We are seeing a similar behaviour to you Gary.

We have a camera nestbox which now has three chicks surviving from five who hatched originally. Three eggs failed.

The Blue Tits in our box seem to be feeding the chicks substantially on pink suet from next door's feeder. They take suet from ours too and have ignored live mealworms we put out for them - even standing on the side of the container the mealworms are in while waiting for a turn on the suet. We have seen the odd caterpillar being fed as well.

At least the Great Tits and Robins are taking advantage of the mealworms.

-- Edited by Robert Farmer on Monday 3rd of June 2013 08:33:20 AM

Well the last of the Blue Tit chicks in our nest box died a couple of days ago. This is the second year on the trot the nest has failed. Experts say that due to the cold wet springs we should supplement food by keeping our feeders stocked. I've had a couple of fat feeders in the garden which the adults were using on a daily basis, however i'm beginning to suspect this is a bad idea, as i got the feeling the birds were getting too reliant on them and not feeding the chicks on enough insects that provide the necessary nutrients. It's a bit like brits relying too much on fast food restaurants and not eating enough decent food. Anyone have any views on this subject.

Bill Myerscough wrote:

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Andy Bissitt wrote:

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The way the birdlife of the U.K. is ebbing away, what was needed this year was a perfect succession of seasons with the right mixture of all kinds of weather, so this is not a good start. Of course what I have written is an ideal that is almost an impossibility. For a start different birds like different kinds of weather. At this time for the last few years, we have begun to see the onset of drought, and moorland fires have been prevalent, so at least we can be glad that at least part of that situation is not being replayed (however a drought is only ever about a month away in Britain). However, the fact that meadow pipits might not lose their nests to early fires this year is offset by the fact that it is too cold to start nesting anyway. Another positive is that the hatching of caterpillars, larva, grubs and stuff might actually coincide with the nesting season for a change, which is a real plus for great tits, blue tits, pied flys, amongst others. However the resident birds first need to survive the current situation. Paul Hurst says they will 'just eat what they normally eat in winter'. Two problems there; one: nature doesn't provide enough of that food any more due to farming practices, and two: what there was has already been eaten. No wonder a famous poet called April the cruellest month. What we need very soon is warmth and wetness, otherwise the current situation will decimate the breeding population before its even got going.

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Not sure that I agree with your comments Andy that "the birdlife of the U.K. is ebbing away". Sure bad news of struggling species for some reason always sticks in the memory more than good news on species doing well. However, to pinch a few facts and figures from the last Breeding Birds Survey (BBS) report from 2011, it seems to show that not all is apparently doom and gloom! Admittedly, the BBS isn't perfect for all species but it is one of the best indicators we have on how our commoner breeding birds are doing. Since the start of the BBS in 1994, 31 species have declined significantly and yet 43 increased significantly across the UK. Even for some of the species of most concern (those red listed) three out of the 20 monitored have increased significantly following earlier severe declines and of those of medium concern (those amber listed) of 21 species - 14 have increased significantly. Yes, I agree that farming practices have changed substantially since the "golden days" for those birds classed a farmland birds. And yes I do agree that many farmland bird populations are to use your phrase ebbing away. Sadly, those halcyon days of old style farming are unlikely to ever return but what I personally think is important to remember is that mans activities played quite a large part in the increases in numbers of many farmland species in the first place. If man hadn't interfered so much with the natural landscape of the UK one suspects that it might be covered by much more mature woodland anyway and those birds thought of as farmland birds would in all likelihood have much smaller or possibly even non-existent populations?

Almost every minute of a bird's life is fraught with danger and weather has always been and always will be a variable but often significant risk factor in their lives. Every year will be different and bird species will always have good years and bad years but in reality to the populations of those species it is the longer term trends that matter. Yes, let's certainly look at and do something about situations we can alter but some factors in a birds survival, particularly those weather related, are well beyond our control. This in my opinion is regardless of whether any of us believe in or are sceptical of man-made climate change.


