Ben Kayser wrote:

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in need of help please!

i moved home about a month ago to a small block of flats. i'm on the second floor overlooking a garden. from the foot of the building there are tall trees encircling the flat about 30ft away and there are a couple of parks nearby with many of the garden birds that i wish to attract!

so far... nothing!

i've got a large nyger feeder, a window feeder with mix of seeds and a peanut feeder hanging in plain view on my balcony.

is there more that i can do than just wait?!

in my previous flat i had so many visitors! only a 2min walk away (it was ground floor).

thanks,

-- Edited by Ben Kayser on Tuesday 21st of August 2012 12:40:20 PM

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I'd try sunflower hearts. After filling one of my feeders with them, lots more birds came into the garden.

Its just a matter of time Ben.

Once they find the food all will be well

in need of help please!

i moved home about a month ago to a small block of flats. i'm on the second floor overlooking a garden. from the foot of the building there are tall trees encircling the flat about 30ft away and there are a couple of parks nearby with many of the garden birds that i wish to attract!

so far... nothing!

i've got a large nyger feeder, a window feeder with mix of seeds and a peanut feeder hanging in plain view on my balcony.

is there more that i can do than just wait?!

in my previous flat i had so many visitors! only a 2min walk away (it was ground floor).

thanks,

-- Edited by Ben Kayser on Tuesday 21st of August 2012 12:40:20 PM

7 juvenile blackbirds in my garden this morning

Repeated visits from a Willow Tit this afternoon

Couple of record shots uploaded to Flickr

Image 1
Image 2

Garden approx 50 yds east of Chorlton Water Park

This morning in the garden

1 Nuthatch
2 House Sparrows (m & f)
5 Greenfinches (including at least 2 juveniles)
Male Bullfinch
2 Woodpigeons gorging themselves on the elderberries
Jackdaw

How strange - I had a similar experience in my garden last night too! I had a continuous passage of 20 to 30 Long-tailed Tits over a ten minute period, with the birds feeding on insects in my hawthorne tree and my fat ball feeders. There was also a warbler in with the pack (but I didn't get a good enough look to see if it was a Chiffchaff or Willow Warbler). When most of the birds had gone, I approached the tree to find two Long-tailed Tits still quietly perched in the branches - I slowly moved forward to get only about 1.5 metres away from them and they remained there for a another five minutes or so just looking at me. One then came even closer to get at a fat ball and didn't seem a bit bothered that I was only a metre or so away - I've never been so close to these birds in my garden before, it was quite amazing!

Just had a magic gardening experience, sat putting petrol in mower when 9 Long-tailed Tit landed on feeders 3 feet from me and fed for 2 minutes ignoring me completely, awesome.
Cheers Ian

-- Edited by Ian Campbell on Thursday 16th of August 2012 04:21:43 PM

While sat in my Swinton garden yesterday evening a female Sparrowhawk spooked five Feral pigeons into the air from a neighbours garden. One of the pigeons in its panic flew into my rear bedrooms window at speed and fell stunned on to my patio below. Before I could get out of my chair the Sparrowhawk dived onto the pigeon and spent the next 15 minutes eating it alive. The Hawk was not bothered about me being less than 6' away as I watched.

Also seen last night over Swinton
8 Swifts
1 Swallow
2 Herons
73 Lesser Black-backed gulls counted overhead in over 3 hours all heading East
Lots of Bats and a very bright ISS over at 21.45.

Just had a Jay taking Cherries from our tree (quite happy to watch it taking the lot!).

Heyside.

A Nuthatch was present in the garden this morning

Tawny owl heard and then seen Ashton under Lyne. 21.00 hrs

3 Buzzards and a Swift over the garden today + 7 species of butterfly.

Cheers, John

3.30am Tawny owl calling

[13.30-14.00] looking through my kitchen window
onto the feeders,
1 coal tit,
2 blue tits,
1 great tit,
2 male house sparrows,
1 male chaffinch,
6 greenfinches 2 male-2 females-+2 juv
6 starlings- 4 juv
sparrowhawk over - a regular sight,
6 long tailed tits - all juv feeding on the fatballs,

plus a first in my garden a willow warbler,


not bad for newton heath ....

After a 2 year absence(possibly due to the flat roof being replaced) I,m very pleased to announce that a pair of House Sparrows have raised a family above the spare room,it must be cosy amongst the insulationI,m loath to go and have a look to check numbers in case I put them off,just chuffed the gap I left has been found and used.

cheers geoff

James Walsh wrote:

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Common Buzzard over Brook Way/Henley Drive in Timperley at 1740, quality garden tick !

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Common Buzzard again over Brook Way/Henley Drive in Timperley at 1110, possibly heading towards Altrincham Golf Course or Hale Barns

Sparrowhawk just flew into garden and sat on branch right in front of conservatory where I was watching. Didn't manage to get a meal though. Magpie swooped in and it flew off.

