Pearls007 Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Are many of you doing this? We have topped up all the feeders in anticipation and plan a quiet hour tomorrow with a cuppa and the bird book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 I have done this a few times but the last couple of years I haven't because I have a very territorial blue tit that doesn't allow anything else in the garden .And I used to have so many birds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mum Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Think I read it on the BBC website, but people are reporting lower numbers of garden birds this year? Apparently, due to the mild winter a) birds are not in gardens searching for food because there is still enough in the wild and b) it could be due to migratory birds not arriving yet because of the mild winter (think I've got that right, but happy to be corrected). They also point out that February can be a cruel month, weatherwise, so to keep your bird feeders topped up for that eventuality. Personally, I have an abundance of garden birds visiting my garden - even territorial tits haven't kept them at bay! So far, I have:- blue tits great tits robins blackbirds Mistlethrush Songthrush Dunnocks Bullfinches Chaffinches Magpies Collared Doves Wood pigeons (just arrived - haven't seen them all winter) starlings sparrows, but only one or two so far Heron gulls Black cap gulls and some I haven't been able to identify yet. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing the bats once again - they are my favourite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-s Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Where do I find details of this? I have heard of it but never taken part. Between 3pm and 4pm this afternoon I counted 17 types of bird on the bird feeding station and underneath at the same time. I was watching from the kitchen window and counted them. I counted 35 Chaffinches eating spilt seed around the feeder and as many again on the fence. We also have a Buzzard who often sits on a fence post watching all the activity but he didn't join in today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mum Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Where do I find details of this? I have heard of it but never taken part. Between 3pm and 4pm this afternoon I counted 17 types of bird on the bird feeding station and underneath at the same time. I was watching from the kitchen window and counted them. I counted 35 Chaffinches eating spilt seed around the feeder and as many again on the fence. We also have a Buzzard who often sits on a fence post watching all the activity but he didn't join in today. Here you go http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-s Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Here you go http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/ Thank you I should have done the watch today but I only counted the Chaffinches on the ground. I will set aside an hour tomorrow between 3pm and 4pm as that is when there is a feeding frenzy. Hopefully the Buzzard will turn up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollyripkim Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Wow 35 chaffinches, that's brilliant. I have dozen of feeders and get all sorts of birds but have never seem a chaffinch in the garden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Blimey Mum you have your own aviary. Do squirrels count? I'm not doing count but seen blue and great tits , robin and 2 hens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looney Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Ooh, I should do this! Although all we seem to get at the mo are a couple of blue tits, collard doves (posh pigeons as they get called here ) and loads of blackbirds. We only have a small garden yet quite often seem to get 5 blackbirds sitting in the tree at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Did all the chaffinches stand still whilst you counted them? " oy you with the pink chest stand still" And yobby blue tits - my garden birds are a boring lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrocksrock Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 We have loads of chaffies, blue tits, great tits, long tail tits come and go - sometimes the woodpecker and a brambling is an uncommon visitor we had this week - the usual blackbirds and goldfinches and greenfinches and my favourite the coal tits and the wee robins and wrens. This was before chickens in our garden - nowadays the chickens sit underneath the feeders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoopsie Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 We had the most gorgeous Blue Jay earlier, and three collared doves who come every day. Our first visitor to the station was one of the parakeets - looked amazing but somewhat out of place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsylabrador Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 I have been feeling sad for a couple of weeks because the big house sparrow family that live along the fence had disappeared. They had been targeted by a sparrowhawk and I thought they might have succumbed to whatever it is that has been reducing their numbers. Yesterday, the boys were back in town. Really pleased, I love their squabbley noise. We get mainly urban birds including feral pigeons but had a gold cap one year. Don't see thrush very often now but get lots of wrens. Still get a thrill when parakeets visit the garden and I love starlings. I enjoy watching them ant-bathing, they're clever little birds. We get a crow that sidles up to the chicken run and they all just eyeball each other. I have heard some people say birds are boring. How can they think that? Can they fly? Recently, I saw two robins on the fence facing each other, they puffed up their throats and sang simultaneously at the sky. Was that mating or territorial? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Palmer Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Did my hour this morning. We've had a big family of sparrows back this year, which have been lovely to watch as we haven't had any in the garden for the last few years. Have been doing it for about 7 or 8 years now. We joined the RSPB after taking part the first time. Used to do it with the boys, but as teens, they've outgrown it now. Today my cat sat on the arm of the chair and watched with me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Chaffinches definatley seem more prevalent in Scotland.I havent seen one for years. Only see sparrows in Spain or Greece where they eat them. I once when in Cyprus (OH's motherland) got a recipe book of Cyprus cuisine - was put off by recipes for just about every British garden bird you can imagine. You;d need 100 blue tits to get a mouthful of meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-s Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 We have dozens and dozens of chaffinches in the garden. An area of garden nearest the lane is edged with 40 foot Fir trees about 35 of them. The trees are alive with Chaffinches and other birds as well. They fly inches from my face if I am down there and do not seem to be the slightest bit bothered by me. I put up a new bird feeding station there yesterday afternoon, I didn't see any birds near it yesterday, but wow, this morning the feeder was mobbed by Chaffinches, it was very nearly a plague of them. I spend a fortune on various types of wild bird food every month. I've not done the bird watch yet as a neighbour is out in one of his flying machines and the search and rescue are out flying low nearby. The birds scatter for a few minutes when the byplane and helicopter fly over the house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I did mine this morning. The finale, just as the hour was ticking its end was our local sparrowhawk.Wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
