The Robin's nest is now empty.I did see a young Robin on the garden fence last week so fingers crossed it came from that nest.

I saw my first Song Thrush this year early on Wednesday morning - collecting moss off my garden bench and flying into the top of next doors leylandi hedge.

What has happened to the Song Thrush population??

We've lived here for 22 years now and it's only the last 5 years that I've had snails in the garden - a sure sign there are no Songys about.

I was round at a mates on Friday.He's had a wrens nest inside last years hanging basket plus a Chaffinch's nest in his apple tree and a Song Thrush's nest in the adjacent holly bush.

All chicks successfully fledged as well.

-- Edited by Neil Ferguson on Sunday 4th of July 2010 12:22:12 PM

Spotted a House Sparrow next door in a hole in the wall exiting with a fetal sack. It is possibly a second brood

I am really pleased that out of their third nest that the pair of Blackbirds nesting in next doors garden have managed to fledge at least 1 young. I have not been able to see it yet even though it has been out of the nest for well over a week now but it can be heard calling from undergrowth. It has not made it yet though - not only does it still have the Magpies to contend with but now also the local cats. There was an astonishing scene the other evening when a cat must have got too close to the juvenile and the adult Blackbirds just totally "lost it" and quite incredibly and with an amazing amount of noise flew at low level and chased the cat away, with other Blackbirds seemingly arriving from out of nowhere to assist. Quite unbelievable. The cat ended up looking like it was hiding underneath a neighbour's car, with the male Blackbird going absolutely bananas for several minutes just inches away from the edge of the car.... I watched in astonishment and marvelled at the incredible commitment and bravery of the adult male. At times the Blackbird stood face on to the cat underneath the car, continuously and loudly alarm calling and at a few other times completely turned its back on the cat and in doing so it was surely taking an incredible risk? A juvenile was still heard today on 21/6, so all is well at present. I can recall another neighbour telling me of a similar incident several years ago where her cat got chased by a posse of Blackbirds and ran indoors to get away from them! I must admit that I was very disbelieving at the time but having witnessed such behaviour now myself, I now regret my earlier scepticism!

I have only once seen this type of behaviour before, when a Sparrowhawk took a recently fledged juvenile Blackbird in a friends Yorkshire garden and proceeded to "deal with it" on the top of a garden table. Again both adult Blackbirds were understandably agitated and astonishingly vocal as they perched on the table just a few feet away from where the Sparrowhawk was situated, presumably in their attempts to distract the bird and save their young. The Sparrowhawk took no notice initially but after a short while flew away, followed by the adult pair of Blackbirds. The incredible devotion and drive of parenthood!

Not good fortune for a local Collared Dove nestling. In my street, to some I am known as the "Bird Man" or maybe I misunderstood what they were saying and I am really known as "That B..... Man"! Anyway, I tend to get consulted on matters bird related - such as cat rescues, window strikes and other such assorted bird trials and tribulations. The other day a neighbour came to the front door with a bird in a box, that another neighbour, obviously thinking she was doing the right thing, had rescued from a Magpie that had it pinned down on her drive and was about to kill it. When I looked at the bird - it was a very well grown Collared Dove nestling - sadly looking at the size and plumage it can't have been that far away from fledging. The bird was taken to the vets by the neighbour but had to be put down as its injuries were considered to be too severe.

On a more uplifting note - I had a single adult Coal Tit with a single begging juvenile in the front garden on 16th June.....which seemed to be an odd sort of "family party".

The Dunnocks eventually fledged 2 not 1 young, as did a pair of Robins. The Starlings are back in and around their nest hole and presumably by now on a second clutch?


Bill.


-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Monday 21st of June 2010 04:46:59 PM

7th June.

The male Blackbird in my garden has been collecting and carrying food for nestlings in the last three or four days. This is their third nest - the first two failed - and it is going to be a struggle for this to survive as well......given that the local pair of Magpies also know where it is!

The pair of Dunnocks have a single juvenile - this has been heard being fed in dense cover for the last week or so and it today made it's first foray out into the daylight and foraged over the lawn with Mum and Dad. Quite lovely!

Cheers,

Bill.

my blue tits fledged and left yesterday whilst i was at work. bloody typical that they leave without saying goodbye or settling their outstanding rent...


what's the best advice re cleaning out the box? do it now, or leave it in case the parents raise another brood?

took a couple of snaps in the inside this morning it's so lovely and cosy!

2 fledgeling goldfinch chicks sat begging for food on the stand that holds the feeders while one of the parent birds fed this morning. also blue tits nest with chicks in whole between gutter and roof of a building.

Some local activity on garden breeding birds in the last week or so.

Positive news - young Starlings fledged from a hole in the roof space of next doors house on Monday 24th. A pair of Collared Doves accompanied a single fledged young near the front of the house on 23rd. Adult Robins are currently feeding at least two fledglings, probably just out of the nest, in the last couple of days or so. Can't actually see the young Robins but can hear their contact/begging calls and that incredible high pitched "kissing sound" they make when they actually get fed by an adult bird.

