Irish Garden Bird Survey 2020/21

scarepanda · 07-02-2021 2:25pm

What do long tailed tits like to eat? We have about 5 coming here and I pretty much only ever see them on the fat ball feeder. I'm out of fat balls at the moment so I need to get some more. But I want to keep them visiting the garden as they are fast coming a favourite!

I've been feeding the birds here properly since November. I started off with mixed seed, then on to sunflower hearts and now nyger seed. I've a bag of sunflower hearts ordered and will go back to that as the main food, especially around the patio. It's so much cleaner and seems to keep a wider range of birds happy. I also mix some mealworms in. I'll move the nyger seed down to the lawn. I also have 1 peanut feeder, but the birds don't seem to be overly fond of it here.

The main type of bird we have here is chaffinch, followed closely by goldfinch. Then there's some long tailed tits, blue tits, great tit, blackbird, wag tails and some robins. I think I've seen some greenfinch and a thrush around as well. And during the week some starlings.

baaba maal · 07-02-2021 2:35pm

scarepanda wrote: »

What do long tailed tits like to eat? We have about 5 coming here and I pretty much only ever see them on the fat ball feeder. I'm out of fat balls at the moment so I need to get some more. But I want to keep them visiting the garden as they are fast coming a favourite!

I've been feeding the birds here properly since November. I started off with mixed seed, then on to sunflower hearts and now nyger seed. I've a bag of sunflower hearts ordered and will go back to that as the main food, especially around the patio. It's so much cleaner and seems to keep a wider range of birds happy. I also mix some mealworms in. I'll move the nyger seed down to the lawn. I also have 1 peanut feeder, but the birds don't seem to be overly fond of it here.

The main type of bird we have here is chaffinch, followed closely by goldfinch. Then there's some long tailed tits, blue tits, great tit, blackbird, wag tails and some robins. I think I've seen some greenfinch and a thrush around as well. And during the week some starlings.

For me, the LTTs go-to is fatballs,but they seem really happy with peanuts as well. I hope with that range of foods that you are buying the large 20kg bags (25kg for the peanuts iirc), it makes a huge difference in the price.

Irishphotodesk · 07-02-2021 2:46pm

Had a pair of collared doves out the back this morning in Enfield co meath, is that normal for this time of year/type of bird.

They didn't eat anything just stayed around for a bit then flew off.

scarepanda · 07-02-2021 2:56pm

I'll definitely have to get more for them so!

, ya, I'm getting the big bags of food, or at least of the sunflower hearts and nyger seed. I'll only get a small bucket of peanuts for the moment as generally the birds seem to prefer the other seeds.

Is there any difference in what you should be feeding the birds coming into spring/summer?

NcdJd · 07-02-2021 6:51pm

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

Had a pair of collared doves out the back this morning in Enfield co meath, is that normal for this time of year/type of bird.

They didn't eat anything just stayed around for a bit then flew off.

Yes it is normal. I've two that have started feeding out the back in the last few days after an absence of a couple of years. Lovely birds always seem to be in pairs.

appledrop · 07-02-2021 7:06pm

We have collared doves all year around and usually always in pairs.

NickNickleby · 07-02-2021 7:19pm

Having trouble getting sunflower hearts. Ended up buying two pre-filled feeders - very poor value.

Watch and listen to the collared doves. Its usually two here, occasionally joined by a third (rival suitor?). I always know when they're coming. As they come in to land, by which I mean the very last second, they always make a loud call almost like a shriek. Never see them on the feeders, as I presume its too awkward for them.

NcdJd · 07-02-2021 7:30pm

NickNickleby wrote: »

Having trouble getting sunflower hearts. Ended up buying two pre-filled feeders - very poor value.

Watch and listen to the collared doves. Its usually two here, occasionally joined by a third (rival suitor?). I always know when they're coming. As they come in to land, by which I mean the very last second, they always make a loud call almost like a shriek. Never see them on the feeders, as I presume its too awkward for them.