Best wishes,

Bill.


PS Latest BBS reports for those interested in having a look can be found at http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/bbs/bbs-publications/bbs-reports

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Bill,

I know things fluctuate from year to year, and I know some things perked up a bit in 2011, but I think early figures for 2012 showed it to be a disaster for the likes of chaffinch (I think it was the worst breeding season in 50 years?). All I can add is that if numbers fall in the country as a whole, counties like Greater Manchester, which can be viewed as an 'overspill' when certain bird populations are high, will be hit disproportionately. Also, I didn't want to mention insects really, but everything coming in from that direction points to bad news, and if insect numbers (especially moths) continue to plummet, it's 'game over' for many bird species. Like many pessimists, I would love to be wrong!

Andy Bissitt wrote:

---

The way the birdlife of the U.K. is ebbing away, what was needed this year was a perfect succession of seasons with the right mixture of all kinds of weather, so this is not a good start. Of course what I have written is an ideal that is almost an impossibility. For a start different birds like different kinds of weather. At this time for the last few years, we have begun to see the onset of drought, and moorland fires have been prevalent, so at least we can be glad that at least part of that situation is not being replayed (however a drought is only ever about a month away in Britain). However, the fact that meadow pipits might not lose their nests to early fires this year is offset by the fact that it is too cold to start nesting anyway. Another positive is that the hatching of caterpillars, larva, grubs and stuff might actually coincide with the nesting season for a change, which is a real plus for great tits, blue tits, pied flys, amongst others. However the resident birds first need to survive the current situation. Paul Hurst says they will 'just eat what they normally eat in winter'. Two problems there; one: nature doesn't provide enough of that food any more due to farming practices, and two: what there was has already been eaten. No wonder a famous poet called April the cruellest month. What we need very soon is warmth and wetness, otherwise the current situation will decimate the breeding population before its even got going.

---

Not sure that I agree with your comments Andy that "the birdlife of the U.K. is ebbing away". Sure bad news of struggling species for some reason always sticks in the memory more than good news on species doing well. However, to pinch a few facts and figures from the last Breeding Birds Survey (BBS) report from 2011, it seems to show that not all is apparently doom and gloom! Admittedly, the BBS isn't perfect for all species but it is one of the best indicators we have on how our commoner breeding birds are doing. Since the start of the BBS in 1994, 31 species have declined significantly and yet 43 increased significantly across the UK. Even for some of the species of most concern (those red listed) three out of the 20 monitored have increased significantly following earlier severe declines and of those of medium concern (those amber listed) of 21 species - 14 have increased significantly. Yes, I agree that farming practices have changed substantially since the "golden days" for those birds classed a farmland birds. And yes I do agree that many farmland bird populations are to use your phrase ebbing away. Sadly, those halcyon days of old style farming are unlikely to ever return but what I personally think is important to remember is that mans activities played quite a large part in the increases in numbers of many farmland species in the first place. If man hadn't interfered so much with the natural landscape of the UK one suspects that it might be covered by much more mature woodland anyway and those birds thought of as farmland birds would in all likelihood have much smaller or possibly even non-existent populations?

Almost every minute of a bird's life is fraught with danger and weather has always been and always will be a variable but often significant risk factor in their lives. Every year will be different and bird species will always have good years and bad years but in reality to the populations of those species it is the longer term trends that matter. Yes, let's certainly look at and do something about situations we can alter but some factors in a birds survival, particularly those weather related, are well beyond our control. This in my opinion is regardless of whether any of us believe in or are sceptical of man-made climate change.


Best wishes,

Bill.


PS Latest BBS reports for those interested in having a look can be found at http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/bbs/bbs-publications/bbs-reports

Much sensible comment here, as usual, but don't be complacent. There is a spate of moorland fires (naturally started) in the west of Scotland at present and it could easily happen here too.

