Irish Garden Bird Survey 2018/19

11James11 · 31-01-2019 8:47pm

fryup wrote: »

well personally speaking..the variety of birds visiting my feeder this winter has been disappointing...plenty of tits > cole, blue and great, plenty of robins, chaffinchs, goldfiches and tree sparrows and thats about it really

no greenfinches, no blackcaps, no bullfinches, no long tail tits, no wrens ..like there was in previous winters

(east-clare)

I am in west Clare and have nearly the same species as you visiting apart from the tree sparrows but I have plenty of house sparrows instead and have about 10 Green finches visiting daily.Its nearly always late February and early March before I see any siskins or redpolls at the feeders here

fryup · 31-01-2019 10:58pm

Russell Salty Mouth wrote: »

If you have tree sparrows, it more than makes up for the others.

oops sorry, house sparrows

oh btw...no willy wagtails, which is very odd

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 31-01-2019 11:24pm

fryup wrote: »

oops sorry, house sparrows

oh btw...no willy wagtails, which is very odd

That makes more sense.

I'll have pair of Pied Wagtails, plus juveniles, in the garden right through the summer but only an odd one (maybe one per month) in winter.

Pretzill · 01-02-2019 1:46am

There were lots of grey wagtails here late last year but haven't seen any through the bird count.
Have been lucky to see pied wagtails, Wren, Robin, bullfinch, chaffinch, goldfinch, brambling, Siskin, blue tit and coal, great - dunnocks, blackbird, songthrush, raven, rooks, hooded crows, wood pigeon, magpies, sparrowhawk, and more (flying over)

Counted 32 chaffinches today -.I think we may be one of few locally who put out feeders.

Rosahane · 02-02-2019 8:52am

Russell Salty Mouth wrote: »

That makes more sense.

I'll have pair of Pied Wagtails, plus juveniles, in the garden right through the summer but only an odd one (maybe one per month) in winter.

I have never had a pied wagtail visit the back garden, yet have habitually had them at the front of the house. We live in a housing estate cul de sac with a green in the centre.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 02-02-2019 9:28am

Rosahane wrote: »

I have never had a pied wagtail visit the back garden, yet have habitually had them at the front of the house. We live in a housing estate cul de sac with a green in the centre.

Pied Wagtails have a liking for hard surfaces rather than grass.

Rosahane · 02-02-2019 1:15pm

Russell Salty Mouth wrote: »

Pied Wagtails have a liking for hard surfaces rather than grass.

Makes sense, they like the mealworms I leave out for them when they are around.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 06-02-2019 12:01pm

I see a report today on garden birds observed participating in competitive interactions at bird feeders in Britain. The pecking order in decreasing dominance was;

House Sparrow
Greenfinch
Nuthatch
Robin
Goldfinch
Great Tit
Dunnock
Chaffinch
Blue Tit
Coal Tit.

One or two surprised me, as it's not what I see here (e.g. Dunnock making the list at all) but it was a sizable study.

Half-cocked · 06-02-2019 2:02pm

Russell Salty Mouth wrote: »

I see a report today on garden birds observed participating in competitive interactions at bird feeders in Britain. The pecking order in decreasing dominance was;

House Sparrow
Greenfinch
Nuthatch
Robin
Goldfinch
Great Tit
Dunnock
Chaffinch
Blue Tit
Coal Tit.

One or two surprised me, as it's not what I see here (e.g. Dunnock making the list at all) but it was a sizable study.

Hmmmm. I would have put Goldfinch at the top of the list based on my own observations. They quickly dislodge all other species on the sunflower heart feeder Of course we don't have Nuthatches here, Greenfinches are scarce and the Robins don't use that feeder but the House Sparrows give way to the Goldies in my garden..

OwaynOTT · 06-02-2019 8:11pm

Goldfinches are like an infestation.

No starlings on the list?

baaba maal · 11-02-2019 3:54pm

I would see buzzards a couple of times a week, and sparrowhawk and kestrel nearly daily, but yesterday I had a peregrine around for most of the day! Certainly a first for my GB survey.

I live beside a mix of bog and Scots Pine plantation so my garden isn't the primary reason it was around., but it was certainly eyeing up the feeders while on the wing.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 11-02-2019 3:58pm

I'm not sure fly overs are to be counted. Most surveys only want birds actually in the garden. I only count Buzzards etc if they alight in the garden itself.

baaba maal wrote: »

I would see buzzards a couple of times a week, and sparrowhawk and kestrel nearly daily, but yesterday I had a peregrine around for most of the day! Certainly a first for my GB survey.

I live beside a mix of bog and Scots Pine plantation so my garden isn't the primary reason it was around., but it was certainly eyeing up the feeders while on the wing.

Bsal · 11-02-2019 7:56pm

Blackbirds singing this evening!

Pretzill · 11-02-2019 8:23pm

Bsal wrote: »

Blackbirds singing this evening!

I have the song thrush back in the same spot as last year, singing away in the morning - it's really springlike!

whyulittle · 11-02-2019 9:38pm

Russell Salty Mouth wrote: »

I'm not sure fly overs are to be counted. Most surveys only want birds actually in the garden. I only count Buzzards etc if they alight in the garden itself.

