Moan, moan, moan - 2014

[zephirine]

Hey, dear Maggie-the-marmot, I thought there was some kind of saying that said :
(after a looong day in the garden)
"Yawning at 10 (pm) and laughing at 5,
Makes a girl healthy, happy, and thrive" ?
...or something of the kind..
 

PS: I'm afraid you were mislead by the SRGC clock: it is 4.57 here, not "2.57"!!!   

[Maggi Young]

That sounds like a good motto, Zeph - I must try to live by it!

And yes, the forum clock is having fun with us - now, if the sun would only shine - I would go for a snooze in the garden.

[Darren]

Just wanted to say how upset I am by the fire at the Glasgow School of Art. Not only devastating for the students losing all their work but also for everyone who, like myself, absolutely love the building. The library is/was my favourite room anywhere 

[Maggi Young]

It's a disaster on so many levels, Darren.
I think it's still hard to believewhat has happened but the firemen have done a truly amazing job to get everyone out safely and save the bulk of the building. The library is the most iconic room in Glasgow - maybe in Scotland - so that loss is being felt very deeply.  Staff and students in shock - this will take a long time to get over - and put back as much as possible. The students losing work will be given special treatment, I'm sure.
We hear that the fire may have started because of an installation for a degree show, where a projector was too close to some expandable foam - if that's true it's even worse. Does no-one teach the students about basic safety  - and, dare I say, common sense precautions?

[TC]

The tragedy is that a fire prevention system was to be installed during the summer break - stable door and horse comes to mind.
However, there seems to be a determination to rebuild the damage and destruction both externally and internally.  I heard that the Westminster Govt. has promised to fund this.  The archives have been saved so details of every item will be known and craftmen/women should be able to reconstruct the library to its former condition -the only minus is that it will be a copy.

[Maggi Young]

I have been determinedly upbeat this year  - now it feels like too much of an effort - Andy Murray played like a dead duck at Wimbledon today - our hopes are dashed. 

Bulgarians will be delighted and I thought that Gregor Dimitrov played a great game - SIGH - but wouldn't you think/hope that having Maria Sharapova as his girlfriend was enough for the boy?

[Roma]

A roe deer walked through my garden again last night and ate the flowers off Oenothera 'Sunset Boulevard'.  They were just starting to flower again on the side shoots after being beheaded a few weeks ago.

[Jupiter]

I feel I need to get this off my chest and I think this is the appropriate place to do it...

Neighbours... we have some good and some bad, but one lot in particular, opposite us are giving me the ... a lot of irritation.

They insist on feeding the local population of cockatoos, the sulphur crested variety. I'm not sure if those of you residing outside of Australia fully appreciate what this means. In fact I'm quite certain you do not! Cockatoos are not like any bird you have in England or Europe. They are very large, very bold and extremely verbose. I can't adequately describe the sound of a flock of 20 or 30 sulphur crested cockatoos at close range. Their call is better described as a scream. My six year old daughter slaps her hands over her ears because the sound is so loud that it causes her pain (sensitive young ears). However, the noise is not my main torment. Cockies, as we call them, like to chew things. Their beaks are incredibly powerful and they can easily drop whole branches, as thick as your thumb off trees with a single bite. They will tear bark off trees; prune off growing shoots; bite off flower buds and flowers; demolish and eat fruit and pull plants, particularly bulbs right out of the ground. I am NOT exagerating. Here is a list of destruction reaped by them in recent months:

Verbascum bombyciferum plant; chewed to pieces, motivation - unknown
Abutilon hybridum; flower buds snipped off and dropped, motivation - unknown
Gladiolus bulbs; uprooted and chewed to bits, motivation - unknown but possibly food
Quince tree; fruit chewed to pieces and eaten, branches bitten off and mangled, motivation - food and entertainment
Brugmansia sanguinea - flowers and flower buds bitten off and dropped - motivation, unknown (possibly trying to get high?)
Precious Tropaeolum azurerum - snipped off at ground level and allowed to drop uncerimoniously, motivation - pure evil.

We spoke to these people years ago about this and we were told that the elderly mother, infirmed and living with them "loved the birds" and that it was her "only joy in life". Well, her joy was MY PAIN, but she has since passed away, bless her soul (choke) and they seem to be STILL FEEDING THE BIRDS!!!

