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think of the blackbirds Monty !

So sad to see you "pruning" your winter flowering honeysuckle. We leave ours until much later as these sweet little pink grapes form, that blackbirds adore.

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  • DaisydayDaisyday Posts: 373

    Our evergreen honeysuckle is used as a nesting site for a family of Dunnocks each year so pruning has to be done in the Autumn.

  • WintersongWintersong Posts: 2,436

    Last year I had drama with a bee's nest in my ground that got half dug up by foxes and then overtaken by a Cuckoo bee, I found the queen crawling away with her wings bitten off and the resulting nest died out a few weeks later since Cuckoo bees don't continue the nest. (I would upload a picture of her, but file is too big)image

    I also witnessed a bird of prey land in my middle garden and fly off like a shot at the sight of me, leaving only a few sparrow feathers behind from his latest meal!

    This year I am proud to announce a nesting pair of Blackbirds in my ivy, right over my kitchen window! Already, I have observed the female bird doing all the nest building, although the male stood guard and even brought her the gift of a worm today.

    I must say, one of the delights of being a gardener is the adventure with wildlife!

  • Hi Wintersong. According to Bill Oddie you have well fed, plump birds for a sparrow hawk to visit. We sadly had a collard dove caught for lunch a couple of days ago.

  • WintersongWintersong Posts: 2,436

    Well I have been treated this afternoon! I looked out my window to see a male Blackbird (the pair are nesting in my Ivy) dive bomb a wood pigeon and then start displaying with his tail high and his chest inflated just like a Peacock.image

  • PenylanSuePenylanSue Posts: 22

    I've never had pink grapes on my honeysuckle, which quite honestly by this time of year is just a mess. So I will be following Monty's advice and pruning mine earlier next year.  Terri, I know there are two different species of winter flowerring honeysuckle so I wonder if yours is the other one.

    I will not be worrying about the nesting birds also as they have plenty of better places to nest in which are not so close to the house.

  • Blackbirds as we all know dont nest in the safest of places! I have a pair nesting in thick ivy near my bird feeders and the male is working overtime chasing away anything that flies! Having said that the young have left but he returns for suet fruity sprinkles. The blue tits are about to leave the boxes (I wish it would warm up a bit and stop raining) They too love the suet. I buy in bulk from the internet by the way GJW Titmuss ltd is a great supplier of any type of birdfood. An anxious time for all wildlife young. Thanks for your replys nice to know so many people think of our feathered friends and that gardening isnt all about US !

  • AllotmentMaxAllotmentMax Posts: 189
    Wish something would nest in our box! The neighbours cats seem to put off any lovely feathered visitors!!! U r all very lucky
  • Rob StevensRob Stevens Posts: 91

    We have a house sparrow nesting in the eaves at the back of the house and quite regularly get coal tits, wagtails and starlings in the garden. Oh, and the stoopid woodpigeon, stoopiding about image

  • WintersongWintersong Posts: 2,436

    Well apparently my wood pigeons are ring-neck doves. There's a mating pair we see every year, always together, it's very sweet. Last year they tried to make a manly sized nest in out large Laural, but a windy day soon put an end to those ideas.

    On the whole we get sparrows thrushes and Magpies nest in the surrounding trees but don't land in my garden. Once when I put out seed to encourage finches etc, all I got was an ugly pigeon who kept eating the lot! So I stopped. I used to get a robin a few years back that followed me around whenever I disturbed the soil, and am so happy I have blackbirds this year. I feel honoured they have chosen my garden.

  • image

    The winter honeysuckle the birds love is Lonciera Fragrantissima. The berries are more like grapes. I have just picked this from my garden.

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