Birds

Has anyone else noticed there are no birds about.We used to have allsorts in the garden but we now have none,no dawn chorus.We live with fields at the back of our house and there is no signs of any.

WE have lots and I've noticed without traffic noise that the bird song seems very loud. Others have said the same.Maybe the fields behind you ahve been treated with pesticide.

The birds visiting our gardens are sparce at the best of times, A couple of blackbirds and gulls flying over and thats it. Even the telegraph pole nearby is empty normally full with starlings.

Kath ,the fields are just natural and not farmed,it just feels weird.

There are swarms of sparrows, finches and a robin in my gardem

Our garden has a lot of birds in it now, I just fed them.

This time of year I get blackbirds because I think they make a nest locally but, when the chicks hatch, they fly off again, and the feed stations go untouched, I think the reason for my lack of birds is the cat population round here, there are at least 6 cats roaming about,

This week my Mum and Dad had a cat clawing at soil in their back garden, & when they went to investigate they unearthed a buried pigeon - they think it was the work of the local fox.

Loss of habitat, and loss of food supply, if you think about it, years ago there were lots of old buildings with open eaves, and holes in the brickwork etc and small birds would get into those buildings, and into the walls and build nests where predators and even people could not get at them, and they would use the same nests year after year, and there were lots of sparrows back then, and also in the past rubbish wasn't sealed up in plastic bags, food scraps were a lot more accessible to birds, you threw everything into the dustbin, there were no such things as bin bags.

Now most of the rickety old buildings have gone, and modern buildings are designed, so that birds and rodents cannot access them, and nest in them, waste food is sealed away, so there is nowhere for the birds to nest, and food is hard to come by, so that is why there are less birds in urban areas, and even in the countryside, there is less habitat available to wildlife, because of modern farming methods, add to that the cat population, and how that decimates the local bird and small mammal population, because everyone seems to have a pussy these days, especially women, they love cats

Haven't a clue where mine went. Maybe they just prefer the seed somewhere else. But there's definitely not as many about as usual which is a shame

Chaffinch, Jays, Blackbirds, Thrush (mistle I think), Robins, Blue Tits, Collared doves, Wood pigeons, Crows, Magpies, Woodpecker, Wrens all seen in our garden in the last couple of days.

However, the well stocked bird table does encourage them.

Now I know where they are

Seen just one woodpigeon sat on a TVs aerial and one blackbird flew past all day.

They all could be 'self isolating' so that they don't catch that bird floo

Maybe you are right I-spy, it might have got round on twitter:

"Party back at 0 year's gaff!"

I was thinking the opposite. There seems to have been a large influx of birds at ours recently!

I do not put out any food for birds, but still get absolute masses of them in my garden.

I am told that there are both Marsh Tits and Willow Tits, though I cannot tell them apart.

Robins and blackbirds feast on worms when I dig. They will take food from my hand, though not if anyone else is around. Which is good: I would not want them to lose their caution.

I do get a lot of midges. Don't know why, but they will be feeding some of the birds. Also, a few weeks to go yet, but they usually get a far larger proportion of my strawberry crop than do humans. Later in the year, the Rowan Berries cause the trees to be festooned with birds of many varieties.

One location in my garden frequently sprouts really exotic weeds from seed dropped by birds, whether from beak, or having passed through their digestive tract - I do not know.

Sometimes I have found it very difficult to identify them and occasionally they have been of a genus or variety not commonly growing in UK.

I also have a number of roses and hollies courtesy of these visiting birds.

I've got frogs in my garden but how they scaled a 6ft fence is a mystery to me.
Maybe it was the night it rained cats and frogs

@Lancswildlife:

My Wild Garden has launched as part of GM’s 5 Year Environment Plan
to help wildlife thrive in your outdoor space.

Request your free booklet here: www.lancswt.org.uk

>There is no shortages of birds here although they tend to come in batches.One day nothing and the next a good selection

We have a family of blackbirds living in an ornamental conifer and the obligatory wood pigeon squawking down the chimney.

We are surrounded by Magpies. Soon be all the noise as they chase the squirrels down the fence as they try to steal their eggs. Saw hundreds of birds earlier. Sadly they were all those squawking, noisy,dirty Canadian Geese.

We've been getting a couple of Water Hens walking round the garden recently.

Sparrow hawks have been considered endangered for a number of years....a breeding and conservation programme was introduced....250.000 over past few years. But each sparrow hawk consumes 4 birds a day....thats a million gone !! And I dont think they are fussy on which breed of bird they feed on.

There's always been doves at my house. They fly from the trees to fence, then fence to trees, flutter about a bit, trees to roof, roof to trees, so on and so on, all day long.

One day last year, I was sitting by the window and the doves were active, as usual. When, all of a sudden, a hawk flew round the corner, banked over like a fighter plane, hundred miles an hour, and grabbed one of the doves.
They went onto the lawn where the hawk ripped the dove apart. Feathers? Aye, everywhere. It looked like somebody had ripped a pillow open and shook it about!

That's nature.

I have a neighbour who has a .22 rifle. He used to lean out of his window and shoot the doves and magpies.

Merlin and a Falcon in Widnes you dont often see them close together

Link

They take no prisoners !!

I have sparrows in my eaves that are doing very well, we keep them well fed and watered.

Mick said, "Merlin and a Falcon in Widnes you dont often see them close together"

If they bred, what would they have? A Mercon, or a Fallin?
And would it be a Scouser or in 'the Cheshire Set'?

If it was a Scouser it would a Magpie the robbing get.

Lancashire Wildlife Trust Facebook:
It's #CityNatureChallenge time! Let's celebrate local wildlife by recording the species you see from your window, in your garden, on your daily walks or even in your house. All you need is your phone



Click here to find out more: Link

The ‘Daily Self-Isolation Nature Livestream’ hosted by Chris Packham & Megan McCubbin is good.

It’s on live 9am Mon - Fri and then available on YouTube: @SIBirdClub / Videos

have you ever wondered why birds sing so loudly in the morning?