DJ

hi,can anyone tell me when the hawk attacks start to slow down and when it will be safe to let my birds out again? i let my birds out today and the hawk was here within minutes of them being outside the loft luckily i didnt lose any but one flew into my patio door in a blind panic trying to escape leaving its bloom imprinted on the door any info would be appreciated debbie

sorry to hear that you lost your hen bird to a sparrowhawk sue the hawks have been a nightmare this year and i totally sympathise with you i had a yb handed back to me yesterday by a neighbour which was being plucked by a sparrowhawk in her garden but she managed to save it the yb is still shaky but it should be ok im sorry that i cant help you with a replacement but hopefully someone else can? ive got a orange flashing light coming soon for the garden the type that is used on roadworks as ive heard that it can prevent hawk attacks so will keep you all posted debbie

i always report strays but the owners never seem to want them back i think ive sent 4 back in the last 2-3 years out of dozens ive got a 08 cheq in at moment and the owner promised to ring me back by last weekend and still hasnt phoned and now isnt answering my messages left on his ansaphone > ive heard all the excuses like ive been on my hols,or my ansaphone isnt working properly,or can you move it on for me,i cant afford to send for it etc but then i did report one that belonged to a very well known and succesful essex fancier and he did everything he could to make sure his bird was collected the next day and was pleased to know where his bird had ended up i always send for mine and thank them for reporting them debbie

my nestboxes are like yours with a small gap underneath but that is handy if any yb,s stray from their nestboxes and are at risk from being scalped/bullied by over zealous cock birds the gap under my nestboxes is just big enough for the yb,s to get under and hide until i go into the loft after work and put them back into their own boxes i had a yb so badly scalped that it had to be moved on so its good to know that they have a place to hide if they do leave their nestboxes your new loft is looking good and the view is brilliant you must be well pleased debbie

thanks everyone for all your replies youve all been great and all the info/advice has given me plenty to think on i wouldnt mind the local police visiting me so much if we were actually trying to shoot the neighbours cat but we really wasnt the 22 was there purely to protect my birds from the hawks but they saw the chance to stir the sh-t and took it also the tree that the hawk sometimes appears from is actually in their garden right behind my loft so thats something that ive got to live with as well but thanks for the offer of the netting walterbmasson its much appreciated it wouldnt be so bad if my neighbours were approachable but it would only end up in another argument with my other half hammering on their door again with the threat of yet another police visit > all my other neighbours are great and have even bought missing/injured pigeons back to me but thats life i spose i expect some of you have had your fair share of neighbour problems havnt you? im going to give the flashing beacon a try as a hawk deterent so hopefully that may help? once again thanks everyone debbie

thanks everyone for your replies but since last year when the hawk first appeared i have tried cd discs pinned to the fences and hanging on string when that didnt work i tried playing the eagle owl cd b4 letting my birds out which worked for about 6 months and then the hawks reappeared again > i now have a 22 but the hawk appears so quickly that by the time i get it the hawk has gone ive had the local police visit me cos a neighbour saw my friend with the 22 and accused him of trying to shoot her cat so have to be careful with that now a hawk chased a stray into my garden a few days ago and without thinking i run down the garden to chase the hawk off the stray when what i should have done is got the 22 anyway i saved the stray and its being picked up this weekend by the owner last year i could cope with the hawks but this year has been much worse > when will the rspb pull their head out of their a*s and accept what the hawks are doing to our birds and the wild birds? hopefully this mylar tape will help ? debbie

hi can anyone tell me me if sparrowhawks take pigeons out of the sky or if they only attack when the pigeons are in or around the garden/loft or on the ground? im asking cos every time the hawk has struck its always attacked my pigeons while they are in the garden and i have managed to save my pigeons and frighten the hawk away but i still have some pigeons missing? im trying to work out the best way to protect my pigeons and i now only let them out for excercise twice weekly but it seems that the hawks are there whenever my pigeons go out > can anybody give me some info/advice please debbie

