Its that time of year again - all things bird related (feathered).

Soldato
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No fowl caused! (I'm sorry)

It's really impressive what he's done. I'm probably making it sound better than it actually is but it's in a glass frame bigger than A4 but smaller than A3 and it's just 3 rows of lots of eggs. I guess ranging from song birds to maybe a Swan or Goose at the biggest. It's presented in 2D so no idea how many of the eggs are actually whole and some of them have glue on where he pieced them back together. I always find it interesting in just the colour and pattern differences between bird eggs.

My grandmother always kept birds until recently. I'm not sure what was up with her Cockatiel but it consistently layed eggs despite her never having a partner. She loved my grandmother but hated me. Would always peck me.
 
Permabanned
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Pair of red kites photographed over the Long Myndd here in north Shropshire
red-kites.jpg
 
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So it turns out she has let me down! But she's sent it to her Dad as he is an egg collector. Next time I'm at his house I'll take a picture of his egg collection, you may appreciate it.

She said, which doesn't sound that helpful; "It doesn't look speckled enough for a buzzard or a kite compared to the eggs I've seen. It's definitely a large bird, are there owls in the location? Easiest way to tell is with the population within that area".
So in short she wasn't that helpful, but hopefully her Dad gets back to her soon

In hindsight this may be an infertile egg from my own female eagle owl that a rat has removed from her aviary and eaten.... Although there's no shortage of wild owls round here, too. her call seems to attract them at night and they can be heard hooting to each other some nights.
 
Soldato
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You've got an Eagle Owl? I'm sure at this point you don't have anything and they all own you! I'll let her know that either way. I'll still tell her she was wrong and not to get a big head but she seemed closer than I would've got!

The thing that strikes me about Kites is how big they actually are. I've never seen one close up though but even in the air they look quite big. My friends father used to keep a Buzzard and when a few flight feathers fell out I had them stuck on my wall. They were my prize possession even though it was just a brown feather
 
Soldato
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@d_brennen Looks like someones bird has escaped :eek:. I always thought they would die in the wild, but I guess if they're tame and find a place with a lot of humans, they will never be short of food!

@FISHGUTS Those are awesome, as is your garden! I have never seen them do that with their tail before.
 
Soldato
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I didn't know that, wow. I didn't think they could survive in our climate as we don't have the right food sources for them, so if they escape they die in the wild. Or maybe that was just budgies that scavenge for dried seeds.
 
Soldato
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I didn't know that, wow. I didn't think they could survive in our climate as we don't have the right food sources for them, so if they escape they die in the wild. Or maybe that was just budgies that scavenge for dried seeds.


Decent doc on them, it's fascinating that they managed to colonise here
 
Man of Honour
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There’s loads of them near me in Hertfordshire. Last autumn one of the nut producing trees on our road was filled with a few dozen of them. They are very noisy! Love seeing them though. Crazy they can survive our winter.
 
Soldato
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I didn't know that, wow. I didn't think they could survive in our climate as we don't have the right food sources for them, so if they escape they die in the wild. Or maybe that was just budgies that scavenge for dried seeds.

Have you got your budgie eating fruit and veg yet @Mark A ? Sat in the garden with mine now enjoying the evening sun, they are going bananas for tangerines at the moment.

E: couple pics from the weekend
IMG-20190713-142508.jpg

IMG-20190713-143522.jpg
 
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Soldato
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Thats a great shot!

Sadly not, it's a right picky sod. It loves spinach and lettuce, but that's about it. I have tried giving it all sorts of fruit and veg and it just totally ignores it, or is even scared of some fruits like strawberries. I'll have to try tangerines as i don't think i have tried citrus fruits yet, hopefully i'll find something it likes.
 
Soldato
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Take a bite out of a segment so it's a little easier to get into and poke it through the bars. Mine took ages and lots of wasted fruit to get into the swing of it. Quite funny giving them strawberry, if he ever goes for it make sure he has a bath ready :p
 
Associate
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Beautiful birds. Do you only let a selected few pairs breed? I assume they’re similar to my pigeons in that they can live 20+ years, so with the amount you have I assume you have to do some sort of population control?

Thanks
Yes that is right they can live for a long time. I keep 7 pairs that are the family pets. I either sell the young or replace the eggs. I had a lot then as I'd not sold any for ages.
 
Soldato
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Thanks
Yes that is right they can live for a long time. I keep 7 pairs that are the family pets. I either sell the young or replace the eggs. I had a lot then as I'd not sold any for ages.

Sounds good. I replace mine with fake eggs until they reject them and lay again. I’d love to have a huge aviary with fantails, modenas, frillbacks etc and try some breeding but I don’t have the space for the moment.
 
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