Very busy at the bird feeder today! (6 Viewers)

[Dan123]

I have to say Gulls I never normally report, though there is always hundreds flying around where we live, as the school is literally next door to us so they hover around for scraps. They always circle over the garden and back to the school, yes, we are that close to my old school lol

Anybody know what you can feed them with to get them to actually land in the garden? They must have seen food in my garden by now, there has always been Gulls flying around. I have heard bread, but isnt bread bad for birds?

 

[Bananafishbones]

I have to say Gulls I never normally report, Anybody know what you can feed them with to get them to actually land in the garden? I have heard bread, but isnt bread bad for birds?

Bread will do the trick... although I havent yet enticed a GBB Gull down onto lawn... BH Gull, LBB Gull & Common Gull all drop down regularly if I put enough out.

Make it Brown or wholemeal if you can.... toast, crusts etc will do... better than putting it in the bin, white bread doesnt have much nutritional value for them

 

[Busybee]

I never count gulls overhead either but they are always around as I live close to the sea. Yesterday, however, I saw hundreds flying over at the same time, most unusual. I suppose they were herring gulls but I really don't know.

My husband cleaned the feeders the other day and found we had run out of sunflower hearts so he thought he would put the black sunflower seeds in the feeder instead. A couple of goldfinches landed on it and quickly disappeared again. We didn't see another one that day, even on the nygers. The next day we bought some more hearts and refilled the feeder again. Within 1 minute of my husband coming in there were 4 goldies down. How fussy is that?

I have 3 dunnocks chasing each other all over the garden this morning, 3 doves keep landing on the grass. Do you think there are a couple of gooseberries amongst them?

 

[Larry Lade]

Our AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES which we have in our yard relish the black oil sunflower seed just as much as they like the nyger seed. We have been having as many as 40 of the goldfinches coming to our feeders. It is a little difficult to get an accurate count as they are always "coming and going", but there seem to be around 20-25 pretty consistently!

 

[Bananafishbones]

Our AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES which we have in our yard relish the black oil sunflower seed just as much as they like the nyger seed. We have been having as many as 40 of the goldfinches coming to our feeders. It is a little difficult to get an accurate count as they are always "coming and going", but there seem to be around 20-25 pretty consistently!

Larry, it took me days to get a positive count on the Lesser Redpolls as they jostled for position on the feeders and kept flitting back to higher branches... then some would fly to ground... some just out of sight...lol

You get to watch the characteristics of them very well though.


Here today:
Mealy Redpoll
14 Lesser Redpoll.... numbers dwindling now, way down on the 30-40+ that were showing daily about 2 weeks ago
3 Siskin
GBB Gull again
Coal tits more active
Goldfinch numbers rising again now the Redpolls are lowering
Starlings getting more aggressive with everything

 

[Jos Stratford]

Minus 24 this morning, same or colder to come ...but beautiful blue crisp days, bringing a sparkle to the snow. Yellowhammers on the up in the garden, six with the Tree Sparrows todays. Two Bullfinches in the garden too, not at the feeders unfortunately.

Sat on a snow pile a while to get a few photographs, one of the Crested Tits below.

 

[Jaff]

A pair of Buzzards flying lowish over the house again today. I think the roofs around here might create some thermals for them on sunny days as that's typically when they seem to appear.

 

[Jos Stratford]

A couple more shots from the garden today - Nuthatch on the roof, Yellowhammer in the back garden.

 

[turkish van]

First morning watching the garden for a while and everything was hanging about in pairs - Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Green, Gold and Bullfinches, Dunnocks and Siskins. Chasing each other through the trees. Spring.... just round the corner!

No sign of the Redpolls of a couple of weeks ago, nor Stan the Starling, my faithful daily visitor in the nasty weather. Nice to see the garden so bustley though.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Spring.... just round the corner!

Shut up!

 

[turkish van]

Shut up!

What? Is it still cold over there? No shoots popping through or catkins opening yet?

 

[bongofury]

14 Lesser Redpoll.... numbers dwindling now, way down on the 30-40+ that were showing daily about 2 weeks ago

I'm noticing the same too, although its only breakfast viewing at the moment. Siskin numbers are going up though.

A couple more shots from the garden today - Nuthatch on the roof, Yellowhammer in the back garden.

Superb photos.

 

[Jos Stratford]

What? Is it still cold over there? No shoots popping through or catkins opening yet?

To cut through this ice, reckon they'd need to be diamond-tipped shoots!

 

[turkish van]

To cut through this ice, reckon they'd need to be diamond-tipped shoots!

Well don't moan too much, we all know that as soon as your spring hits you'll be regaling us with tales of storks, bee-eaters, butterflies and other such jaw-dropping things!

 

[theconstantwalker]

Shut up!

Lol:-O:-O:-O :t:

 

[JeffMoh]

Here in Missouri the temperature has moderated somewhat and quite a bit of the snow has melted. The number of individual birds has lessened but we are still getting quite a few species regularly. Yesterday we observed fifteen species in our yard. Here is a list in somewhat of the order in which they were seen.
1. American Goldfinch
2. House Finch
3. American Robin
4. European Startling
5. Dark-eyed Junco
6. Carolina Wren (first one in our yard this year!)
7. Tufted Titmouse
8. White-breasted Nuthatch
9. Red-bellied Woodpecker
10. Downy Woodpecker
11. Blue Jay
12. House Sparrow
13. Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted race)
14. Northern Cardinal
15. Black-capped Chickadee

Today we had most of the same, plus Mourning Dove. But we did not see the Carolina Wren or the Red-bellied Woodpecker or the Northern Flicker.

Our normal daily yard list has a lot of overlap with yours, Larry: Goldfinch, House Finch, C Wren, Red-bellied WP, Downy WP, B Jay, H Sparrow, N Cardinal, Chickadee (tho' ours is Carolina) plus sometimes M Doves.

Am Robins are occasional and Tufted Titmice hardly ever visit now. We've always had lots of Chipping Sparrows every day but this winter we've had only a couple now and then.

Unfortunately, we don't get N Flicker, Dark-eyed Junco or W-b Nuthatch. We don't get E Staring either.

On the other hand, we don't go a winter day without Ruby-crowned Kinglet and three Warblers (Yellow-rumped, Orange-crowned, Pine). And we never go a day any time without N Mockingbird and White-winged Doves.

Most winters seem to bring one unusual species. A couple of years ago it was Red-breasted Nuthatch. This year it's Pine Siskins.

Yesterday I visited a local yard that keeps blooming plants and hummingbird feeders all year. Amazingly, their current visitors include 6 types of hummer, though the only one I saw during a brief stop there yesterday was Allen's.

Jeff
www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com



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[wildlifelove]

UPDATE! Alive! I have been out all day and got back home about 30 minuets ego and have had non stop bird's on the feeders, starlings, sparrows, robin, blue tits, doves! MAD. and there is loads of them. Counted about 13 starlings s and they only eat the fat balls and only have a small feeder with them in. Hopefully il do a blog about them later.

 

[captaincarot]

Shut up!

saw my first flowering crocus today 8-P

 

[Jos Stratford]

saw my first flowering crocus today 8-P

Heading a little north tomorrow, forecast for one stop en route now minus 30, Crocus a little way off.

 

[Jaff]

I notice all the thrushes in the area seem to have departed but still getting some Brambling in the garden. I wonder how long it'll be before they're gone too.