Flyovers do count for raptors.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 11-02-2019 9:39pm

Was that stated for this survey, as BTO garden surveys I do don't include them?

whyulittle wrote: »

Flyovers do count for raptors.

whyulittle · 11-02-2019 9:42pm

The last time I did one, it was said raptor's flyovers count as they are considered to be actively out hunting.

whyulittle · 11-02-2019 9:48pm

https://www.birdwatchireland.ie/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=e7%2foWHiLQJw%3d&tabid=121

Birds of prey seen hunting in or over your garden should
be counted (for example, a hovering Kestrel)

OpenYourEyes · 11-02-2019 9:49pm

Just for clarification - the term used for the Irish Garden Bird Survey is birds "using the garden" - which is obviously taken to include finches and thrushes etc feeding and in the trees in a garden etc, but worded to exclude stuff like a flock of Whooper Swans that might fly over the garden but have no intention of landing in it.

Raptors obviously present a bit of a grey area, so its up to the observer to some extent - if you feel the raptor was eyeing up your garden in search of a meal then include it, but if you feel it was just a genuine fly over as the bird intentionally flies elsewhere then don't include it.

For what its worth, when it comes to raptors over my own garden, if they're over the garden for a minute or so then I tend to include them.

baaba maal · 12-02-2019 10:54am

Russell Salty Mouth wrote: »

Was that stated for this survey, as BTO garden surveys I do don't include them?

From the form:

"Birds of prey seen hunting in or over your garden should be counted (for example, a hovering Kestrel)."

Pretzill · 12-02-2019 6:39pm

How do roasts count in the survey - just have greater than 50 pied wagtails gather on the telephone wire which stretches across the front garden. Saw this in autumn too, are they migrating birds? Lovely to see.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 12-02-2019 7:06pm

Pretzill wrote: »

How do roasts count in the survey - just have greater than 50 pied wagtails gather on the telephone wire which stretches across the front garden. Saw this in autumn too, are they migrating birds? Lovely to see.

Are they across the garden and using the garden? It's a record of birds using the garden, so I'd judge it based on their activity. I've had 60+ Long tailed Tits that were counted because they were using the planting in the garden but I don't count the dozens of swallows that perch on the phone line running along the road at the front of the garden. I'd say it's subjective and depends on interpretation of 'using the garden.
Others may feel otherwise.

Pretzill · 12-02-2019 8:19pm

Russell Salty Mouth wrote: »

Are they across the garden and using the garden? It's a record of birds using the garden, so I'd judge it based on their activity. I've had 60+ Long tailed Tits that were counted because they were using the planting in the garden but I don't count the dozens of swallows that perch on the phone line running along the road at the front of the garden. I'd say it's subjective and depends on interpretation of 'using the garden.
Others may feel otherwise.

Thanks

According to what I've read about them they congregate together for food in the winter - I get about 4 pied and sometimes up to 4 grey hanging around beneath the feeders normally - but these flocks seem to come in to roost in the evening across the wires and then over to the trees also on the property. So I guess in theory they are using the garden (it's a big garden).

It's funny how I can see the shifts now coming further along the survey - we get lots of wagtail in the late summer but we had very few up until now - I also had fieldfare last week - and I'm still hopeful on seeing a few greenfinch before the count is over.

Seth Brundle · 13-02-2019 3:27pm

Pretzill wrote: »

How do roasts count in the survey - just have greater than 50 pied wagtails gather on the telephone wire which stretches across the front garden. Saw this in autumn too, are they migrating birds? Lovely to see.

sorry for being off topic - is a crowd of birds on a phone or electricity wire called a roast?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 13-02-2019 3:32pm

Seth Brundle wrote: »

sorry for being off topic - is a crowd of birds on a phone or electricity wire called a roast?

A roost is where birds rest at night.

OpenYourEyes · 13-02-2019 3:36pm

Pretzill wrote: »

How do roasts count in the survey - just have greater than 50 pied wagtails gather on the telephone wire which stretches across the front garden. Saw this in autumn too, are they migrating birds? Lovely to see.

This is a tricky one! They are obviously very much using your garden, but given the type of analyses done on the GBS dataset each year, and the plans ahead for further analysis, a count of 50 Pied Wagtails will look very strange.

The best thing to do is to record the 50 birds, but ideally include a note or email explaining that these were 50 roosting birds, and that you normally get X amount feeding etc during the day!

Pretzill · 13-02-2019 4:02pm

Seth Brundle wrote: »

sorry for being off topic - is a crowd of birds on a phone or electricity wire called a roast?

roost - not roast (my autocorrect

phone wires should be safe but yeah I see the irony

)

fryup · 14-02-2019 11:04am

Seth Brundle wrote: »

sorry for being off topic - is a crowd of birds on a phone or electricity wire called a roast?

Russell Salty Mouth wrote: »

A roost is where birds rest at night.