hi tenny i would ring the rpra and whu as pjc says in case its registered to a fancier here? well done for taking the bird in and looking after it and making the effort trying to find the birds owner good luck debbie

of course you are right jimmy women do have far more common sense ;D ;D

even though youve treated for canker,cocci and worms i would still send a sample off to be tested and take it from there your birds sound well looked after so maybe its just down to the change of diet? i hope so good luck debbie

and me but i still havnt started racing them yet i got started when a stray adopted my garden shed a couple of years back and its just gone on from there (the strays still here) im like pecked hen and would worry about losing them if i raced them the furthest theyve ever been is 50 miles and i lost one then ;D debbie

thanks for the reply redcheqhen with the contact tel no its much appreciated and thanks for the info owen re the swedish goshawk trap i would love to catch one in a trap but then what would i do with it?

can anyone give me contact details for gb 08 b12913 it was chased into my garden by a sparrowhawk today but i managed to get to it just as the hawk had it pinned to the ground > i dont know whether this stray knew there was a pigeon loft in my garden or wether it just flew there in blind panic? either way it was his lucky day and the hawk went hungry this year has been an absolute nightmare for me with hawks so i can imagine the havoc they are going to cause when racing starts > any help would be appreciated debbie

i had a problem with rodents about 2 months ago and tried eradibait i havnt seen one since :) apparently it works by dehydrating the rodents resulting in death it certainly seems to have worked for me also its not toxic to other animals/pets debbie

brilliant pics and to think we get a couple of inches of snow in the uk and everything comes to a standstill debbie

hi denny when u say that u downloaded sounds from the internet what sounds did u mean exactly? :-/ debbie

i havnt had my pigeons for long and was hoping to start racing them in the near future but my pigeons have already had to put up with regular attacks from sparrowhawks to the extent that some of them wont even come out of the loft for excercise :( if the peregrines move into my area which seems likely ( as they have been seen in essex annd hertfordshire and i know that they are in brighton 20 miles south of me) then i will just pack it all in and keep a few of my favourites as prisoners which i really dont want to do as i love to watch my birds out flying the bop situation has now got totally out of control and all the rspb want to do is protect their sparrowhawks and peregrines > > why dont they build nesting sites for the eagle owl in the uk-because they know that they would hunt their precious sparrowhawks and peregrines and reduce their numbers > enough said i can already feel my blood starting to boil debbie

hi theo if u have any problems contacting the pigeons owner please contact me by email (i have emailed you my details) and i will do what i can to help,i live about a 20 minute drive from you debbie

i feed my birds once a day between 2-4 pm when they are called in after excercise and i then let them eat as much as they want i feed them this way as it means that i have control over them cos they are hungry again by 2-4pm the next day when they go out so they can be called into the loft within minutes i can be called into work at short notice and when it happens i want to have my birds safely locked up in the loft not sat on my house roof at the mercy of the hawks i hope this helps you micko? debbie

i look forward to hearing how it went stevie debbie

thanks everyone for all the info i will try the glucose as i have some handy in the cupboard but any more tips will be appreciated i was going to try glycerine as i heard that it stops drinking water freezing but i definately wont be trying it after logging on to www.dooyoo.co.uk/archive-general/hanging-birdbath/433549/-48k check it out -weird post or what ;D debbie

can any of you old hands give me any tips on how i can prevent my drinkers freezing overnight apart from using heating pads ? my drinkers have been frozen solid for the last couple of mornings and any ideas would be appreciated as im sometimes away from the loft for long periods :-/ debbie

spot on chairman a cold snap is exactly what we need to get rid of any bugs/nasties lurking in our lofts it doesnt seem to be bothering my birds as they couldnt wait to get into a cold bath today debbie

hi dawn well done for taking this pigeon in and looking after her miss willis looks like a tippler i have a stray one that visits my loft and it eats the smaller grains due to it having a small beak i presume debbie

my thoughts go out to his family at this very sad time may he now rest in peace debbie