What have you seen
Comments
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I didn't realise that there were Lemurs on the Wirral, WN.
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3 Peregrines ruined the Hen Reed Bed Murmuration. The Starlings came in as usual and the Peregrines started attacking and the Starlings dropped like stones into the reeds and it was all over.
Watched it on 3 evenings, the first was the best, no peregrines and lots of Starlings floating around the sky. I might try another evening if I'm down that way, but I will not put myself out to go there.
Plenty of Waxwings around......LOVELY.
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We get a lot of goldfinches on the feeders every day, but recently we've been getting one with a white head and chest. Apparently it's a genetic disorder. Found one which was photographed and posted on the RSPB website
"Ours" is white further down than that one, if I can post a photo I will later. It looks really lovely.
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Lovely indeed!
Just a couple of reports of waxwings here in East Lancs, but it’s usually later in the winter when they turn up.
Always amazes me that they turn up in the same places every year, usually the exact same trees. Makes it easier to find them!
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We have lots of Goldfinches around our area but for some reason none have deemed our feeders suitable for them!!
Don't know why that is. Our garden is devoid of birds these days.0 -
Sparrowhawk is my bet Nells. My sister lives in the suburbs both her & a couple of neighbours fed the local birds, this year they were almost entirely devoid of birds. All the neighbours & her work during the day & saw nothing. Then a sparrowhawk was seen regularly shooting across all the gardens like a missile. . .Taking the small birds🤷🏻♂️
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How about that your away so much there is only an inconsistent filling of the feeders and the birds go to somewhere with a better supply of food. When we've been away for a month or so the feeders are empty which we refill then it takes a while for the birds to return.
Long tail tits in the garden yesterday, haven't visited us for a while
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Hi Nellie
We had the same problem until I read that the birds do not like feeders in the open, to avoid the sparrow hawks. We moved the feeders into a tree that was close to our hedges and within a week the birds started to use them. Oddly enough, if I move the feeders even within the tree, they seem reluctant to feed.
Sunflower hearts seem to be the chosen meal. Other foods are left to rot.
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I have seen a Sparrowhawk flash down our drive in the past, and there is also a cat next door that keeps leaving a deposit on our garden.
BM. I've moved the fat balls to hang from a conifer branch at the back of the garden, so hopefully that will prove fruitful eventually. There are plenty of sunflower seeds about from the plants we grew earlier in the year.
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Nell, try putting used teabags in the area where cats leave their deposits, our neighbours have 5 cats and by and large the teabags work for us.
Watching some Waxwings one day all the birds in the area took off as a Sparrow hawk flashed through. Ten minutes later all the birds in the area were back feeding. This happened several times
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Since we came back 10 days ago I've been scattering tea bags around the garden. It's been too wet to wander round to see if they are keeping the cat(s) away, although the rain will be doing that too I guess.
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Something else to try, WN, thanks. I'll see how it goes.
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I haven't uploaded photos before, but having a go to show our goldfinch with the white head/chest. It does have a bit of black on it's head and a little bit of red at the front as well. Hope the photos work!
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Yes, we get quite a few pairs at the same time, there can be 12 or 14 goldfinches on the feeders at the same time. It's what we get the most of actually, they go through the sunflower hearts in no time. We buy a 20kg sack at a time, buying the small bags was no use, they didn't last!
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We used to get goldfinches here but haven't seen any for years. Blue tits, great tits, coal tits, finches, blackbirds, starlings we have plenty of. I know there is a robin and wren around too but we do have a 'killer' cat next door, so I tend to have my bird table and feeders right in the middle of the grass so she can't get near them without them seeing her.
Will try putting some fat balls in the trees to see if that will help encourage more birds and get some sunflower seeds to see if the goldfinches will return.
I've only ever seen 1 wood pecker in the garden and 1 sparrow hawk.
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It is a month since I introduced our little Scrag End to the forum. Unfortunately he/she has not improved in appearance, still looking ragged yet seems fit and has a wonderful appetite. It is not always possible to be sure the same bird is using the feeder over and over each day, but in this case all actions are clear to see.
I am not sure the little one has enough feathers to survive, but he will not go hungry.
Anyone know why the blue tit does not use the nest boxes for shelter during the winter, seems the best place to spend the night.
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Amazing little survivor BM, hope all will be well. We've got a couple of new nest boxes to put up this winter, I assumed the Blue tits might use them. I know that Wrens pile in together for winter comfort so I'm careful not to move some of our brick and wood piles. Just looked up about Blue tits and the suggestion is to switch on nest box cameras and see if you have winter occupants (we only have an outside tracker camera.)
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Our neighbour has a very small hole in the facia board above his kitchen which serves as a nest box in summer for Blue Tits. I recently saw 3 of the little darlings disappear into it whilst I was cooking one early evening. Not sure how many were already there or how many joined them but it was cold that night.
I do wonder how your little one is going to attract a mate BM. Not many other Punk BTs around.
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If it gets through the winter, anything would be possible, and it would deserve a mate.
Not sure how this internest dating works, but something like.
Open minded bird wanted, looks unimportant but a sense of humour essential.
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