Birds, or rather lack of.......

[gbb]

Id forgotten about bird flu, perhaps it has had a bad impact on numbers.
I hadn't thought about it until I started reading this thread...and it occurs to me, I'm seeing fewer small birds. Pidgeons are everywhere here (urban setting), lots on verges and in roadside treeline, getting ready for mating in all probability,....but noticeably fewer small birds.

Until I saw the bird flu bit, my instant reaction was magpies, they have exploded in the last 10 to 20 years here, they're everywhere (in an urban environment). As a kid in Lincolnshire and Notts...I NEVER saw them in the 1970s. Perhaps a bit of both ?

 

[Stephenite]

We put out a bird seed mix throughout the winter, especially when it’s snowy. We get mostly Great Tits, Blue Tits and Coal Tits. Occasionally Crested Tits.

 

[Stephenite]

Next door had a rare visitor to the bird feeder yesterday.

A Ptarmigan!

 

[colly]

We get loads of birds in and around the garden. Mind you Mrs Colly does feed them vast quantites of food. She even knows which fat balls they prefer. So I assume that if there is food around they will make a habit of coming. Sparrows, starlings, pidgeons, blackbirds, thrushes, collared doves, coal tits, blue tits, bull finches occasionally, jays, crows, magpies, herons. More that I don't know the name of. We even had a red kite touchdown briefly a couple of weeks ago.
A few years ago we even had this fella turn up for breakfast:

 

[Accy cyclist]

I was out on a farm doing woodwork on Saturday and the weather was warmish, the bird song was amazing, spring really had burst into life!

They were at it last night before it went dark, in the trees around my flat. It's the first time I've heard such a welcome noise this year!

 

[Accy cyclist]

The same here with pigeons nabbing the food meant for smaller birds. I've posted on other CC threads about the bird lady's grave. A few of us put bird seed and other such stuff on her grave, but as always the greedy wood pigeons appear to eat most if not all the food like they did yesterday, as you can see! I've hardly seen any small birds this winter/early spring. Mind you, wouldn't you think they'd make suet and meal worm pellets in a smaller size so that little birds can pick them up easier.

I've started putting seeds and pellets down in various places in the local cemetery, attempting to thwart the pigeons. I've watched for quite a while and even though the pigeons don't appear, sadly neither do the little birds.

 

[slowmotion]

I'm happy to report that bird activity in Shepherds Bush, west London is thriving. All the gardens round here in a street of small Victorian terraced houses are pretty small. They do have a number of trees and bushes however which the feathered ones seem to like. The bird feeders we have strung from the branches of the cherry tree attract a lot of visitors... mainly tits of one type or another but we get lots of other birds too. My tiny office has a good view of the garden. Before the first Lockdown, I had very little interest in birds but subsequently became fascinated by them.

 

[Hicky]

We have a reasonable amount of small bird activity around us from what I can see. It's helped by having farms close by with plenty of hedgerows.
The downfall of small songbirds is numerous, being panel fencing(rather than hedging), patios, pesticides, the lack of food...ie creepy crawlies.
We try and have a section or spaces around our garden planted with wild flowers for insects and variety really. The rose bushes don't get treated for greenfly/aphids in the hope they're snaffled by the circle of life. Cats are kept out of the garden by dogs/kids. The dogs will happily let a bolshy Robin within a few meters without batting an eyelid!
In addition, Corvids aren't persecuted as much as they once were, they will destroy nests quick smart. Our feeders are all large bird proofed, I'm not feeding fat woodies!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Lots of small birds tweeting away round here this morning.

 

[All uphill]

Until I saw the bird flu bit, my instant reaction was magpies, they have exploded in the last 10 to 20 years here,

Nasty, exploding magpies make a terrible mess.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Birds on my feeder in suburban London are doing ok. Nearly all sparrows plus the occasional robin. The pigeons hoover up the overflow and occasionally try to get to the feeder but are too clumsy and inelegant

 

[wafter]

We feed the birds and are lucky to have a large variety coming to the garden as a result; loads of blue tits, great tits, occasional flurries of long-tailed tits, a pair of nuthatches, greenfinches, goldfinches, robins, blackbirds, the odd thrush, occasional greater-spotted woodpeckers, a pair of podgy pigeons that are always waddling about on the floor beneath the feeders.. the recent highlight has been a treecreeper that's shown a lot of interesting the stone wall that borders the garden. When walking locally I sometimes see a lot of what appear to be yellowhammers in the trees, however we never see them in the garden for some reason.

We occasionally get a sparrowhawk visiting the garden too; a shame when it takes one of the songbirds but I guess it has to eat too.

 

[Fnaar]

I recently upped my bird-feeding game, putting an extra feeder out... There's lots of bushes around, one right next to the feeders. There's often about 30 (no kidding) sparrows sitting in the bush, taking turns to use the feeders. Starlings and Blackbirds pick up anything going spare on the ground 😎👍🐦

 

[Gillstay]

We have let the hedges grow larger, planted more hedge, longer grass, flowering plants, too many bird boxes so there are choices, more native plants, small pond, and it worked.
First garden bird survey 6 birds, two years on and 14 species of birds.