The Birds.

Spent the day (Friday) babysitting Toby and Zane - while there we witnessed the phenomenon of a Chaffinch constantly flying at its reflection in the window.

Apparently,the Chaffinch on seeing his reflection in the glass thinks it is another bird so is trying to chase it away from his territory. We see a lot of this behaviour at this time of year as birds are looking for nesting sites with good food around i.e. your feeder.

There are decal shapes available in most bird catalogues including the RSPB and their shops of course which also prevent birds flying into windows.

I would think, though, it would take a lot of decals to scare the bird off and could turn out to be quiet costly depending on the number of windows in your house. I have seen packs of 3 silhouettes available at £4.95 each.

According to the RSPB:

Double glazed windows tend to pose a greater risk than single glazed, since they produce clearer reflections.

This hazard can be reduced by making the window pane more obvious to the bird. Fixing to the outside of the glass an object which will indicate that an obstacle is present should help. Any image will work try cutting out random shapes such as half moons, stars etc from coloured self-adhesive plastic.

The most effective shape is likely to be that of a hawk. Self-adhesive bird silhouettes (both songbirds and birds of prey) can be purchased from any RSPB shop, many good petshops and garden centres, or by mail order from many large birdfood companies.

More expensive but highly effective are vertical blinds which can be angled so that you can observe your garden whilst reducing dramatically the appearance of the windows as a flight path.

Please understand that these measures will greatly reduce but never totally solve the problem.

Who's that girl?

1. My traveling companion is nine years old – WHO is he and WHERE are we going?

2. WHO stands up when she plays the piano?

3. WHO plays piano every Friday at the Holywood?

4. WHO is not my lover?

5. Me and WHO have been hanging around in what was once Sailortown?

6. WHO tries but misunderstands?

7. WHO lived near a meadow by a pond?

8. WHO’s got me on my knees?

9. I met WHO in a club down in old Soho?

10. WHO will never know anything about my home?

11. Long distance information help me get in touch with WHO/WHOM?

12. What are the 2 links between 1. and 11.


Some of these are SOoooo easy!

Money does grow on trees ...

... well not quite. They are posters advertising a workshop/seminar (I believe) giving students advice on how to squander - sorry - manage their money. (I am open to correction on this)

Global Warming

The adverts that Sammy Wilson doesn't want you to see can be viewed here:

Rock Swings

Rock Swings is an album by Paul Anka. Recorded in November 2004 - it contains swing jazz covers of popular rock and pop songs from the 1980s and 1990s. It may not be to everybody's taste but I really like it and it shows how well some pop songs can be converted to a jazz format. Here are a couple of tracks from the album - see what you think.

Track listing

1. "It's My Life" (original version by Bon Jovi)
2. "True" (original version by Spandau Ballet)
3. "Eye of the Tiger" (original version by Survivor)
4. "Everybody Hurts" (original version by R.E.M.)
5. "Wonderwall" (original version by Oasis)
6. "Black Hole Sun" (original version by Soundgarden)
7. "It's a Sin" (original version by Pet Shop Boys)
8. "Jump" (original version by Van Halen)
9. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (original version by Nirvana)
10. "Hello" (original version by Lionel Richie)
11. "Eyes Without a Face" (original version by Billy Idol)
12. "The Lovecats" (original version by The Cure)
13. "The Way You Make Me Feel" (original version by Michael Jackson)
14. "Tears in Heaven" (original version by Eric Clapton)

In My Opinion - Dancing on Ice

I don’t often watch reality TV but occasionally my wife coerces me into watching a program – last night was one such night and the program in question was ‘Dancing on Ice’. For those of you who are not familiar with it, the format of said show is that a number of ‘celebrities’ are taught to skate by the cream of British ice-skaters: Torville & Dean. Hah!

First, let me just say that I don’t know who most of the ‘celebs’ are – so much for celebrity – and in my opinion are just talentless has-beens (or never-weres). This (in my opinion) is certainly true of Todd Carty (I do know him) who is being hailed as the ‘John Sargent of Dancing on Ice’. Carty received the lowest score from the judges (an embarrassing 7.5) and because of that should have been voted off ... but the ‘Great British Public’, in their wisdom, decided to vote in favour of keeping him in the show. Either they are taking a perverse delight in putting him (and us) through the agony of another excruciatingly lacklustre performance or they are very easily amused and are voting him on for entertainment value. Like I say, they must be very easily amused.

In my opinion Carty should follow John Sargent’s lead and withdraw, gracefully, from the show. In fact, NO, I think ITV should do the decent thing and withdraw the whole show.