...and a roast is when you eat a bird on sunday

Pretzill · 17-02-2019 1:25am

The redpoll have returned up here - that's 25 different types of bird so far this count. Still hoping for the Greenfinch to make an appearance.

corks finest · 20-02-2019 4:00pm

Just saw my first blackbird this year ( f) collecting nesting material in my back garden- spring is on the way

baaba maal · 22-02-2019 4:15pm

Due entirely to the fact that I live beside a bit of bog I was lucky enough to raise a snipe from my garden on Tuesday night! I am in the habit of taking a walk at night around the garden (on an acre and I leave a big part of the lawn to it's own devices)- so one was roosting in the tussocks of grass. Delighted- a very poor year for me in terms of numbers (just too mild for most birds to use the feeders?), but seeing both a snipe and previously a peregrine has made it an interesting one.

Bsal · 04-03-2019 3:38am

I recorded 27 different species over the survey period, standout visitor for me was a male Blackcap this year.

Pretzill · 04-03-2019 3:20pm

Bsal wrote: »

I recorded 27 different species over the survey period, standout visitor for me was a male Blackcap this year.

I got one less at 26 - sadly haven't seen a Greenfinch yet (was hoping they'd arrive last week

- no blackcaps but got a flurry of excitement at the brambling, redpoll and bullfinch because they don't come often.

Lo_La · 05-03-2019 12:41pm

What do you you recommend to put on the ground for Robins? I have seen two in the garden but they always feed off the ground, i put out some of the seed and peanuts, the peanuts were eaten but the seed was left and i think it was other birds eating the peanuts. Put out an apple cut in half and it wasn't touched...

OpenYourEyes · 05-03-2019 1:08pm

Lo_La wrote: »

What do you you recommend to put on the ground for Robins? I have seen two in the garden but they always feed off the ground, i put out some of the seed and peanuts, the peanuts were eaten but the seed was left and i think it was other birds eating the peanuts. Put out an apple cut in half and it wasn't touched...

Mealworms should work!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 05-03-2019 2:51pm

Lo_La wrote: »

What do you you recommend to put on the ground for Robins? I have seen two in the garden but they always feed off the ground, i put out some of the seed and peanuts, the peanuts were eaten but the seed was left and i think it was other birds eating the peanuts. Put out an apple cut in half and it wasn't touched...

I have them taking loose seed on the bird table and on the ground throughout the day.

Pretzill · 05-03-2019 2:57pm

Lo_La wrote: »

What do you you recommend to put on the ground for Robins? I have seen two in the garden but they always feed off the ground, i put out some of the seed and peanuts, the peanuts were eaten but the seed was left and i think it was other birds eating the peanuts. Put out an apple cut in half and it wasn't touched...

They like loose seed mix - I also put out some oat flakes (with a little fat) in the morning which the robins and chaffinches love but also I notice the robins really like the fat balls - and they do go to those feeders.

OwaynOTT · 11-03-2019 11:13pm

A bramling today! And some long tailed tits last couple of weeks. 23 species in total.

Very enjoyable filling in the survey. Got a few birds mixed up at the start redwing and linnet but think I'm up to speed now.

fryup · 13-03-2019 11:32pm

nearly certain i saw a sisken today...how rare are they?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 13-03-2019 11:37pm

fryup wrote: »

nearly certain i saw a sisken today...how rare are they?

They are actually in the top 20 of our garden birds. Common and widespread throughout the country year round, with an influx on the east coast in Winter.

Tacklebox · 13-03-2019 11:46pm

I was down the local lake earlier, and I seen a bird it was like a cross between a duck and a vulture.

A local reckons it's some kind of Japanese duck.

Could have been dropped off or something.

New Home · 13-03-2019 11:46pm

A cormorant?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 13-03-2019 11:52pm

Tacklebox wrote: »

I was down the local lake earlier, and I seen a bird it was like a cross between a duck and a vulture.

A local reckons it's some kind of Japanese duck.

Could have been dropped off or something.

Probably the wrong thread for this but cormorant, muscovy duck, or a duck hybrid

Tacklebox · 14-03-2019 12:01am

Russell Salty Mouth wrote: »

Probably the wrong thread for this but cormorant, muscovy duck, or a duck hybrid

Yes that's it, hope I'm not derailing the thread.

Thanks

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 14-03-2019 9:35am

Tacklebox wrote: »

Yes that's it, hope I'm not derailing the thread.

Thanks

They are to be found in many locations around the country.

fryup · 14-03-2019 10:27am

fryup wrote: »

nearly certain i saw a sisken today...how rare are they?

Russell Salty Mouth wrote: »

They are actually in the top 20 of our garden birds. Common and widespread throughout the country year round, with an influx on the east coast in Winter.

well it was the first time i've seen one in my garden

New Home · 21-03-2019 1:36pm

Not sure where to post this, but it seems interesting.

https://ebird.org/news/global-big-day-4-may-2019

looksee · 06-04-2019 9:29am

Barn Owl heard at length last night, to and fro for a good while making its distinctive call. South Tipperary.

Irish Garden Bird Survey 2018/19

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