Where have all our garden birds gone?

[Reorte]

On 27/07/2022 at 13:50, hmrspaul said:

Some strange changes here, in the urban area close to York station. We have always had many many Wood pigeons and a few Collared doves but Feral Pigeons have been rare - very much a central York bird. But a few weeks ago one very noticeable one started feeding in the garden (has a white back) Now more of its friends have arrived and upto 5 are regularly feeding in the backgarden. 

 

And mid morning when walking along the Cinder Lane towards the bridge over the "avoider" was a Buzzard flying around. On the ground was a bird (Pigeon probably) torn apart - could have been a car park kill, but I don't think so. Photos not good enough to put on here, but certainly to identify clearly. I've seen Buzzard within York outer ring road before, but never so close to the station and city center. The population of Buzzards has soared in England in recent years - from the BTO website

Quite some time ago I was driving along a narrow lane, hedges on either side, when a buzzard came over the hedge and started flying along the lane, so that I was following behind it for maybe a hundred yards before it popped back over the hedge. Watching it fly along like that was impressive.

[BR traction instructor]

Wonderful to see the acrobatics of dozens of swallow, house martin & swift swooping across the adjacent Silloth wild flower meadow and around our lodges as they pick off flying insects.

 

Moments later a sparrowhawk zoomed through being mobbed by a tweeting swallow…another level of entertainment entirely.

 

BeRTIe

Edited August 14, 2022 by BR traction instructor

[Captain Cuttle]

On 07/08/2022 at 08:50, 03060 said:

 

Just had a similar issue with a family of Starlings, who decided to 'protest' and wreck the Sparrows seed station at the front of the house just because I hadn't yet provided their Mealworm breakfast in the side garden feeder dish ! The poor Sparrows are still sat back and being wary now 10 mins after I broke up the 'teenage riot.' 😆

We had similar earlier this week with about thirty starlings taken over the grass and pulling out worms etc. They used to be in next doors hedge till he cut it all down. Today our sparrows were back must have been over twenty of them having dust baths in the borders, lovely sight.

[monkeysarefun]

A formation of Australian ibis on their way to bomb someone.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[03060]

54 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

A formation of Australian ibis on their way to bomb someone.

 

Brave man then for looking up !

[03060]

Have just been looking through my latest email from the RSPB and thought that this might also be of interest to others in regards of the title of this thread.

 

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/where-have-all-the-birds-gone/birds-in-summer/?utm_source=notes_on_nature_20220820&utm_medium=email&utm_term=notes_on_nature&utm_content=10&utm_campaign=notes_on_nature

[Graham_Muz]

A few visitors to my garden  nature reserve (as I don't do gardening) 

[MinZaPint]

Perched on our neighbours roof!

[monkeysarefun]

This mornings visitors.

 

Grey Butcherbird

 

 

Oz Magpie

 

Sulfur Crested Cockatoo

 

 

A King Parrot stands out in this grey winters day

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[BR traction instructor]

Here in coastal NW Cumbria we have around a hundred house martin/swallow swooping around the lodges, clearly gathering to go…one flew straight through the lounge a couple of days back. There are also around 50 sparrow gathered on the open ground and various other species mixed in. Washing the car is currently a thankless task.

 

BeRTIe

Edited September 3, 2022 by BR traction instructor

[melmerby]

Line up of some of this year's young sparrows:

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by melmerby

[03060]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

Line up of some of this year's young sparrows:

 

 

Marvellous, I had a large flock of maybe as many as 20 visiting yesterday. I was starting to get a little worried as I changed the make of food that I was putting out a couple of months ago and wasn't seeing as many as usual . However on the plus side they're not chucking this food around over their shoulders, so barely any is being wasted unlike with the last type where quite a large pile has built up underneath the feeding station (which I still need to remove.)

 

Haven't seen any Blue, Great or Coal tits in the garden at all this summer which I find strange, although possibly not helped by my neighbour opposite removing a large Silver Birch tree from his side garden last year.

 

Regards,

Ian.

[melmerby]

3 hours ago, 03060 said:

Marvellous, I had a large flock of maybe as many as 20 visiting yesterday

Ours seem to be all resident in the garden.

That bunch are in the shrub they are next to (this side of the fence), there are also AFAIK nests in a pyracantha, not for the first time and a couple more in the mixed hedge on the other side of the garden.

 

Seem to be a fairly cosmopolitan bunch as yesterday we had blue tit, great tit, long-tailed tit and sparrow all on the feeders at the same time.

