fireman 10,774 Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Been watching a brood that's fledged today out of my garden hedge,funny little things but very flighty in a aviary so i'm told. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Outlaw Pete 2,224 Posted June 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Very flighty in a aviary so i'm told. Really? I never knew that. I have a mate, in Bristol, who used to breed them. Cinnamon's and so forth. Far as I know, he's still about drawing breath. Don't know if he's still got his aviaries though as, last I heard, he'd got into visiting Thailand at every opportunity. There. Just sent him a text, asking if he was still breathing. Ringed some Great Tit nestlings today too. And Pat has a nest of swallow chicks, just hatched, and a nest of eggs. I'll make the Grand Tour, middle of next week. Go through everywhere like a .......... I hate to say it. But; F**king Pine Marten!!! Piss miserable year, for me. Nothing turning up. Predation at record levels. Box uptake low. And just to cap it all? My boss is working away so can't get here with his mist nets One light in all this; I've bought a Trap Cage off our D. Soon as that arrives, I'll target the sparrows with it something rotten! < I just feel it may be an opportune point to, once again, state that I am, in fact, a qualified and licenced Ringer of wild birds. Please Don't try this at home! > 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 10,774 Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 There's a few folk who breed sparrows and all the posts i've read about say even when hand reared they go back to a wild state very easily OP,i was doing some garding for my next door nieghbour and heard some cheeping coming from a nest box and 7 little blue tits nearly ready to go looked back up at me ,closed the lid and left them be . The pine martin doing the boxes,could you not put a wire cage around the most vunerable ones?,the birds would fly through the wire but i'd keep the pests at bay,the sparrows will be easy to catch i'm sure as i had to stop using a live multi catch rat trap due to catching more sparrows and dunnocks than i ever did rats in it ,just corn as bait will do you well Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Outlaw Pete 2,224 Posted June 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Fireman; It's ironic that, only last year, I was suggesting a bloke wrap his boxes in weld mesh, to stop Great Spotted Woodpecker depredation. Looks like I'll have no choice but to entirely mesh my own boxes now. Won't be pretty (or cheap!). But. just the sight of those forsaken boxes out there. Where there should've been second broods by now ..... Those birds trusted me! 'Multi Catch Rat Traps' ? How about S. Young and Sons " Eclipse Sparrow Trap " ? Used to have a three footer. Now I just have the little two. (Used to keep ferrets too, back in the day The Horror!!!) Now? I use Potter traps, along with spring door walk in's. Now, of course, I'll have a fine Trap Cage to add to my armoury. This one. And, with that, D PM's me to say he's received my payment and asks where to send it! Excellent! I'll be bang amongst the hungry mothers, then their inexperienced young! This trap'll 'pay for itself' in no time! But, yeah; Chicken wire multi catch traps? Time was, they were fine. When there was a ferret in waiting Couple of dozen, thrashing about in there half the day? Not a problem, back then. Now? I want my bird caught before it even realises it. Then, swiftly out of the trap, as in, within seconds. I then 'process' them ~ always talking soothingly to them. I make a point of that. And off they go. Ringed Take another look at that sparrow. Can you see a feather out of place on her? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Millet 4,497 Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 There. Just sent him a text, asking if he was still breathing. Did he get back to you.. :laugh: 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Outlaw Pete 2,224 Posted June 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 There. Just sent him a text, asking if he was still breathing. Did he get back to you.. :laugh: Actually, mate ..... No! Maybe it's a time zone thing ....? Maybe .........? It becomes a simple fact of life, at a given point. He's suffered certain health issues already. What I now hate is the fact that his Cinnamon House Sparrows and his Pied Wagtail are now a thing of my mind. I'd have lost the photo's hard drives ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.