Where have all our garden birds gone?

[andyram]

Another evening sat watching the birds saw a few more visitors. About 4 starlings, 3 blackbirds a couple of blue tits as well as the thrush with the damaged wing.

[bike2steam]

The first of this years swallows have returned, even less peace now, but good to see.

[The Lurker]

Is that early for swallows?

 

We tend to have swifts round our way which are very noisy and may be they arrive a little later.

[andyram]

The number of birds in our garden has picked up a bit. This afternoon I saw a few more Starlings, a couple of Blue Tits, a couple of Blackbirds and the resident Thrush with the damaged wing. Still no sign of the Sparrows that used to dominate the garden a few years ago.

[bike2steam]

The Lurker - Swallows normally show up at the end of March.

[melmerby]

Plenty of sparrows, tits, blackbirds and wood pigeons around along with the occasional wren, robin and wagtail.

A heron flew over yesterday, must be going to one of the gardens with fish ponds.

 

No feral pigeons or starlings here although the house a half mile away we used to live in had them a plenty!

It shows that bird populations can vary greatly over a short distance.

 

Keith

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

...siskins, redpolls, goldfinches, chaffinches, greenfinches, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, collared doves, jackdaws, pigeons, dunnocks, sparrows, robins, starlings and blackbirds are the continuous visitors to our Staffs Moorlands garden at the moment (sparrowhawk seems to be on holiday), topped up by a few rarities...feeders needing regular cleaning & refills.

 

Dave 

Edited April 11, 2014 by Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71

[Killybegs]

...siskins, redpolls, goldfinches, chaffinches, greenfinches, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, collared doves, jackdaws, pigeons, dunnocks, sparrows, robins and blackbirds are the continuous visitors to our Staffs Moorlands garden at the moment (sparrowhawk seems to be on holiday), topped up by a few rarities...feeders needing regular refills.

 

Dave 

No siskins or redpolls this year (normally regular spring arrivals) but we do have the greenfinches back (missing last year), otherwise pretty much the same except we do have rooks, magpies and hooded crows, song thrushes and the occasional pheasant or two. We've never had pheasants before this year but now there are a lot of them about so someone must have started up a shoot locally. Needless to say, living on the coast a couple of miles from the largest fishing port in Ireland, we do have an awful lot of gulls! It's not unusual to see a row of twitchers eagerly watching the roofs of the fish processing plants for a rare visitor! We also have a solitary great northern diver who arrives every year in the first week of November and leaves at the end of March. I'll miss him if he stops coming!

 

John

[Mallard60022]

yes, agreed, there are more Greenfinches audible this year. Good.

P

[jonny777]

I watched a buzzard yesterday, soaring round and round on thermals high above our back garden and never moving its wings once; until that is, it was noted by the seagulls that nest on the church. They mobbed it until it moved further away.

 

I haven't seen swallows or house martins here yet, but then I haven't been sitting outside much. The people in the house behind are doing some building work, so a quiet afternoon in the garden is accompanied by incessant radio muzak, the noise of angle grinders and people who need to shout to each other every few seconds.

Edited April 11, 2014 by jonny777

[10800]

Pair of goldfinches moved into the neighbourhood, first heard them before I saw them. Now regulars on my feeder, will try and get a photo if I can. Delightful birds, didn't realise they had such a nice song as well as the twittering calls.

[andyram]

I watched a buzzard yesterday, soaring round and round on thermals high above our back garden and never moving its wings once; until that is, it was noted by the seagulls that nest on the church. They mobbed it until it moved further away.

 

I haven't seen swallows or house martins here yet, but then I haven't been sitting outside much. The people in the house behind are doing some building work, so a quiet afternoon in the garden is accompanied by incessant radio muzak, the noise of angle grinders and people who need to shout to each other every few seconds.

 

I saw a similar bird of prey the other day soaring in the same way. Too high to work out what it was, but I would guess a kestrel or sparrowhawk (and no there was not an A4 in sight!)

[jonny777]

I doubt it would be a Kestrel soaring around very high. They tend to hover a few metres above their prey when hunting, or sit on a prominent tree branch or pole of some kind watching for movement .

 

Buzzards are much larger than kestrels or sparrowhawks and are recognisable by their dark and wide wings with a grey/white patch on the underside of each which is visible from the ground.

[andyram]

It was brown, with brown edging to the wings, probably white underneath.

[jonny777]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buzzard_UK09.JPG

[andyram]

That looks like the bird I saw. Not an expert on British birds of prey I have to admit.

[Mallard60022]

That looks like the bird I saw. Not an expert on British birds of prey I have to admit.

Could have been a Red Kite over your way. They are moving east quite rapidly (no, not flying fast, just moving into the eastern counties from the west and midlands.

If you look on the RSPB site there is a very handy bird id section that you can use to check on things you see or hear. There have been Kites at Rutland Water I believe, but I've not seen any east of the A1 yet.

P 

[shortliner]

A pair of red kites thermalling over the field behind my house as I type, up here north of Inverness - distinctive forked tail, black wingtips and calling "keeyou!, keeyou!" Some ba$tard a few miles south of us, has poisoned some of these beautiful birds, along with some buzzards - there is currently a reward, for information leading to an arrest, of £27,000 (contributed by members of the public) - the perpetrator should be hung by the nadgers from a tree!

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-26990764  note the reward has increased from this report

Edited April 12, 2014 by shortliner

[10800]

Pair of goldfinches moved into the neighbourhood, first heard them before I saw them. Now regulars on my feeder, will try and get a photo if I can. Delightful birds, didn't realise they had such a nice song as well as the twittering calls.

Here they are, aren't they cute?

 

 

[melmerby]

Here they are, aren't they cute?

 

P1020530.JPG

 

P1020532.JPG

What sort of seed is taking their fancy?

We occasionally see goldfinches but they don't visit regularly.

 

Keith

[10800]

Sunflower hearts is what they're eating at the moment. The tits and greenfinch love them too.

 

Best for goldfinches are nyjer seeds, but if you have any thistle heads in the garden later in the year they will flock to the seeds on those.

[melmerby]

You are fortunate that you can have an open feeder. I can't do that, the small birds wouldn't get a look in!

I have to have squirrel-proof feeders with extra protection to keep Jackdaws at bay as well.

 

I have three separate feeders, One has a general songbird mix, one with black sunflower seeds and one with peanuts.

I also have a ground feeder (again protected) which has a mixed seed and mealworm menu.

 

Keith

Edited April 13, 2014 by melmerby

[andyram]

At our previous house the birds seemed to flock for the mealworm too.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

You are fortunate that you can have an open feeder. I can't do that, the small birds wouldn't get a look in!

I have to have squirrel-proof feeders with extra protection to keep Jackdaws at bay as well.

 

I have three separate feeders, One has a general songbird mix, one with black sunflower seeds and one with peanuts.

I also have a ground feeder (again protected) which has a mixed seed and mealworm menu.

 

Keith

 

....why not try a post mounted niger seed feeder e.g. by Gardman.

 

Dave

[10800]

You are fortunate that you can have an open feeder. I can't do that, the small birds wouldn't get a look in!

I have to have squirrel-proof feeders with extra protection to keep Jackdaws at bay as well.

No problems with squirrels or jackdaws fortunately. This is a hanging feeder, and the biggest 'problem' if you like is woodpigeons who can scoff the lot in short order. The ground feeder is a different matter, but the problem is not jackdaws or squirrels but herring gulls.