Son of Bob?

[Diane E]

Well, your advice worked. Sultanans (soaked) under the hedge and I suddenly get 2 baby blackbirds. Terrific!

If Bob is my resident male blackbird, are they likely to be his offspring? Neither him or his mate seem to be chaperoning them. They seem to be living in the overgrown stuff on the other side of my privet hedge. They come through for the food and wander up and the flower bed. Each day they seem to hop a bit further.

Here's pictures of one of them. In the one with his wing raised, he is sunbathing.

And today I was sitting in a chair soaking up the sun and Bob appeared from nowhere, came to within about 6 feet of me, flopped down and sunbathed with me. Surreal. I was so wrong about the number of tail feathers they have - I thought they only had about 4. Its load more!

Erm - tried to attach my photos but it wouldn't let me. Has something changed? Do I have to add them to the gallery and then wait until they are approved by a moderator before I can attach them? This rather ruins the spontaneity of wanting to share my picture of a blackbird sunbathing. Has someone been attaching inappropriate things?

[wildone]

Hi Diane

Yes there have been some alterations. However you can still show your piccies in the forum but you need to upload them into either the Unknown or the Forum gallerys. No moderation takes place at this time but should you put them in the Unknown you will find that an editor will move them to their correct category. They will still be able to be seen in the forum.

Hope this helps. BTW Read the 'blurb' in front of each of these gallerys, it will tell you how to do things.

wildone

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by Diane E

Well, your advice worked. Sultanans (soaked) under the hedge and I suddenly get 2 baby blackbirds. Terrific!

If Bob is my resident male blackbird, are they likely to be his offspring? Neither him or his mate seem to be chaperoning them. They seem to be living in the overgrown stuff on the other side of my privet hedge. They come through for the food and wander up and the flower bed. Each day they seem to hop a bit further.

Here's pictures of one of them. In the one with his wing raised, he is sunbathing.

And today I was sitting in a chair soaking up the sun and Bob appeared from nowhere, came to within about 6 feet of me, flopped down and sunbathed with me. Surreal. I was so wrong about the number of tail feathers they have - I thought they only had about 4. Its load more!

Erm - tried to attach my photos but it wouldn't let me. Has something changed? Do I have to add them to the gallery and then wait until they are approved by a moderator before I can attach them? This rather ruins the spontaneity of wanting to share my picture of a blackbird sunbathing. Has someone been attaching inappropriate things?

Hi Diane the method of putting pictres in forum posts has changed, you need to add the image to the forum gallery, if you take a look at this it will tell you how to do it easier than I can explain it.
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...rum-posts.html
Roger

[Diane E]

I did try to read and understand. Honest! In one place it said no moderation would be needed and in another place it said I would have to wait up to 48 hours for it to be checked! I was getting confused! Have uploaded 3 as a trial (using different ways in) and can't see anything yet.

Like Jenny, I feel a bit silly putting my pictures in a gallery. I am no photographer. My blackbird was just sprawled out on my lawn and I wanted to put it in my post...... kind of a post-and-go thing......

[Mark43]

Sultanas....tell me about them.

Since our 3 baby female blackbirds fledged we have got through just over a kilo of sultanas.
The dad comes to our patio table while we sit there and just shovels them down his throat then takes them to the waiting younguns.

They are now 2 weeks old and the dad is just starting to let them fend alone so they have started coming onto the table also.It's lovely to see but i suppose i should put them on the grass really as i don't want them getting to tame.

Hardly see the female and it's as if she has had nothing to do with looking after them once they had fled the nest.

If there are no sultanas on the table the dad sits there and sings until we replenish the stock............strange.

They are lovely birds and i am glad you are enjoying there company.

[Diane E]

Hi Mark. Yes, I think blackbirds are terrific. I reckon they could beat Linford Christie (or whoever is fastest now) at the '3m dash across the lawn'.

I wish I could show you the picture I have taken of them (am waiting for it to appear in the gallery) - I'd love to know how old you think they are.

[paulthomas]

Originally Posted by Mark43

Hardly see the female and it's as if she has had nothing to do with looking after them once they had fled the nest.

It's possible she could be busy building the nest for the next brood or may even be incubating them leaving the father to finish rearing the previous brood. According to my RSPB book, Blackbirds can have up to 5 broods in a year

[wildone]

Originally Posted by Diane E

I did try to read and understand. Honest! In one place it said no moderation would be needed and in another place it said I would have to wait up to 48 hours for it to be checked! I was getting confused! Have uploaded 3 as a trial (using different ways in) and can't see anything yet.

