We all Love A Moan, What Annoyed You Today...

[Nolic]

Maz, why should Doc continue to subsidise others enjoyment. If members don't want adverts then they know what to do. Nolic

[Pluggy]

For those who have avoided the donate button, heres what it says on the page : "Donors are granted Special Benefits like freedom from advertisements, Access to the Donors area and other special offers." I'm with Nolic, Since donations start at a quid, it isn't exactly a kings ransom Doc is asking for. If you don't have Paypal, Stanley has volunteered to take cheques and forward them to Doc.

[PanBiker]

If you don't have Paypal, Stanley has volunteered to take cheques and forward them to Doc.

Just a note here Plugs. You don't need to have an account with Paypal to make a donation using their service.

[Tripps]

I think everyone who posts should make a small donation towards the site costs. I of course have recently done so, and can recommend it, as it gives you a warm glow, and a strange feeling of smug superiority. They say it also avoids the ads, although I didn't find them as annoying as others seem to have done.

[Doc]

Regarding the Advertisements please refer to my post Advertising, Donations and Finance

[Pluggy]

Just a note here Plugs. You don't need to have an account with Paypal to make a donation using their service.

Maybe I should have said if you have a downer on Paypal Lots of people have, especially if they've been a seller rather than a buyer, Paypal treat buyers way above sellers.

as it gives you a warm glow, and a strange feeling of smug superiority

[Tizer]

It's the Paypal/Ebay combo that's toxic. I use Ebay but never with Paypal. Paying a donation to Doc's OG account via Paypal using your credit or debit card is OK.

[Sunray10]

Yes, I too have got advertisements popping up on my pc screen - women in lingerie which I find quite distracting to say the least. Oh, and lottery adverts too. It didn't used to be like this.

[Stanley]

What a kerfuffle! Maz, you know I love you to bits but stop moaning, contribute and get on with brightening my mornings! Like many others I hate Pay pal but tried it this morning and contributed my second tenner to the new site. (And I am really poor!) David, I know what you mean about feeling smug! But some smug is laudable, if it comes from doing the right thing and attaining the moral high ground it's OK I reckon. As Comrade Nolic says, we have ridden on Doc;s wallet for long enough!

[Nolic]

My moan is all the "supportive" well to do members who are making such a fuss about paying over a few pounds because they claim the site has changed. It has changed, get over it and either cough up some cash or put up with the adverts. Nolic

[Stanley]

I went for a trawl through the site as a guest and to be frank, I can't see what all the fuss is about.

[Sunray10]

Okay, I'll put up with the women in lingerie. Could we see some more of those please, Doc. Or perhaps just on my pc, please.

[Gearce]

My moan is all the "supportive" well to do members who are making such a fuss about paying over a few pounds because they claim the site has changed. It has changed, get over it and either cough up some cash or put up with the adverts. Nolic

I haven't been making a fuss about paying over a few pounds but for the last hour I have been trying to make a donation and each time I get a message 'Sorry - your last action could not be completed' ...... I'll try again later and see what happens

EDIT: 17:40 local time ...... A few more tries without success

[Gearce]

My moan is all the "supportive" well to do members who are making such a fuss about paying over a few pounds because they claim the site has changed. It has changed, get over it and either cough up some cash or put up with the adverts. Nolic

I haven't been making a fuss about paying over a few pounds but for the last hour I have been trying to make a donation and each time I get a message 'Sorry - your last action could not be completed' ...... I'll try again later and see what happens

EDIT: 17:40 local time ...... A few more tries without success

Today, success first time ...... Don't know what the problem was before

[Stanley]

Good lad, that'll stop the adverts!

[Tizer]

Thanks for supporting OG Gearce, it wasn't that painful was it! The problem getting through was probably just the Internet, there are so many connections to be made that any one of them could be down just when you are trying to pay. It can happen with any Internet transaction. When Mrs Tiz first tried to donate, back in the OG Mk.1 days some years ago, we hit problems but got it sorted and have never had trouble since.

[Wendyf]

I don't moan much.... I'm a sitter on the fence, always see the other side of the argument type of person. This evening, at sunset, I was looking out of the window swearing & cursing blue murder at persons unknown who were hiding behind a wall above us shooting the crows who were heading home to roost in the woods on Kelbrook Moor. I am no great fan of crows, but I get a certain amount of pleasure seeing them heading out at first light as I am opening up the hen run & feeding the ponies, then seeing them coming back over my field when I am tucking everyone up for the night. Every time they tried to head home, in front of a magnificent sunset.....bang!! One poor soul with an injured wing kept trying to make it home....I hope he made it. Watched two hares scurrying down the field to get away from the noise. Dead crows littering the field....Grrrr

[Sunray10]

I think if this keeps happening Wendy you should inform the police. Some of those guns might not be licensed and also its regarded as a noise issue. So call the police, anyway.

[Stanley]

I can understand shooting vermin but what harm are a few rooks doing? Have they got permissions and licences?

[Wendyf]

I assume my neighbour has given permission. This was very close to the farm buildings so he must be aware of them. The game keeper from the moor on Pinhaw was trying to trap crows in the fields round here last year. He said they were a threat to the pheasant chicks.

[catgate]

I assume my neighbour has given permission. This was very close to the farm buildings so he must be aware of them. The game keeper from the moor on Pinhaw was trying to trap crows in the fields round here last year. He said they were a threat to the pheasant chicks.

Crows are not birds that fly around in flocks. They are very nearly always seen singly or as a pair.

The flocking large black birds are rooks, and very often jackdaws will flock with them in the winter months. The flocks usually "sing" as the fly with the rooks doing a "Caw" sort of noise and the jackdaw making a noise like a "click" or "chic".

Neither rooks nor jackdaws any real danger to pheasant chicks. Crows are a different matter, as are magpies. All of these "Black" birds are of the same root.

There is a village about two miles away from here and during the dark winter months a huge flock of rooks and jackdaws assemble in the trees and on the electricity cables around the village. There are literally thousands of birds. When I lived over in the dales I often used to wonder where most of the rooks from the local rookery disappeared to every winter. I now know a possible answer. There must be other similar sites up and down the country.
Each morning as it is just getting light they set off in huge mixed flocks and scour the land for food. It takes many minutes for these flocks to pass by. They return in smaller flock ( having dispersed into smaller ones during the day).

The area is also full to the brim with pheasants (and their shooter) and I have never heard a word said against the large flocks of "Black birds".

[Wendyf]

Thanks for the info Catty. So when they come to shoot with hides and set out decoys, they are more likely to attract rooks than crows? (Likewise when my black cat sits quietly in the field waiting for me to walk all the way round, she sometimes ends up with a crowd of rooks around her!) The gamekeeper had a large cage in which he left one live bird. He didn't catch any in a week.
No reasons for shooting rooks then, apart from target practice?

[catgate]

No reasons for shooting rooks then, apart from target practice?

It sounds a bit fishy to me, Wendy.
If you can get near enough, or have a good pair of binoculars, it is easy to tell the difference between rooks and crows, even though they are similar in size.
The crow has a black beak whilst the rook had a light coloured beak. The rook also has a small area at each size of its head, where the beak joins on, that has no feathers.
If the man is shooting rooks just for fun then a call to the RSPCA may be in order.

[Sunray10]

I agree the RSPCA are the people to ring Sue - they would then liase with the police with the gun licence issues, if there are any. These people shouldn't be using guns near any buildings.

[Tripps]

When I lived on Tyneside in the 70's there was a gamedealer in the Bigg Market who sold rooks. I can't imagine eating them, but someone must have done at the time. Hangover from the hungry thirties perhaps, and don't forget the "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie".