Show us ya birds !

[spudulike]

I was fishing off Walton on The Naze pier and a Firecrest landed just next to me, waited a few minutes and then flew off.....not what you expect!

[nepia]

I suspect goldcrests are more numerous and widespread than we give them credit for.  I see them a couple of times a year here on the North Downs; they're very small and my eyes are shite so no way am I going to catch them every time they're here..  The cats have even had one the little sods.

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, nepia said:

I suspect goldcrests are more numerous and widespread than we give them credit for.  I see them a couple of times a year here on the North Downs; they're very small and my eyes are shite so no way am I going to catch them every time they're here..  The cats have even had one the little sods.

I used to see them in spruce plantation when I did and it was the high pitched chirping that would draw my attention before I saw one. I don't think I have seen a firecrest.

 

It's shocking to me that despite having different sorts of feeds and feeders in my garden we have very few birds of any species visiting whereas 40 years ago the hedge was alive with house sparrows and we would see thrushes and blackbirds on the grass, robins would feed out of my wife's hand and bluetits nest in old bits of flue pipe.

[nepia]

3 hours ago, openspaceman said:

It's shocking to me that despite having different sorts of feeds and feeders in my garden we have very few birds of any species visiting whereas 40 years ago the hedge was alive with house sparrows and we would see thrushes and blackbirds on the grass, robins would feed out of my wife's hand and bluetits nest in old bits of flue pipe.

Same here except instead of 40 years ago make that 8-10. No more greenfinches, goldfinches, siskin etc.  Even the woodpeckers have almost gone.  Until last year there were always a couple of dunnock in the garden - just 'there'; they don't stand out.  Gone.

Yes, we have cats but they rarely hunt and we've been here 23 years, always with cats; the almost catastrophic drop in bird numbers in very recent.

[openspaceman]

5 minutes ago, nepia said:

No more greenfinches, goldfinches, siskin e

Greenfinch was always a very rare sight and strangely years we saw siskin we never saw goldfinch or vice versa. We did have a solitary goldfinch singing from our tv aerial this summer but he never did come down to fed that we saw.

[Stubby]

10 minutes ago, openspaceman said:

Greenfinch was always a very rare sight and strangely years we saw siskin we never saw goldfinch or vice versa. We did have a solitary goldfinch singing from our tv aerial this summer but he never did come down to fed that we saw.

I get Gold finches a plenty . Some Chaffindhes and the occasional Bull finch . Green finches are rare on my feeders but they are not far away in the woods . There are lots and lots of Yellow hammers 20 yards away in the field but they wont come onto the feeders .

Edited November 30, 2020 by Stubby

[Craig Johnson]

used to get many more numbers but still see greenfinches, gold finches various tits with the excepion of the family of long tail tits and yellowhammers, black birds numbers are low due to a local sparrowhawk

[nepia]

Doom and gloom, doom and gloom.  On a happier note a friend just 7 miles away in Reigate has overwintering redpolls in her garden every year.  They really are the prettiest things.

[gary112]

A nice Reeves’s out and about this morning 

[nepia]

Handsome bird.  Sadly declining and 'vulnerable' in the wild due to habitat loss and hunting.  Quelle surprise.