Negative news - there were two pairs of Woodpigeons nesting in gardens either side of my house - both of these nests appear to have failed. One that can be clearly seen has obviously been abandoned and where the other one was located this also looks to have failed, as nest building was taking place again today in the same conifer. The local pair of Blackbirds has built at least two, probably three nests. Well the female has built the nests, the male just hangs around "supervising"! I presume the earlier nests have either been discovered or destroyed - the trouble is that by the time they come to build later nests most of the good nesting material has gone into the earlier nest(s) and there are fewer raw materials for the female to choose from. Don't seem to have cottoned on to this re-cycling lark these Blackbirds!! Magpies were nest building as early as autumn last year but that nest doesn't ever appear to have been occupied. After building the first nest they appeared to build another one hidden away in a large conifer - maybe they are occupying that at present? A pair of Dunnocks are about but no sounds indicative of any young yet. Not many signs of House Sparrow breeding activity locally.

On the BTO/GM breeding birds atlas fronts - my local square is SD80X Middleton Junction - now with confirmed breeding for 31 species - not too bad a count for a suburban tetrad with no real recognized birding sites.

Keep atlasing!

Bill.

Blue tits must have just hatched in the nest box on the side of the house. I could hear the first faint, high pitched squeeks as parent birds flew in and out today. First newly fledged starling in the garden last Sunday and the juvenile house sparrows are arriving in ever increasing numbers now as are the young collared doves. This lot are eating their way through heaps of food

just typical i am runing up and down abram flash looking for ospray get home to find what looks like 9 out of ten eggs have hatched know better tomorrow had to load better software for web cam

mother blue tit sitting on 10 eggs should hatch by weekend i have a web cam on the box but poor quality pictures but i can see her

Blackbird young in the garden with me keeping an eye out for the cats

Starlings due out soon in neighbouring roof eves as a lot of activity with the parents now

House Sparrow collecting nesting material

Cheers Jimmy

First fledgling Blackbird in next door neighbours' garden yesterday - they thought it was a Thrush despite its "dad" calling vociferously above their heads.

just watching my neighbours nest box in newall green. Blue tits are nesting inside.

A pair of Blue tits have built a nest in one of my nest boxes [ not the one with the camera in] but there are no eggs yet.

Wood pigeons have built in the Ivy covered Birch tree at the end of the garden.

Best of all, a Goldcrest went into one of the roosting pockets that I have put in my conifers this evening at 7.55pm.

-- Edited by Dave Thacker on Sunday 11th of April 2010 08:14:40 PM

The blackbirds have reappeared but not in the same numbers and are much more settled now that the breeding season,s over.

Also an afternoon in the garden produced
1 sparrowhawk

1 cormorant
10 canada geese
12 tealgarden ticksomewhat displaced and circling looking for refuge,but
all passing over from what sounded like ww4 on the flashes with shooting and motor cross going on all afternoon

cheers geoff

Geoff, many birds are now laying low whilst they do a post-breeding moult. Could explain your Blackbird disappearance, and also the distinct lack of visable passerine birds generally on a walk at this time of year.

20th July.

Contrasting fortunes for two of the commoner species in and around my Chadderton garden this summer.

A pair of Collared Doves built a nest in a tangle of Clematis montana in next doors back garden 27/5 - sat for 8 days and then abandoned it. A pair - presumably the same pair - a little later repaired/rebuilt the nest in exactly the same spot and had been sitting for at least 10 days before the second nest has also failed today (20/7). Reasons for both nests failing are unknown but Magpies are getting the blame...... whether they like it or not!!!

A pair of Dunnocks for the second successive year have successfully fledged 2 broods. First brood present and begging young heard in garden 10/6 - second brood present from 17/7.

Debs - in you post 14/6 you say "Aren't young dunnocks noisy?". Yes they certainly are! - they make a very strange mechanical, "whirring" begging sound that once heard is never forgotten. I personally find that it makes picking up proven breeding records for this species a little easier with help from these vocal records, as the recently fledged young are quite often kept very well hidden by the adults.


Cheers,

Bill.

3 possibly 4 young Goldfinches ready for fledging, 2 have already made short flights and then returned to the nest , oh well there goes my excuse for not mowing the lawn

had a quick look at Goldfinch nest today in Garden and could see one youngster clearly, nest does not look too safe Robin on fence with food, looked in shed at old nest and there's a Robin sat there, 3rd brood

Carrion Crow fledged yesterday and it is now flapping around the garden squawking while the parents look on anxiously.

House Sparrows fledged earlier this week and 3 or 4 young ones are now hanging around trying to cadge food off the adults.

My house martins (2 out of 3 pairs) came back last week. They've been here as long as i can remember. 2 of the nests are right next to each other. does 1 parent block themselves in with mud and saliva (like hornbills) ? as this is what seems to happpen..

After taking countless poor photo's of Goldfinches, a week ago I finally managed a decent one, yesterday my neighbour comes round with cracking photo of one on my washing line, quick look in bushes revealed Goldfinch on eggs


-- Edited by Paul Risley on Tuesday 26th of May 2009 09:37:38 PM

Blue Tits only have one brood, but maybe this pair tried somewhere else and lost their eggs early on, which means they might do a re-lay (they wouldn't re-lay if they had seen chicks). It is a bit late, but not too late. It will beinteresting to see how many eggs/chicks they have - if only a few, probably a re-lay.

House sparrows from our box and next doors eaves have fledged, Great Tits are feeding young in another box whilst the magpies seem to be taking an eternity to fledge their young. Next is the invasion of newly fledged starlings, they are a nightmare, they get everywhere and under the net (or tangled up in it) that is over the pond.

Mike