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Where have all our garden birds gone?

DDolfelin

By DDolfelin,
in Wheeltappers

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The Lurker

The Lurker

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Corvid wars this morning as I was getting ready to go to work.

 

The magpie fledglings were hopping around and on the garden table on the decking, supervised by one adult. All of a sudden a rook landed on the table; the fledglings flew off, one directly into the conservatory window, but before the rook could do anything, the other adult magpie attacked the rook causing it to fly off. The fledgling seemed OK, the table is on the decking very close to the conservatory so there was not much chance for any speed to be got up.

 

 

Later on the walk to the station I heard a blackbird alarm call. Two rooks had caught and were fighting over a small bird, I assume a blackbird chick although whatever it was had black downy feathers. It certainly didn't have much chance.

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Joseph_Pestell

Joseph_Pestell

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Not sure if it classifies as a "garden bird" but we had a yellow wagtail outside the back door this morning.

 

A first for me and, according to the RSPB website, should not be around here at all.

 

Generally, we seem to be seeing a wider diversity of species this year.

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Mallard60022

Mallard60022

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Not sure if it classifies as a "garden bird" but we had a yellow wagtail outside the back door this morning.

 

A first for me and, according to the RSPB website, should not be around here at all.

 

Generally, we seem to be seeing a wider diversity of species this year.

Joseph I am sure you know what the Yellow looks like but it might have been a Grey (that are sometimes more yellow than Yellows!). Apologies for appearing 'knowallish'.

Phil

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81C

81C

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Around here we have 2 crows who I call Ron & Ron as soon as any smaller birds start scwarking when the Magpies attack their nest Ron & Ron turn up and chase them off last week 

the boys see off about 20 Magpies & killed 2 of them, a nice meal for Freddie Fox I'm waiting for a pair of Red Kites to start roosting arond here to see off the pigeons there is some

Hawks but they only seem to go for creatures on the ground. 

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Liam

Liam

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Lots of blue tit activity here today, and as the parents have been ferrying peanuts from the feeder to the nestbox I'm guessing that if the fledglings are at that age they'll soon be taking off.

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Joseph_Pestell

Joseph_Pestell

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Joseph I am sure you know what the Yellow looks like but it might have been a Grey (that are sometimes more yellow than Yellows!). Apologies for appearing 'knowallish'.

Phil

Phil,

 

On the contrary! I am not much of a twitcher at all. I knew it was a wagtail (from the movement) but had to look it up on the RSPB website to be sure which type.

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Mallard60022

Mallard60022

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Around here we have 2 crows who I call Ron & Ron as soon as any smaller birds start scwarking when the Magpies attack their nest Ron & Ron turn up and chase them off last week 

the boys see off about 20 Magpies & killed 2 of them, a nice meal for Freddie Fox I'm waiting for a pair of Red Kites to start roosting arond here to see off the pigeons there is some

Hawks but they only seem to go for creatures on the ground. 

Fraid the Kites will only take ground food and then almost always only Carrion. What you need is one of the big boys/girls like Harriers but sadly they are having issues with illegal poisoning and trapping by mindless thugs.

Phil

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Downendian

Downendian

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On the subject of fledglings, I've spent the last few weeks fishing when all day I'm sat in a swim literally a few feet from a bird box, where a pair of blue tits have taken up residence. I watched them carefully as they busily collected caterpillars, spiders and a host of other insects, scaring off the prying magpies as often as possible.

Yesterday their brood of five fledglings emerged into the outside world, and gave me a puzzled look as they left their first home. Some flew directly out into the bushes with mum and dad in attendance, the last one pictured here took a little more time and was more cautious. A joy to see.post-6925-0-41603100-1528195640_thumb.jpgpost-6925-0-28564100-1528195625_thumb.jpg

Neil

Edited by Downendian
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lightengine

lightengine

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Just watched hundreds of sqauwking gulls flying in a long tunnel like shape, along the estuary towards the sea here in Teignmouth. Must have been several thousand. Its almost high water here, not sure if that was the reason.

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Joseph_Pestell

Joseph_Pestell

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Joseph I am sure you know what the Yellow looks like but it might have been a Grey (that are sometimes more yellow than Yellows!). Apologies for appearing 'knowallish'.

Phil

 

Possibly need a correction here. Several wagtails around this morning from which we conclude that they probably are greys rather than yellows. The male is indeed very yellow and the picture on RSPB website does not really give much to distinguish one from the other.

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Mallard60022

Mallard60022

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Had anybody seen the "expected influx" of Rosey Coloured Starlings yet as per various sources ?

Nope. Think it is in Cornwall and that is quite a long way from Notts and my eyes are not so good these days.

P

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Clive Mortimore

Clive Mortimore

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A little late to this years party but we have colored doves and pigeons nesting in some of our trees, blue tits in one box, and great tits in the other, green finches visiting the garden, loads of chaffinches and goldfinches hopping around the lawn, and the swallows in the stable have four chicks. I haven't seen where the robins are nesting but  we still have two together in the garden. I am not sure how many nest are in the hawthorn bushes but we have a good collection of sparrows and blackbirds. We get loads of little birds I do not readily recognise, except the wagtails, we get pi and yellow.  I haven't seen the goldcrest on the muck heap for a few weeks.

 

There were at least three cuckoos around the other day, the calls were overlapping and were coming from different directions. Next door has jackdaws nesting down their chimney and I have been woken up the last couple of weeks by them chasing off the rooks.

 

Today there were two kestrels hunting together over the paddock, which indicates they are a pair and have a nest near by. And at the same time the rooks nesting in the trees next door were attacking a buzzard circulating above. We sometimes get a kite fly over.

 

Gus the gun dog is ensuring the local pheasants are not in his garden. 

 

I haven't noticed any reed buntings or reed warblers in the reeds in the dyke at the bottom of the paddock but they are in the dykes near to us.

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