Don't know where you are Lez but if you get the chance to go to Elton Res before dawn or late afternoon you'll see hundreds of Jackdaw flying over. This morning i was at Elton at 06.20 and saw a couple of hundred Jackdaw doing the murmuration, they seem to be waiting for some more birds before flying off to Redisher woods for the day.
Lez Fairclough said
Sat Feb 27 11:09 PM, 2021
Sat out in the sun this afternoon I noticed 25 Jackdaw about 200 feet up 'clattering' away in a display not too dissimilar to a starling murmuration but with not quite the same synchronization - never seen this behaviour by Jackdaws before.
Richard Thew said
Fri Feb 26 1:31 PM, 2021
Things have improved since I've highened my feeders in my Radcliffe garden, but the birds are still off and on but not as bad.
I've had upto 9x, perhaps 10x lesser redpolls, a garden record.
Also:
Bullfinch x4 Wren x1 Goldcrest x1 Plus the usual.
Birds that have taken an interest in potential nesting sites:
Blackbird (but doubt they will as they are too timid) Dunnocks Robin Great tits
Ta!
I miss the days where I used to get Great spotted woodpecker, Reed bunting, Jay, and willow tit.
-- Edited by Richard Thew on Friday 26th of February 2021 01:32:23 PM
A pair of calling Mediterranean Gulls flew over back garden earlier ,heading in a northerly direction.
steven burke said
Wed Feb 24 1:09 PM, 2021
The male blackcap still in my old Trafford garden, I did think that he had moved on as I didn't see him for a week, definitely still the same bird as he has a distinctive little white patch on his forehead. This morning he was actually singing, not loud & proud though just that soft low song that birds tend to do at times.
Andy Bissitt said
Tue Feb 23 8:33 PM, 2021
It was a bit special to have four bullfinches (2 pairs) in close association in the back garden this lunchtime. Never had more than three before (and that was recently). Otherwise, 3 redpoll and a song thrush are the most notable hangers-on from Winter.
-- Edited by Andy Bissitt on Tuesday 23rd of February 2021 08:37:07 PM
fredford said
Mon Feb 22 11:37 AM, 2021
Bury . Double hurrah today with almost simultaneous visits of long-absent greenfinch , three females , and a male great spotted woodpecker . The goldcrests , which appeared to have trichomonosis , have disappeared .
David Pierce said
Mon Feb 22 10:14 AM, 2021
A very busy morning in my Marple garden with
blue tit, great tit, coal tit and long tailed tit
robin, dunnock, house sparrow
wood pigeon, blackbird
nuthatch, goldcrest, chaffinch, treecreeper
It had been very quiet during the cold weather but improved last week with 17 species
steven burke said
Sun Feb 21 11:59 AM, 2021
My sister sent me a video this morning of a little egret feeding in the brook at the back her flat on eesbrook, urmston.
Curlew heard only going over my old Trafford garden this morning at 8.35am, could not pick it up despite it calling several times.
fredford said
Fri Feb 19 7:43 AM, 2021
Bury . Blackbird and songthrush singing this morning . Alas , another goldfinch with what appears to be trichonomosis . What can I do ? We keep the feeders clean .
sid ashton said
Thu Feb 18 9:15 PM, 2021
Hale garden - I was woken up last Thursday morning at 5ish by the sound of a bird outside my bedroom window. There in the light from our neighbour's patio security system sat a Tawny Owl about 15 ft away in a tree watching me watching it
It did go down to their patio before flying off, couldn't see if it picked anything up but they do feed the birds so maybe a mouse was out scavenging dropped food.
-- Edited by sid ashton on Thursday 18th of February 2021 09:25:59 PM
Richard Thew said
Wed Feb 17 4:52 PM, 2021
Been fairly quiet today in my Radcliffe garden, but some encouraging news over the past week:
Upto 4 Bullfinch have visited, and at least one male is often in song, and very pleasant to listen to.
The dunnocks have taken up residence and are often warbling (especially in the ivy) with at least two males- one loud and the other as a whisper (the sneeky one that wants to play a role in having an affair with the others mate).
