Garden Birds chat 2011

sables2

Super pictures ppink of the Goldfinch and Greenfinch. Well taken

Rainbowsend

I feed all year round, as Ditch said Winter they need it to survive and Spring they need sustinance to keep their young fed. It does slow down a little during the summer/autumn months but there would still be a steady flow of birds on the feeders.

Flo with a view

ppink wrote: »

when do we stop feeding the little birds for the spring/summer or do you guys feed all year round?

Spring? Summer? Whatever makes you think we're anywhere near those mythological time? Didn't you notice February isn't half over yet?

I know that there is a tradition in this country that February is the first month of spring, but my suspicion has always been that that was a rumour started by primary school teachers. With 12 months in the year I think they felt it was untidy if you didn't divide them equally to give 4 months of 3 seasons, and of course Christmas had to fall neatly in the middle of winter, or it would contradict the Christmas Carols..........;)

Do keep the feeding up for the forseeable future!!!!!:pac::pac::pac::pac::pac:

ppink

Thanks guys.

on Mooney (I am sure it was his show) last year people were told not to feed little birds all year round hence my query.....in fact they said that peanuts were killing the chicks as they were not able to digest them. What do you guys think of that?

Rainbowsend

if the peanuts are in a fine mesh feeder, then only tiny bits can be taken at a time, never leave loose peanuts out at nesting time though. I have also watched Blut Tits which have nested in the garden and they tend to feed themselves on the peanuts, then go off catching insects to feed the chicks, I am not saying they never give the chicks peanuts but if the mesh is fine then only a small amount will be taken anyway.

Mothman

Yes, my understanding as well. The birds are clever and feed caterpillars to young and will opt for a quick snack for themselves if available. I don't feed during summer myself. I tried one year but the Greenfinches would have bankrupted me

Speaking of which, numbers of Greenfinches are up this week with 23 counted.

The Heron is enjoying the frogs. It's a wonder it can fly!
And Ditch, I'm getting tired of the tirade against Collared Dove. They have been around here for at least 25 years, and appear not any more plentiful now than 20 years ago. There appear to be far more feral pigeons. I've seen Collared Dove once in my garden, though there is a nesting pair in the local farmyard.

ppink

thanks that is interesting. i am not sure if I will feed or not, I suppose i will see what the interest is. like you Mothman they will bankrupt me too:D. i have gone through almost 20kg of peanuts in the last 2 months alone.

our birds seem to come in waves. always the robins/blackbirds/pheasants and bluetits but the finches might disappear for a week and then back again. the gold were here in the afternoons for a while then disappeared for a month until the nyger seed went up and now we have 8 of them all day. never had siskins until the nyger went up either....funny!

A male blackcap tried to come here yesterday but the female kept hunting him away, every time he landed. why is she doing this?

Half-cocked

ppink wrote: »

A male blackcap tried to come here yesterday but the female kept hunting him away, every time he landed. why is she doing this?

I can think of several sexist chauvenistic comments about nagging wives etc that would probably earn me an infraction if I were to post them in response to your query;)

carwash_2006

I was reading a book on garden birds one time and the suggestion in that was if you are going to stop/cut back on feeding, the time to do it is August, September, October. The logic in that book was that this is the time of year when there is the most natural food available and we should possibly encourage the birds to avail of this when it is there.

I believe there are some species of plant that are becoming less common because they need the birds to help spread their seeds, but that may just be hearsay.

whyulittle

Had a male siskin in the garden this evening, such a vibrant yellow!

littlebug

I'm 95% sure I saw a pair of long tailed tits fly through the garden yesterday. I've never seen them here before... lovely:)

ppink

Half-cocked wrote: »

I can think of several sexist chauvenistic comments about nagging wives etc that would probably earn me an infraction if I were to post them in response to your query;)

lol! I was thinking myself that she was taking over out there. the first couple of days after she arrived she hardly ate anything she was so busy trying to fight off everyone:D

whyulittle wrote: »

Had a male siskin in the garden this evening, such a vibrant yellow!

They are so nice! I never saw them before this week also.

littlebug wrote: »

I'm 95% sure I saw a pair of long tailed tits fly through the garden yesterday. I've never seen them here before... lovely:)

:eek:can you see them when they fly? most of the little birds are a blur to me in flight:)

I am seeing more this year than ever before of all the different types of birds. I am new to all this and never dreamed there were so many different types out there in my trees/hedges:D

littlebug

ppink wrote: »

:eek:can you see them when they fly? most of the little birds are a blur to me in flight:)

I also may have been wrong :rolleyes::o I suppose over time I've learned to recognise the shape and flight pattern and the pattern of the little birds I saw said tit to me (not literally:D) but there was a longer tail so I drew my conclusions. 95% sure might have been an overestimation.

I am seeing more this year than ever before of all the different types of birds. I am new to all this and never dreamed there were so many different types out there in my trees/hedges:D

I know what you mean. I remember that moment when I realised that birds weren't just different sizes of silhouette I think I spend more time looking up in the sky, into hedges and fields now when I'm walking/ running/ driving:eek: than I do looking ahead of me.

