Every year in Autumn we put out our bird feeders with a selection of goodies. Our garden is quite wild so there is a good population of our feathered friends.
This year however we have hardly had any visitors so we are a bit concerned. Anyone else having reduced visits?
Thanks, Bea
We put food out every day for the birds and have a lot of visitors - robins, tits, woodpeckers, bee-eaters etc etc.
Still the same large population of always hungry blue tits, green & yellow finches, coal tits woodpeckers, sparrows and unfortunately herons.
Whatās that last bird, @Griffin36 Colin? Itās beautifulā¦
It is a blue jay, we get a quite a few during the late spring and summer months.
Thank you, Colin. We get the usual jays and very smart they are too, but I didnāt know blue jays even existed. I wonder if they come to Mancheā¦
Great photos. I think the bird in your first image is a great tit rather than a blue titā¦
We live in the country surrounded by trees. Nonetheless, we always put food out on the feeders and bird tables and theyāre usually pretty popular. This year weāve had far fewer visitors though.
Please, please wash your feeders regularly. Thereās a nasty parasite that is decimating the greenfinch (and other finch) population.
We noticed it last year - the finches looked puffed up and are desperate to eat but canāt swallow. It was horrid. We now rotate feeders regularly and put more out with smaller quantities so birds donāt congregate as much. (Sadly canāt persuade them to wear masks!)
We had the same thing last year - it was really awful. We found a number of sick or dead greenfinches. I make sure to clean up the feeding places and to clean water dishes and change the water regularly, and it has been OK this year so far. At the moment we have lots of greenfinches, chaffinches and a few sparrows, zillions of bluetits and great tits, a couple of woodpeckers and nuthatches, a pair of tourterelles, a lonesome robin (I think he likes it that way), a little owl that perches on a light fitting outside at dusk. And there is a crowd of twittering goldfinches that do flypasts and land in nearby trees and fields, but never in the garden. Iām surprised to see them at this time of the year.
Scary hawk! We sometimes get one trying for a quick snack of sparrowā¦great photo!
(Donāt wish to be a critic as food is better than no food, but birds can get their feet tangled in and/or cut in the green plastic netting things. Better to give them without the netting in a feeder)
Many thanks for that point Jane. I havenāt come across problems but wouldnāt necessarily spot them I guess. Iām off to the farmersā store this week for a rain gauge (rain is heading this way and the last one just got split open by ice), so Iāll get a feeder for the balls too. The woodpecker has only just learned how to swing underneath the ball so heāll have to teach himself new tricks.
Well done you. Maybe we need a āiāve done a nice thing for natureā gold star?
(Itās what I learnt from RSPBā¦The RSPB: News: RSPB warns about the dangers in bird food packaging
humph and I thought @Fleur first photo was intended to cover JJās point about the birds finding it difficult to swallow 
I think Iād find that hard to swallowā¦
Itās one of the reasons we donāt put out bird feeders any more but rely on providing ample food from the trees, shrubs and weeds/thistles in our garden.
Another reason was that the feeders became an all too easy hunting ground for a merlin in a previous house we lived in.
These days I much prefer our garden to have a natural balance. And judging from the hundreds of birds that are happily living in it - including large flocks of sparrows, long tailed tits and goldfinches - I donāt think they lack for much.
Not where we are. If anything, more than last year. You might have heard that tits and other small passerines in particular are being affected by an avian virus causing increased mortality. France has an increased surveillance system in place for people who find unexpected bird cadavers in their gardens or hedges. Not talking about the avian flu affecting ducks and chickens though, thatās a separate problem.
Bit early for goldfinches isnāt it?
Beautiful bird. I have to admit that one of my favourite trout flies was āThe Invictaā. A standard Invicta uses a feather from a jay. Jays, along with all the corvids except jackdaws and choughs, used to be classed as vermin. Jays are protected now.
as a 'throat hackle;
Seen tied in, under the hook shank.
Fortunately many feathers from a wide variety of species are not used now in fly tying. Substitutes, either of synthetic materials or feathers from poultry or game birds are used instead.
Iād love to see a merlin in action from time to time. Heās got a living to make, as well.
Which I donāt begrudge at all. We are very fortunate, being surrounded by arable farmland and so we see many raptors. Weāre also up a slope, looking down on the fields so often they are flying below us as well as above. Kites, buzzards, hen harriers, a whole range of hawks, falcons and so on. And Iām only too happy to see them hunting our land. We have a long terrace where sparrows gather and chatter in the vine and in the eaves. Sometimes a hawk will sweep the length of the terrace at head height. Thatās fine, BUT (and itās a big but) I wonāt create āhot spotsā for them where small birds cluster in an artificial environment. Let each be in natural ratio to the other.
Yes! But I think they are maybe late rather than early. Or just passing throughā¦ itās a mystery.