Our regular Great tit has been checking out the next box, but don't know at this stage whether anything will become of it).
The Lesser redpolls have still been showing off and on, upto 5 from my last post.
Ta!
fredford said
Wed Feb 17 8:54 AM, 2021
Bury . Most of the fourteen blackbirds have departed . Singing songthrush , unseen . Carrion crow with stick . Blue tits examining a box . Blackbird in song , last night , along with wren great tit and a bit of chaffinch .
Mike Chorley said
Mon Feb 15 7:58 PM, 2021
phillipskelly wrote:
There also seems to be an increase in cats visiting ! (It could be because they smell the fat balls or they've noticed the birds visiting).
Time to reach for the Squirrel Squirter again
-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Monday 15th of February 2021 07:59:44 PM
phillipskelly said
Mon Feb 15 2:16 PM, 2021
On and around my Stretford backyard feeders over the past week have been varying amounts of Goldfinch with charms of 17 quite often, sometimes 30's and 40's but not that often. Pied Wagtail - 1 ( a rare visitor to the yard) . Plus the usual ferral pigeons and occasional Wood pigeon. And this morning , there was a Collard Dove which is another infrequent visitor.
Front terrace garden , daily sightings :- Blackbird - 2 m+f. Dunnock - 2. Robin - 1 (also having 5 drinks of unfrozen water which I put out). Wood pigeon - 2.
There also seems to be an increase in cats visiting ! (It could be because they smell the fat balls or they've noticed the birds visiting).
Richard Thew said
Sun Feb 14 1:42 PM, 2021
Wehay! I've got a Song thrush visiting my Radcliffe garden!
I've had one in the trees in previous months, but its been years since one was on the ground foraging for food. This is obviously a thrush that was forced from his area by the frozen conditions and saw the apple and pear halves scattered around. This came also with an increase in blackbird activity, with at least 5 seen at one time, but still short of the record of 13 from the original Beast from the east.
Also:
Lesser Redpolls x7 Bullfinch x2 at least
Chaffinch with deformed foot still visits
Plus the usual.
Ta!
fredford said
Sun Feb 14 7:34 AM, 2021
Bury . That should read , a beautiful songthrush ............
fredford said
Sun Feb 14 7:30 AM, 2021
Bury . A beautiful has begun visiting daily. Hurrah . On a sad note , there is a goldfinch which seems to have trichomonosis .
Simon Warford said
Sat Feb 13 9:37 PM, 2021
In our Bolton garden, female Blackcap still daily and male Blackcap very regular last three days, though the female is chasing him off frequently.
Another first for my garden this morning - a goldcrest!! Very happy to see that and so were the kids!
The song thrush is now a regular visitor too, it's in and out of the garden all day now
Along with the usual:
Blackbird x 2 (male and juvenile)
Robin x 2
Blue Tit x 2
Wood Pigeon x 1
House Sparrow x 8
Magpie x 1
Thanks
Bryan
-- Edited by Bryan Deighton on Saturday 13th of February 2021 10:25:36 AM
pete berry said
Sat Feb 13 9:21 AM, 2021
Still getting plenty of Blackbirds in the back garden up to 16 at any one time, today they were joined by several Woodpigeons and a male Pheasant,a couple of Robins and the resident House Sparrows. On the feeders plenty of Goldfinch and at least 3 different Redpoll and the odd Greenfinch plus the usual Blue and Great Tits. A Great Spotted Woodpecker comes in daily to feed on the fat squares as does several small flocks of Long Tailed Tits, and a few Chaffinch on the seed in the ground. No sign if any Brambling yet this winter, doesn't seem to be many about.
Excuse me getting carried away here, but the freezing weather at last came up trumps this p.m. with an extraordinary, mega, garden first (in my 35th year in Romiley)- a stock dove. The photos show it in a tree we planted on the estate right in front of the house, and also just a meter from my dining room window! I've never even seen one over the garden before (with certainty), so this was a species not on my mind at all. Birding never lets you down, eh?
Bury . Treecreeper has appeared several times in last few days . Hurrah . Rooks noisy and restless . Sparrowhawk glided by on a now rare visit . No greenfinches for two weeks . Where do they go ?
