Who's been at your bird feeders?

[Domestique]

We normally only see sparrows, blue tits, occaisonal robin but this winter they all seem to have gone. Bird feeder just stays the same level despite being well used previously and food changed 

[LindaG]

We are more blessed with thrushes this year than I have ever known.  I saw redwings yesterday, for the first time ever, and have never had a mistle thrush in my garden (that I've seen) in the ten years we've lived here.  And the first song thrush in eight years - on the same day!

There must be stuff going on in the bird world, changing food sources, predators, stuff like that, that we don't have a clue about.

Maybe you have a neighbour with mealworms Domestique, and they've nicked all your birds?   

[Domestique]

Maybe you have a neighbour with mealworms Domestique, and they've nicked all your birds?   

I was thinking the same 
I keep seeing a little flock of sparrows darting about, but they dont seem to want to stop here no more 

[Cudzoziemiec]

A white-backed woodpecker, Dendrocopos leucotos, at the pork fat hanging from the kitchen window just a few minutes ago while we were eating barszcz.

[nicknack]

It's a fairly standard list here.
Blackbirds
Song thrushes
Robins
Sparrows
Chaffinches
Starlings
Blue tits
Great tits
Wood pigeons
Collared doves

Dunnocks and wrens also in garden but not at feeder.

Usually get a pair of blackcaps in winter but I haven't seen any yet this year.

[valkyrie]

For the last few days I've had a single solitary Moorhen in the garden. There's a SUDS pond in the field next to me house and this Moorhen wanders up from there a few times a day to peck at the seeds that have fallen out of the feeders. Odd to see one on its own, usually round here they come in groups.

[sub55]

MRS Sub55, im writting this as my husband would`nt have a clue.
today , we`ve had  ,
2 robins,
coal tit,
blue tit,   great tit,
loads of starlings,
great spotted woodpecker,
collared dove,   magpie,   
nuthatch,
sparrow,
male and female chaffinch,
blackbird,     crow.
back in august we had a buzzard sat on our fence,  could`nt understand why the cat was going mad in the window, until i went to look.
we see lots of kites nearly everyday,
in september we actually had a sparrow hawk land on our bird feeder.

[Notsototalnewbie]

So I've got today off and have been watching the birds. Three massive woodpigeons are being aggressive between themselves and to other birds, and nomming all the seed, little buggers. I'd send Cam on patrol but don't want to scare the others, too.

[Rig of Jarkness]

Put out a different seed mix on the table yesterday, can't remember what's in it but it's branded RSPB and it appeared to create an immediate increase in the number of coal/great/blue tits visiting.  The fat balls were also briefly visited by a little flock of long tailed tits, one of my favourites    And judging from the tracks in the snow beneath the table I think that a pheasant has also visited.  Unfortunately the bulk of the food that we put out continues to be devoured by pesky grey squirrels, so I was very interested in the feature on Landward (BBC Scotland) last night in which Nick Nairn was introduced to roast grey squirrel.  He said it wasn't bad 

[Chris N]

Just been watching a robin, a thrush, a chaffinch and some starlings in my mum's garden when they all flew off in a hurry. Couldn't work out why until I saw a red kite soaring very low over the house.

[Wowbagger]

Goldcrest today.

Only the second one I've ever seen.

I saw one this morning. I see them quite often now, but I'd never seen one until I was past 50.

I think observing some bird species is an acquired skill. Goldcrests tend to spend a lot of their time high up in tall trees and, being as small as they are, are hard to spot. However, I now know what they sound like: their song is very high-pitched, I reckon getting fairly close to the upper limit of human hearing.

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/sounds/goldcrest.mp3 refers.

I hear them very often when out with the dog. I think they were always there in the first 50 years of my life, but I was just oblivious to them.

[Rig of Jarkness]

I think they were always there in the first 50 years of my life, but I was just oblivious to them.

I'm wondering if the same is true of me and bramblings.  Having seen my first one just a couple of weeks ago I saw another one on Christmas Day. 

[itinerant]

I think they were always there in the first 50 years of my life, but I was just oblivious to them.

I'm wondering if the same is true of me and bramblings.  Having seen my first one just a couple of weeks ago I saw another one on Christmas Day. 

Bramblings are easily missed amongst the chaffinches, but once you realise the difference it's not too difficult to see them.  Had a couple visit 'my' alternative garden over recent weeks. Also blue, great and coal tits, blackbirds, blackcaps, goldfinches, greenfinches, dunnocks, starlings and the ubiquitous red kites!

[Tail End Charlie]

Red Kites ? Fantastic, what do you put out to feed them ?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Unfortunately the bulk of the food that we put out continues to be devoured by pesky grey squirrels, so I was very interested in the feature on Landward (BBC Scotland) last night in which Nick Nairn was introduced to roast grey squirrel.  He said it wasn't bad 

A friend from West Virginia told me that in her (rural) part of the world, it's quite common to shoot squirrels for the pot.

[Rig of Jarkness]

^ Our neighbour was telling us the other day of his shooting trips up north (for deer).  Perhaps I should suggest to him that he could satisfy his bloodlust closer to home ?

[chris]

Earlier today -

[Rig of Jarkness]

A new batch of 16 young sea eagles has been released in Fife as part of ongoing efforts to reintroduce them across Scotland.
The eagles have been raised in specially built aviaries on a diet of grey squirrel, roe deer and haddock

Lets hope that they've developed a taste for them.  Then we just need them to fly south a bit and start on the greys around here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-14505322