Where have all our garden birds gone?

[Liam]

The blue tits, having evicted the coal tits, have now moved in to our nestbox. I’m not sure if they spend the nights in there but I have seen them perching on the entrance hole when it’s quite late. Nest building was in full swing towards the end of last week, and as most of the trees have regained/are regaining their leaves I can’t imagine it will be too long before egg laying time. 

[boxbrownie]

7 minutes ago, Baby Deltic said:

I would imagine a squirrel could damage a cat severely if it wanted to.

They have long strong claws and teeth that can break almost any nut.......I imagine in a fair fight they would both come of just as bad, but in reality the cat has more “it’ll be there tomorrow” instinct.

 

Having said that the squirrels in our garden tap on our windows waiting for the “peanut trolly” to come around 

 

For the past four years we have had one particular old Pheasant that would eat out of our hands, unfortunately this year I fear he has succumbed to old age/predator.......and his off spring is as skittish as most are, and even a tempting hand full of nuts will only having him coming to about ten feet away......in fact his “harem” in the hedge are more daring.....what a whimp.

[Reorte]

Staring out of the window more than I should be when I'm supposed to be working (at home) I saw a fairly infrequent visitor here - a bullfinch. Once the battery's recharged I think I'll keep my camera next to me in case it comes back.

 

[Reorte]

Just seen the first goldfinch that I've seen hear for a few years too. That probably means they're around occasionally, I just don't notice them.

Edited April 15, 2020 by Reorte

[Ken.W]

Well, in the erm, present climate, the other day I was walking the dog around 5pm in fields by the A1, and virtually all I could hear was birds singing!

This was no 'country' section of the road either, it was directly opposite the Gateshead  Metrocentre

[jbqfc]

i have found on of the reasons the feeders are a bit quiet the blue tits using the nest box are getting territorial and chasing other birds off the feeders 

today i have seen the blue tits courtship feeding of each other  

 

John 

[PhilJ W]

Apparently scavengers are having a hard time of it due to the reduction in roadkill.

[jbqfc]

a stupid pigeon has just fallen in to the pond the water level is a bit low due to me not topping it up 

he bent over to drink kept going overbalanced and went splash  n ow have a pound full of oil and feathers 

 

John 

[Mallard60022]

2 minutes ago, jbqfc said:

a stupid pigeon has just fallen in to the pond the water level is a bit low due to me not topping it up 

he bent over to drink kept going overbalanced and went splash  n ow have a pound full of oil and feathers 

 

John 

I am sure you know that the Pigeon is one of very few birds, if not the only bird, that drinks continuously and not in 'dips', so it was probably bending over to do that and thus tipped the balance in an amusing way.

Phil

[EddieB]

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Apparently scavengers are having a hard time of it due to the reduction in roadkill.

Yes, we had a pair of birds of prey up in the sky on Sunday.  Alerted by my wife, they were mere specks by the time I saw them, and had disappeared by the time I’d fetched some binoculars.  So not sure whether they were kites (normally never nearer than the M25, about six miles away) or buzzards (only once seen here before), which I’d normally be able to tell apart quite easily.

 

The problem is that we let out the rabbits during the day, so now need to check there’s nothing up there...

[Barry Ten]

Our resident great tit has just laid three eggs this evening. I'll try and take a photo when she's off the nest.

[NIK]

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Apparently scavengers are having a hard time of it due to the reduction in roadkill.

 

 

Hi,

 

Saw a Buzzard flying about 50 feet up the other week. Buzzards had largely been displaced in the last few years by Red Kites over the part of the town I live in which is in North Hampshire.

 

I surmised the Buzzards appearance was due to reduction in roadkill. Also it was flying lower than normal.

 

Of course there may be less dead lambs this year if the weather has been milder.

 

Two days ago I saw a Red Kite go over my garden at about 20 feet high - I've never seen one go that low in my town before. I guess like the Buzzard it was extra hungry or it was a country bird that was searching for food outside of its normal environment.

 

Those people who normally leave food out for kites might be changing their habits and there is probably less discarded takeaways on the streets.

 

 

Take care.

 

Nick

[88D]

I have been working in the garden during this lockdown. I must admit that the constant, incessant, interminable buzzing of bees is getting a bit much. I know this is off topic, but I’m sure I can call on your support for bringing back road noise.

[boxbrownie]

8 hours ago, NIK said:

Two days ago I saw a Red Kite go over my garden at about 20 feet high - I've never seen one go that low in my town before. I guess like the Buzzard it was extra hungry or it was a country bird that was searching for food outside of its normal environment.

 

 

 

Take care.

 

Nick

Although a few months  ago I was sitting out on the rear decking on a lovely sunny day when there was a furious flapping of a wood pigeon went whizzing across in front of me on the lawn heading towards the trees, as soon as I saw him I heard all I can describe as a whoosh like a plane, it was a Hen Harrier after the pigeon which disappeared into the dense trees and the Harrier curved upwards after what looked like being inches from the lawn surface......an amazing sight and more so the sound, never knew they made a whooshing noise so fast are they, I thought it brilliant.

[hayfield]

9 hours ago, NIK said:

 

 

Hi,

 

Saw a Buzzard flying about 50 feet up the other week. Buzzards had largely been displaced in the last few years by Red Kites over the part of the town I live in which is in North Hampshire.

 

I surmised the Buzzards appearance was due to reduction in roadkill. Also it was flying lower than normal.

 

Of course there may be less dead lambs this year if the weather has been milder.

 

Two days ago I saw a Red Kite go over my garden at about 20 feet high - I've never seen one go that low in my town before. I guess like the Buzzard it was extra hungry or it was a country bird that was searching for food outside of its normal environment.

 

Those people who normally leave food out for kites might be changing their habits and there is probably less discarded takeaways on the streets.

