Tag Archive | pigeon

Relaxing Sunday breakfast

Jun26

After hauling rockery stones into and out of my car boot yesterday (2 loads) as well as a ton of bricks (1 large load) and collecting a large bird feeding station I’m having a lazy day today. That doesn’t mean inactive, just less physical than the last few days.

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Rocks for my rockery!

 

There doesn’t look to be many rocks there but my goodness they were heavy and awkward to pick up. I’m not complaining as they were donated to my wildlife garden cause as were the bricks so a little effort on my part is not a chore.

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A few of the bricks collected

This morning I took my cup of tea into the wildlife patch and sat watching the birds have their breakfast of dried mealworms, sunflower hearts and fat balls. In the 30 minutes or so I was there a variety of birds arrived; Starlings, sparrows, a juvenile blue-tit, a juvenile blackbird and a pigeon. The baby blackbird looks a little like a thrush with speckled feathers but with mum and dad close by and not a thrush in sight I am confident that my choice is correct.

I love the juveniles who have just fledged. They are mostly bigger than their parents due to their fluffy feathers which they puff up. It looks funny seeing the family together perched on the wall or fence but it wont be long before they lose that cuteness and look more like the adults.

I finished my cup of tea in the sunshine, and went to plant some seeds for next year’s plants. I am focussing on cottage garden varieties such as lupins, sweetpeas, Echinacea and hollyhocks. All loved by the birds, bees and butterflies. I cant wait until this time next year when I hope to be doing more sitting than digging!

Sundays are meant to be lazy anyway I keep telling myself.

I’m not going to argue with that!

sunday

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Iran-pigeon poo and pigeon towers

Nov1

Here in the UK, we often hear complaints from local councils, especially in the larger cities of London, Birmingham and Nottingham for instance, about the damage and inconvenience that wild pigeons create. Many people feed these urban “pests” and the very acidic and vast amounts of resulting pigeon poo corrodes stonework of buildings, clutters drains and guttering and can make smooth pavements into veritable ice-rinks. There is nothing more embarrassing than rushing to work and slipping over on pigeon poo. Although, I have tittered a few times watching arms and legs flaying when someone tries to prevent the inevitable fall. The food left uneaten also encourages mice and rats, and dead pigeons can contaminate water supplies. So, what do the Iranians, and particularly those living around Esfahan, do about their pigeons? They build Pigeon Towers. There are many, many such towers in and around the Esfahan area and all are individually designed and architectually unique. Unlike the UK, pigeons are revered in Iran and are a sign of good luck so these pigeon-palaces are considered well deserved. I was lucky enough to see inside one of these towers which just happened to be undergoing some internal maintenance when we arrived. Even Feri had not seen inside one of these so it was an experience for both of us.

The main purpose of these towers is to encourage pigeons to nest in the honeycombed interior, where each bird has their own “pad”, about the same size as a small shoe box. Not wanting to soil their living area, the pigeons then poo on the protruding lip of their nest, and the tower-keeper can then easily brush all the poo to the floor, sweep it up and use it as fertiliser for locally grown crops.

The Esfahan area is well-known for its melon and cucumber yields, and I can say from experience that they are deliciously sweet, crisp and full of flavour.

Power to Pigeon-Poo!