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Tuesday 7th of August 2012 02:07:20 PM

Common Buzzard over Brook Way/Henley Drive in Timperley at 1740, quality garden tick !

Up to 12 Long tailed tits and 2 Nuthatch on feeders

Hazel Grove (p.m.) :

Female Blackcap in back garden.

Cheers, John

Tawny Owl heard calling as it passed by my mum's Alkrington garden. If I'd done may usual trick of falling asleep in front of the Tv rather than getting to bed before midnight I'd proabably have never heard it.

Juvenile Bullfinch in the garden this morning - only the second I have ever seen even though the adults are frequent visitors
Female House Sparrow, a once frequent visitor which has become a garden rarity
Jackdaw clinging onto one of the feeders for dear life!

A Jay also visited on Friday

A Siskin over my Chadderton garden early this morning (28/7). One a few weeks ago too.

At this time of year the roving tit flocks can sometimes contain more unusual species than might normally be seen in the garden and there has been a Willow Warbler present on two occasions in the last week. There were 2 Goldcrest on 26th. The Rowan tree in the front garden has a relatively poor crop of berries this year and these are already being depleted by 2 Mistle Thrush and several Blackbirds. In a few good years these have lasted until the autumn arrival of winter thrushes and have attracted the odd Fieldfare and Redwing but this is looking unlikely to happen his year. The garden birds, including the smaller ones such as House Sparrows, have already polished off the beautiful looking small purple berries off the Berberis plant. There have been no Starlings around the garden for several weeks now.

Once the Magpies had got their breeding activity out of the way the other birds appeared to have better success rates. A family party of Wrens were in the garden very early morning on 23rd July, Woodpigeons had a juvenile with them on 19th and the same or another pair was nest building on 23rd. A pair of Collared Doves had two young on 20th July and again a pair has been nest building, usually most active early in the morning, over the last few days. A pair of Dunnocks had a second fledged brood of 2 on 13th July.

Sparrowhawks have been seen on several occasions recently, their presence usually given away by the alarm calling of the locally nesting House Martins.

Cheers,

Bill.

Treated to something of a record sight this afternoon while I was gardening.

5 Long Tailed Tit
2 Blue Tit
1 Nuthatch

all on our feeding station at the same time! Surprisingly, the LTT's didn't seem at all intimidated by the bigger nuthatch - I guess there were more of them!

Most of the morning spent out in current garden in preperation for move to new one next week produced some good sightings
Single hobby high overhead with sparrowhawk making most of same thermal!
4 buzzard soaring around for quite a while calling pretty much constantly and lots of play diving etc.
Single redpoll over calling
And local kestrels also on show to make a 4 raptor sp. morning
Not moving far so hopefully many of these will quickly make their way onto new garden list.

-- Edited by Andy Isherwood on Saturday 21st of July 2012 11:44:01 AM

Its to do with cleaning, as far as i understand it some birds clean in the dust to help remove all the parasites, dirt and grease from their feathers, then usually preen to clean and align their feathers for the best results, birds without a preen gland or uropygial gland rely on dust cleaning to keep their feathers in tip top order as they cant do it naturally,

cheers Den

This morning on some fine dry soil, that our puppy had excavated, a Wren
spent nearly a minute wallowing in the soil. Nearly buried itself!
It was almost as if it was taking a dry bath.
......no doubt there is an explanation for this behaviour?

it would appear that the 2 adult siskins which spent much of the winterr tucking into my nijer seed, returned this morning after disappearing at the end of march and they've brought 4 young uns with em. this raised a much needed smile

The woodpigeons that nested in the cotoneaster bush at the back of our house seem to be going for a second brood. The male has been sidling up to the female on the patio railings, and she has been shuffling sideways away from him. Until yesterday, when there was an X-rated display of mating behaviour, and they have been regularly revisiting the nest.

This is in addition to the song thrushes that successfully raised a brood in the same bush, the robins that successfully used a nest box, and the house sparrows that have nested under the eaves.

Just had a Goldfinch on the niger feeder with 3 begging fledglings on the feeder frame !!!

A brilliant first for this Wigan garden !!

My garden (Wythenshawe) is providing some great birding today, don't think iv seen this many types before on one day

1 Sparrowhawk low over twice
2 Swift
2 Nuthatch
2Great spotted woodpeckers 1 juv
Blue tits 4 juv
Long tailed tits
Great tits 2 juv
Robins 2 juv
Blackbirds
House sparrows

not bad for half hour in front of window

Early this am:
A male Bullfinch atop my feeders.
(Ladybridge) garden first for me

Very busy day on the feeders today.
New species for the yard - Coal Tit
Goldfinch flocks all day, 5 being the most at some points.
Then a show down between the House Sparrows and the Goldfinch over the feeders.
Funniest of the day was a Woodpigeon trying to work out how to get on the feeders

Garden birding can be very fun.

Sean

phil ogden wrote:

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I was at my Dads on Wyville and 4 plus parents landed on his feeders.

