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#1
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Clyde and the Blackbird
It's fledgling time again and this morning the parent birds were shouting
warning cries when I let the cats out. The birds build in the most absurd places. Their latest nest was in the orange tree at eye level and for some reason the cats never discovered them. I was eating breakfast when I heard the screaming - I knew one of the cats had a fledgling. It was sitting at the bottom of the back steps and I have never heard such a terrible noise from a small bird. Its alarmed parents were doing wheelies overhead. Clyde sat beside the chick looking wonderingly at it - seeemingly aghast at the noise. He must have found it and brought it to the steps. He was obviously quite troubled at the thought of touching anything so noisy. Then I made a mistake. Instead of grabbing Clyde, I tried to grab the bird. It wasn't much of a flier but evaded my clumsy paws easily. It staggered into the air and flew into a clump of bushes pursued by a wildly excited Clyde and two parent birds dive-bombing us all. Clyde misjudged his prey and sprang on the wrong bush - I saw the fledgling and grabbed it. The little fellow was completely unharmed and still screaming its head off - it had an open yellow beak wide enough to swallow the ocean. I grabbed Clyde in the other hand and threw him inside. The bird I tossed over the high fence skirting the neighbours' property. Later I saw the parent birds on the job delivering beakfuls of worms. Clyde's been locked inside ever since. Bonnie, thankfully, was out of earshot, otherwise she would have joined in the skirmish. I reckon fledglings are most susceptible the first day or so out of the nest so I am going to have to keep a close eye on the fur brigade. Bev |
#2
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Clyde and the Blackbird
"Bev" wrote in message ... It's fledgling time again and this morning the parent birds were shouting warning cries when I let the cats out. The birds build in the most absurd places. Their latest nest was in the orange tree at eye level and for some reason the cats never discovered them. I was eating breakfast when I heard the screaming - I knew one of the cats had a fledgling. It was sitting at the bottom of the back steps and I have never heard such a terrible noise from a small bird. Its alarmed parents were doing wheelies overhead. Clyde sat beside the chick looking wonderingly at it - seeemingly aghast at the noise. He must have found it and brought it to the steps. He was obviously quite troubled at the thought of touching anything so noisy. Then I made a mistake. Instead of grabbing Clyde, I tried to grab the bird. It wasn't much of a flier but evaded my clumsy paws easily. It staggered into the air and flew into a clump of bushes pursued by a wildly excited Clyde and two parent birds dive-bombing us all. Clyde misjudged his prey and sprang on the wrong bush - I saw the fledgling and grabbed it. The little fellow was completely unharmed and still screaming its head off - it had an open yellow beak wide enough to swallow the ocean. I grabbed Clyde in the other hand and threw him inside. The bird I tossed over the high fence skirting the neighbours' property. Later I saw the parent birds on the job delivering beakfuls of worms. Clyde's been locked inside ever since. Bonnie, thankfully, was out of earshot, otherwise she would have joined in the skirmish. I reckon fledglings are most susceptible the first day or so out of the nest so I am going to have to keep a close eye on the fur brigade. Bev Birds versus cats I find extremely difficult ethically. Before my two cats claimed me one of my interests was birdwatching in my garden. I fed the birds daily but I cannot do that now because both Kitty & BF will catch them and I don't feel inclined to set up such a trap for the birds. It's a real loss to me and a sacrifice. Tweed |
#3
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Clyde and the Blackbird
I know exactly what you mean Tweed, I always have a big conflict with my
bird-watching and the cats. I always give bread to the sparrows but never nearby as it is an invitation to dinner for any cats. I am lucky that B & C and FSP rarely catch birds. Bev "Christina Websell" wrote in message ... "Bev" wrote in message ... It's fledgling time again and this morning the parent birds were shouting warning cries when I let the cats out. The birds build in the most absurd places. Their latest nest was in the orange tree at eye level and for some reason the cats never discovered them. I was eating breakfast when I heard the screaming - I knew one of the cats had a fledgling. It was sitting at the bottom of the back steps and I have never heard such a terrible noise from a small bird. Its alarmed parents were doing wheelies overhead. Clyde sat beside the chick looking wonderingly at it - seeemingly aghast at the noise. He must have found it and brought it to the steps. He was obviously quite troubled at the thought of touching anything so noisy. Then I made a mistake. Instead of grabbing Clyde, I tried to grab the bird. It wasn't much of a flier but evaded my clumsy paws easily. It staggered into the air and flew into a clump of bushes pursued by a wildly excited Clyde and two parent birds dive-bombing us all. Clyde misjudged his prey and sprang on the wrong bush - I saw the fledgling and grabbed it. The little fellow was completely unharmed and still screaming its head off - it had an open yellow beak wide enough to swallow the ocean. I grabbed Clyde in the other hand and threw him inside. The bird I tossed over the high fence skirting the neighbours' property. Later I saw the parent birds on the job delivering beakfuls of worms. Clyde's been locked inside ever since. Bonnie, thankfully, was out of earshot, otherwise she would have joined in the skirmish. I reckon fledglings are most susceptible the first day or so out of the nest so I am going to have to keep a close eye on the fur brigade. Bev Birds versus cats I find extremely difficult ethically. Before my two cats claimed me one of my interests was birdwatching in my garden. I fed the birds daily but I cannot do that now because both Kitty & BF will catch them and I don't feel inclined to set up such a trap for the birds. It's a real loss to me and a sacrifice. Tweed |
#4
