Wildlife & Gardens

Discussion in 'Taylor's Tittle-Tattle - General Banter' started by Sting, May 7, 2019.

  1. Sting

    Sting Squad Player

    A lot of weeds paid dearly for that 6-0 :) (unfortunately I suspect there were a few plant casualties in the friendly fire).
     
  2. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    Bast*rd woodpecker keeps attacking the blue t1t nest box. I keep looking out for the sh*tbag but we were out all afternoon and there's a hole appearing, (not as big as the one in our defence just yet). Already looking into woodpecker proof birdboxes for the next nesting season.
     
  3. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Yes they can be merciless killers though I've not had a problem before - we have 2 active *** boxes this spring and peckers regularly coming to the suet so i'm hoping they don't hear the chicks in the boxes.
     
  4. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    You can get some chicken wire or better still ebay flog metal plates and or cages which you can use to reinforce the hole

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...pecker.TRS0&_nkw=bird+box+woodpecker&_sacat=0

    Hopefully up a ladder with a screwdriver for 5 mins won't disturb the nest.
     
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  5. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

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  6. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Exciting race against the clock. Fledge or get eaten. Nature at it's finest.
    Nail a bit of wire mesh over the hole it's creating.
     
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  7. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    Appreciate the advice from yourself and Meister but I'm wary of going near the box. It doesn't appear to have made the hole big enough to get in and everyone is on standby, (always leaving one person at home). Nerf gun found a real use at last.
     
  8. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Tough call. They will get through esp if they start at sunrise but maybe the birds will be out in time. They know there's food in there. Do you have any nuts and fat out for the peckers ? If they know there's stacks of easier food to access they may decide it's not worth the effort.
     
  9. Rontaylor

    Rontaylor Reservist

    It doesn't have to be wire. Use several layers of tinfoil and apply with glue. No banging to disturb chicks and it can be installed in seconds - peripheral advantage - less chance of falling off ladder !!!!
     
  10. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    So Bwood, you convinced me. I've set up a 4m x 1.5m area, dug 2 trenches 18 inches apart and ordered 20 asparagus crowns. Hopefully have them in in a week or so. A bit late, should be March/April, but hopefully this will count as the first season so should be able to harvest a few next spring, and then full steam ahead from the following season.
    We get pheasants and deer in the garden so I may need to put some chicken wire or netting over them once growing to stop them being decimated! Do you have any issues with wildlife eating them ?
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2019
  11. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    This is how video gamers would do gardening.

    Unexpected.
     
  12. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    Is your problem a fox in the box?
     
  13. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    We once had a lad from the Brentford projects vault over the back wall.

    Uninvited.

    More urban ends down here, I suppose.
     
  14. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Diamond - we do need an update. Did they make it ....or did the rocker get them ?
     
  15. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Pecker not rocker.....
     
  16. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Because mine are in a raised bed I can cover mine with cloche hoops & netting. Everyone I know who grows in trenches has problems with slugs eating the new shoots. Next year I would plan on taking a maximum of one pencil sized spear from each crown. Cut back all growth when it yellows, heavily manure & mulch (to keep water in & prevent weed growth) arount October. In early Feb (a month before spring) feed with blood & bone. You have to continually weed as the plants are exceptionally intolerant of any competition.

    I'm in Kent at the moment & bought some from a local farm. I mentioned that I grow it & that I noticed that everywhere was selling it for insane prices per bunch. I was told that with the euro rate local farmers can't export & make any profit so the UK market is flooded...
     
  17. Does this mean your asparagus is not suitable for vegans?
     
  18. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    So I make a long-term investment just at the moment the bottom falls out of the market ? Typical :).
    The area I'm using is an old abandoned veg patch with wooden board around it so I might try some for of slug repellent rather than killer)around the top of that to keep them out (copper strips?).
    I'll construct some form of chicken wire cage to go over the top rather than netting so birds, frogs etc don't get caught in it.
    Cheers.
     
  19. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    No it's perfectly suitable for vegans. Use frozen very woody spears to poke the smug f**kers.
     
  20. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    All food is suitable for vegans. Just tell them it's quorn, and "isn't it clever the way they get that s*** to look and taste like real food".
     
  21. Ah, the 'just tell them we've left, the brexiters will be happy' gambit.
     
  22. StuBoy

    StuBoy Forum Cad and Bounder

    My bee hotel and bee brick are full of solitary bee eggs this spring, very happy with that. Only had about one lay eggs in it last year and that actually hatched the other day too. Apparently it takes them about a year or so to suss these out before they lay their eggs in them.

    This is garden related chat, but off at a tangent.

    In other news, the hoe I brought has dealt well with the weed build up too. Some rain coming up so they'll return quickly I'm sure!
     
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  23. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    I've tried to keep my distance but I think the thickness of the birdbox may have saved the day. The actual hole made doesn't seem big enough to have got to the chicks. I've not seen much activity the last couple of days so I'll go take a closer look tonight.
     
  24. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    Some sentences are simply brilliant when quoted out of context.
     
  25. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    But not the Harlequins. Native species are under real pressure. Climate change and accessible transit courtesy of us has made this a real problem. HH24 muntjac can leap very high. The fence has to be very high to keep them out. It would be nice to see more gardeners planting native flower species and encouraging wildlife to come back into gardens. Most modern gardens covered with decking and paving and garden centre plants are so sterile.

    The recent developments in the town centre have meant the breeding pair of peregrines at the YMCA have not returned. In general having worked for the BTO as a child I can only say that lots of local fauna and flora have disappeared or declined hugely in number over the last two decades. It is worrisome.

    On a global level China was forced to reinstate a ban on tiger and rhino products.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/world/asia/china-rhino-tiger-ban.html

    Utterly obscene. More worrying is what China is doing in Africa helped by corrupt politicians over there. This Little China project is suspiciously close to some of the last large southern rhino populations.

    https://citizen.co.za/news/south-af...n-limpopo-is-ploy-by-anc-to-get-rich-says-da/
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2019
  26. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    I've seen signs of breeding rhinos in my garden, but no tigers as yet. Perhaps it's still too early for them.
     
  27. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    More likely they have been poached (or fried?). Watch your neighbours closely. Any Chinese ?
     
  28. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    So we've had a week or reasonable weather. Meister's putting green is suitably lush and currently sporting vertical stripes courtesy of some not inconsiderate effort put in..

    I give it 3 days before it goes brown and turns to dust, a state which it will remain in until October..
     
  29. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Daily sprinklers utilising approx 20 gallons of water a day should keep it nice and green :)
     
  30. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    No it isn't. That's my spore and semen everywhere.

    And on a slightly more ridiculous note - as an amateur astronomer (AKA peeping tom) I've often wondered if the reported declines in invertebrate/bird life is linked to street light replacement from the old dim, yellow sodium vapour lamps to the bright white LED replacements? As nothing ever sleeps...
     
  31. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    *inconsiderable
     
  32. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Unlike us, most intertebrates/birds don't have sex when they snuggle up together pre-sleep. They jump anything that moves during daylight at the right time of the year. More "daylight" more time for jumping stuff.
    ps 20 asparagus crowns now planted and watered in :).
     
  33. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    * of
     
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  34. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    No, it was inconsiderate due to the noise of the mower and the considerable levels of effing and blinding during the work.
     
  35. I Blame Pozzo

    I Blame Pozzo First Team

    It's utterly vile.
    Thank goodness for Born Free,WWF,IFAW and countless other conservation charities.
    The human race have much to answer for,
     
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