Samglennie said
Thu Feb 4 8:34 AM, 2021
At least 5 blackcaps outside house near Dartmouth road in Chorlton, all male.
phillipskelly said
Wed Feb 3 3:23 PM, 2021
Lately on and around my Stretford backyard feeders with varied amounts of Goldfinch , sometimes 40 , today only 6 max. Front terrace garden - Blackbird - 2 m+f. Robin - 1(also seen chasing another Robin around a Sorbus tree on the other side of the road). Dunnock - 2 (one chased the other off). Wood pigeon - 1 (1 Hoover too many).
Richard Thew said
Mon Feb 1 11:35 AM, 2021
Big garden birdwatching, peak numbers:
18 Goldfinch 6 Greenfinch 4 Redpoll 4 Bullfinch (garden record) 1 Chaffinch 1 House sparrow (possibly 2) 2 Coal tit 2 Great tit 2 Blue tit 9 Long tailed tit 2 Robin 2 Dunnock 2 Blackbird 1 sparrowhawk 2 wood pigeon 1 Goldcrest 2 starling
Others that flew over/ didn't land:
3 Magpie 2 crow Lesser black backed gull Herring gull Black headed gull
This morning was a Mistle thrush singing closely in the neighbourhood (heard from inside), but couldn't dash to the garden to see if that's where it was singing from.
Ta!
Albert Zijlstra said
Mon Feb 1 10:22 AM, 2021
Chiffchaff in our Marple garden this morning. A new one for us, at least in mid-winter.
Simon Warford said
Sun Jan 31 10:19 PM, 2021
In our Bolton garden, female Blackcap daily since 2nd Jan and male Blackcap still visiting occaisionally.
Not usually a cause to break into prose, but the male siskin on my feeders this morning was only the 2nd record of this very ordinary Winter. Some of the (almost) usual other suspects were Jay, redpoll(s), pr Bullfinch and song thrush. A 90 minute walk around Ludworth Moor in the p.m. found only one of these 5 birds (jay). This is why I don't go out far round here at this time of year - it's a waste of energy.
Richard Thew said
Wed Jan 27 2:40 PM, 2021
I've made some adjustments to my feeders in my Radcliffe garden, I've raised the station pole by 7/8 inch and I've hung one feeder from a tree.
It's still been very quiet, but I have had waves of them coming in:
Apparently, I suspect I've had upto 2x male Chaffinch, as one that was seen had perfect feet, whilst the other has a badly deformed foot, but is still surviving very well and appears to be putting weight in it now. Unfortunately, he won't stay still long enough to get a decent look at it and its hard to say how it may impact on it's chances of survival in the near future, but seems to be doing well so far.
A great view of a male Sparrowhawk sat on my feeders before posing on a neighbours tree and around 9 - 11 long tailed tits which was nice too!.
-- Edited by Richard Thew on Wednesday 27th of January 2021 02:40:44 PM
Stephen Fuentes said
Sun Jan 24 3:42 PM, 2021
Whilst chatting to my next door neighbour over our Bredbury garden hedge this morning, he casually mentioned that he and his wife had seen an unusual bird in my back garden the other day. Luckily his wife took a photograph of it, and they thought it was a Lapwing. I have to say, I doubted their ID skills. Anyway, he said that he had e-mailed the photo to me, so I promised I would have a look.
When I saw the photo, my jaw nearly hit the ground !!
Also Robin, Nuthatch, Coal, Blue and Great Tits, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and a pair of Bullfinch.
Woodpigeon, Dunnock, Blackbird and Collared Dove hoovering up the seeds on the floor that the Finches had scattered. They are messy/fussy eaters!
Andy Bissitt said
Sat Jan 23 9:42 PM, 2021
Got to say that today was pretty disappointing, so I'm glad that the RSPB garden birdwatch is next week. One starling and a wren were the things that stood out most!!!!