They love sunflower seeds. I sowed an acre of sunflowers in 2018 but was during the drought... Due to no moisture the seeds didn't germinate quickly and I made the mistake of leaving some spilled seed at the headland. The collared doves, along with a couple of grey squirrels, went up and down every row and picked out the sunflower seeds. I ended up giving up at scaring them off... in the end they won the battle and glad they benefited from my failed sunflower plot

hirondelle · 08-02-2021 10:29am

scarepanda wrote: »

I'll definitely have to get more for them so!

, ya, I'm getting the big bags of food, or at least of the sunflower hearts and nyger seed. I'll only get a small bucket of peanuts for the moment as generally the birds seem to prefer the other seeds.

Is there any difference in what you should be feeding the birds coming into spring/summer?

The concensus seems to be to continue feeding throughout the year- I find the number at the feeders goes down but we get the great tits (parents) continuing to feed themselves at th peanuts while they forrage for insects fortheir chicks, so it seems to help to do so.

mattcullen · 08-02-2021 11:05am

Pulled my feeders in last week because I saw a greenfinch that seemed lethargic and I was concerned might be sick. I read that it's best to stop feeding the birds for a few weeks in that situation so the flocks disperse and disease doesn't spread. The thing is that I live in a suburban estate and the house behind us are still feeding so I'm wondering is it pointless?

On the long tailed tits, I've noticed some in the trees in our estate in the last week. Never seen them on the feeders before but maybe the have just arrived!

scarepanda · 08-02-2021 5:05pm

hirondelle wrote: »

The concensus seems to be to continue feeding throughout the year- I find the number at the feeders goes down but we get the great tits (parents) continuing to feed themselves at th peanuts while they forrage for insects fortheir chicks, so it seems to help to do so.

Ya the plan is to keep feeding, although I might reduce the number of feeders, depending on demand. Am I right in thinking that fat balls shouldn't be put out during the summer?

boccy23 · 08-02-2021 5:37pm

So today's visitors was a pair of Siskins. Very nice indeed.

Also, the Greenfinches are very aggressive toward each other, or at least the males. Is that normal behaviour?

OpenYourEyes · 08-02-2021 5:48pm

scarepanda wrote: »

Ya the plan is to keep feeding, although I might reduce the number of feeders, depending on demand. Am I right in thinking that fat balls shouldn't be put out during the summer?

Yes, best kept to the cold winter months, so finish up with them in March or therabouts!

Corr1b · 09-02-2021 2:45am

There appears to be an increase in Starlings in East Meath this year. They are aggressive and territorial at the feeders and when they arrive in numbers of up to twenty the smaller tits and finches clear off. The only competitors that can scare them are the Rooks from a nearby Rookery. Anyone got advice on how to ensure that the tits and finches get fed in these circumstances?

Del.Monte · 09-02-2021 9:48am

You can't go far wrong if you follow RSPB guidelines on feeding: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/feeding-birds/

OpenYourEyes · 09-02-2021 11:36am

Corr1b wrote: »

There appears to be an increase in Starlings in East Meath this year. They are aggressive and territorial at the feeders and when they arrive in numbers of up to twenty the smaller tits and finches clear off. The only competitors that can scare them are the Rooks from a nearby Rookery. Anyone got advice on how to ensure that the tits and finches get fed in these circumstances?

When birds like that appear on feeders, they cause other birds to change their behaviour. So, rather than hanging around on your feeders, the finches and tits etc will grab something and go and eat it in piece. Similarly, they'll try and arrive earlier and later in the day in the hopes of avoiding the 'bullies'.

Long story short, they aren't having as big an impact as you might think, and the smaller birds are well able to adapt to their presence. You could try putting some caging around your feeders though, or switching to just providing something like peanuts that Starlings will struggle to get out of the feeder but other smaller birds will eat with ease !

sliabh beagh · 14-02-2021 1:45pm

had my first ever siskins and greenfinch this week. think im up to 20 recorded species now. great way to pass the lockdown.

appledrop · 14-02-2021 2:34pm

boccy23 wrote: »

So today's visitors was a pair of Siskins. Very nice indeed.

