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IN OUR GARDENS 2026

Lemonella said:
I am now on a mission! Thanks for the advice.
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i get mine from asda...they do boxes that attract bees and boxes that attract butterflies...having tried others before but found asda are by far the best..think they are £2.50 box or 2 boxes for £4..just cut them right down at the end of season and they should come back next year

lyn
 
Starlings have become nuisance again, arriving in swarms & devouring the seeds & sultanas in seconds from the bird table. They`re even managing to cling onto the feeders ( so many they broke one of the feeders) I even rigged up a tin with a couple of marbles in & string attached which i can jerk up & down to scare them but after a while they just ignore it. Not my favourite birds ! In between chasing starlings I've bought myself a solar panel & large battery which i can plug my water feature & garden lights. Even managed to run the washing machine with it.
 
We have a similar starling problem Smudger. When our grapevines have fruit they arrive in big numbers, just before they fly off for murmuring (no doubt drunk on my red wine grapes!)

We currently have a pair of mating seagulls at the bottom of the garden. They're quite cute, but I'm not looking forward to when the little ones arrive - they scream like babies.
 
lmr3103 said:
He sounds like the neighbour from hell Nico! Poor you!
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That's what he calls us! But his other side thinks the same as us and more do. Anyway, he went away for 3 days, 3days ago, so I got on the roof, I struggled to get off, I have to put my knee on the porch roof and pull. last week now it kills me to walk. I managed to sweep it and I cleaned it, but now it rained there is still lots of green algae but you can see that I have tried.
 
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Smudger said:
Starlings have become nuisance again, arriving in swarms & devouring the seeds & sultanas in seconds from the bird table. They`re even managing to cling onto the feeders ( so many they broke one of the feeders) I even rigged up a tin with a couple of marbles in & string attached which i can jerk up & down to scare them but after a while they just ignore it. Not my favourite birds ! In between chasing starlings I've bought myself a solar panel & large battery which i can plug my water feature & garden lights. Even managed to run the washing machine with it.
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We don't get any now, or sparrows or wagtails we don't get lots of varieties now.
 
The borage came back, all the herbs have. A profusion of primroses bluebells and lily of the valley. Lilac is struggling I think it is dieing. The blooms are big but the stems weak and brittle. We have trimmed a lot of the shrubs like the sweet briar which dominates it, so the workers could get their vans up the drive last year. Then they chucked the edging stones all over it and walked all over it, there was no way round that really the walking. But ,.it has returned. We have lots of little trees sadly will have to be pulled but there is a tree sanctuary somewhere here. They received a shoot of the sycamore gap tree for their efforts.
 
pjmburns said:
We don't get starlings.
Robins, blue tits, blackbirds and pigeons
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Wish we didn't get pigeons, just had the plum tree trimmed it's gone mad. Pigeons poo everywhere . They are cooing all day. I don't mind that. No sign of any sparrow hawks or kestrels any more. They preyed on them but made a terrible mess. We have had to stop feeding them just a little each day on the bird bath as we have seen rats. One sat on the 6ft fence and stared in to the kitchen window.
 
Keith R said:
This box has been used for over 30 years....
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Our first RSPB box nothing nested in it but they roosted in it in the winter. We had great tits eventually and It fell apart after a long time, so I bought another one from Wilco, that fell apart, got another from a long standing garden, pet shop in Kenilworth bit expensive the roof split after the first year I have put another roof on it. I was given a sturdy one for my birthday which has a metal plate round the entrance. But there is no sign of life in any of them. I had to move one as the tree was falling down. I put them up higher to deter cats maybe they like them lower?
 
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