Steven Heywood said
Sat Jan 23 8:49 PM, 2021
A snowy morning in Stretford
Black-headed Gull 2 overhead
Blackbird 4
Blue Tit 3
Carrion Crow 1 2 overhead
Coal Tit 2
Collared Dove 3
Common Gull 1 2 overhead
Dunnock 1
Feral Pigeon 2
Goldcrest 2
Goldfinch 2
Great Tit 2
Herring Gull 1 2 overhead
House Sparrow 26
Jackdaw 6
Magpie 3
Robin 2
Song Thrush 1
Starling 44
Woodpigeon 2
A pair of long-tailed tits popped in for a refuel at sundown.
Steve Almond said
Sat Jan 23 5:01 PM, 2021
In our Ladybridge garden, near Rumworth Lodge this morning:
2 Snipe, one of which stayed for 30 minutes on snow-free ground under a tree
Simon Warford said
Fri Jan 22 8:17 PM, 2021
In our Bolton garden, female Blackcap seen daily since it arrived on the 2nd January, today joined by a male in which she was not having any of it and would not tolerate him at all, constantly chasing him around. Watching both individuals closely today both using the exact same favourite perches as last year, has my thinking and hoping they are the returning birds from last winter.
Bury . The feeders were visited by very few birds , yesterday and not one blackbird . This morning is similar , despite putting seeds on the ground . Why is this ? One would expect even more feeding in this horrible weather .
Steven Heywood said
Wed Jan 20 6:23 PM, 2021
The day one of the goldcrests finally decides to feed within ten feet of the living room window there's a fast moving sheet of water making a muck of any of my attempts at photography!
Black-headed Gull 3 overhead
Blackbird 1
Blue Tit 3
Carrion Crow 1
Collared Dove 2
Feral Pigeon 2
Goldcrest 1
Goldfinch 1
Great Tit 3
House Sparrow 21
Long-tailed Tit 8
Magpie 1
Robin 1
Starling 6
Woodpigeon 1
fredford said
Wed Jan 20 7:28 AM, 2021
Bury . Couple of days ago , resident carrion crow set about an upstart , newly-arrived pigeon and removed a startling amount of feathers . Pigeon , of course , made off rapidly .Not been seen since .
Andy Bissitt said
Tue Jan 19 9:48 PM, 2021
Brambling nipped round to the back of the house to alternative feeders this a.m. for the first time this Winter. Had not been seen for a couple of days prior to this. Redpolls up to 5 in number again now (after dropping post-New Year's Eve fireworks). Yesterday, a fantastic looking male sparrowhawk perched in the bush holding my front feeders - in clear view, just 6 feet from the window. Birds were back within 2 minutes of its departure.
Steven Heywood said
Fri Jan 15 10:07 PM, 2021
This morning's tally
Black-headed Gull 1 overhead
Blackbird 1
Blue Tit 3
Coal Tit 1
Collared Dove 2
Dunnock 2
Feral Pigeon 2
Goldcrest 1
Goldfinch 1
Great Tit 2
House Sparrow 20
Jackdaw 1
Long-tailed Tit 7
Magpie 1
Robin 1
Starling 14
Woodpigeon 2
Andy Bissitt said
Fri Jan 15 8:50 PM, 2021
The 2nd half of 'official' Winter (as per Met Office) began today, with fittingly wintry weather. This brought in both the male brambling (see pictures) a few times, and the female blackcap for a short while early on. Other attractions were 1-2 redpoll, 2-3 greenfinches, jay, nuthatch, song thrush and 2-3 long-tailed tits.
Rats are a major problem ,one that I've had for years,living on the edge of countryside. Unfortunately if you feed birds then you're almost certain to attract them. I have 2 ways of dealing with them,firstly by putting poison down in a secure place where other animals can't access it,in my case I leave some in the shed with the bottom of the door slightly ajar so they can get in ,but birds etc can't. I also check the garden daily and remove any dead rats before other animals can eat them. You can easily obtain rat poison off e.bay. The other way is to buy or borrow a .22 air rifle and shoot them. I shot one last week almost the size of a cat. If the rats are out and about in daylight hours then shooting them shouldn't be a problem . Again remove any dead ones in case something eats them and digests the lead pellet.
I've been told that rats are capable of breeding when they are 6 weeks old, so it's vital to keep them down as much as possible otherwise you can be overun by them.!!!
