Have a waffle with Carol

[Linda P]

Bill I am amazed!!!! 12 days with only carry on luggage, the size bags they allow I can't even do a long weekend!!!! I am so so glad my Hubby does not read this

Linda
16 days

[Bill B]

Queen Noe,

It refers back to an old Monty Python skit where the characters name was spelled "Raymond Luxury Yacht" and he insisted it was pronounced "Throatwarbler Mangrove" (I think that's one of the rare birds you only find on Tobago )

Linda,

If you stay nice to me I promise I won't squeal

Bill

[Carol Townsend]

Morning folks,
I've whacked out something whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. Not one of my best, but time is pressing and I thought I'd leave you something to chew on while I'm away.
I had difficulty finding a snappy title, but finally came up with something.

[Linda P]

Bill

I'm always nice

Linda

[Carol Townsend]

There are many kinds of tits in the UK:
Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus); Bearded Tits; (panarus biarmacus) Long- tailed Tits (Aegithalos caudatus); Marsh Tits (Poecile palustris); Crested Tits (ophophanes cristatus); Coal Tits (Periparus ater) and Zebra Tits (Pyjamus Stripeus)
Yes I admit that I had to look up the Latin names, and were you aware that the Microsoft Word spellchecker doesn’t know Latin?
The tits we see in our garden are Blue tits and Great Tits (Parus Major)
We have three nestboxes in our garden, which we put in place about four years ago.
One is attached to the magnolia, which so far has been ignored, another is heart-shaped with “Love Shack” carved on it, which I like, but the birds do not, it seems, and the third is shaped like a Swiss chalet, and sits on top of the fence.
The first year it was ignored, but the second year a young pair of Great Tits (parus major) came house-hunting one Saturday morning.
“Well, what do you think dear? It seems well-made” said Mr Tit.
“Hmm. Will it be warm and dry?” Mrs Tit replied.
“Yes I think so. Have a look.”
First one, then the other, hopped inside.
“Yes I think that will do. It seems nice and roomy. I’ll be happy to lay the eggs in there” said Mrs Tit.
By the way, you can distinguish them quire easily as male Great Tits have a wider stripe down their middles, and in the breeding season are more brightly coloured.
So, the nest building, and my stress, began.
I am not a twitcher. A twitcher is someone who is knowledgeable about birds, and likes to visit places to see a certain species so they can write it down in a notebook; rather in the manner of a trainspotter; date, place, time, male or female, adult or juvenile. If a rare bird is sighted anywhere in the country they will drop everything to go and see it, and you do not need me to tell you that quite often the bird in question has vanished by the time they arrive. A friend of ours dashed all the way from the south of England to Scotland just to see a rare migrant, only to find it had returned from whence it had come.
I, on the other hand, am interested in all kinds of wildlife, and do enjoy seeing the birds in our garden, but I never write anything in a notebook, nor would i claim to be highly knowledgeable.I spend a fortune on RSPB approved seeds and nuts which I put into various feeders, and whenever I can I stand vigil against marauding, well- fed cats.
I was therefore delighted when Mr and Mrs Great Tit decided to raise their family in my nestbox, but at the same time very anxious that they should survive, so I found myself spending a great deal of time looking out of the window.
They spent many days flying backwards and forwards carrying first nesting material, then caterpillars and grubs for the chicks. This did not go un-noticed by the Cat- From -Next- Door- But -One (we don’t own any by the way). It thought I was a big softie at first; if I saw it anywhere near the nestbox I would open the door and shout at it: "Go away you naughty little cat". It would sit and glare at me as only cats can: “Huh, I’m not scared of you”.
So then I had to swallow my pride and dash out of the door, flapping my arms and screaming like a demented banshee with her underwear on fire. Or, my nightdress (no it wasn’t on fire). Yes, early one morning I saw my enemy perched on the fence sniffing at the entrance to the nestbox, so I threw all caution to the winds and ran out as I was, in my (very modest and demure) nightdress, in full view, though I did not realise it at the time, of eighty year old Mr A. next door.
Later when I was chatting to him about the nestbox he confessed to having seen me, and volunteered to help with sentry duty, though he is a little slower than me when flying out of the door.
Finally I declared war on the cat.
“Just you wait mate, I have a Secret Weapon.”
What is the one thing cats do not like? Water. I would get a cup of water and throw it in the cat’s direction and it would scuttle away as fast as its legs would carry it. It didn’t matter that my aim was less than accurate; just one glimpse of it was enough.
Eventually I tired of the war, so decided to employ guerrilla tactics. I placed a bowl of water on the fence so that the cat couldn’t get to the nestbox without wading through it. As I had hoped, it decided it wasn’t worth the effort just for a couple of small birds, and kept away after that.
Squirrels are an altogether different problem. They couldn’t catch a bird unless it was injured, but they are partial to an egg or nestling, so would stare greedily into the nestbox entrance.
You have to hand it to them; they are clever little blighters, and are not the least bit afraid of water. No matter what, they always find a way of stealing the nuts and seeds from the bird feeders. We have our feeders strategically placed in the centre of the garden, with a sheet of plastic half way up the pole to stop them climbing up it, so, as our garden is narrow, the more agile ones simply leap six feet through the air from the fence onto the feeders, putting up two furry fingers to us as they do it.
That first year I guarded the tits as much as I could, and looked forward to seeing the fledglings leave the nestbox, but I missed this momentous event as they always leave at first light. I saw three little fluffy yellow balls in the magnolia one morning, and that was that.
Last year I didn’t even have that privilege, but I know they survived as the nest was empty when I checked it some time later.
This year we have a Great Tit family again, and so far, no cats. You know what, the chicks will fledge next week, when I’m not around to see them; ungrateful little so and so’s.
In conclusion, if you are in Britain, please join the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and help look after our Tits.

