Infrequent garden visitors (1 Viewer)

[ChrisKten]

There's a few birds that only visit my garden now and again. It doesn't matter what I do, I can't tempt them to visit regularly. In my case, the main reason is the large number of Starlings, they can put off some birds.

But it's not just the Starlings, a female Great Spotted Woodpecker isn't scared of the Starlings, but I don't see her often. She turns up for a few days, feeds on the Fat Balls and the Peanuts, then disappears, often for weeks. She even brought a juvenile with her once or twice last year.

Chaffinches and Robins are the same, sometimes I don't see them for weeks on end. Blackbirds can visit for weeks, then just stop visiting.

I see or hear all of those birds locally, but they just refuse to visit my garden. Obviously at certain times of the year natural food is plentiful, but that doesn't stop all the other birds visiting every day.

So, do you have any birds that you see in your garden every year, but not frequently?


(BTW, I'm more than happy with the regular visitors)

 

[*Amber*]

Yeah me too, I see birds sometimes and not others, bur I just put it down to the time of year. They don't seem to be there in the Summer months when they're busy with babies and there's plenty of food elsewhere.

 

[Bananafishbones]

Chris

Currently my list of "infrequent" or now and again but most definatly more than one off visitors are:

Sparrowhawk
Long Tail Tit
Bullfinch
GS Woodpecker
Song Thrush
Grey Heron
Buzzard (flyovers)

Guaranteed Seasonal visitors:
Redwing
Fieldfare
Chaffinch (must currently be seasonal as I used to get upto a dozen everyday)
Siskin
Swift
Redpoll
B H Gull
Goldcrest
Coal tit
Great tit

Then I have the following that are absolute regular or daily visitors:
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Blue tit
Starling
Feral Pigeon
Blackbird
Carrion crow
Housesparrow
Dunnock
Jackdaw
Rook
Magpie
Robin

Then I have had some nice one offs such as:
Brambling
Mistle thrush
Wren

Just dont know how to catorgorise the Kestrels recent visits (time will tell)

There is a lot going on here in East Cheshire when you add it all up

Dave

 

[ChrisKten]

Thanks for replying Amber, Dave.

That's a lot of different birds Dave, I'm guessing you don't live on a housing estate like I do.|=)|

My daily visitors, all year round, are:

Sparrows
Starlings
Pigeons
Collard Doves
Wood Pigeons
Crows
Jays
Magpies
Gulls (only flyovers, no idea which species they are, but at least 3 different I think)
Sparrowhawks (not every day, but very often. They only disappear for a few weeks in the Spring)

My infrequent visitors are:

Goldcrests
GSWs
Chaffinches
Robins
Dunnocks (I've seen none this year)
Wren (in the bush at the back of my garden, not at feeders)
Great Tits
Blue Tits

Birds that only ever visited once:

Turtle Dove (a couple of years ago amongst the Collard Doves)
GreenFinches (2 at the feeders until the Sparrows spotted them)
Goldfinch (a juvenile last year. I had to post in the ID forum as it looked like a tennis ball)

Something annoying about the one-off visitors, I have only rubbish pictures of all of them.|=)|

I think that's it.

 

[Bananafishbones]

Hi Chris

Still on an estate, however quite close to a School that has a vast exspanse of playing fields, then we have the middlewood way (an old railline converted into a nice habitat for wildlife, walkers, cyclists) 1/2 male away, this runs along side the canal and then 6 miles of farmland between us and Macclesfield, so overall a good habitat all fairly local to my garden!

 

[ChrisKten]

Hi Chris

Still on an estate, however quite close to a School that has a vast exspanse of playing fields, then we have the middlewood way (an old railline converted into a nice habitat for wildlife, walkers, cyclists) 1/2 male away, this runs along side the canal and then 6 miles of farmland between us and Macclesfield, so overall a good habitat all fairly local to my garden!

Hello again Dave (I just posted a reply to you in the other thread |=)|).

I'm lucky as well as I have a bit of overgrown wasteland at the back of my garden; there's also a few Oak trees near me. I think it's all the bushes and trees that attracts many of the birds. But there's nowhere near as many species as you get locally.

Although Walthamstow Reservoirs is only half a mile from me, so there's plenty of Ducks/Geese/Cormorants/Terns/Herons/Grebes etc.

 

[Dot Potter]

I too some very regular visitors:

We have a large number of both Sparrows and Starlings can devour the complete bird feeding station in a day. We also have a Magpie who pops in daily - and being by the sea we have the regular Herring Gulls nesting on the roofs. Pigeons and a couple of Collarded Doves are evening visitors.

However, in nearby gardens they have their own regulars of Blue tits, Goldfinches and Greenfinches. These have been spotted popping into see us on only the odd occassion - whereas our neighbours 4/5 doors away see them daily.

I have tried Niger seeds to tempt a few of the "neighbours regulars" over the fence but so far no luck.

 

[ChrisKten]

I too some very regular visitors:

We have a large number of both Sparrows and Starlings can devour the complete bird feeding station in a day. We also have a Magpie who pops in daily - and being by the sea we have the regular Herring Gulls nesting on the roofs. Pigeons and a couple of Collarded Doves are evening visitors.