 

[BR traction instructor]

Dawn’s parents (enthusiastic birders) have been staying with us for three days and we’ve taken them to a few local spots around the Solway firth…sightings include, Solway firth at Campfield marsh: osprey carrying big fish in its talons being mobbed by crows, 100 + lapwing, 10+ shelduck, around 50ish curlew, similar godwit, oystercatcher & redshank numbers, moorhen & numerous gulls. On the feeders at Campfield marsh: tree sparrow, sparrow, juvenile greater spotted woodpecker, chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch, blue tit. At Anthorn: flock of linnet, coal tit, coastal species as above. At Grune point: wheatear, flock of linnet, heron, little egret, curlew, redshank, various gulls & duck species in moult. Numerous starlings on phone lines around Abbeytown. Around our lodge in Silloth: around a hundred house martin & swallow, various gulls and several pigeon, collared dove & magpies.

 

BeRTIe

Edited September 8, 2022 by BR traction instructor

[phil_sutters]

We have markedly fewer birds of all kinds here on the coast in East Sussex. Starlings and sparrows come in much smaller groups than they did when we moved here 12 years ago. The kittiwakes nesting on Seaford Head are also in depleted numbers. The ducks and geese that used to visit in large numbers, wintering on the Cuckmere and Sussex Ouse estuaries, haven't been seen in any numbers. Really only a few dozen Canada geese are all I have seen while passing the Seven Sisters Country Park. Even the herring gulls don't seem to be as numerous as they were. Butterflies must be down to less than 20% of what we had 10 years ago and there is less variety. We do have a substantial number of rooks, crows and magpies, and the occasional young pheasant!

[BR traction instructor]

…our three figure number of swallow & house martin seem to have departed (emigrated).

 

BeRTIe

Edited September 9, 2022 by BR traction instructor

[jamie92208]

Not exactly a garden bird but maybe someone on this forum can help with an ID.  Whilst out trainspotting this afternoon in the Charente department this bird was flying over a field of maize alongside the line.  I think that it's what the French call a White Kite.

Any positive ID would be appreciated.  Initially my mate and I thought that it was a buzzard but the wing shape is all wrong.

Lovely to see though.

 

Jamie

[boxbrownie]

Definitely NOT a garden bird, but has got wings……I’ve looked but came up zero so far, any ideas?

[jbqfc]

1 minute ago, boxbrownie said:

Definitely NOT a garden bird, but has got wings……I’ve looked but came up zero so far, any ideas?

 

that a comma butterfly 

 

John 

[boxbrownie]

2 minutes ago, jbqfc said:

 

that a comma butterfly 

 

John 

Thanks, yes just found it…..bloody silly search engine on the identifier 😁

[Phil Bullock]

Birds here in our semi urban Churchdown garden seem to have had a great year. First time ever for greenfinches… half a dozen now with this years young. Same with goldfinches, and the tit gang …. Blue great coal and LT never keep still long enough to count. 
 

Bought a big bag of sunflower hearts to feed them up ready for winter…

[Flying Pig]

1 hour ago, jamie92208 said:

Not exactly a garden bird but maybe someone on this forum can help with an ID.  Whilst out trainspotting this afternoon in the Charente department this bird was flying over a field of maize alongside the line.  I think that it's what the French call a White Kite.

Any positive ID would be appreciated.  Initially my mate and I thought that it was a buzzard but the wing shape is all wrong.

Lovely to see though.

 

Jamie

 

I think it looks like a Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus), though I haven't seen one for many years.  It is a rather pale individual but the faint barring underneath is characteristic - it's often more pronounced.  I found info and distribution maps for France at:

 

http://www.planetepassion.eu/Short-toed-eagle-France.html

 

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/wildbirds/threatened/c/circaetus_gallicus_en.htm

[jamie92208]

23 hours ago, Flying Pig said:

 

I think it looks like a Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus), though I haven't seen one for many years.  It is a rather pale individual but the faint barring underneath is characteristic - it's often more pronounced.  I found info and distribution maps for France at:

 

http://www.planetepassion.eu/Short-toed-eagle-France.html

 

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/wildbirds/threatened/c/circaetus_gallicus_en.htm

Thanks very much for that. Very interesting.  It looks like to it. We certainly  have plenty of lizards and snakes around here. I found a 4' long whip snake skin alongside our garden path.  We've found one in roughly the same spot each year for the past 5 years.

 

Jamie

Edited September 10, 2022 by jamie92208

[PhilJ W]

If you find a snakeskin about the same time of year its probably been shed by the snake.

[J. S. Bach]

I once found a snake skin inside one of my sheds. And once, a snake curled up in a box that I had just opened. I think that it was an Eastern Carter Snake but I just re-closed the lid as the snake seemed to be getting a little agitated and then put the box back down. A few days later when I went out to check, it had left the box.