I'm going to approach them politely again and ask that they please stop feeding the birds...  wish me luck. I only hope I can keep my cool.

[Robert]

Richard,

Here in the USA folks keep Sulphur-crested Cockatoos as "pets". They are not very appropriate as pets, except for those that are extremely well trained and devoted to the bird. They make extremely strong pair bonds and will bond strongly with a human. Their call is as loud as a jet engine! This is not an exaggeration! They are also extremely intelligent. Even if the birds have been bred and raised by humans, they are still basically wild birds. Most of our other domestic animals have been with us for thousands of years (dogs, sheep, goats, etc.).

I can imagine the difficult situation you are in. My wife is involved in bird rescue -  I have been able to witness a Cockatoo's destructive power, intelligence, and natural desire to scream or be loud. I can imagine that a flock could destroy a whole garden easily. I hope that you find a solution to this situation soon. Hopefully there is enough habitat for them that they will leave your garden alone, once the feeding stops.

Around here, one can lead a wild turkey to a pit trap by leaving a trail of grain to the covered pit. Once the feeding ends, maybe you could lead the Coockatoos away by leaving a small amount of their favorite food for them. Everyday move it farther away, in a direction that will be best for both. When they are some distance away, in a good habitat, they may get distracted by other things and leave your garden in peace.

Another suggestion - maybe you can ask the native people. I'm sure that they know what to do - if they are willing.

[Jupiter]

Sorry Robert, I realised my signature was misleading and confusing so I changed it. My name is Jamus, not Richard. Richard was the speaker of the quote I posted.

Yes I have heard that Americans are fond of keeping Australian birds as pets (Cate Blanchett, Nicolle Kidman, Kylie Minogue - no wait, she's in the uk). Seriously though, it's a bad idea especially around kids. A cockatoo will bite your finger clean off before you can blink. I wouldn't let my kids NEAR one couped up in a cage. THe birds are quite mad to begin with but keep one in a small cage and it becomes damned well dangerous.

I need to approach these people but I have to do it in a way that doesn't result in a dispute.

[Otto Fauser]

Same problem here in our area Jamus. We have asked , begged a neighbour 2 doors away not to feed those destructive rascals but he continues to do so . He even admits that they have destroyed his Oregon wooden window frames .At the moment a large flock descends every morning on my garden  destroying the most precious bulbs in flower . like a pan of 12 Iris ret. "Katherine Hodgkin" in flower which I wanted to take to the Ferny Creek Hort. Soc. Rock Garden meeting this Sat.  I planted masses (cheap to buy in bulk) of Anemone coronaria  and Ranunculus asiaticus in the "Dry Garden" of this Horticultural Soc . and now there are hardly any flowers or foliage left .

    In a nearby national Park there are signs "It is forbidden to feed the birds " bud bus loads still do the opposite ,mostly tourists from Asia -for the record I am NOT a racist .

[Jupiter]

Otto doesn't it drive you mad?! They breed up to populations which wouldn't exist without the supplimental food from humans, and seem to hang around, hoping for a feed. Hanging around for a cockie means chewing everything in site because why? Because that's what cockies do! I am really mad about it and I wish people would realise the impact they have on those around them and be a bit courteous/considerate.

What about explosive bird scarers?

[arillady]

You might like to mention that it is generally not recommended that you feed wild birds here in Australia (especially where snow is not an issue) as it makes them reliant on humans which is not good. I used to have a pet galah which ate all the rumber around the car windows and doors. He ate an electric cord which was his downfall.
Another bird that I don't particularly want in my garden is currawongs which I have heard kill little birds. There is a flock of currawongs which have gradually made their way from the top driveway to the gums further down and now they are in the top part of the garden.
Lovely voices but not their habits.

[Tim Ingram]

Konrad Lorenz (in King Solomon's Ring) has the line ' Sentimental old ladies, the fanatical sponsers of societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals have no compunction in keeping a grey parrot or cockatoo in a relatively small cage or even chained to a perch'. I was going to ask what cockatoos taste like! When we had huge trouble with rabbits in the garden I spent a year studying the damage they did day by day. It didn't help with the damage too much (though we caught a few), but coming to understand the behaviour of an animal (possibly including themselves) might enable the neighbours to appreciate  the cockatoos at further remove.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Get a shotgun!