OK, who did that? They look suspiciously like pigeon feathers to me. Eee, I don't know, to look at these kids you wouldn't think butter would melt in their mouths. Was it you Mayze, or was it you Heidi, or was it Micky, or the other cat that wanders in and out of the garden? Come on, tell the truth. And what happened to the rest of it? Did it get lucky and escape, or have you scoffed it? I can't find any blood and guts, or remnants of a dead bird, so I am hoping it flapped it's wings with such ferocity that whoever decided it was a good idea to jump on it was so alarmed and dropped it in fright. I hope it escaped.
Toodle pip
Could be a sparrowhawk. They eat every morsel or fly off with their prey if disturbed. We get one attack every couple of days - horrible to hear but it's said that lots of baby sparrowhawks die through starvation. Nature's cruel at times!
ReplyDeletePerhaps the culprit was a hawk. Poor pigeon.
ReplyDeleteI used to have this when the cats were younger..although the other day,about 10 mins before i was due to be picked up for our Brighton break,I spotted one of my cats stalking n throwing a mouse around the garden.There was no way that I could go away and leave him to it!.So i was on my hands and knees,in the garden,got the poor mouse and put it under the decking,where i know they come from.And shouted ...Run!!!.This was at 6 in the morning!.Knees were a bit grubby,but i got my coach and felt happy that id saved him!xx
ReplyDeleteIf I see any cats bird watching in my garden, I bang on the window to scare the bird off.
DeleteOur cats used to find and kill a nice songbird instead of a sparrow or something else that was common. At times like that I had to sternly tell myself that it was normal for a cat to kill a bird.
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ReplyDeleteWendy, I have reposted your comment below, with your name in the box above it. It's easy to do, just click on 'comment as', and choose 'name' option and put your name in the box. It helps me to sort out the crappy anonymous comments, which get deleted straight away, and I get loads of them.
DeleteOh dear, is this a casualty of your new bird feeder ? Years ago, a neighbour's cat jumped up and tried to catch a small bird on our feeder, which appears to be much taller than yours. I was amazed he could jump that high. Pigeons will use bird tables and feeders, but are well known for being ground feeders, collecting what other birds knock onto the floor. In the early morning I see half a dozen of them sunbathing on my big lawn ! Let's hope this one got away uninjured.
ReplyDeleteMorning Ilona
ReplyDeleteYikes... I hope the pigeon wasn't harmed. I know it's nature, but even so, it's still not nice.
It was a scorcher yesterday (was in Kirton for the day), but not complaining, it was a delight to be able to go out without thinking 'do I need a fleece, raincoat or sunglasses?'
Let's hope today's the same.
Have a good day - whatever you're up to!
Carol
Usually when only feathers are found on a lawn it means that a Sparrowhawk has swooped down at great speed on some unsuspecting bird and after killing it will sit in peace and pluck out all the feathers before carrying it off to feed its young.It doesn’t want to leave a lot of feathers within the nest as that would attract either predators or pests,so it leaves the feathers behind for someone else to clean up.Wendyx
ReplyDeleteMy garden is 'cruised' by a sparrow hawk. It has occasionally chased a sparrow into the hedge and pulled the poor thing out... yuck.... It is very hot here too but I am averaging about 7 miles each day walking... I had some catching up to do.
ReplyDeleteWe have a variety of birds in the garden: blue tits, a pair of woodpeckers visit, robins and sparrows, to name a few. We don't have cats but occasionally hear at night a rabbit being murdered in the paddock; this is due to the resident weasel, it hunts at dusk and we find a dead rabbit minus its entrails in the morning. I'm afraid that is nature. Thankfully I'm not the fainting sort.
ReplyDeleteThat's so strange Ilona. I had exactly the same thing on Sunday morning in the garden. Lots of feathers everywhere but no sign of an injured bird. We get lots of wood pigeons and there are many cats in our street so at first I thought a pigeon had been attacked. But nothing except feathers everywhere? I'm baffled!!
ReplyDeleteI found a headless pigeon in my front garden on my return from my holiday, just near my gate.I was very upset-it was so unexpected x
ReplyDeleteMy cat killed a bird the other day, and it ate the poor wee thing. I saw it virtually whole (but dead) between the cat's paws, and then she proceeded to eat every scrap, there were only a couple of feathers left on the grass after she'd finished her feast. I couldn't believe it, my cat is well fed, and far from hungry. It was a real eye opener to me. So sad.
ReplyDeleteHave you checked everyone's lips for feathers?
ReplyDeleteWe get a lot of wood pigeons in our garden, and they fight a lot between themselves! We often see feathers drifting down (if I was one of those people who thought a feather was a message from a departed loved one or an angel I would be getting very excited) but you do normally hear a lot of frenzied flapping going on. We've had the odd visit from a sparrowhawk, and found a circle of feathers rather than just random ones, and we had a cat when I was a child and I remember MUCH messier remnants! So maybe you just have very belligerent wood pigeons!
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