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Clyde and the Blackbird
"Bev" wrote in message ... I know exactly what you mean Tweed, I always have a big conflict with my bird-watching and the cats. I always give bread to the sparrows but never nearby as it is an invitation to dinner for any cats. I am lucky that B & C and FSP rarely catch birds. Bev I have feeding stations in the willow tree at one end of the garden. Alongside it is a large tree stump from a long dead apple tree. I put various nuts, seeds, fruits & fat cakes on the stump and have the feeding stations in the tree topped up. Have to say the felines catch very few birds; their preferred prey is rodent ;-) Plus, in the colder weather, the birds often *need* the stores of food put out in gardens. Cheers, helen s |
#5
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Clyde and the Blackbird
Bev wrote in message ... It's fledgling time again and this morning the parent birds were shouting warning cries when I let the cats out. The birds build in the most absurd places. Their latest nest was in the orange tree at eye level and for some reason the cats never discovered them. :-) I like to get stories from Down Under at this time of year, it's good to know that it's Spring somewhere. Well done on rescuing the fledgeling. Jeanette |
#6
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Clyde and the Blackbird
wafflycat wrote in message ... "Bev" wrote in message ... I know exactly what you mean Tweed, I always have a big conflict with my bird-watching and the cats. I always give bread to the sparrows but never nearby as it is an invitation to dinner for any cats. I am lucky that B & C and FSP rarely catch birds. Bev I have feeding stations in the willow tree at one end of the garden. Alongside it is a large tree stump from a long dead apple tree. I put various nuts, seeds, fruits & fat cakes on the stump and have the feeding stations in the tree topped up. Have to say the felines catch very few birds; their preferred prey is rodent ;-) Plus, in the colder weather, the birds often *need* the stores of food put out in gardens. Cheers, helen s I agree with Helen. I put food out for the birds, which helps them raise more chicks than my cats ever catch. Jeanette |
#7
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Clyde and the Blackbird
Jeanette wrote:
wafflycat wrote in message ... "Bev" wrote in message ... I know exactly what you mean Tweed, I always have a big conflict with my bird-watching and the cats. I always give bread to the sparrows but never nearby as it is an invitation to dinner for any cats. I am lucky that B & C and FSP rarely catch birds. Bev I have feeding stations in the willow tree at one end of the garden. Alongside it is a large tree stump from a long dead apple tree. I put various nuts, seeds, fruits & fat cakes on the stump and have the feeding stations in the tree topped up. Have to say the felines catch very few birds; their preferred prey is rodent ;-) Plus, in the colder weather, the birds often *need* the stores of food put out in gardens. Cheers, helen s I agree with Helen. I put food out for the birds, which helps them raise more chicks than my cats ever catch. Jeanette Also, I find by feeding the birds there are more pairs of eyes to spot predators and raise the alarm. Baggy has lived here nearly two years now and has caught about a dozen birds in that time, nearly all of them he caught somewhere else and brought them home. -- Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera) A House is not a home, without a cat. http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk |
#8
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Clyde and the Blackbird
Christina Websell wrote: Birds versus cats I find extremely difficult ethically. Before my two cats claimed me one of my interests was birdwatching in my garden. I fed the birds daily but I cannot do that now because both Kitty & BF will catch them and I don't feel inclined to set up such a trap for the birds. It's a real loss to me and a sacrifice. Tweed I have a large feeding station in the back yard. We get mostly finches and little wrens and sparrows. Occasionally a cardinal. Further back I put out a tray in a tree of peanut mix and get lots of Jays. I have taken the birdhouses down because I caught Bootsie after one. But you know, I have never known any of my cats to kill a bird. Maybe they are just inept hunters. Sherry |
#9
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Clyde and the Blackbird
wrote in message ps.com... Christina Websell wrote: Birds versus cats I find extremely difficult ethically. Before my two cats claimed me one of my interests was birdwatching in my garden. I fed the birds daily but I cannot do that now because both Kitty & BF will catch them and I don't feel inclined to set up such a trap for the birds. It's a real loss to me and a sacrifice. Tweed I have a large feeding station in the back yard. We get mostly finches and little wrens and sparrows. Occasionally a cardinal. Further back I put out a tray in a tree of peanut mix and get lots of Jays. I have taken the birdhouses down because I caught Bootsie after one. But you know, I have never known any of my cats to kill a bird. Maybe they are just inept hunters. Sherry Oddly enough, growing up we didn't have many birds brought to us either. LOTS of grasshoppers and moths. THe occasional mouse. Wink just brought tons of newspapers around and anything that fell off a clothes line. But not many birds. I think they are harder than we think to catch. |
#10
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Clyde and the Blackbird
Karen wrote:
Oddly enough, growing up we didn't have many birds brought to us either. LOTS of grasshoppers and moths. THe occasional mouse. Wink just brought tons of newspapers around and anything that fell off a clothes line. But not many birds. I think they are harder than we think to catch. I think so too. Nikki would bring me 5-6 voles per *day* in her prime, but only one or two birds during the whole summer. I think most cats are only able to catch birds that are sick or weak. Young birds are probably especially vulnerable. -- Marina, Frank, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Nikki. marina (dot) kurten (at) iki (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki |
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