However, in nearby gardens they have their own regulars of Blue tits, Goldfinches and Greenfinches. These have been spotted popping into see us on only the odd occassion - whereas our neighbours 4/5 doors away see them daily.

I have tried Niger seeds to tempt a few of the "neighbours regulars" over the fence but so far no luck.

Hi Dot,

Your neighbours' birds might drift over to your garden, it only takes one to find the food, the rest soon follow.

Interestingly, one of the species that I said hasn't been back, paid me a visit a few days ago (Greenfinches). So you never know what's going to visit, or when.

 

[Disneynut1973]

The birds that visit infrequently are -

Greenfinch
Chaffinch
Coal Tit
Long Tailed Tits
Goldcrest (only seen once)
Grey Wagtail (few times over winter)
Mistle Thrush
Magpie
Sparrowhawk (only seen once a couple of years back)
Wren (a few times last year not seen once this year)

Frequent visitors

Blue Tit
Great Tit
Goldfinch
Robin
Dunnock
Starling
House Sparrow
Blackbirds
Woodpigeons
Collared Doves
Swifts (flyovers)

I think that's all!

 

[Euan Buchan]

In Januray this year I had a Pheasent but birds I don't see that often are Robins,Chaffinches & Greenfinches. I used to get lots of Robins at my feeder.

 

[Dot Potter]

Isnt it always the same - spend my time on here moaning I dont get other visitors - 2 days later the Goldfinch finally finds the Nyger seed. It seems patience does pay off :

 

[Davebutterflyman]

Had an infrequent visitor today in the shape of a male Bullfinch which was a lovely surprise.I'll get round to doing a frequent list but in the meantime these are some of our infrequent visitors...

Bullfinch
Sparrowhawk
Jay
Pied wagtail
Long tailed tit
Great spotted woodpecker


Dave.

 

[ChrisKten]

Had an infrequent visitor today in the shape of a male Bullfinch which was a lovely surprise.I'll get round to doing a frequent list but in the meantime these are some of our infrequent visitors...

Bullfinch
Sparrowhawk
Jay
Pied wagtail
Long tailed tit
Great spotted woodpecker


Dave.

Hi Dave,

Well there's three I've never seen in my garden: Bullfinch, Pied Wagtail, and Long Tailed Tit, good for you to see them in the garden.

 

[carjug]

How many TREES do you have? Trees equal woodpeckers.

 

[ChrisKten]

How many TREES do you have? Trees equal woodpeckers.

Not sure who you are asking, but I'll answer anyway.

I have 2 Trees (or are "TREES" different ) in my garden. One of my neighbours also has a tree that's intertwined with one of mine.

 

[JeffMoh]

We used to get regular visits from Tufted Titmouse, one of my favourite birds, but I see one maybe twice a year now. I think it's because there's been a lot of new development in our area over the past 2-3 years and too many oak trees have been cut down.
Jeff

 

[TheSeagull]

A Great Tit visited my feeder about an hour after it was up. Never seen it again. Same with Blue Tit. Tree Sparrow once without a feeder. And had a Robin in my garden twice this week but never went to the feeder or the seed on the ground.

 

[SteveC_07]

I've pretty much given up trying to figure out why some birds never seem to leave while others just stop by every so often. For the last month or so, I've had a female Red-Bellied Woodpecker show up about once a week. She won't touch the suet or peanuts but instead goes straight to the mixed seed hopper where she absolutely shovels in the seeds. She doesn't peck them up, she scoops up a mouthful, then tips her head back to swallow. (She looks like me going after cheesecake) To watch her eat you'd have to assume it's her favorite thing ever, but why she only stops by once a week is beyond me.

 

[JeffMoh]

I've pretty much given up trying to figure out why some birds never seem to leave while others just stop by every so often. For the last month or so, I've had a female Red-Bellied Woodpecker show up about once a week. She won't touch the suet or peanuts but instead goes straight to the mixed seed hopper where she absolutely shovels in the seeds. She doesn't peck them up, she scoops up a mouthful, then tips her head back to swallow. (She looks like me going after cheesecake) To watch her eat you'd have to assume it's her favorite thing ever, but why she only stops by once a week is beyond me.

I've often wondered about this, too. The only answer I can think of is that some birds (though not my White-winged Doves or House Finches) must deliberately exercise self-control. Perhaps they regard some feeders in the way that we regard favorite restaurants and they don't want to visit them so often that they become boring and banal.

Jeff
www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com

 

[SteveC_07]

Perhaps they regard some feeders in the way that we regard favorite restaurants and they don't want to visit them so often that they become boring and banal.

Jeff
www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com

I noticed another very interesting thing a few days ago - All year, until about a month ago, I had lots of Am Goldfinches at my feeders, then they completely disappeared. Two days ago I was birding in an abandoned, overgrown pasture just 200 yards west of my house and there were Goldfinches everywhere. My guess is that all the wild seeds are now prime for the picking and the birds (except the lazy one - doves, House Sparrows, and House Finches) prefer homegrown over store-bought.