 

 

Take care.

 

Nick

 

 

I used to play golf in the Thames valley where Red Kites are both very common and plentyfull. The course is no where near either a motorway or main road but by being on an area of open land with plenty of bushes and there is an abundance of small mammals to feed on. Watching them glide at low levels is quite a sight. 

[NIK]

25 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Although a few months  ago I was sitting out on the rear decking on a lovely sunny day when there was a furious flapping of a wood pigeon went whizzing across in front of me on the lawn heading towards the trees, as soon as I saw him I heard all I can describe as a whoosh like a plane, it was a Hen Harrier after the pigeon which disappeared into the dense trees and the Harrier curved upwards after what looked like being inches from the lawn surface......an amazing sight and more so the sound, never knew they made a whooshing noise so fast are they, I thought it brilliant.

Hi,

 

I've yet to even see a Hen Harrier although a few years ago a neighbour said he saw a pair above a nearby field.

 

I once had a juvenile Peregrine Falcon land in my garden briefly (after 24 hours of continuous rain) and a mate in the same town had the same in similar circumstances.

 

Take care

 

Nick

[NIK]

18 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

 

I used to play golf in the Thames valley where Red Kites are both very common and plentyfull. The course is no where near either a motorway or main road but by being on an area of open land with plenty of bushes and there is an abundance of small mammals to feed on. Watching them glide at low levels is quite a sight. 

Hi,

 

The Red Kites only reached my part of town about ten years ago. Unfortunately my telephoto lens broke shortly afterwards and I couldn't afford to replace it and carry on snapping the Kites. There is a golf course a pitching wedge away from my house and I'm wondering if its still being mown and sprayed with herbicide. If not its ecology might change fast. I've read that Red Kites don't take live prey larger than worms or beetles there are now probably squashed rodents (first surprised and then flattened by middle aged runners).

Before the lockdown I almost trod on a rat when I was crossing a lock gate on a canal. The rat was traversing a beam below the plank the humans use for crossing and I and the rat arrived at the step down from the lock gate at the same time.

 

Take care.

 

Nick

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Our joyous spot today, pair of blackcaps actually out in the open. they have been singing their hearts out the last few days but only briefly glimpsed, but today chose the floriferous cherry, right outside our bedroom window. At 5.30am. Still lovely, even at that early hour.

 

18 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Apparently scavengers are having a hard time of it due to the reduction in roadkill.

On my runs along the A1M to and from Lister hospital now a  week ago, my perception was that the roadkill was much greater than usual. But that may have been because with virtually no traffic, it was possible for once to safely observe the mashed badger/deer/fox/pheasant/stoat/unidentifiable littering the carriageways and hard shoulder. Quite a change from constant high alert for truck drivers with no mirror looking ability, weaving white van man, and commuting motorists on autopilot or dexedrine or whatever it is makes them perform...

 

All of red kites, common buzzards and peregrines over WGC yesterday, and one of the peregrines took down a wood pigeon almost directly overhead, falling 'stone', boff, cloud of down and tumbling corpse, so impressive every time.

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, NIK said:

Hi,

 

The Red Kites only reached my part of town about ten years ago. Unfortunately my telephoto lens broke shortly afterwards and I couldn't afford to replace it and carry on snapping the Kites. There is a golf course a pitching wedge away from my house and I'm wondering if its still being mown and sprayed with herbicide. If not its ecology might change fast. I've read that Red Kites don't take live prey larger than worms or beetles there are now probably squashed rodents (first surprised and then flattened by middle aged runners).

Before the lockdown I almost trod on a rat when I was crossing a lock gate on a canal. The rat was traversing a beam below the plank the humans use for crossing and I and the rat arrived at the step down from the lock gate at the same time.

 

Take care.

 

Nick

 

Nick

 

The type of chemicals that can be used on a golf course are very strictly controlled infact to the extent that far more old natural methods are in use. The reasons are two fold both to protect wild life and also the watercourses

 

I heard that Red Kites rely on road kills, whilst they certainly help the birbs are quite adapt in hunting live prey

 

From Wikipedia

The red kite's diet consists mainly of small mammals such as mice, voles, shrews, young hares and rabbits. It feeds on a wide variety of carrion including sheep carcasses and dead game birds. Live birds are also taken and occasionally reptiles and amphibians. Earthworms form an important part of the diet, especially in spring.

[Oldddudders]

I'm no great twitcher, but do keep the bird-feeders stocked. Plenty of tits, blue and great, and sparrows, plus the local magpie pair, a robin, a wren and blackbirds. A green woodpecker turns up occasionally, but today I was a bit startled to see a hoopoe. 

[EddieB]

16 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

...today I was a bit startled to see a hoopoe. 

Well according to Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book, that probably makes you a vicar!

[Oldddudders]

1 hour ago, EddieB said:

Well according to Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book, that probably makes you a vicar!

Since I am surely destined for the place most vicars don't go to, he may have missed the mark with me! 

 

Being very rural helps of course, so buzzards and kestrels are common here. The cuckoo is about, too. 

[88D]

2 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

I'm no great twitcher, but do keep the bird-feeders stocked. Plenty of tits, blue and great, and sparrows, plus the local magpie pair, a robin, a wren and blackbirds. A green woodpecker turns up occasionally, but today I was a bit startled to see a hoopoe. 

So was I, until I saw where you were based!still, a goodie.

[Brit70053]

A neighbour phoned me this morning to say a 'hawk' (sic?) had been chauffeured to the football field opposite our cul-de-sac for its now daily exercise !

 

The garden birds and the local seagulls for that matter, were not best pleased.

 

Regards,

 

                 John

[Reorte]

Not garden birds but saw the first ducklings on the canal this afternoon.