Also, the Greenfinches are very aggressive toward each other, or at least the males. Is that normal behaviour?

Greenfinches are very aggressive, I've seen great aerial displays over the years as they love to argue mid air.

appledrop · 14-02-2021 2:37pm

As others have said I wouldn't worry about the starlings. The other birds do disappear but they just come back later when they are gone.

We have a lot of sparrows around here and after breeding seasons the tit families often stay away and come back later in day when no sparrows are around.

They must just be too noisy for them + they like a bit of peace!

happyday · 14-02-2021 3:20pm

sliabh beagh wrote: »

had my first ever siskins and greenfinch this week. think im up to 20 recorded species now. great way to pass the lockdown.

Well done. I must count mine. I love seeing new species. I have had siskins but no greenfinches, long tailed tits or bullfinches.

scarepanda · 14-02-2021 3:59pm

I've just seen 2 greenfinch at the feeders! Delighted, although a little concerned as they seem to be a species that suffer a lot from disease.

We've had additional visitors as well this week. We've consistently had 2 male blackbirds, but this week we've had an extra male and 2 females here. But no sign of the long tailed tits, I'm out of peanuts and fat balls which I presume is why I haven't seen them.

boccy23 · 14-02-2021 8:34pm

I had 2 pairs of long tailed Tits this week. Lovely birds. First time to see these as well. Also Coal Tits this week to add to the list.

OpenYourEyes · 14-02-2021 11:57pm

I had 7 Robins during the week - seven!! I'm getting 4-5 pretty consistently over the last couple of weeks, but I never thought I'd see seven Robins in one tiny garden together tbh!

Yesterday's snow brought a single Song Thrush in addition to the 'regulars' - pretty sure it's the same Song Thrush that visited during the cold spell a few weeks ago!

boccy23 · 15-02-2021 10:55am

This mornings new visitor was a Blackcap. Another one checked off the list.

boccy23 · 15-02-2021 12:59pm

I think I might have had a Willow Tit visiting this morning. Didn't stay overly long but I don't think it was a Coal Tit. It was more colourful than what I would expect.

Would that be possible here in Kildare? Are they present due to the bogs or lakes locally?

happyday · 15-02-2021 3:20pm

boccy23 wrote: »

I think I might have had a Willow Tit visiting this morning. Didn't stay overly long but I don't think it was a Coal Tit. It was more colourful than what I would expect.

Would that be possible here in Kildare? Are they present due to the bogs or lakes locally?

I'm not familiar with them. Must look it up.

OpenYourEyes · 15-02-2021 3:23pm

boccy23 wrote: »

I think I might have had a Willow Tit visiting this morning. Didn't stay overly long but I don't think it was a Coal Tit. It was more colourful than what I would expect.

Would that be possible here in Kildare? Are they present due to the bogs or lakes locally?

Honestly, it's so unlikely that you can probably rule it out. We don't have them here at all and they don't even really occur as a vagrant.

hirondelle · 15-02-2021 3:25pm

happyday wrote: »

I'm not familiar with them. Must look it up.

They're not native so unlikely- I know with Great Tit males that their plumage is more vibrant at this time of year to attract females, so possibly a coal tit dressed up to the nines?

boccy23 · 15-02-2021 3:37pm

Ok, thanks guys. I hope "he" returns and I can get a better / longer look at him.

Bsal · 15-02-2021 4:43pm

Can't believe only two weeks left for this years survey, so far I've recorded 25 different species this year. Highlight so far have been Longtailed tits, male Blackcap and a Goldcrest.

sliabh beagh · 16-02-2021 12:11am

Bsal wrote: »

Can't believe only two weeks left for this years survey, so far I've recorded 25 different species this year. Highlight so far have been Longtailed tits, male Blackcap and a Goldcrest.

i had a goldcrest crash into my patio door few weeks back. nursed him in my hand for 20 mins before he flew away. lovely wee bird. do they come to your feeder cause ive never seen one actually in my garden.

