• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Very busy at the bird feeder today! (7 Viewers)

Had a brand new visitor tothe garden today. A Woodcock.
It did not stop, just attempted to land and then spooked, but hopefully it might return.
Lots and lots of activity. The number of Goldfinches continues to rise (between 15 and 20) and the number of chaffinches has also gone up to over a dozen. Two Pied Wagtails have started to visit and they stay for at least an hour at a time, not spooking as readily as many of the others. Starlings continue to eat me out of house and home, but I do not begrudge them a crumb in this weather.
All the other usual residents are around most of the day, including dunnocks, robins greenfinches blue, great and coal tits, blackbirds woodpidgeons, collared doves and jackdaws. The wren is around most days but more difficult to spot.
As I look out, something must have frightened the birds. The only one in the garden is - yes, one of the wagtails. He's sitting on a plant pot, busily waving away and ignoring whatever is making everything else nervous. (probably a cat).
When I see all the birds relying on my feeders to survive in this cold weather, it makes me feel quite humble.
 
Jos Stratford said:
Rather cool here, minus 21 now forecast for a couple of days time.

Pygmy Owl at the feeding station again yesterday, a right stunner. And a Sparrowhawk harrying the birds at the feeders in my garden. Bird numbers up and up, Impressive numbers of Willow Tits, almost outnumbering Marsh Tits at my cabin site.
Click to expand...

you've got some great visitors there Jos. Have you managed a picture of the owl yet ? ;)
 
JeffMoh said:
The last two of our "normal" winter yardbirds turned up on Saturday afternoon, when a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a Pine Warbler flew onto the feeders outside our livingroom windows. They flew onto the feeders at exactly the same time - and when I was standing two feet away (indoors).

Had a nice morning's birding yesterday at a newish (to me) local site. Warm and sunny and 34 species in two hours. Confirmed for me that I much prefer winter birding here to winter birding in the UK!

Jeff
www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com
Click to expand...

lucky you Jeff :-C its -15 here. Has there ever been snow recorded in Texas ? :-O
I hadn't realised that you have your feeders so close to you . No wonder you get such impressive images :t:
 
earleybird said:
lucky you Jeff :-C its -15 here. Has there ever been snow recorded in Texas ? :-O
I hadn't realised that you have your feeders so close to you . No wonder you get such impressive images :t:
Click to expand...

We don't get much snow in this part of Texas. It can get cold, though. Last winter we had several nights of frost and one at something like -5C. Terrible! Of course it's much colder in north Texas - but that's 700 miles from here.

Last year we hung two seed feeders and a suet feeder a foot outside our livingroom window, so we would notice birds even if we were being couch potatoes. It's worked really well. The feeders are so close to the glass that the birds don't hurt themselves even if they fly into the glass. Our residents are very used to us now and new arrivals adapt quickly.

Jeff
www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com
 
JeffMoh said:
We don't get much snow in this part of Texas. It can get cold, though. Last winter we had several nights of frost and one at something like -5C. Terrible! Of course it's much colder in north Texas - but that's 700 miles from here.

Last year we hung two seed feeders and a suet feeder a foot outside our livingroom window, so we would notice birds even if we were being couch potatoes. It's worked really well. The feeders are so close to the glass that the birds don't hurt themselves even if they fly into the glass. Our residents are very used to us now and new arrivals adapt quickly.

Jeff
www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com
Click to expand...

I wouldn't have thought that possible.:eek!: I am definitely going to start placing food closer to my windows. I have been racking my brains to think how I can bring instant trees and shrubs to my windows but I may not need to. With this cold snap they may be easier to entice a little closer than they would generally be comfortable with.

How I clear the condensation from my single glazed windows for clear photography is another matter entirely :-C
 
Thanks CB, Doctor said Food Poisoning, starting to feel better, Anyway a garden watch produced 4 Robins,all chasing each other also 1 was fighting with a Dunnock, 2 Magpies, 2 Redwings decided to have a feed in my hawthorns along with 6 Blackbirds. 4 Wood Pigeons and 3 Collared Doves too, 1 of the Doves decided to scrap with a Pigeon Too! Must be something in the air, an adult Greenfinch was giving a juvenile bird a really hard time at the feeders, dive bombing it every time it landed on the feeder. There 8 other greenfinches, up to 20 chaffinches around too and 6 Goldfinch. The 2 Moorhens visited again throughout the day too. 2 Sparrowhawks over, and heard a Buzzard mewing.

A couple of birds missing for a while now, Wren and Willow Tit, I wonder what has happened to them, Hopefully they will appear soon.
 
Jos Stratford said:
I get over three months without water ;)

But not any more, drilled for my own this autumn just gone - once all connected (which will not be until spring now this cold has arrived), I advance into the C 21st ...or beyond the C 16th at least :t:
Click to expand...

