Members’ Observations – 1st April 2020

A member writes from Hangleton Lane: ‘Wild life revives: we have seen here apart from the resident blue and coal tits doves and pigeons, a fox, a moorhen, three ducks, a heron, a pheasant, and one small rabbit .What a difference it makes when Yeoman’s shuts down!’
Another, writes from off Langbury Lane, ‘We have the usual bird feeders, with anti-squirrel cages, but also a stick-on feeder for the window.  This allows the less dexterous and bigger birds to obtain food just by landing on the open feeding area.  Now they are all busily nesting, all the feeders are getting hammered and will get even more so once the chicks hatch.  Now we all have more time at home, we can spend some of it allowing our feathered friends to entertain us.  Seeing 15 starlings all challenging each other to get to the window feeder, I seriously wonder if any of them get anything.  The savvy blackbirds wait underneath and pick up all the dropped seeds, etc.  We have found the suet pellets with fruit or worm bits are scoffed by nearly all with sunflower hearts being almost universally rejected.  The shallow water bowls nearly are also heavily used for bathing and drinking so it is a regular daily job to keep everything in order.  The window bird feeders can be bought on Amazon as indeed can a huge variety of bird food and could provide an worthwhile diversion for people who are stuck at home, perhaps on their own.