-- Edited by pete berry on Friday 15th of January 2021 10:06:23 AM
Ray Scally said
Fri Jan 15 5:54 AM, 2021
fredford wrote:
Bury . Feeders very busy yesterday . Long tailed tits made several visits . Unfortunately , a rat has moved into the garden to take advantage of the fallen seeds . Any tips to get rid , please ? Not seen the sparrow hawk since the cold weather started . Nuthatch takes single seeds and flies off with them . Grey heron on the pond .
I've rats as well for the last few years but only 1 or 2 and most other birders I know have them as well under the feeders, unfortunately due to the lock downs and people working from home they have been seen by neighbours and all panic has broken out that we are going to have bubonic plague sweeping the village! the parish council are involved and sent letters to everybody telling them to stop feeding the birds as they were going to deal with the problem. I stopped feeding the beginning of December and didn't see any but as i topped the feeders up last week the rat is back! I've noticed it under many feeders including RSPB reserves and Sale Water park, is it a problem? I'd also like an answer to it if anybody knows?
fredford said
Fri Jan 15 5:05 AM, 2021
Bury . Feeders very busy yesterday . Long tailed tits made several visits . Unfortunately , a rat has moved into the garden to take advantage of the fallen seeds . Any tips to get rid , please ? Not seen the sparrowhawk since the cold weather started . Nuthatch takes single seeds and flies off with them . Grey heron on the pond .
Sat out in the sun this afternoon I noticed 25 Jackdaw about 200 feet up 'clattering' away in a display not too dissimilar to a starling murmuration but with not quite the same synchronization - never seen this behaviour by Jackdaws before.
I've had upto 9x, perhaps 10x lesser redpolls, a garden record.
Also:
Bullfinch x4
Wren x1
Goldcrest x1
Plus the usual.
Birds that have taken an interest in potential nesting sites:
Blackbird (but doubt they will as they are too timid)
Dunnocks
Robin
Great tits
Ta!
I miss the days where I used to get Great spotted woodpecker, Reed bunting, Jay, and willow tit.
-- Edited by Richard Thew on Friday 26th of February 2021 01:32:23 PM
It was a bit special to have four bullfinches (2 pairs) in close association in the back garden this lunchtime. Never had more than three before (and that was recently). Otherwise, 3 redpoll and a song thrush are the most notable hangers-on from Winter.
-- Edited by Andy Bissitt on Tuesday 23rd of February 2021 08:37:07 PM
The goldcrests , which appeared to have trichomonosis , have disappeared .
A very busy morning in my Marple garden with
blue tit, great tit, coal tit and long tailed tit
robin, dunnock, house sparrow
wood pigeon, blackbird
nuthatch, goldcrest, chaffinch, treecreeper
It had been very quiet during the cold weather but improved last week with 17 species
Curlew heard only going over my old Trafford garden this morning at 8.35am, could not pick it up despite it calling several times.
Hale garden - I was woken up last Thursday morning at 5ish by the sound of a bird outside my bedroom window. There in the light from our neighbour's patio security system sat a Tawny Owl about 15 ft away in a tree watching me watching it
It did go down to their patio before flying off, couldn't see if it picked anything up but they do feed the birds so maybe a mouse was out scavenging dropped food.
-- Edited by sid ashton on Thursday 18th of February 2021 09:25:59 PM
Upto 4 Bullfinch have visited, and at least one male is often in song, and very pleasant to listen to.
The dunnocks have taken up residence and are often warbling (especially in the ivy) with at least two males- one loud and the other as a whisper (the sneeky one that wants to play a role in having an affair with the others mate).
Our regular Great tit has been checking out the next box, but don't know at this stage whether anything will become of it).
The Lesser redpolls have still been showing off and on, upto 5 from my last post.
Ta!
Time to reach for the Squirrel Squirter again
-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Monday 15th of February 2021 07:59:44 PM
Pied Wagtail - 1 ( a rare visitor to the yard) .
Plus the usual ferral pigeons and occasional Wood pigeon.
And this morning , there was a Collard Dove which is another infrequent visitor.