And no water rates lol.:t: Nice one.:-O
 
Cheshire Birder said:
They seem to be getting very tame at the moment.
CB
Click to expand...

Yes CB a very trusting little bird. It was the first live bird i had handled since the 1960's when my Dad grew strawberries and had a net over the bed to keep the birds off. My brother and i were always releasing small birds and thinking back they were probably Hedge Sparrows now as you all know called Dunnocks. :t::t:
 
Last edited:
earleybird said:
I am definitely going to start placing food closer to my windows. I have been racking my brains to think how I can bring instant trees and shrubs to my windows but I may not need to. With this cold snap they may be easier to entice a little closer than they would generally be comfortable with.

How I clear the condensation from my single glazed windows for clear photography is another matter entirely :-C
Click to expand...

Condensation can be a problem.

There is a shed about 7 feet from the window and I've put a wisteria in front of that, so the birds can perch in the wisteria while deciding whether the feeders are safe to approach. There are trees behind the shed - so maybe 20 feet away from the feeders - but many of the birds like using the wisteria as a stop between the trees and the feeders.

Quite a lot of birds don't seem to worry about cover. They perch on the top of a fence that's off to one side of the windows/feeders before approaching. Odd, since they're totally exposed on the fence.

Jeff
 
Hi all, not been here for a while and don't get much chance to watch the garden either at the moment due to work :(

Well I think I may have seen a Willow Tit today? It didn't look like a Coal Tit, had a stunning black head like a Blackcap, and was more of a tan colour as well. Does this sound right and would i see one in the Midlands?

Never seen one before and i'm nearly 30!

Thanks

Will
 
Last edited:
:t:
will562 said:
Hi all, not been here for a while and don't get much chance to watch the garden either at the moment due to work :(

Well I think I may have seen a Willow Tit today? It didn't look like a Coal Tit, had a stunning black head like a Blackcap, and was more of a tan colour as well. Does this sound right and would i see one in the Midlands?

Never seen one before and i'm nearly 30!

Thanks

Will
Click to expand...

Great to see you posting again Will :t:

Try asking on the Warwickshire thread giving a more precise location and someone will certainly ID it for you on that alone mate...... good garden tick whichever one you had
Dave
 
The snow has now arrived. Quite intrested to see what pops in over the next few days. A record count of Redpolls (14+) would make my day though. Its still dark and I could hear loads of Blackbirds as I got out of the car.... (just home from working nights).
 
earleybird said:
I have been racking my brains to think how I can bring instant trees and shrubs to my windows
Click to expand...

You could plant some ;)

Or failing that, especially as a temporary winter solution, find suitable branches/trunks/thickets and 'plant' them dead where you need them. Some of my feeders hang from a three-metre tree that was actually felled by beavers elsewhere - it's been a happily growing there dead for two years now.
 
Jos Stratford said:
You could plant some ;)

Or failing that, especially as a temporary winter solution, find suitable branches/trunks/thickets and 'plant' them dead where you need them.
Click to expand...

nice idea Jos unfortunately we are in the middle of the harshest November on record so not ideal planting time lol:-O

What is needed for the Tits, Finches, Sparrows and the like is thick cover like a hedge or thicket . Open decideous trees would not be much help at the moment. There are lots of things to consider not least of which is damage to the house and FW drains from adjacent tree roots :-C

I'll have a look to see what fast growing thick bushy shrubs I might be able to plant next year but it will take a few years to grow to any size and you can't just plonk one of those in the middle of your lawn really ;)
 
earleybird said:
nice idea Jos unfortunately we are in the middle of the harshest November on record so not ideal planting time lol:-O

What is needed for the Tits, Finches, Sparrows and the like is thick cover like a hedge or thicket . Open decideous trees would not be much help at the moment. There are lots of things to consider not least of which is damage to the house and FW drains from adjacent tree roots :-C

I'll have a look to see what fast growing thick bushy shrubs I might be able to plant next year but it will take a few years to grow to any size and you can't just plonk one of those in the middle of your lawn really ;)
Click to expand...

Just a suggestion on fast growing "shrubs" for next year that you could plant close to the house and the birds can use as cover would be rose bushes. There are so many varieties to choose from with all the hybrids you could prob find some that would get quite bushy and be beautiful too. I have quite a few rugosas growing wild and I always see the birds hanging out in them, plus the thorns are a nice deterrent to cats ;)
 

Similar threads

J
My bird feeding area
2
Replies
20
Views
1K
JayFeatherPL
J
J
A Willow Warbler that thinks it is a blue-tit.
Replies
2
Views
575
John goshawk
J
I
Looking for a bird feeder for christmas
Replies
5
Views
614
Lisa W
Lisa W
L
Why no eggs?
Replies
1
Views
703
maplekong
M
M
How many feeders are too many?
Replies
2
Views
1K
Bossmanrocks
B

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 8 (members: 0, guests: 8)
Back
Top