolder these days. Yesterday I walked right past one on the neighbouring estate: it had just hopped across the road immediately in front of me and was chattering away quietly to itself by the kerb, about a metre and a half from where I stood. This boldness seems to extend to other members of the Crow family - even jays, but carrions especially.

[eighthobstruction]

....new rookery in the 2.5 acre wood near my house . Never been one before, now there are 15-20 nest....what are odds i'll get pooped on....also divebombed by mother protecting young....Haven't seen a rat in a long time....

[Serial_Apologist]

....new rookery in the 2.5 acre wood near my house . Never been one before, now there are 15-20 nest....what are odds i'll get pooped on....also divebombed by mother protecting young....Haven't seen a rat in a long time....

Your odds are probably as much by hook or by crook as by rook. Having them around might be proving its worth: rooks and other crows feed on rats, I believe.

[jayne lee wilson]

Your odds are probably as much by hook or by crook as by rook. Having them around might be proving its worth: rooks and other crows feed on rats, I believe.

They don't have the claws or beaks to actually catch rodents, at least not routinely, but they may feed on the carrion of same...
A "Cat of Strong Character" is a better option if the problem is substantial... but....

Rats are nice, intelligent animals (think "squirrels without the bushy tail") but if there are too many wild hungry ones in the same place when humans leave a food supply, well.......

They may not have the charisma of the Urban Fox, but the principle is the same...

[cloughie]

And closer to a food source?

In my garden the magpies have started trying to pull twigs off the neighbour's buddleia trees. Seems odd when there is so much already broken material on the ground, due to the neglect of the garden. Perhaps it's all part of the 'I'm the best mate for you' swagger that precedes breeding? Entertaining to watch the transport of sometimes quite sizeable bits, especially in the current draughty conditions.

One morning this week I watched a rook dragging off long twigs of sycamore balancing and contorting itself to break off the twig and then carefully balancing it in its beak before flying off to wherever its rookery is.

[ardcarp]

Strolled down a lane today with hedges either side. Huge twittering and nesting activity all around. Just the usual suspects...nothing exotic...but very heart-warming. Nature goes on despite the woes of homo sapiens.