[Linda P]

Lovely story Carol, I do like the latin for Zebra Tit
I can quite easily relate to the squirrel on their raiding mission, we are lucky to have several mature trees on a bank at the bottom of our garden, there is also a dual carriageway the other side of the bank which is not quite so pretty, but the trees and bank block the view and traffic noise. Anyway, one late autumn day several years ago, I decided to make bird feeders with my two daughters, who were probably about 5 and 7 at the time. We bought a huge bag of monkey nuts, some big darning needles and some extra stong thread, and spent the next hour or so making long chains of monkey nuts to hang around the trees (I was a big fan of Blue Peter as a child). Once the construction was complete, and the girls had stopped complaining of sore fingers from the times they had stabbed themselves we arranged our creations artfully in the trees.
The girls then settled themselves at the window, toy binoculars paused, expecting a scene reminiscent of Hitchcocks Birds and I put the kettle on for a well earned cuppa. The kettle hadn't even boiled, when 'Mum, Mum, you've got to see this!!' so I rushed through to the other room, to see a squirrel swinging Tarzan style from one of our creations!!! It took our furry friend about 20minutes to take away all of the monkey nuts, the girls were thrilled and named it Nutty Lou. We still have squirrels regularly visiting, we have ducks and rabbits living in the garden now, and squirrels are partial to their food. Naturally the girls still insist that every squirrel that visits is the same Nutty Lou.


Linda

[Tony G]

I'm going to have to look that one up 'cos I don't believe it.

Tony

[Linda P]

Tony,
Congratulations

You are no longer a Saddo!! hopefully I will follow you to the lofty rank of Fanatic very soon

Linda

[Carol Townsend]

BRUV!!!!

You've done it!
You are now officially a fanatic!!
I knew you could do it!!!
XXXXX

[Carol Townsend]

Linda beat me to it there!

Bruv,
What do you mean, you don't believe it? Don't you have zebra tits on the IOW then?

[Tony G]

Just as I thought. This was a parting shot from Noe. I bet it kept her chuckling all the way to Tresco. There is no such thing as a Zebra Tit (Avoid Googling British Tits) and there is most definitely no Pyjamus Stripeus. Nice one!

Ooh! I became a fanatic. Does that mean that the Special Branch will be opening up a file on me now?

Tony

[Tony G]

Oh there you are Sis. I thought you were on your way. All posting at the same time here today.

Tony

XXX

[Carol Townsend]

Don't google Great Tits either.

[Carol Townsend]

It's getting very confusing around here!
I'm catching the 23.45 sleeper from Paddington tonight, so I have the whole day to get ready!

[Linda P]

Tony

Google does not know all of the answers, I think that honour should go to 13yr old Daughter!
There was a Zebra Tit in my Northampton garden just 20 minutes ago, it was pegging out the washing

Linda
15 days

[Linda P]

Carol

Have a great holiday, I'm sure you will come up with plenty of waffle material while you are there, will do my best to keep order here for you while you are away

Linda

[Tony G]

This is all getting too much for me. I really have to get ready for work. Got a ten o'clock appointment and I haven't even had breakfast yet.

Sis, have a wonderful time and come back with lots of amusing tales for us here in the waffle zone.

Linda, at the rate you are posting you'll be a fanatic before the day is out.

I see Mr Watkins is looking in. Hi David. You don't secretly work for Special Branch do you?

Well, if so, it wasn't me!

Tony

[Carol Townsend]

I think he does work for Special Branch. I've noticed he often looks in without saying a word....

[David Watkins]

Good morning you untrusting people.I have not been lurking,had to go somewhere and didn't log off.
Happy hols Your Majesty(backs away knuckling fore head)
ps does this mean we have to call Linda,Princess ?

[Tony G]

He is a man of mystery isn't he?

It's probably not even his real name.

You do realise Sis, that now we have mentioned the Special Branch numerous times that they are going to be listening in.

Sorry Steve.

Aah! There you are David. Didn't see you there. We were just talking about you. Nice things of course...

(I think we've been caught out).