This morning I put two wedges of pumpkin and some of the seeds, in the run for the girls. The bantys were the first to investigate but the other girls quickly followed. The seeds proved the most attractive and they all went for them first even though the seeds were quite large. Once the seeds had all gone they ate the stringy bits of flesh then settled to pecking at the hard flesh. Honey would break a bit off and run off with it to eat in peace as is her usual way.
I took lots of photos but because they were pecking so quickly a lot of them were blurred. Dotty’s head seems to be blurred in most of the photos so I had to make do with these.
First taste of pumpkin
They like the pumpkin
The seeds have already gone
Amber’s arched shape
Since Amber has been moulting her shape has changed and she appears to have a humped back. Honey has this shape too but not as obvious as Amber. It seems to be where the feathers have come out from her back and left the appearance of a hump from the remaining thicker layer of feathers.
When I went back an hour later one of the wedges was almost cleared of flesh. At that moment there was a strange whistling bird call overhead. It wasn’t kites calling as they call all the time and are familiar to us. This was something I hadn’t heard before and the girls reacted to it. The bantys ran straight for the cover of the bush while the big girls, especially Dotty and Bluebell, stopped in their tracks. They stretched up tall and listened with a really intent look on their faces.
Dotty on alert
You can see the remains of the pumpkin by Dotty and her whole posture is on alert. Bluebell is in front of Dotty and has the exact same pose.
Dotty and Bluebell listening to the strange bird call
You can see the bantys under the bush in the background. As soon as the bird had moved away the girls relaxed back to normal.
After this we had a storm with thunder, lightening and torrential downpours. I went back in to the girls and they didn’t seem at all bothered by the weather.
Most of the pumpkin has gone
The girls keep going back to the pumpkin, so I am pleased that it keeps them busy, especially on such a horrible day.
A very wet day
Just when the run had dried out, it has now got quite wet again. Nothing is going to keep such heavy rain out though. The girls have all got muddy feet but they don’t seem to mind and they all seem to have enjoyed the pumpkin.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Mine are like that with pumpkin . I have also heard like you that the seeds aid the prevention of parasites.
Mine took no notice of the thunderstorms which was good ,as for the bird at the allotments which are not that far from you with have kestrels for the first time this year .Slightly smaller than Red Kites but with a pointed tail reather than a square or inverted one.
The red kites have an eerie, haunting, call. This was more of a whistle. I’m not sure what a kestrel sounds like. I looked it up in my bird book and it says : loud kee kee kee kee. Have you heard the kestrel calling? It’s funny how the girls are used to the kites and it seemed that like me, they hadn’t heard this sound before. It certainly got their attention but I wasn’t able to see the bird. I love the look they have when they are stretched up and listening and I found it funny that the bantys instinct was different and was to get under the bush and not bother with listening.
I have just been listening to some bird sounds on the internet and have come to the conclusion that it was a red kite after all. The sound I have just heard was the whistle that I heard today. It was different from the usual haunting calls we hear. It also said they whistle when descending. It was just after the storm so I wonder if that was why the call was different. It was as loud as the usual kite calling we hear so I knew it was from a large bird. I will take more notice of the kites different calls in future.
I often think that the call of the kite is not what you expect from such a big bird .