Birds seen in my garden

[Zaphod]

@mart

I’ve been out and fed the birds. I have to stand in the garden for a while to scare off the pigeons while the friendly blackbird and other smaller birds get something to eat.

The blackbird has built up a trust over the months. I see it standing on the grass waiting for food. When I go out, it comes towards me and is happy to feed only a few feet away. It’s almost become a pet that I feel I should look after.

There’s a bushy hedge at one side of the garden where blackbirds make a nest in the Spring. I think it is this friendly one and her mate.

Blackbirds can be quite friendly in my experience; we have a pair that are quite tame and will feed very close to us too.
These two like a raised saucer (think of a saucer perched on a three-foot pole) that was intended for the robins and will happily tilt their heads, appearing to listen to us as we talk to them while they eat mealworms or raisins.

The pigeons & doves here don’t seem to bother our blackbirds but ours are wood pigeons.
Nor do the pheasants who - despite their appearance - are the most ungainly birds, which makes them very entertaining to watch.

At this time of year we’re getting through more than 25kg of wild bird food per month, plus suet pellets, meal worms and assorted nuts plus suet & fat things. Oh and raisins of course, both for the blackbirds and the pheasants.
:shock:
And now we’ve started on squirrels too … none of which seams to bother the other except for squirrels and pheasants who can get quite protective of each others’ nosh apparently, which means a squirrel feeder for the tree next!

Ours is only quite a small garden at that.

[mart]

I’m having to eke out (or beak out) the bird food at the moment. I’ve run a bit short but hope to get some more when the next online shopping delivery arrives on the 4th. I think I have enough for the blackbird but have to make sure it gets its share.

It is a shame about the Parakeets. Who would have thought they’d flourish so well here? It was a big event for me when I first saw them in the trees. The people we were with had a boat on the Thames and were quite used to seeing them.

[Zaphod]

I’ve never seen parakeets here although I had to smile when I saw that they were common as far north as Glasgow.
The buzzards here would probably find them an easy target; we have at least two pairs of those locally.
It’s common to see one perched atop a fence post.

We have herons too, and as I was going shopping just a few days ago a large stork was watching me drive past on the other side of the drainage dyke.
Such things provoke a double-take and can be quite unnerving when you’re driving.
Those things are blinkin’ big - and when a buzzard flew accross the road immediately in front of me I reflexively ducked, it was so close!

[Artangel]

I get more wild animals in my garden than birds.

I get mostly robins, fat ones, thin ones and tiny ones all year round.
Lots of Woodpeckers as my lawn which is of sandy soil, is full of ant nests.
Lots of Magpies and fat, waddling pigeons.
Blackbirds
Huge crows
Thrushes
Wrens
Buzzards
Occasionally, owls, blue tits and pheasants.
I saw a beautiful Jay but only once.

I would love to live in an area to see Red Kites.

[Mups]

@Artangel

I get more wild animals in my garden than birds.

I get mostly robins, fat ones, thin ones and tiny ones all year round.
Lots of Woodpeckers as my lawn which is of sandy soil, is full of ant nests.
Lots of Magpies and fat, waddling pigeons.
Blackbirds
Huge crows
Thrushes
Wrens
Buzzards
Occasionally, owls, blue tits and pheasants.
I saw a beautiful Jay but only once.

[B]I would love to live in an area to see Red Kites.

[/B]

We get those all the time here, Art. Hardly a day goes by without seeing a couple. They come right over my garden sometimes.
The smaller birds often start squawking and flying in a frenzy when a Kite’s nearby.

There is a big commercial tip a couple of miles away and once when driving past there, I saw a big group of 11 all circling round.
Quite a spectacle that was.

[Zaphod]

@Artangel

I get more wild animals in my garden than birds.

I get mostly robins, fat ones, thin ones and tiny ones all year round.
Lots of Woodpeckers as my lawn which is of sandy soil, is full of ant nests.
Lots of Magpies and fat, waddling pigeons.
Blackbirds
Huge crows
Thrushes
Wrens
Buzzards
Occasionally, owls, blue tits and pheasants.
I saw a beautiful Jay but only once.

I would love to live in an area to see Red Kites.

I would occasionally see one when I lived in Dumfriesshire.
The first time I saw one I thought that it was an eagle.

[Artangel]

@mart

I’m having to eke out (or beak out) the bird food at the moment. I’ve run a bit short but hope to get some more when the next online shopping delivery arrives on the 4th. I think I have enough for the blackbird but have to make sure it gets its share.

It is a shame about the Parakeets. Who would have thought they’d flourish so well here? It was a big event for me when I first saw them in the trees. The people we were with had a boat on the Thames and were quite used to seeing them.

Mart, That’s the first place l saw parakeets, on a boat on the River Thames. We were moored up outside the magnificent, ornate gates of Hampton Court.
I was admiring the gates when Concorde flew overhead and a flock of beautifully coloured parakeets flew out of a tree, in fright l suppose?
For me, it was one the most magical moments of my life.

[Artangel]

@Zaphod

I would occasionally see one when I lived in Dumfriesshire.
The first time I saw one I thought that it was an eagle.

Zaphod and Mups, You are both so lucky to have seen them.
The only times l have seen Red Kites, is travelling to London on the train, probably near ? High Wycombe.

Am l right in thinking Red Kites were re-introduced to somewhere in the south of England to encourage them to breed again?

[Mups]

@Artangel

Zaphod and Mups, You are both so lucky to have seen them.
The only times l have seen Red Kites, is travelling to London on the train, probably near ? High Wickam.

Am l right in thinking Red Kites were re-introduced to somewhere in the south of England to encourage them to breed again?

Here you go Art.
They were re-introduced here in 1989.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/conservation-and-sustainability/safeguarding-species/case-studies/red-kite/

[Muddy]

They have done so well Mups since then there are loads around us as well as buzzards .
Zaphod the first time I saw one close up i was suprised at its size and it does look like a small eagle .

[Muddy]

New bird to my list
Rook
Jackdaw
Sparrow
Dunnet
Starling
Wood pigeon
Collared dove
Magpie
Blackbird
Robin
Chaffinch
Blue tit
Long tailed tit
Wag tail
Wren
Thrush
Chaffinch
Fieldfare

[Psmith]

That’s an impressive list.Never seen a Fieldfare.
Our garden is full of noisy youngsters at the moment.Either trying to sing or demanding food.

[Muddy]

It’s the first one I have ever seen .
I was sat at the window and had binoculars ar hand so was able to identify straight away .

[Psmith]

Thanks.I looked it up.Only in the UK from November to May…Perhaps why I’ve never seen one or I may have mistaken it for a Thrush

[Zaphod]

@Muddy

It’s the first one I have ever seen .
I was sat at the window and had binoculars ar hand so was able to identify straight away .

Great photo.
Like Psmith, if I have seen one I’ve not known what it was and thought it was a thrush because there are quite a few of those here, seen at some times more than others.

[Muddy]

They are of the thrush family .

[Tiffany]

I would so love to see Red Kites here, I have seen them in other places.
I stopped feeding ‘my’ birds due to a rat problem, but now we are in lockdown again I have put a wild bird food order into Haiths & I’ll start feeding them again when it arrives.
Sod the rats, I’m feeding the birds.