Skip to main content

December

I am now using three seed feeders, the two large ones have nyjer seed and a high energy - no mess mix. The small feeder takes my remaining stock of while sunflower seeds which will not be replaced when finished. The ground feeder tray has a fat bar and a specialist ground blend while the feeder hopper has sunflower hearts with a little oatmeal mixed in. The hanging fat feeder has a peanut cake mix with insects and the other fat feeder is still empty.

Apart from starlings and sparrows the birds are now back in force. Blue and great tits are in evidence in large numbersand I am also getting the occasional coal tit. On the ground, as well as the usual dunnocks and robins I am seeing wrens and a pair of blackbirds. Chaffinches and goldfinches are also frequent with greenfinches a little less common.

So far I have yet to see wrens or blackbirds anywhere near the ground feeders but that will come.

The hanging fat bar has not been touched yet although it usually takes a few days for the birds to get the hang of that feeder. It is intended for the tits but no doubt the starlings will dominate it once they return. When they do return I will start feeding specialist starling cake, which nod doubt will be preferred by the tits.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Not as Quiet as I Thought

 The garden has seemed very quiet with hardly any birds seen but I hadn't been explicitly looking. I have just started putting a little food out in the front and in 24 hours have seen Robin, Great and Blue Tits and Magpies landing in my tiny front garden. Yesterday I heard a song that was unusual to me which the Merlin app identified as a Blackcap. Unfortunately for me the bird was ensconsed in the middle of my Forsythia which is still in full leaf and I couldn't get a sighting. This afternoon I saw Robins in the garden and corvids overhead. I set Merlin running while I swept fallen leaves from the front path. The app identified Robin, Rook, Wren, Jackdaw, Greenfinch and Blackbird. I also heard Parakeets but not while the app was running. 

A Little More Normal

 After a couple of days of frost the garden looks more like a typical winter's day with birds visiting throughout the day. Blue tits are the main visitor plus one or two marsh (or possibly willow) tits and the occasional great tit. A flock of long tailed tits paid a fairly brief visit. Robins in the back garden have paired, seemingly a little later than the ones in the front.  Due to ill health the ivy on my back fence hasn't been trimmed and has developed a good crop of berries. The only bird that I have seen showing interest has been a wood pigeon which spent some time yesterday feasting on them. In the front I put out a fat block yesterday afternoon which, so far, has attracted a grey squirrel. The pair of robins and the occasional blackbird are active on the hanging table.

Kites Spreading East

 I haven't been posting much due personal matters but still have my eyes open. One thing that has struck me is the eastward spread of birds of prey. I have seen buzzards over Havering-atte-Bower but the big suprise in the past month as been a red kite over the M25 near Stapleford Abbotts in Essex. The skys still look empty by Chiltern standards though. A nice little spot last week was a goldcrest during a visit to Kew Gardens.  I have downloaded the Merlin app which supposedly identifies birdsong. I have had little opportunity to try it out but a quck test in the garden showd that it correctly told me that I could hear jackdaws and a robin. I look forward to using it on the coast to see if it can distinguish the various waders for me.