Where have the birds gone!!!
Jonboy58
Posts: 7
Looking up into the sky yesterday and not a bird in sight, peanut feeders and fat balls not touched...seemed a bit strange to be honest...same again today just the odd seagull...i hardly see a sparrow these days and they used to be so common. I would no sooner get the fat balls hung up and the starling were fighting over them.I would love to have a garden that attracted the birds...i do plant bushes and plants to attract them but not much success so far....any ideas.
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Jonboy,it's spring! Right now most of our feathered friends are busy pairing up for the obvious!
They will be visiting, but early and mid afternoon and then another feed before bedtime. Maybe your routine doesn't coincide with their visiting pattern.
Their visits will become more frequent as they lay eggs and when bringing up their broods.
As for sparrows their numbers have been in decline in recent years. Again mankind is a major contributing factor. You can put up nest boxes for different types of birds who require different size and shape nest boxes.
The mild winter has also meant there is still natural food available
For help in attracting more birds to the garden go to the rspb website 'giving wildlife a home'.
If you have fed them over winter, they won't forget, it's just that their feeding patterns change with lengthening days and rises in temperature.
Loads of tweeting birds in my garden
The sparrows are all in my garden. Mixed hedge packed full of them and sometimes the noise is deafening -I love it.
Only sparrows in my garden, dozens of them! They've chased all the others away, hardly seen a blue tit or a blackbird this winter.
Hardly any sparrows here - they obviously prefer your garden, Sue!
There are lots and lots of blue tits, coal tits & great tits - the long-tailed tits always seem to come later in the day than the others. Wonder why? There's a robin, a blackbird, a song thrush, a couple of jays sometimes, and greenfinches occasionally, tho' no chaffinch. Haven't seen a wren for a while - which is odd - and over in the field (and sometimes on the post & rail fence) there are a couple of magpies and several crows. Other visitors include the odd wood pigeon or two, but haven't seen a collared dove this year yet. Yesterday there were two buzzards overhead, and a few gulls in the far field. Heard a woodpecker in the wood earlier on today. Used to see fieldfares and redwings together in the field, but not this winter. Starlings are a bit of a rarity round here now, as are plovers - used to see lots & lots of both. A cock pheasant landed on the lawn last week!
A similar thing happens here occasionally, Jonboy. In my case it's because a sparrowhawk moves into the area. All of the small birds then move-on. After a while, so does the sparrowhawk and the birds then return. Keep an eye on all of the highest places around your garden (tops of tall trees, chimneys) to see if a bird of prey is hanging around. It might take you a while to spot it though.
A flock of about 20 Canada Geese flew over me yesterday all chatting to each other what a wonderful sound all coming back for the Summer to breed, wish could speak Goose as I would love to have know what they were saying to each other.
Yes, it would be wonderful to speak goose. On the other hand probably best not to know what they chattering about.
It would be great to speak goose - and owl, and buzzard, and woodpecker - would be great to know what they think about life
I noticed too yesterday that not many birds were about, although the Greater spotted woodpecker did come to the feeder. We get quite a good mix generally of blue tits, coal tits, song thrush, blackbirds, robins, sparrows, green woodpecker, and greater spotted woodpecker, jays, magpies, numerous pigeons (grrr on that front) and collared doves every once in a while. We've also had a nuthatch this winter which we didn't have last year, but we are yet to see the chaffinch this year. Many an hour is spent dreaming out the window watching the birds, love it.