Bsal · 16-02-2021 1:18am

sliabh beagh wrote: »

i had a goldcrest crash into my patio door few weeks back. nursed him in my hand for 20 mins before he flew away. lovely wee bird. do they come to your feeder cause ive never seen one actually in my garden.

I've never seen one on the feeders just skirting around in the plants and bushes.

sliabh beagh · 16-02-2021 4:08pm

good to know that. must keep an extra eye out for them feeding. do you have conifer trees nearby?

Bsal · 17-02-2021 2:16am

sliabh beagh wrote: »

good to know that. must keep an extra eye out for them feeding. do you have conifer trees nearby?

The house two doors up from me has a 20 metre line of conifer hedge running along the back wall.

Pipmae · 17-02-2021 2:39pm

I had a visit from a red legged partridge this morning. The shock when I saw something so stunning waddling around my garden. I got a photo but it's very poor quality - through a window and on a zoomed iPhone lens.

I'm in Co Meath.

Pipmae · 17-02-2021 2:42pm

Red legged partridge

happyday · 18-02-2021 5:51pm

Pipmae wrote: »

Red legged partridge

Lovely to see something unusual. Well done.

fryup · 18-02-2021 7:14pm

any sign of Alan?

bb12 · 04-04-2021 1:04am

saw a woodpecker pecking on a silver birch tree today. never seen or heard one before and didn't even know they were in ireland

gzoladz · 04-04-2021 9:34am

bb12 wrote: »

saw a woodpecker pecking on a silver birch tree today. never seen or heard one before and didn't even know they were in ireland

They only arrived 10/15 years ago and they are doing great. I am hoping to get some in my local park but that must be 3/5 years away.

beertons · 04-04-2021 11:24am

gzoladz wrote: »

They only arrived 10/15 years ago and they are doing great. I am hoping to get some in my local park but that must be 3/5 years away.

Can you elaborate on this, who brings them in? How big does the Park have to be?

NickNickleby · 04-04-2021 11:46am

bb12 wrote: »

saw a woodpecker pecking on a silver birch tree today. never seen or heard one before and didn't even know they were in ireland

Years ago I was in the UK staying in an old country pub. Went for a walk one evening after work and heard a woodpecker for the first time in my life. Eventually found him high up in the forest, bigger than I expected, but I'm not sure what I expected. Anyway, when I got home, I looked up woodpeckers, and read that sightings in Ireland were extremely rare. Perhaps they are starting to proliferate here now. I'm sure crossing the Irish Sea would be no problem, given the recent reports of Goldies travelling between here and Germany.

04-04-2021 5:16pm

beertons wrote: »

Can you elaborate on this, who brings them in? How big does the Park have to be?

They have colonised naturally, flew across from UK. A decent population has built up in the east, principally Wicklow, and are now breeding widely in Leinster, and are regularly seen prospecting even more widely. Almost all of the island has some suitable habitat for them.

I don't know how true it is, but the great Elm die off from the 1960s onwards has been put forward as a possible reason for an increase in population, with lots of dead standing wood providing food and habitat. Similar may occur/be occurring with Ash.

Jellybaby_1 · 04-04-2021 7:53pm

I've never seen a Woodpecker but the one day I actually heard one in Bohernabreena I truly believed someone was working nearby with a hammer! I later learned it was a woodpecker from a friend who knows about these things.

bunny_mac · 10-04-2021 12:19am

I saw a woodpecker in my dad's garden last week. First time I've seen one in Ireland!

fryup · 11-04-2021 9:35am

^^^^

and where are you?

bunny_mac · 11-04-2021 12:17pm

Monaghan!

fryup · 11-04-2021 12:28pm

^^^^^^^^^^^

they're getting further inland then ?

sliabh beagh · 28-04-2021 12:20am

bunny_mac wrote: »

Monaghan!

what part of the county? i knew they have been seen in derrygorry woods near the tyrone border.

bunny_mac · 28-04-2021 10:36am

sliabh beagh wrote: »

what part of the county? i knew they have been seen in derrygorry woods near the tyrone border.

Not far from Monaghan town.

Irish Garden Bird Survey 2020/21

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