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It's oh so quiet

AllyblueeyesAllyblueeyes Posts: 389
in Wildlife gardening

Evening all!  Can anyone tell me if birds can detect a storm? Silly question perhaps but my garden is normally full of birds, mostly sparrows, starlings, blackbirds etc.... it's pretty much constant, but for some reason there has been little or no activity at all today - slightly eerie almost.  The sparrows made a brief visit earlier followed by the starlings for 2 minutes - they literally seemed to come for a wash and brush up before a little bite to eat before a night out!! The weather forecast says we may be in for a storm tonight and I wondered if the birds take early cover??  Quiet in anyone else's garden? 

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  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Third rock from the sunPosts: 35,474

    A study in America shows that small birds can detect storms over 500 miles away so there may be some truth in that with our birds here. I am in the North West and my garden is abnormally quiet. The wind has been rising all day but no signs of a storm here yet.

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • AllyblueeyesAllyblueeyes Posts: 389

    Oh glad it's not just me Ladybird4 - Had to stake tomatoes and sweet peas as the wind was getting up .... missing the birds though .... even the noisy, but ever so slightly lovable starlings!!  No sign of storm here yet either but the sky is "as black as your grandfathers" ?

  • Mark56Mark56 Windsor, BerkshirePosts: 1,653

    Absolutely chucking it down here, flash flood alerts. I haven't seen rain/a storm like this for a long time

  • AllyblueeyesAllyblueeyes Posts: 389

    Yep - the thunder and lightening has just started here in Hertfordshire - I reckon those little birds knew what was coming!!! 

  • MarineliliumMarinelilium Posts: 213

    Here on South coast the crickets and birds went on standby. They usually work as a tag team - dawn till dusk and dusk till dawn (with a few crickets giving it large 24/7). When the hush came we took washing in, put the pots on their sides and put garden tools in garage!  It was a doozy of a storm!

    MLx

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 82,129

    Hope everyone in Cornwall is ok ...

    We love the little village of Coverack and have visited it lots of times ... the lovely fish soup made at the little café on the harbour ... the ice cream shop ... the wonderful views, the children learning sailboarding and kayaking from the safety of that lovely beach and harbour ... I hope everyone can get things back in good order so they can make the most of the summer trade that they depend on.

    “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh







  • AllyblueeyesAllyblueeyes Posts: 389

    Here, here Dove, we love Cornwall too - thankfully there doesn't appear to be any casualties. 

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 33,288

    I reckon it'll do for tourism, what the Boscastle floods did for them 10 years ago.

    Whether that's a good thing, or a bad thing is debatable. 

    Devon.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 82,129

    We were at Boscastle the year before the flood there.  We were at Coverack again just over a year ago ........... image

    “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh







  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 33,288

    methinks we'll withdraw our invitation.

    Devon.
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