The Garden of Charles B

[Charles B]

Here is my new 28 cm hexagonal feeder tray with it's three 35 cm chains. The stone in the middle is to stabilize angular displacement for a 25 gram Great Tit flying in at an air speed of one metre per second. The weighs about 8 x the bird.



Before I added the stone it swayed wildly thus giving the Tits the green tinge from sea sickness these first yearlings were lacking!

Now they're moulting too and getting their yellow feathers.

The Tits love to sit on these bamboo poles while pecking their sunflower seeds open. But these poles touch up against the bedroom windows and make quite the racket! I wake up thinking it was a CW code distress message on 500 kHz! Haha!

[Charles B]

And new today is this cute, wee Coal Tit ....Oooops!!! He's a Marsh Tit! He is actually a bit smaller than the Blue Tit on the other side of the tray from him.



But back to the wrong bird for a short:
In Germany a Coal Tit is called a 'Tannenmeise' meaning 'Fir Tree Tit'. But this is also the old German word for a Blue Tit. And to make everything more confusing a 'Kohlmeise' meaning 'Coal Tit' is a Great Tit - Parus Major!
A Marsh Tit is a 'Sumpfmeise'.

[Charles B]

I discovered a new trick for sneaking up on the tits which are very leery of cameras:

First I put on a comfy black shirt with my black sports trousers and then pull the heavy, green curtains over the balcony door, hiding behind them and then take shots through the window to the right of the door. This works good and also lets me stabilize the camera against the door frame. Of course the window has to indeed be cleaned and polished good inside and out. And the lights in the room all need to be off. Then I use x5 zoom with Super HD and take repeated shots. Out of 15 duds a couple will be perfect!

[Charles B]

Oh, I also have a nice set of bird houses on their way.

[Charles B]

Greetings everybody!
My wife and I managed to get this 28 kg shipment of bird feed home from the town square on my home-made wagon. It was 2 km of 'Extreme Sport' up 3 nasty hills and down again to where we live.
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I only made it half way due to very low low blood sugar and a heart / lung issue and took a bus half way home, while Anna pushed the wagon the rest of the way happily as a little loco from the 'Blue Bell Railway'!



A glass of cold orange juice got me float again and while I was waiting out front for Anna the trees were full of tits welcoming their feed delivery with cheerful: 'Pieps-ah, Pieps-ah Pieps!!!' That felt good!!!

Here are the contents of the open carton: 10 kg mixed striped and black sunflower seed and 100 beef suet-seed balls.



And a shot of it stowed away in the dining room (which is also our grocery pantry) with my old stock on the left and this new order on the right.



In a day or two the bird houses I ordered from NABU (similar to RSPB) will also be delivered and hopefully to my door! DHL / Deutsche Post has indeed gotten lazy or wishes to save money. ???

[Willpar]

Great stuff Charles, the birds will be pleased.

[Charles B]

Great stuff Charles, the birds will be pleased.

Thanks! The birds fly in and out of my balcony non stop all day; and today they were more playful then usual. They are really fun to watch!
I mostly have Great Tits and Blue Tits here plus a new visitor the cute, wee Marsh Tit!

[Charles B]

My new bird houses with 32 mm holes for Great Tits.



They were sold by NABU which is Germany's version of the RSPB. But they not only protect birds but also other animals: like the ones which raid bird houses! A small token of the bird houses' cost goes to their wildlife charity

I also ordered metal protection plates for their entrances in either 32 mm or in 28 mm for Blue Tits (depending on which I install).

Plus I ordered my very first Ornithology book which is by the late Swiss Ornithologist Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim. It's one of his many handbooks about the birds of western Europe.

This one has 808 pages in German (I hope) and only covers Tits and Fly Catchers. I would indeed love to have his entire set of volumes but it would cost me a whole month's worth of my pittiful retirement pension. 🪙 Goodness!

So, I'm only interested in the birds I have here right now.

[Willpar]

Very nice Charles, birds will like those. May even use them as winter shelter.

[Charles B]

Thanks Will, I was thinking mainly about winter. If I install them on the balcony they will be warmer as the heat loss through my bedroom's glass wall of windows and balcony door usually keeps the frost out of plant containers up against the wall outside.
It's also shaded by my marquise keeping it cooler in summer. The Tits love hopping about on the marquise, playing games and hunting for spiders in it's corners. But I do hope that the feeders or our presence reading a book or having a cuppa doesn't cause a problem. What do you think?