Flocking back to the feeders. (1 Viewer)

today I've had the greatest variety of birds in my garden for months.
goldfinches at least 5, greenfinches at least 5, blackbirds 2, sparrows at least 5, woodpigeon 1, starling1 (with more outside the garden) and blue tit. If only the BGBW was this weekend.

That is good news Ant!

I too noticed the garden seemed busier this morning, they must have been sheltering from the snow and preserving their energy for the last couple of days.

I was pleased as punch this morning to have a Songthrush visit, only briefly as one of the Blackbirds chased him off, but he defiantly flew to the top of a conifer a couple of houses away and began to sing his head off, it was lovely!

Hi Ant,
The snow did produce some interesting behaviour, I was surprised by a big flock of Goldfinch appearing on a tree, I always get 4/6 visiting the feeders but there must have been 20+ together.

Also, Tits & Chaffinches took advantage of the little bits of food I was putting out for the ground feeders.
I kept up a constant supply throughout the day because the snow was very heavy. By the afternoon I had all of the above plus Jackdaws, Blackbirds, Songthrush, Robins & Starlings all feeding on the varandah. It was great!

It's all back to normal today, with everyone visiting their normal feeders.
(I think the Blackbirds are pleased!)

Your right about the B.C. Ant, talk about ***'s law!

Thats great news Ant. My gardens business as usual, going through sunflower hearts like nobodys business!. We havent had any snow here, just sleet. I hope they stick around for you now that they're back.


Best wishes

First Siskins 4 days ago, no Greenfinches though and Chaffinch numbers down. Anyone else notice Greenfich decline(canker?)

Stewart

There has been a slow decline in Greenfinch numbers in my garden, maybe over past 2 or 3 years. They were daily visitors once upon a time, but no longer. Infrequent visitors now. Having said that I do still see large flocks of them locally so perhaps not doing too badly.

I have usually had the odd Siskin and Bullfinch and less often Blackcap visit by now, but it seems they just don't need the feed during this mild winter. I have a general impression that the garden is not quite so busy these days, but having said that when I took an hour out to do the BGBW I noticed all the old favs were still visiting in number. I am getting far more Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves these days. They must be spreading the word! I am sure I have the best fed Wood Pigeons in the north.

Cheers

Lots of birds here too.

We had a flock of 32 Robins this morning! All on the front porch. They had cleaned out the holly bushes last week of all the berries and they waited.

I put out a smorgasbord of food ... chopped up apples, chopped grapes, a mix of warm Nutri-Start baby bird food + equal parts of ZuPreem Fruit pellets for Finches and Canaries + jarred Gerber baby food (chicken), Purina Puppy Chow softened with water, Krazy Korn ~ Rainforest Rice Pudding~ (a cooked mix of veggies and fruits for parrots and others), a can of Pedigree Dog food. LOL! I also put out some fruit cocktail with the syrup drained. (No artificial sweeteners.)

The Robins came before I left and cleaned out the chopped grapes then started to work on the chopped apples and then the Krazy Korn and Pedigree canned food.

The Dark- eyed Juncos came and cleaned out the Nutri-Start baby bird cereal mix with the Carolina Wrens! They also were eating some of the canned and moistened dry dog food.

The Blue-Jays and Cardinals came and tried to finished off the Krazy Korn and the canned dog food.

The Starling *~*Finally*~* had a chance to come in and they are feasting on the moistened Pedigree dry food and the Krazy Korn.

The Robins and Cardinals finished off the fruit cocktail!

There was a lot more activity at the front of the house with all these foods rather than the backyard with the seed and nut mixes and all that suet.

The Red-bellied WPs, the Downy WPs, the Brown Creepers, Nuthatch and Chickadee(dee-dee) stayed on the backyard and were enjoying their usual breakfast of suet and the nut mixes.

By grinding / smearing the bark of several trees with the various suet we found a lot more birds are able to feed at the same time rather than having to wait their turn to peck at some suet that is hanging here and there.

The House and Red Finches and the House Sparrows stayed at the feeders and enjoyed their seeds.

Later in the early afternoon I saw a Cooper's Hawk finishing off his lunch ... a wee Dark-eyed Junco! What's a Junco going to do for a Hawk? That's like eating a potato chip for him!

Many Gulls flying over the garden. Probably Ring-billed and Herring Gulls as they are the most common here. There were 6 Ducks, not sure what species, and many Canada Geese overhead too.

Lydia

Here the Woodies have started drumming which is always a sign that Spring is on the way (even though there's a frost this morning!) and the table is busy with the House Sparrows (still numerous. Live-in variety !) Chaffinches, Blue and Great Tits, Nutchatches, Greenfinches and Yellow Hammers. There are two pairs of Blackbirds and sundry Robins who spend their time avoiding each other and visiting odds and ends such as Wood Pigeons, Magpies and other plunderers including,now and again, a Sparrow Hawk which does grab the occasional victim. The ironing doesn't get done very well as this , and some of you know already, is my view from the ironing board!!!