nepia

We have cats! But they barely hunt and when they do it's easy prey - the odd shrew and they will take weakened/sick birds but they don't bother with actively seeking birds. The birds all but laugh in their faces. Mini's idea of bird stalking is to sit at the bottom of the feeder pole.

They prefer sunflower hearts to niger it seems; 5 at a time on the heart feeder, the niger ignored The only bird I've ever had consistently taking niger was siskin

It's surely a freshie, not a saltie. They're very different beasts in their attitude to humans; the voice of the Attenborough is telling me that attacks by freshies are rare and provoked. Perhaps someone living down under can corroborate/correct me

I'm chuffed about it. Love the wiggle to get into the pump body!

Good of them to form an orderly queue. Latest here is a goldcrest hopping up and down the side of the house (board cladded) collecting cobwebs and yesterday while I was literally having a blast on Beachy Head my wife and son found where some Great Tits are nesting; watch to the end VID-20210522-WA0000.mp4

To eat or to get the nestbox (probably too small)?

We're blessed here: Mr and Mrs Woody must spend half their lives on one of our feeders - how they can still haul their fat asses into the air is a surprise given the amount of peanut and sunflower heart they're getting through. I hope and suspect that it's not all for them though; I can't wait to see a bungling fledgling or two falling about the nearby oaks or copper beeches while Mum and Dad shout 'see dem dangly things down thar? Dem's food dey is'!

Someone was watching me eat my Chinese last night

Pushing 'pictures of spring' a bit here but you wouldn't get this in December. Not from here - from the cliffs a few miles shy of John O'Groats; taken this morning

A big difference but can you put it all down to the winter and spring we've just had? The flower buds set late last summer; could it be that if that process wasn't spot on late flowering this year is the result? Not arguing, just raising a point. Obviously the winter and spring have had a huge effect; I'm 12 miles from the south coast and the first ponticum only showed its flowers at the end of last week

That's interesting. Frugal was what I thought mine was but so little oil gets onto the chain it's just not right; the build up in the sprocket cover is dry dust and the bar gets way hotter than it should.

But the 10Ah battery must be a hell of a lump. I've got that saw and a pair of 5aH batteries; they're quite heavy enough thanks! And I put a 14" bar on it; I thought that if I ever wanted a bigger bar I'd turn to a petrol saw. Have you had any problems with the bar oiling? My saw oil's well, the oilways on the bar are fine but next to no oil reaches the chain. My suggestion is that the tangs on the chain can't reach down far enough into the bar to grab the oil. Anyway Ego have it back for now but when it was cutting it was great. I want the saw for a very similar purpose to yourself albeit on a much smaller scale - up to ~10"dia laurel mostly, some holly with it, in a small piece of old, possible ancient, woodland.

Can't help you but you've got two left hands 😄

Come here little birdie... 😊 That has wow factor doesn't it

It's supposed to be early summer, not spring: 9C and heavy showers - and things not looking better for at least the next week VID-20210515-WA0014.mp4

BREAKING: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that due to the Indian variant of Covid people will now be offered the Pun jab. Please take this Indian variant seriously - my neighbour caught it and has been in a korma for a week and he's only just buried his naan.

@chrisjd - see above if you're still around. @kav - the '@' may alert him to your offer 🤞

If only I had the eyes to spot a tree creeper! That's a great shot

Great pic Gary. When you see most British birds close up you realise they're not drab at all; that's some design work there!

Lawsons for me (cos Stubby says so 😄) The leaflets are too thin for Thuja I think and the overall look isn't feathery enough. Makes sense to me 🤔

Speaking as someone who started buying and selling last October and moved at the start of February... - research your local estate agents to find a good one; they'll make all the difference. Ask people nearby for personal recommendation; there's no better way. We did and the same name of a local company kept coming up; in fact half of those we spoke to still remembered to individual who they dealt with. That company did us proud, both in selling and as negotiators/facilitators re buying. This is Point 1 by a country mile. - if you have any decorating horrors paint them white or magnolia. Doesn't matter if the incumbents change it; they probably won't be impressed by your peeling red flock wallpaper in the master bedroom. - don't be afraid to chivvy; estate agents are busy and those who shout loudest tend to get the first attention. Be nice about it of course but it works. Re your windows you need these guys Double Glazing Repairs Near Me | Cloudy2Clear Branch Locator WWW.CLOUDY2CLEARWINDOWS.CO.UK Use our branch locator to find out if we have a window expert near you! We're the only double glazing repair company who... Best of luck and keep us updated. Stressful but rewarding times ahead. Jon

Oh wow; now I really do have prunus envy 🤣 And I'm really glad I'm not the only saddo using his phone to record bees; this from a couple of weeks back PXL_20210413_092943117.mp4

@Mick Dempsey I've just looked again at the first post on this thread; not sure there's been a better pic since - what a stunning cherry. How was it this year?

We are so lucky to have bought a house with this area in the garden. You can't see them here but the wood anemones have been excellent this year. The little wed wody will be going in the ground in June. The area with chip on it was lawn until I decided 'no more' and buried it in 6" of chip and stump grindings; the grindings will last forever as they're Douglas Fir! 🙄

But do not give up hope; my mate at Wick had swifts last year for the first time. His swallows and martins were back last week