Monday, May 26

Winged Vandals

Do you remember last year when my living roof was trashed? We thought the culprit could have been a wood pigeon as we set up a wildlife trap camera and the birds most likely were a wood pigeon or blackbird. The camera caught both stomping across the plants. This year we have conclusive proof as Martyn spotted the wood pigeon poking about and turfing bits of plant aside.

When I planted up the lid all the plants had their own space


Now thanks to our winged vandals the plants are an intermingled mishmash. As pieces have been scattered they have either taken root or I have just poked them back into the gravel.


Some plants have been left hanging on by a thread and others left with patchy holes in the middle.


It would seem that the fleshy leaves of sedum and sempervivum are just too much of a temptation for the birds to resist.

We even found one piece of sedum in the birdbath.


This hadn't been flicked in as the birdbath is some distance from where the sedum is planted. It must have been taken there and popped in the water with an aim in mind.


I've seen birds such as magpies bring stale bread from someone else's garden and pop it in the water to soften it so was this what some feathered thief had in mind. If so has the wood pigeon learned this trick or do we have more than one type of winged vandal.

Whatever the case the perpetrator was either not impressed with the result and left the sedum or it was disturbed and fled the scene of the crime. 

I just hope that as last year this period of vandalism will pass and the living lid will go on to flourish. 

On a positive note, I quite like the mishmash of plants!

26 comments:

  1. I can see why they were tempted. It does look tasty!

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    1. Let's hope now they have found that they aren't tasty, tpals that they leave the alone for a while.

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  2. The vandals! after all your good work, I am taking your advice and netting my strawberries as I have now seen what wood pigeons can do, we often see magpies soaking bread in our birdbath too

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    1. We've been erecting a cage round our redcurrants today, David.

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  3. I like the mishmash of plants too, I think it looks more natural. On the subject of birds, any news of Hoppy?

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    1. Once things got growing I did intend to mix things up a bit, jo and the birds have saved me a job. Some of the sedums self seed which means they also add to the mishmash

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  4. It's a shame about the damage but I'd agree with Jo. The mishmash does look more natural.

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    1. The mishmash is fine by me, Jessica - it's just that some of the plants have been just mashed.

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  5. I much prefer the mishmash too, it looks lovely....I often find bits of alpines and seedums in the birdbath too and mine are permanently ripped up too.xxx

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    1. I suppose it's something you have to put up with when you encourage birds into the garden, Snowbird.

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  6. The plants are looking lovely anyway. I told the boys off for making a mess of earth all over the path the other day. Then I happened to look out of the window very early one morning and I discovered that it was blackbirds and sparrows that were pulling the earth onto the path. Every so often I find a whole bread roll in the garden as well - we have lots of seagulls around, I think they drop them.

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    1. Blackbirds do like to have a good dig, CJ. But in the plus side they are looking for bugs.

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  7. I agree with everyone above, the mishmash of plants looks quite nice! But I can understand your frustration, the birds make a lot of mess in my garden too, especially the permanently resident wood pigeons on my roof.
    I have just started collecting plants for a miniature rock garden I am planning to make, and I have got a lot of different sempervivums. I might have to find a more secluded space for them than on the top shelf of my nursery shelves! I put them there as that’s the sunniest space in my garden, and after 2 days they are still there – but they might not have been discovered yet?!

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    1. One good things Helene is that the pieces soon reroot - you just have to find the pieces.

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  8. As much as I love watching them in the garden birds can cause a lot of damage.

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    1. Just the prove we pay, Jo they do lots of good too.

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  9. This is first to me - birds 'attacking' the succulents? I never saw them doing it to my sedums and sempervivums. I gusse they just want your planting to look more natural.

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    1. Do you get wood pigeons in your garden, Vesna?

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  10. We can do without winged vandals !! I sympathise as my innocent looking white fantails cause havoc with my stone sink full of sempervirens. So frustrating! They tend to do it through the winter/ early Spring when there is not much else around. I have to replant the stone sink most years !!

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    1. It does tend to happen seasonally, Jane

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  11. bird attacking succulent? Hope they can be protected this time...

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    1. I'm hoping that they will now leave the plants alone for a while, Malar

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  12. Me too, I think the resulting blending of the plants is rather delightful. But it must be hugely irritating. It is the blackbirds here, they fling my seedlings about with gay abandon in their hunt of tasty morsels in the soil.

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    1. The blending doesn't irritate, Janet, just the trashing of the plants

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  13. Oh, Sue! What vandals! Your plants were so beautiful growing in gravel. There was the problem in my garden last year. I had made a birdbath, there was a small statue in the center. Every time when Magpies sat on this statue they threw the birdbath on the ground. Small birds had no water in hot days.
    Would you place the net above your plants?

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    1. I could net then Nadezfa but it wouldn't look very attracttive

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