The present cold snap will delay migration and nesting, but what happens to the weather in April and May will have a much greater influence on the success (or otherwise) of nesting birds.

The way the birdlife of the U.K. is ebbing away, what was needed this year was a perfect succession of seasons with the right mixture of all kinds of weather, so this is not a good start. Of course what I have written is an ideal that is almost an impossibility. For a start different birds like different kinds of weather. At this time for the last few years, we have begun to see the onset of drought, and moorland fires have been prevalent, so at least we can be glad that at least part of that situation is not being replayed (however a drought is only ever about a month away in Britain). However, the fact that meadow pipits might not lose their nests to early fires this year is offset by the fact that it is too cold to start nesting anyway. Another positive is that the hatching of caterpillars, larva, grubs and stuff might actually coincide with the nesting season for a change, which is a real plus for great tits, blue tits, pied flys, amongst others. However the resident birds first need to survive the current situation. Paul Hurst says they will 'just eat what they normally eat in winter'. Two problems there; one: nature doesn't provide enough of that food any more due to farming practices, and two: what there was has already been eaten. No wonder a famous poet called April the cruellest month. What we need very soon is warmth and wetness, otherwise the current situation will decimate the breeding population before its even got going.

Quiet day here in the Loire with not much moving through, and cooler than expected, which is not helping.

I will keep sending updates on the situation here.

The weather seems to have slowed down both nesting and migrating from my point of view. All the corvids like Crows, Magpies and Jays are a lot less active compared to a couple of weeks ago. I've also noticed that Long-tailed Tits are still staying near their chosen nest site, but aren't as active and the building of the nest is going a lot slower (but it still goes on!).

On the migration side, a good idea is to look at the BirdTrack homepage (http://blx1.bto.org/birdtrack), where a graph compares the current rate of a given species seen with the historical rate. If you choose Sand martin, you'll see that the current rate is a lot lower than at the same time in the previous years. Chiffchaffs also are slow to arrive. But this doesn't seem to apply to all the birds: Wheatears are migrating at the same time as in previous years (I wonder why?).

So my view is that most birds are delaying their nesting and migrating, but not stopping it. They will just be adjusting the time of their breeding to that of the food abundance (as usual), though this time it will arrive later (I think). The resident birds will just eat what they normally eat in Winter, while the migrants are all waiting on the continent ready to spring across the channel as soon as it gets warmer.

Cheers,
Paul

Sand Martins are definately delayed, I have not seen any yet, thank goodness as any that did arrive would stand little chance of finding enough food.
Cheers Ian

Andy Bissitt wrote:

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However the resident birds first need to survive the current situation. Paul Hurst says they will 'just eat what they normally eat in winter'. Two problems there; one: nature doesn't provide enough of that food any more due to farming practices, and two: what there was has already been eaten. No wonder a famous poet called April the cruellest month. What we need very soon is warmth and wetness, otherwise the current situation will decimate the breeding population before its even got going.

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Ahh... Yes, I forgot about that. You're right, we'll need some GOOD weather now (something that hasn't been happening often these past few years). Well, if you believe in the rumours, next week is going to turn out much better, and we might get a bit of warmth!

Edit: i suppose its better that this cold snap happened now, and not when the season had already started. I remember a few years back when it snowed in France, in April! The hirundines suffered a lot that year, as they had already arrived en masse when the snow struck.

-- Edited by Paul Hurst on Thursday 28th of March 2013 10:35:38 PM

I was wondering what effect the prolonged spell of very cold weather (forecast to continue well into April) is having on our birds. How does it affect nesting behaviour - eg how much do Blue Tits rely on the oak caterpillar as a food source which will be well delayed; are all birds nesting as usual or do they delay when the weahter is exfceptionally cold? And how is migration (to and from the UK) affected: I haven't heard any Chiffchaffs yet, are other migrants delayed? Have our winter migrants left as usual for norhtern parts (eg Fieldfares and Redwings).

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 28th of March 2013 03:59:00 PM