Like Jenny, I feel a bit silly putting my pictures in a gallery. I am no photographer. My blackbird was just sprawled out on my lawn and I wanted to put it in my post...... kind of a post-and-go thing......

It's OKay Diane I have found them for you.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga...0/7/6/bb07.jpg

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga...0/7/6/bb04.jpg

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga.../7/6/bob06.jpg

wildone

[Diane E]

Oh thank you, wildone! There's bob sunbathing, and there's his little one. How old do you think the little one is?

[Tornado]

Originally Posted by Mark43

Sultanas....tell me about them.

Since our 3 baby female blackbirds fledged we have got through just over a kilo of sultanas.
The dad comes to our patio table while we sit there and just shovels them down his throat then takes them to the waiting younguns.

They are now 2 weeks old and the dad is just starting to let them fend alone so they have started coming onto the table also.It's lovely to see but i suppose i should put them on the grass really as i don't want them getting to tame.

Hardly see the female and it's as if she has had nothing to do with looking after them once they had fled the nest.

If there are no sultanas on the table the dad sits there and sings until we replenish the stock............strange.

They are lovely birds and i am glad you are enjoying there company.

Over a Kilo of sultanas Mark? We get through over TWO KILOS a DAY! And they soon let us know if they run out!!
Tornado

[friendly blackbird]

Originally Posted by Diane E

Well, your advice worked. Sultanans (soaked) under the hedge and I suddenly get 2 baby blackbirds. Terrific!

If Bob is my resident male blackbird, are they likely to be his offspring? Neither him or his mate seem to be chaperoning them. They seem to be living in the overgrown stuff on the other side of my privet hedge. They come through for the food and wander up and the flower bed. Each day they seem to hop a bit further.

Here's pictures of one of them. In the one with his wing raised, he is sunbathing.

And today I was sitting in a chair soaking up the sun and Bob appeared from nowhere, came to within about 6 feet of me, flopped down and sunbathed with me. Surreal. I was so wrong about the number of tail feathers they have - I thought they only had about 4. Its load more!

Erm - tried to attach my photos but it wouldn't let me. Has something changed? Do I have to add them to the gallery and then wait until they are approved by a moderator before I can attach them? This rather ruins the spontaneity of wanting to share my picture of a blackbird sunbathing. Has someone been attaching inappropriate things?

Hello,
I found a young orphaned blackbird in my garden in early May and I started to feed him on sultanas and dug up worms for him, also any bits of fat I had. He had plenty of cover but we had some atrocious weather and I really worried about him. I new the shrubs he sheltered under and I fed him continuously thoughout each day sometimes until 9 at night. About 2 and a half weeks later I went out and thought he was going to die he looked so pitiful. The RSPCA told me to take him to the vet and if he was injured they would put him to sleep - no way. On 13th. June he flew for the first time and came back the next day, by now he was in the habit of standing outside the back door waiting for his food or he would come up to me in the garden when he was hungry. On the 14th. June he flew again and came back the next day without a tail, it really upset me. I have always fed the birds but because of him I started putting trays of water around the garden apart from the bird bath, they all love to bathe in them. My bird (Chick) gets a bath everyday and preens himself for about half an hour right next to me. When I go outside and he's not their, I call him and he comes. I have to keep the door closed because I have found him on the kitchen worktops and in the kitchen eating the dog's food. I didn't really want him to be dependent on me and now he isn't. His tail has grown back, he's beautiful and he's quite confident. He now flies around, spends a lot of his time in the garden and not one day has passed without him coming back. I have some lovely photo's of him. My dog is a standard yorkshire terrier and the bird walks right next to him. From the beginning we just said to the dog 'don't touch the bird' and he never has, he just walks around him. I have just been outside with him and given him a piece of pear, he sits with me to eat it. I have spent a fortune on sultanas and pears, but it's worth it to see my beautiful blackbird. Had to share my story.

Marie.

[wildone]

Hi Marie, what a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing it with us. So glad you managed to keep that young bird going through the dreadful spring/early summer weather.

BTW a very warm welcome to WAB. Hope to hear more from you and maybe some photos.

wildone

[Diane E]

I think that's great, Marie. Fantastic effort in saving that bird. And the obedience of your dog is equally impressive!

My resident male blackbird lost most of his tail too. That's how I found WAB - wanted to ask if it would grow back. Like you, I was very worried what would happen to him. Anyway, it did grow back and he is still visiting every day.

Do know whether your blackbird is male or female yet? I'm not sure when it becomes apparent - is it after the upcoming moult?

So pleased your blackbird made it