Garden Birds and wild birds thread.

J.G.Blue. said:
Bit weird this year here in rural shropshire, no shortage of Birds nesting, Blackbirds, Thrush, Sparrows, wrens etc even saw a beautiful little goldcrest, but very few insects, quite a few European Hornets which we dont usually get but hardly any flies, wasps, bees, ladybirds, greenfly or butterflies?
Just hope its an odd year and not a sign of things to come?
Click to expand...
No.its not an odd year. I raised the issue in my " Where have all the Insects gone ? " thread a few years ago in off topic. Have a look if you get time ,you may find it thought provoking.
Birds such as The Cuckoo have basically all but stopped their long haul migration flights from Africa to Britain...why would they do this if there are no insects to feed on ?
The Cuckoo used to be The sound of the English summer. It's habitat and those of its hosts the reed warbler meadow Pipit and The Dunnock are disappearing fast ...
 
dennishasdoneit said:
House sparrows have bounce back in many areas..still a serious decline in others.
Once the most common bird on the British Isles.....
Click to expand...
They still are but we went through a period about 7 or 8 years ago when there were very few around. They really have bounced back now and we get loads.

Big Garden Birdwatch 2025

Submissions are now closed but there are lots of things you can do while our scientists crunch the numbers.
www.rspb.org.uk www.rspb.org.uk

The birdwatch takes place on the last weekend of January so you won't get any summer visitors on it. We get all the birds in the top 10.
 
in south east Scotland I am pleased to report there are as many birds as ever and loads of insects too.
List from this last year months on our feeders:

Blackbirds
Thrush
Greenfinch
Bullfinch
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Dunnock
Sparrow
Wren
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Long tailed tit
Jackdaw
Rook
Jay
Magpie (sneaky bastards)
Sparrow Hawk
Black Cap
Nuthatch
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Feral Pigeon
Startling (pretty rare)

Wax wing
Mistle Thrush
Redstart

They are a constant source of pleasure.
 
Loads of Kites and Buzzards feeding mainly on road killed pheasants. The hatcheries let them out for the shooters at certain times of the year, the Pheasants are absolutely clueless on the roads and the rest is history. A danger to drivers as these graceful birds hunt in packs and to see half a dozen Red Kites suddenly rise up in front of you is pretty startling.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
in south east Scotland I am pleased to report there are as many birds as ever and loads of insects too.
List from this last year months on our feeders:

Blackbirds
Thrush
Greenfinch
Bullfinch
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Dunnock
Sparrow
Wren
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Long tailed tit
Jackdaw
Rook
Jay
Magpie (sneaky bastards)
Sparrow Hawk
Black Cap
Nuthatch
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Feral Pigeon
Startling (pretty rare)

Wax wing
Mistle Thrush
Redstart

They are a constant source of pleasure.
Click to expand...
Interesting to see a nuthatch in Scotland. Until about 30 or 40 years ago, you wouldn’t see one North of Birmingham. I remember seeing my first one in Leeds about 35 years ago.
 
dennishasdoneit said:
Chaffinches used to be a daily sighting ,in gardens, over the year.
I've not seen to many of them in the last 18 months.
Click to expand...
Always got plenty of chaffys in the garden. Lost one yesterday to a sparrowhawk though.

Noticed last year, from being ever present in numbers, Tree Sparrows were down to a handful; this year, none. Not even heard one.
 
Whilst walking up Kinder scout (peak district) a few weeks ago, me and the girlfriend saw a bird of prey (don't know what type/breed). It swooped down, right in front of us, only maybe 10 yards away and plucked a small rabbit/vole??? Out of the bushes. It scared the shit out of us. Impressive to see though.

As for garden birds. Hardly any this year. I am using same seed mix (peckish) and nijer seeds. Also have suet balls hung in the tree in the back garden. Only seem to be attracting wood pigeon and magpies this year.
 
dennishasdoneit said:
No.its not an odd year. I raised the issue in my " Where have all the Insects gone ? " thread a few years ago in off topic. Have a look if you get time ,you may find it thought provoking.
Birds such as The Cuckoo have basically all but stopped their long haul migration flights from Africa to Britain...why would they do this if there are no insects to feed on ?
The Cuckoo used to be The sound of the English summer. It's habitat and those of its hosts the reed warbler meadow Pipit and The Dunnock are disappearing fast ...
Click to expand...
We have had our first cuckoo round here for a few years good to see & hear, Lots of Dunnock as well, the Red Kite seem to have pushed out the Buzzards?
I would think 10 to 12 years ago I had never seen a red kite round here it was all Buzzards, now you cant move for Red Kites with just the odd Buzzard,
In fact sat in the summer house today they just cut the field below us & there must have been 10 to 15 Red Kite flying round looking for food disturbed when they cut the field,
Also seen a Barn Owl out at dusk for a good few weeks now, not seen one of those regularly for a good few years,
(I am thinking of giving up the football & becoming a full time Twitcher :-)
 
Saddleworth2 said:
in south east Scotland I am pleased to report there are as many birds as ever and loads of insects too.
List from this last year months on our feeders:

Blackbirds
Thrush
Greenfinch
Bullfinch
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Dunnock
Sparrow
Wren
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Long tailed tit
Jackdaw
Rook
Jay
Magpie (sneaky bastards)
Sparrow Hawk
Black Cap
Nuthatch
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Feral Pigeon
Startling (pretty rare)

Wax wing
Mistle Thrush
Redstart

They are a constant source of pleasure.
Click to expand...
That’s great Sadds.
I have a garden room where I sit in and watch the birds on the feeders.
Unfortunately, having read my original post a few years ago, much of what was common in my back garden is no longer around.
I don’t see any of the finches at all. Siskin gone also. Nothing eating the Niger Seeds at all.
Still have great and blue tits but the Coal Tit has been nowhere to be seen.
Thrush- very infrequent.
Dunnocks gone.
Haven’t seen a wren in a long time although they are listed as one of the most numerous.
They are secretive by nature.

Sparrows - yes.
Blue and Great tits - yes. Blues seem to be staying permanently while the Greats raised a whole family and haven’t been seen since.
Starlings - sometimes.
Wood Pigeons- unfortunately yes.
Magpies - unfortunately yes.
Sea gulls- appear as if by magic if you put anything out on the lawn. In out and gone again.

I know there’s a sparrow hawk around but that’s seen only very fleetingly.

The robin is a year round resident but even he is not as frequent or dominant as he used to be.
 
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