Connacht

Today, at last, my first Siskins of this winter - a male and female on the peanut feeder, upside down as per usual

Connacht

Looking at the Top 20 list from a few pages back :
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Blackcap
Coal Tit
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Magpie
Jackdaw
Rook
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Siskin
Blackcap is the only one I've never had in my garden. Never had a Long Tailed Tit either, but I gather both are pretty rare in the West. I've heard real birders from Mayo gasp when one of them reports a Blackcap.
And outside of the garden, Buzzards remain rare over here too, though the small number of reports is increasing alright. Maybe soon I'll have the pleasure.

Mothman

Connacht wrote: »

Today, at last, my first Siskins of this winter - a male and female on the peanut feeder, upside down as per usual

The upside down is a dead giveaway

A 2nd Little Grebe has arrived

The Heron had its breakfast earlier. See frog thread...

Bsal

I noticed a big increase in Chaffinch, House Sparrow and Starlings today. At one stage I had 25 Sparrows, 15 Chaffinches and 40 Starlings in the garden, it was a sight to behold

ppink

I am thinking a greenfinch for one ...but he is a LOT bigger/fatter than all my other ones.

Ditch

PPink; First one Is a greenfinch. Looks like a female. Also looks sick. I'm afraid that might be one more of the disappearing greenies

Bottom one's a male house sparrow, in sterling condition.

Note the differences? Sick birds puff up and get a dull and squinty eye.

ppink

Oh no! :(that is what I was thinking looking at her today. She has been coming for weeks now and can eat and fly ok but she is puffed out like a tennis ball on legs. what could be up with her i wonder, hope its nothing I gave her. she spending a lot of time just sitting and sometimes she will go to sleep on one of my hanging baskets.

House sparrow is cool! Fab pattern of colours:)

Ditch

PPink; I'd very much doubt it's a 'Dirty Bird Table' job. All birds are vulnerable to that syndrome.

No. I understand there's believed to be some species specific virus going around right now. Knocking over Greenfinches.

I'm afraid I don't know any more than that. I focus on my pet subjects and pick up bits and pieces of 'fringe' subjects. But, I'm sure a look at Google will throw up some stuff from the bird organisations. Else someone who's read and digested such might repeat it here for us?

Only trouble is ~ to my mind ~ we've never worked out what decimated the sparrows. Now it's greenies and we appear helpless again. What next? Chaffinches?

Makes one question what the hell's going on. Doesn't it?

trebor28

heres a link to the parasite what it does and what you can do.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/health/sickbirds/greenfinches.aspx

doesnt look good for the oul greenfinches, just have to hope that a few pockets survive it somewhere.

Ditch

Good man, Trebor! I'll have a look at that myself presently.

Sorry to say; Having seldom had many greenies here, I now really aren't seeing any at all Not good, is it? I only offer peanuts and they're probably The #1 Peanut fiends.

Rainbowsend

I had a really bad case of Trichomonosis early last year wiped out nearly all of my greenfinches, they are slowly returning but had a poorly one on Monday, best advice is stop feeding for a couple of weeks and clean all the feeders and feeding stations. It is a mite that is spread by saliva so eating and drinking will spread it like wildfire. A nasty way for the birds to go too as it restricts their throat so they cannot eat or drink so they either starve or choke to death.

ppink

thankyou guys. it is awful, I had no idea that birds suffered with that sort of thing. I will remove feed today and clean everything and wait. I still do have a lot of greenfinch so I want to protect them if I can.
Pity I cant catch her and have her treated.

padi89

ppink wrote: »

thankyou guys. it is awful, I had no idea that birds suffered with that sort of thing. I will remove feed today and clean everything and wait. I still do have a lot of greenfinch so I want to protect them if I can.
Pity I cant catch her and have her treated.

Nothing can be done for them even if caught, it's a horrible way to die. As said remove all your feeders and drinking water especially and give them a good scrub make sure to use gloves. Give it at least a couple of weeks before you put them out again.
The best thing to do is regular cleaning of your feeders and move them around the garden if possible. You can buy cleaning liquid or just use 1 part bleach to 10 parts water and make sure they are rinsed well and fully dry before using again.
From what i have read this virus thrives in milder moist conditions.

doctor evil

Shame about the greenie ppink. Would anything for domestic birds help her?

Two long tailed tits returned to the garden and for the first time I had a solitary Starling with brown tips to its wings.

'Our' female blackcap is still about, when do they return to Norway?

Feargal as Luimneach

Was wondering about the lack of Siskins in my garden this year, as have other posters in their gardens
Read this from Birdwatch Ireland magazine which explains things:
"Siskin movements are usually dicated by the availability of their favourite food, the seeds from spruce cones. In years where the cone crop in our Sitka spruce plantations is particulary good, we generally see fewer Siskins coming to garden feeders. They tend to remain in the forests until the food reserves run low, at which point they flock to gardens: this explains why they normally don't turn up around our homes until the second half of the winter. One benefit of this is that Siskins are less vulnerable to freezing winter weater, as snow and frost have little effect on the avialability of their food"

ppink

2 greenfinch sick yesterday :( and i think 1 chaffinch not looking too hot either.

no food out for them now so fingers crossed

doctor evil

Put some diluted dettol around the area where the feeders were, including any wooden supports,.