Front terrace garden , daily sightings :-
Blackbird - 2 m+f.
Dunnock - 2.
Robin - 1 (also having 5 drinks of unfrozen water which I put out).
Wood pigeon - 2.
There also seems to be an increase in cats visiting !
(It could be because they smell the fat balls or they've noticed the birds visiting).
I've had one in the trees in previous months, but its been years since one was on the ground foraging for food. This is obviously a thrush that was forced from his area by the frozen conditions and saw the apple and pear halves scattered around. This came also with an increase in blackbird activity, with at least 5 seen at one time, but still short of the record of 13 from the original Beast from the east.
Also:
Lesser Redpolls x7
Bullfinch x2 at least
Chaffinch with deformed foot still visits
Plus the usual.
Ta!
Another first for my garden this morning - a goldcrest!! Very happy to see that and so were the kids!
The song thrush is now a regular visitor too, it's in and out of the garden all day now
Along with the usual:
Blackbird x 2 (male and juvenile)
Robin x 2
Blue Tit x 2
Wood Pigeon x 1
House Sparrow x 8
Magpie x 1
Thanks
Bryan
-- Edited by Bryan Deighton on Saturday 13th of February 2021 10:25:36 AM
On the feeders plenty of Goldfinch and at least 3 different Redpoll and the odd Greenfinch plus the usual Blue and Great Tits. A Great Spotted Woodpecker comes in daily to feed on the fat squares as does several small flocks of Long Tailed Tits, and a few Chaffinch on the seed in the ground. No sign if any Brambling yet this winter, doesn't seem to be many about.
Excuse me getting carried away here, but the freezing weather at last came up trumps this p.m. with an extraordinary, mega, garden first (in my 35th year in Romiley)- a stock dove. The photos show it in a tree we planted on the estate right in front of the house, and also just a meter from my dining room window! I've never even seen one over the garden before (with certainty), so this was a species not on my mind at all. Birding never lets you down, eh?
Saw Sparrowhawk fly off from Holly tree with captured House Sparrow on 11th February 2021 at about 11:00 hrs.
Also usuals have been in my garden:
Blackbird x 2 (M and F)
Blue Tit x 2
Robin x 1
Starling x up to 25
Magpie x 2
House Sparrow x 5
Collared Dove
Not seen any Goldfinch for a while.
Nipped home at lunch to drop something off and saw a Song Thrush in the garden for the first ever time.
Was having a good feed on the mealworm I chuck out every morning.
I even had time to run upstairs and grab a camera.
I have heard it early morning for the past week so nice to see it
Thanks
Bryan
Front terrace garden -
Blackbird - 2 m+f.
Robin - 1(also seen chasing another Robin around a Sorbus tree on the other side of the road).
Dunnock - 2 (one chased the other off).
Wood pigeon - 1 (1 Hoover too many).
18 Goldfinch
6 Greenfinch
4 Redpoll
4 Bullfinch (garden record)
1 Chaffinch
1 House sparrow (possibly 2)
2 Coal tit
2 Great tit
2 Blue tit
9 Long tailed tit
2 Robin
2 Dunnock
2 Blackbird
1 sparrowhawk
2 wood pigeon
1 Goldcrest
2 starling
Others that flew over/ didn't land:
3 Magpie
2 crow
Lesser black backed gull
Herring gull
Black headed gull
This morning was a Mistle thrush singing closely in the neighbourhood (heard from inside), but couldn't dash to the garden to see if that's where it was singing from.
Ta!
Chiffchaff in our Marple garden this morning. A new one for us, at least in mid-winter.
Not usually a cause to break into prose, but the male siskin on my feeders this morning was only the 2nd record of this very ordinary Winter. Some of the (almost) usual other suspects were Jay, redpoll(s), pr Bullfinch and song thrush. A 90 minute walk around Ludworth Moor in the p.m. found only one of these 5 birds (jay). This is why I don't go out far round here at this time of year - it's a waste of energy.
