My garden bird (singular) (1 Viewer)

digi-birder

Well-known member

• Dec 5, 2004

• #1

We just moved into our new house three weeks ago (is it really that long?) and, as you may know, gardens in brand new houses are not that pretty. We brought a few plants and trees from the old house that were already in pots, which we've placed outside the kitchen door, but other than that it's bare soil.

Over the bottom fence, in some existing established gardens, there are some shrubs and a holly tree. This morning at breakfast time I was watching a Mistle Thrush coming down for the berries and chasing other birds away. Later, as we stood on the patio with our coffee, we watched a flock of Jackdaws and Crows flying around making their usual racket.

The other day I threw some old bread out a little way down the garden and thought that maybe the birds coming to the holly tree would pop down for some bread - obviously the berries were too tempting for them to notice. But during this morning, while we were busy sorting out some more boxes in the kitchen, I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, something move down the garden. As it was against the black soil, it was difficult to see, but there it was - a Blackbird eating the bread!! My first garden tick in the new house!!!!

Can't wait till we can get the garden planned and sorted, but the inside of the house seems to be taking forever at the moment.

 

KC Foggin

Very, very long time member

Supporter

• Dec 5, 2004

• #2

Yeah, resales are much better in the garden respect Diane.

Congrats on your first yard tick. I ticked my 30th yesterday. Not bad since Sept. 1st.

Soon as you get some feeders up and it gets cold, you should still see a lot of action I would think. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you for the birds..not for the cold.

 

deboo

.............

• Dec 5, 2004

• #3

Well that's a start Diane...
We've got Sparrows positively dripping out of the trees and I can't fill the feeders quick enough!!...Our house is only 4 years old..and I was pleased to see a little mouse come out from under the shed to feed on the dropped seeds. My garden list is...oh, I dunno, not alot but I don't care really!...Just pleased to help the local Sparrow population and Trevor (the mouse).

Dave.

 

alan_rymer

Well-known member

• Dec 5, 2004

• #4

Well done Diane.
Whats next?.
Crows and Jackdaws to keep it colour themed? ( also a bit covenish too!) .
The Cauldron would come in useful as a birdbath, any drownings could be used in the potions:eek!:.
:flowers:

 

Last edited: Dec 5, 2004

digi-birder

Well-known member

• Dec 5, 2004

• #5

Cheers, KC.

That's not a bad result for you in such a short time. I doubt we'll get that many. It will be interesting to see what does come around, as it's such a different area from where we were before. In the summer, when we were coming up to see the progress on the house, we could hear Skylarks and a Yellowhammer quite close on the site to where our house is. Never had those in the garden before. We're also quite close to a few nature reserves, so we've had geese fly over and I'm sure a flock of small waders flew over this morning, but I'm not able to say exactly what they were - sounded a bit like Redshank.

 

IanF

Moderator

• Dec 5, 2004

• #6

A nice bird to start with Diane. I always like to see Blckbirds in the garden :t:

 

pduxon

Quacked up Member

• Dec 5, 2004

• #7

Haven't seen a blackbird in my garden in ages - starlings and sparrows, starlings and sparrows. Starlings seem to like raisins and currants little devils were sitting on the roofs waiting for me last Sunday.

I can see you're preparing us though for a garden skylark!!

 

digi-birder

Well-known member

• Dec 5, 2004

• #8

Dave - I'm sure the sparrows will come in time, once we get some feeders up. I wish I could have brought a few from the previous place - we had at least 50 visiting the garden. As you say, you can't feed them quickly enough!

Alan - yes, the Crows would look good sitting alongside me while I stir the cauldron! I would have to keep a very close eye on the garden at present if all we had were black birds. We will probably be adding some colour in due course, though.

 

digi-birder

Well-known member

• Dec 5, 2004

• #9

pduxon said:

I can see you're preparing us though for a garden skylark!!

Click to expand...

I can live in hope! Do they like sunflower seed!!! :bounce:

 

Andrew

wibble wibble

• Dec 5, 2004

• #10

Bare soil? Bet you when you sow the grass seeds you will get more birds than you want!

