Wildlife -January 2010

[mark smyth]

Angie what about the bird you found?

[angie]

Mark it died didn't make it through the night
I have never seen so much birds around the garden I think somebirds have been telling others there is plenty of food here.
My mum never leaves the house and all these little chaps keep here so happy, she soon tells me if the bird feeders are running low.
Angie

[mark smyth]

A man over here mist nets and rings all small birds that pass through his garden. The majority of birds are passing just through.

I watched the flock of goldfinches and redpolls that feed in my garden take off and fly towards another garden where they can get niger.

[angie]

These birds aren't silly
Angie

[Gwenblack]

Have to report that Oscar   our semi tame cock pheasant who has been visiting the garden regularly for two years anyway  has until recently had a harem of three, but in the last couple of days it has increased to six  and they, slender though they are , are seeing the carrion crows off from the fat balls Just hope it  doesn't give Johnnie any ideas.  Oscar is tame enough to walk close under the windows and can be heard making a repetitive subsong  that sounds like, "    Pork, Pork, Pork " Better than the harsh in-flight alarm cackle

[Paddy Tobin]

Gwen,

A cheap food which appeals to pheasants is "Layers' Pellets", the foodstuff used for hens. Here it is less than ten euro per bag, twenty five kilo size.
Here I feed the pheasants when I feed the hens and just scatter the pellets around on the grass.

Paddy

[Lesley Cox]

  Oscar is tame enough to walk close under the windows and can be heard making a repetitive subsong  that sounds like, "    Pork, Pork, Pork " Better than the harsh in-flight alarm cackle

He's telling you Gwen, that he'd like some lard in the fat balls, maybe a bit of bacon.

[mark smyth]

Paddy I feed the crumb version to the blackbird

[mark smyth]

What a site this would have been - 100s of red kites
http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?r=1

[angie]

Wow Mark what a wonderful site.
Angie

[Lesley Cox]

What a site this would have been - 100s of red kites
http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?r=1

A great sight indeed - and site.

[mark smyth]

Did anyone in the UK watch Horizon tonight? "The Secret Life of the Dog"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pssgh/Horizon_20092010_The_Secret_Life_of_the_Dog/

Brilliant! If you have a dog you have to watch it.

A study in Russia over 50 years selected docile silver foxes. Eventually they became tame and started to want human contact. They also started to change colour.

Apologies to those outside of the UK but if you really want I could put the programme on disc for you.

[annew]

It was a very interesting programme. The collie who knew 300 different objects by name was amazing. She could even recognise photos of a new object so she could fetch it straight away. I wonder if you could get it to fetch a week's shopping?

[Michael J Campbell]

Yes Mark,it was interesting that their tails started to curl with the human contact. I am still trying to teach my stupid mutt to fetch my slippers.
She knows that when I put on the boots it is time for a walk but does not know when I take them off I need my slippers.

[mark smyth]

when we talk to someone we look more at the opposite person's right eye and dog does it also. Dogs know from 6 months old what a pointing finger means and also know where to look by us looking with our eyes.

The wolf pups on the other hand .... I wouldnt want one in my house.

and the chemical that is released when we stroke a dog is released by the dog also.