Where have all the birdies gone?
By jimmytheone
5 comments
I have kept looking out my window at the lawn in the back garden. I have promised myself that I would cut it before the winter really sets in. I know that I shouldn’t get on the lawn whilst it was wet, but it looks so much better for the cut. I have pruned the climbing roses and all there is left is to tidy the green house.
During the summer, I stopped feeding the birds as I was getting plagued by wood pigeons, magpies and crows. As the bad weather has started to set in, I decided to put the feeders out again. In the last two weeks, I have seen very few small birds on the feeders.
I live next to greenbelt land so I wondered if the birds are still in the countryside and have been away from the gardens because of the frosts, heavy rains and the strong winds or perhaps they have just got the hump. Have any of you experienced the lack of birds or is just me!
24 Dec, 2023
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We've had, great tits, long-tailed tits, blue tits, dunnock, well 2, a couple of robins, sparrows a plenty, a couple of magpies, the odd wood pigeon, blackbirds, a wren..think that's it.
We often have visiting field fares, but, we haven't seen any this year.
24 Dec, 2023
Several years ago now I erected a bird feeder by the garden pond and within easy viewing from the lounge, I keep it well stocked during the Winter months and enjoy watching the birds from my armchair. Initially it was popular with the smaller birds who would retreat to the nearby shrubs when our dogs were in the garden. Then in 2019 our neighbours had their conservatory replaced with a garden room. Once their builders had gone their garden needed revamping too, and many of the shrubs on their side of the boundary fence were removed. When the activity the other side of the fence quietened down again the smaller birds didn't return, but the bigger birds did! Our dogs really don't welcome them, barking at them as they chase them out of the garden. However, the wood pigeons and jackdaws are quite persistent, the former have even taken up residence in the conifer hedge on the far side of our garden! We have the odd heron visit the pond but they are not so interested in the bird feeder, and the red kites are more interested in the barbecue and garden table in Summertime. The only regular small birds in the garden now are a pair of robins and wrens who nest in the climbers at the back of the house. Farming and woodland management methods into area have changed in the last four or five years to restore the wildlife there, so I hope one day the other small birds may return to our garden too.
26 Dec, 2023
We haven't had as many birds as last year, but then it's still very mild so I suspect a lot of them are able to get more natural food.
We feed them all year round and have all the usual suspects including grey wagtails, woodpeckers, wrens etc. I don't class any bird as horrid, I enjoy the antics of the crows and magpies - they enjoy the 'leftover' cat food we put out for them every morning. They are very beautiful, I think, and extremely intelligent.
26 Dec, 2023
Jimmy, I meant to add, FYI, the latest RSPB magazine figures show -82% starlings, -50% blackbirds, -24% robins and -69% chaffinches, and -80% song thrushes since 1979. Wrens, great tits and blue tits have increased.
26 Dec, 2023
We are surrounded by fields and hills here and I haven't noticed a lack of birds. Even though I don't feed them I see lots of Bluetits and Sparrows, Robbins Wrens Goldfinches and Bullfinches.
Overhead we also get many Red Kites and Buzzards, as well as Crows, Jays, Magpies and awfull squawky Seagulls, and we have Wood Pidgeons too ... noisy things :(
None of those land in my garden I'm glad to say, except the occasional Magpie.
We also have Pheasants, they are very noisy. I've seen them walking up the road past the back of my garden - horrid things :(
Sometimes we see a herron with wide wings, and geese flying in a formation.
24 Dec, 2023