 

samuel walker

It's OK to be a little blue........

• Dec 5, 2004

• #11

Hi Diane:Congrats on the new house.We moved into ours back in May.I was able to watch the place while working on it in April and was a little worried with the lack of bird activity.We improved the garden throughout the Sping and Summer and set up a feed station.They have come.I did notice that we are the only feeders in our immediate area.I finished a brush pile for them this weekend.The station is so well used by the little guys the hawks prowl nearby.You can make a birdy place if yours is the only one.Good luck on building up your garden list.
Sam

 

KC Foggin

Very, very long time member

Supporter

• Dec 6, 2004

• #12

samuel walker said:

I finished a brush pile for them this weekend. Sam

Click to expand...

Sam, I started a brush pile in a corner of the yard a couple of months back. Just all the choking vines I had cut down and back. I can't tell you how much that pile has become a source of sparrows and juncos.

 

digi-birder

Well-known member

• Dec 6, 2004

• #13

Andrew - we won't be having much grass, and it will probably be laid as turf strips rather than seeding it. In fact we were debating whether to have any grass at all. We removed it all at the old house and made it low maintenance with shingle and plants in pots.

Sam - I haven't noticed many others feeding birds around here, but then again it is a very new estate. When we were renting the apartment at the other side of the estate, while waiting for our house to be completed, I noticed a house behind us with a peanut feeder on the fence. In the whole of the two months we were there, the peanuts never appeared to be visited by the birds, despite the fact that there was an existing estate over the boundary wall and I could see and hear lots of sparrows and robins in the established bushes and shrubs. Similarly, we are on the edge of the estate and the garden over the wall from us has lots of shrubs, so we may be able to encourage the birds over once we get all the feeders up. We may get one or two out of the garage and put some up temporarily while deciding on the garden design. We brought them with us from the other house, leaving one to hopefully encourage the new resident to continue feeding.

We'll be working on the garden design soon and already have some idea of what we need to do to encourage wildlife. We'll definitely be having a pond and Keith has an idea to plant a hedgerow down one side of the garden, partly to hide the ubiquitous wooden fence.

 

Gill Osborne

Well-known member

• Dec 6, 2004

• #14

I'm sure the garden list will soon build up...especially once the feeders go up and the local birds suss out that they are there! In our last place in the middle of urban North Shields it took about a week for the birds to arrive..except for the blue Tits...they appeared within hours! But it was virtually two YEARS before I ticked my first Chaffinch....got dozens of them in our new place!
I had a table, bird bath and about four feeders....mainly mixed wild bird seed and one of niger seed which seemed to be visited by the Goldfinches all day. We didn't bother with putting peanuts out as our birds didn't seem to be too bothered by them...preferred the unlimited seed every time!
Now I live in the countyside and have had Treecreepers, Coal Tits, GS Woodpecker, Siskin, Yellowhammer and Goldcrest around the cottage..as well as the commoner garden species. Have only just got around to putting the feeders out and placing the big stone bath as we didn't know how long we would be here but now that it looks as though we may be here at least until early summer I'm going to get the feeders out to help the birds get through the winter. They probably DON'T need it as we live just yards from a farm but it's lovely to see what turns up!

GILL

 

E

Elizabeth Bigg

Addicted member

• Dec 6, 2004

• #15

digi-birder said:

We'll be working on the garden design soon and already have some idea of what we need to do to encourage wildlife. We'll definitely be having a pond and Keith has an idea to plant a hedgerow down one side of the garden, partly to hide the ubiquitous wooden fence.

Click to expand...

Diane - you're lucky to have a wooden fence!!! We've had three new houses, all on new estates, but we didn't get such posh things! All we got was a chain link "fence" each time. Our latest (and definitely last!!!!) move gave us an established garden of grass, and little else - but the interwoven fence at the bottom of the garden was a favourite with the bluetits - they seemed to spend a long time looking for creatures in it.

 

pauco

Старлин&

• Dec 6, 2004

• #16

Diane, once you get that pond in and a few feeders up i bet you see a difference, the pond alone will be a big attraction, good luck, it can only get better.