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Sorry Phil, I have to ask; were these bird parents or human parents?

I was at my Dads on Wyville and 4 plus parents landed on his feeders.

I have just had 4 juvenile Greenfinches plus both parents around my feeders in my Swinton garden this evening

Had a juv goldfinch on the feeders twice today
Also a magpie that feathers were very patchy and all it did was scratch itself against a branch for 5 minutes before leaving. Could it be moulting or is it a bit early for that? Looked quite a young bird.
Also a very scruffy blue tit, assume it was a recent parent and will be moulting soon too.

Garden full of juveniles partying on the feeders

Blue tits x3
Great tits x2
Coal tit x1
Robins x2
Dunnock x2
House sparrows loads
Plenty of Blackbirds
Great spotted woodpecker x1

plus the odd Starling and Magpie

Continuing the Corvid theme.

I had the first Jay in about 3 years in the garden this morning plus a Magpie with at least 2 fledglings in the adjacent trees attacking the pile of bread on the lawn.

It really tickles me that corvids are so timid for their size.It took the Jay a good 2 or three minutes to fly from the shed to the bench to the lawn grab a hunk of bread and fly off.

Inbred fear of centuries of gamekeepers and shotguns I guess. The Magpies are the same.

Also had an adult Great Spotted Woodie and 2 juveniles on the shed this morning.

Mr And Mrs Bullfinch are now regular visitors as well.

Bill Myerscough wrote:

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munsworth wrote:

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A Magpie, a common visitor to my garden bird table has recently exhibited behaviour I've never seen. It takes the largest pieces of bread and then dips them in the nearby bird bath before eating the morsel at its leisure on our garden fence!
I'd be interested to know if anyone else has seen this (for me) unusual behaviour.

Mike Unsworth

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Hi Mike,

My local pair of nesting Magpies have regularly dunked what I have assumed to be dried out bread in my bird bath this spring/early summer. Indeed, I suspect that this may well have formed part of the diet they fed to their nestlings this year? I have also watched the pair hiding food, again usually bread, so if this stored food has dried out then re-hydrating it to make it a little more palatable might possibly be the reason behind this behaviour?

Cheers,

Bill.

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I've seen similar behavior in Ravens, they would take some meat from the carrion they were feeding on, take it to the nearest stream and dip it in, seeming to wash it. Incredible behavior.

munsworth wrote:

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A Magpie, a common visitor to my garden bird table has recently exhibited behaviour I've never seen. It takes the largest pieces of bread and then dips them in the nearby bird bath before eating the morsel at its leisure on our garden fence!
I'd be interested to know if anyone else has seen this (for me) unusual behaviour.

Mike Unsworth

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Hi Mike,

My local pair of nesting Magpies have regularly dunked what I have assumed to be dried out bread in my bird bath this spring/early summer. Indeed, I suspect that this may well have formed part of the diet they fed to their nestlings this year? I have also watched the pair hiding food, again usually bread, so if this stored food has dried out then re-hydrating it to make it a little more palatable might possibly be the reason behind this behaviour?

Cheers,

Bill.

I had a blackbird lying flat out on my lawn the other day. It spread its wings out and cocked its head back and opened its bill. At first I thought it may be on an ants nest trying to get the ants to clean its feathers but when I checked the grass, there were no ants around. I managed to get a photo out of the kitchen window.

Mike

I haven't quite seen that behaviour but corvids such as magpies are swift to learn new things.

They do it simply because the bread is dry and can swell up in their stomachs and gut.

I've seen ducks dipping bread in the water after people have fed them (having conspicuously ignored signs saying they should not be fed bread)

Often, if you put bread on the lawn (which IS a good idea: wild birds will not eat it unless they need to, and other wildlife can benefit; it is only partly tame ducks and other wildfowl which have become used to bread which can suffer) birds will wait until it rains before they eat it, and the magpies that you have seem are clearly doing the same thing, only they have learnt to do it themselves, rather than waiting for rain.

Another example, as if it were needed, that the term 'birdbrain' should only be used ironically

hope I've helped

regards

TD

A first for this garden at 6.30am yesterday.

A Carrion Crow on the lawn tucking into a large piece of bread !!!

A Magpie, a common visitor to my garden bird table has recently exhibited behaviour I've never seen. It takes the largest pieces of bread and then dips them in the nearby bird bath before eating the morsel at its leisure on our garden fence!
I'd be interested to know if anyone else has seen this (for me) unusual behaviour.

Mike Unsworth

Had 2 long-tailed tits today, 1st ones i've seen in ages.

Sean

2 juv Blue tits
1 Juv Coal tit

on my feeders 1st time iv seen them this year

A superb male Siskin with 1 juvenile this afternoon on a sunflower hearts feeder. Never had one as late as this before.

Mike

Male Bullfinch visiting our garden feeders in Ashton under Lyne for last 4 days.