Wednesday 4 November 2009

Starlings think they are Blue Tits

Each year I buy the odd coconut fat feeder for the Blue Tits. Last year I tried those with an opening in the bottom and they were ignored. This year I have a couple of coconuts with a slice cut out. Unfortunately the Blue Tits haven't managed to get a look in yet as the Starlings have decided they make easy pickings.

Starling

OK so the photo layout is a bit fancy but I have been experimenting with Comic Life and found a way round its dreadfully slow thumbnail building. I don't bother with that as the photos can be dragged and dropped from any ordinary folder view which I find more useful.

What a change in the weather! Especially the temperatures. On the last two early morning walks it has been 6C and only achieving 12 during the afternoon. Bobby always goes out in the garden when I go out but doesn't stay out very long these colder days. He races back in, leaps on his chair and covers his nose to keep it warm.

Keeping My Nose Warm

I feel like doing the same as my nose is decidedly cold at the moment!

13 comments:

  1. Good Morning John, LOL… the Blue tits have a challenge now. I wonder if they will get to the coconuts before the food runs out!

    Always interested in seeing different ways to show images… experiment away. I enjoyed your first edition. Pity its slow to work with... that would put me off too :-)

    I enjoy doing so myself. I’ve see a comic book style before but it was an Artist that had made up these strips and I never considered there could be programmes to help us all give it a go :-)

    Yep it’s getting chilly alright. My husband came in from work at 6pm last night and the car temp said 2C :-o

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  2. It won't stop raining here for more than five minutes. Forgot about drag and drop, sorry. Most software accepts it now, I have a graphics pad programme that doesn't but you can copy and paste. Like the starlings, never still or quiet.

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  3. Good Morning Shirl. It is nice to have a choice of presentation. What I would really like to do is have a video in the middle of some still photos but I haven't seen a way of doing that as yet.

    Comic Life is reasonable at creating thumbnails in folders which don't have thousands of photos. Unfortunately my main one has about 10000 now. I really must sort them into subjects one day as I used to with my last camera. You can download a fully working 30 day trial copy to experiment with.

    Goodness me 2C already. My local forecast originally showed 0C for Sunday night but that has been upped to about 4C now. Normally being this close to the North Sea keeps the night temperatures up until the new year.

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  4. Hello Adrian. We seem to have reached an long unsettled period of weather but you are getting more than your fair share of the rain by the looks of it.

    When one Starling descends on the feeders I know it will be a very short while before it is joined by many others. As you say, always on the move and very vocal.

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  5. Dear Bobby definitely has the right idea John!

    I too have experimented with the fat-filled coconut feeders. I thought the ones with the opening underneath might deter the Starlings a little, unfortunately they were not so popular with the tits either.

    Nice to see your new photo presentation, I'm sure you had great fun experimenting with that.
    ;)

    I hope Bobby won't be too bothered by the fireworks tomorrow, Louis hates them!

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  6. I'm sure he has Jan!

    The Tits probably, here anyway, find other feeders give easier pickings. Maybe the coconuts work well when they are the only thing available.

    I like the new graphics program as it is easy to add the odd speech bubble where a photo just cries out for one.

    Bobby is the first dog I have had who opens one eye when the first fireworks go off and then goes back to sleep. My last dog was inconsolable and hid in the darkest corner she could find and trembled. Tramp, the one before that, was OK if he could sit next to me on the window seat and watch them. ;)

    I do seem to get through a lot of dogs but I tend to have the older ones from the rescue centre.

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  7. Those Starlings seem to eat almost anything don't they. They soon demolish the fat balls I put out for the smaller birds.
    Seems like Bobby has perfected the art of comfort lol

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  8. As you say Keith, if its edible a Starling will grab it.

    Sighthounds like Bobby aren't known as 60 mph couch potatoes for nothing ;)

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  9. Starlings are never one to miss an opportunity. I tried the fat coconuts and they demolished them too quickly. I had to abandon them due to cost of replacing them. I didn't fancy going back to work to feed the Starlings.!!

    Bobby's definitely got the right idea; and very cute he looks too. (Don't mention "cute" to him as boys normally don't like that word!) When I was out for a walk today, I started to think about gloves for the first time this season. So I must find them before it becomes an absolute necessity.

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  10. "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts" is running through my head! Something new and tantalizing on the menu at the Birdy Bistro!

    Pleased to see you are enjoying Comic Life. We have a license at school for it, but I haven't tried it yet ... work gets in the way! Perhaps I need a trial at home. Looks like fun!

    How would you be at figuring out electronics inside a 1970 organ?

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  11. PS ~ Great photo of Bobby ~ love the nose pose!

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  12. Good Morning Tricia. The Starlings are emptying the coconut so fast they nearly fall inside trying to get at the food. Like you I gave up last year - too expensive.

    It is getting towards the sort of temperatures where we will all need a nose cosy. I keep forgetting to take my gloves on the morning walks and then wonder why I keep hitting the wrong keys on the keyboard ;)

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  13. Belated Happy Birthday wishes Glo. I trust you were well and truly pampered by all.

    The speed the Starlings are emptying the coconut I must have the fattest ones in the area.

    I used to get involved with harmoniums and pipe organs. Electronic ones were a real pain. Most problems on the older ones were down to dirty contacts under the keyboard or simply ageing of the components.

    That is Bobby's favourite position. He often wraps his feet round his nose.

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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