what should i look for ? (1 Viewer)

I have suddenly been taken with the notion of finding out a litle more about the birds around us, and reading some of your articles has shown me how so little i know. I send my daughter out with the leftover breadcrumbs to scatter at the birdbath and i do refill the seeds when ever i remember but its tucked away behind a tree so they arent scared away by us. It is a quite wild garden and i have never usd any chemicals on it so i have brambles , nettles snd other weeds growing in thorugh the hedge up the top of the garden and through the fence at the side. My laburnum and buddleias could do with trimming back sometime as could the roses. Just now thinking about it most everything could be trimmed back really, but its not too bad. The back garedn is about 70 ft by 30 ft. What sort of birds can i expect to see and what should i look out for ?

Would trimiing it all back be beneficial ? A neighbour up the road has a really neat and tidy formal garden. With all his seed tubes hanging up he does get a lot of birds about, but i would have thought that a wilder garden would seem more homely to them ?

Hi Becky and welcome from me to you. o

First off, I am one of those that cringe when I see bushes being trimmed meticulously and grasses being cut short so you are a person after my own heart in the gardening dept.

I tend to think the birds like the less disturbed areas of a garden. It's been proven time and time again to me when I come across a thicket and multitudes of birds will peep out or fly out.

I'm from across the pond so I can't tell you what birds you can expect but it won't be long before some of your countrymen will have some answers for you.

And if I reply to you now, perhaps this will pop back to the top and get you a few answers from some Brits.

Neat and tidy gardens have their place, but give me a wild bloomin' mess any day! (at least, that's how I justify my garden!)

Hi Becky,

I wouldn't worry what your garden looks like. Birds like a bit of cover and different habitats will attract different birds. My father is one of the neat and tidy brigade but luckily for me when I visit they have a number of bushes along the side of the house so the garden has birds popping into the feeders from the bushes.

Just provide a number of different types of food and the birds will discover you.

What should you see? Well Robin, Blackbird, Blue & Great Tit, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock ,Pigeon, Collared Dove, Magpie, Starling, Crow, Rook, are all very common. Its not unusual for Garden's to attract Nuthatch & Great Spotted Woodpecker (one near me has Green Woodpecker as well). You could get an influx of winter thrushes like Redwing. When a new bird turns up in your garden its a real thrill. It doesn't have to be uncommon my folks were excited when their first Chaffinch appeared. With the right food Goldfinch will turn up.

Birds can get quite used to humans, if you ever visit a reserve like RSPB Titchwell you'll find some of the tamest common birds around. Robins can be trained to eat from the hand (using meal worms usually) and we have a friendly blackbird. My folks have a feeder 4 foot from their front window. Its in the bushes so the birds get cover and I get to watch the birds on a sunday morning.

There are a number of books about Garden Birds. Any good book shop should have some for you to browse through. e.g.

The Complete Garden Bird Book by Mark Golley with Stephen Moss is subtitled how to identify and attract birds to your garden.

A book to be published in the new year is called The Secret Habits of Garden Birds by Dominic Couzens. It will tell of "the turf wars of Robins, the profound family ties of Long Tailed Tits and the remarkable sex life of Dunnocks".

If you want an identification guide to use for use in more than just your garden. Then I would recommend the RSPB Handbook of British Birds by Peter Holden & Tim Cleeves. Although the Birdwatchers Handbook by Jonathan Elphick and the Birds of Britain and Ireland by Bill Oddie are alternatives.

The British Trust for Ornithology are running an ongoing project to count garden birds. You don't have to be an expert to take part.

sorry if I've waffled on too long and hope it is of some use.

just sit back and enjoy the birds.

Pete

HI Becky,
neat & tidy yuk the birds love a bit of rough, it gives them shelter
and your brambles will help with food as in berries, nettles will
attract butterfly, while other plants will entice bees. I think Pete
has given you about as much info as you will need so good luck
and good birding.
bert

Hello again and thankyou for your replies.

I hope you dont all think my garend is a neglected jungle becuase its in fact far from that. I will elaborate on it a bit. The grass is cutdown when i think it needs it and the really big weeds get cut down or pulled up and i know (from discussion with a neighbour) that my fgardening isdeas arent too everyones taste but i really like the way it all knits together. the nettles and things fill up the gaps between the the bigger shrubs like holly and the other hedges, the dandelions grow in the grass. Ok i know my pyracantha needs cutting back but i'm not brave enough to go near the huge thorns on that one. The brambles give us our jam, in fact last year i made well over 20lb of it and ended up giving half of it away. so far this years crop has produced 8 lb with maybe another 10 lb more to come by the looks of it. Thenthere are the roses and buddleia bushes, the laburnum and a lot more that i can't give the names of, not to forget my lily of the valley which grows all over the place. i think it'd be a revelation to me if i ever found out just what does grow in there. Its really nice as well for my daughter and her friends to run about in and breakfast outside in the summer is a lovely experience. (bert - ) i do get many more bees than i do butterflies, with many different sorts as well, not all the same. , i dont know what they are called though.

It feels alive and natural, relaxing amd that is how i like it.

The but of it is - but i dont know a lot about the birds except some of the common onbes. We get blackbirds, starling and sparrows also a thrush every now and again. i'm sure robins must come in as well.

Pete please waffle as much as you want, its interesting and all new t me. Odd how i spend so long outside and out in the countryside but never really thought to pay more interest in the birdlife. Yes theere is cover for them, definitely plenty of it.

I am going to buy a couple more feeders and put where we can see them this time and i've bought a book today so hopefully soon i'll have a better idea whats there.

thanks again for the replies

sounds like an ideal garden