It's still been very quiet, but I have had waves of them coming in:
20+ Goldfinch
6+'Greenfinch
4x Lesser redpolls
2x Bullfinch
1x Chaffinch
Apparently, I suspect I've had upto 2x male Chaffinch, as one that was seen had perfect feet, whilst the other has a badly deformed foot, but is still surviving very well and appears to be putting weight in it now. Unfortunately, he won't stay still long enough to get a decent look at it and its hard to say how it may impact on it's chances of survival in the near future, but seems to be doing well so far.
A great view of a male Sparrowhawk sat on my feeders before posing on a neighbours tree and around 9 - 11 long tailed tits which was nice too!.
-- Edited by Richard Thew on Wednesday 27th of January 2021 02:40:44 PM
Whilst chatting to my next door neighbour over our Bredbury garden hedge this morning, he casually mentioned that he and his wife had seen an unusual bird in my back garden the other day. Luckily his wife took a photograph of it, and they thought it was a Lapwing. I have to say, I doubted their ID skills. Anyway, he said that he had e-mailed the photo to me, so I promised I would have a look.
When I saw the photo, my jaw nearly hit the ground !!
See attached photo. It was indeed a Lapwing.
Withington - South Manchester
Male Blackcap on my feeder this morning
Also Robin, Nuthatch, Coal, Blue and Great Tits, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and a pair of Bullfinch.
Woodpigeon, Dunnock, Blackbird and Collared Dove hoovering up the seeds on the floor that the Finches had scattered. They are messy/fussy eaters!
Got to say that today was pretty disappointing, so I'm glad that the RSPB garden birdwatch is next week. One starling and a wren were the things that stood out most!!!!
A snowy morning in Stretford
A pair of long-tailed tits popped in for a refuel at sundown.
2 Snipe, one of which stayed for 30 minutes on snow-free ground under a tree
The day one of the goldcrests finally decides to feed within ten feet of the living room window there's a fast moving sheet of water making a muck of any of my attempts at photography!
Brambling nipped round to the back of the house to alternative feeders this a.m. for the first time this Winter. Had not been seen for a couple of days prior to this. Redpolls up to 5 in number again now (after dropping post-New Year's Eve fireworks). Yesterday, a fantastic looking male sparrowhawk perched in the bush holding my front feeders - in clear view, just 6 feet from the window. Birds were back within 2 minutes of its departure.
This morning's tally
The 2nd half of 'official' Winter (as per Met Office) began today, with fittingly wintry weather. This brought in both the male brambling (see pictures) a few times, and the female blackcap for a short while early on. Other attractions were 1-2 redpoll, 2-3 greenfinches, jay, nuthatch, song thrush and 2-3 long-tailed tits.
I have 2 ways of dealing with them,firstly by putting poison down in a secure place where other animals can't access it,in my case I leave some in the shed with the bottom of the door slightly ajar so they can get in ,but birds etc can't. I also check the garden daily and remove any dead rats before other animals can eat them. You can easily obtain rat poison off e.bay.
The other way is to buy or borrow a .22 air rifle and shoot them. I shot one last week almost the size of a cat.
If the rats are out and about in daylight hours then shooting them shouldn't be a problem . Again remove any dead ones in case something eats them and digests the lead pellet. I've been told that rats are capable of breeding when they are 6 weeks old, so it's vital to keep them down as much as possible otherwise you can be overun by them.!!!
-- Edited by pete berry on Friday 15th of January 2021 10:06:23 AM
I've rats as well for the last few years but only 1 or 2 and most other birders I know have them as well under the feeders, unfortunately due to the lock downs and people working from home they have been seen by neighbours and all panic has broken out that we are going to have bubonic plague sweeping the village! the parish council are involved and sent letters to everybody telling them to stop feeding the birds as they were going to deal with the problem. I stopped feeding the beginning of December and didn't see any but as i topped the feeders up last week the rat is back! I've noticed it under many feeders including RSPB reserves and Sale Water park, is it a problem? I'd also like an answer to it if anybody knows?
Bury . Feeders very busy yesterday . Long tailed tits made several visits . Unfortunately , a rat has moved into the garden to take advantage of the fallen seeds . Any tips to get rid , please ?
Not seen the sparrowhawk since the cold weather started . Nuthatch takes single seeds and flies off with them . Grey heron on the pond .