On 26 Feb, 12:05, "Pete ‹(•¿•)›" wrote:
Why not have a night foray and try to discover exactly what it is?
Mind you, sods law dictates he'll not appear

Indeed. I'll do that. Doesn't sound exotic though - often there are
some escaped budgies, canaries and even once we found a bird of pray
seriously large, with a bell on its foot. Might even record the mad
bird and send the tape to Bill Oddie ;o)

Say some prayers.

Errr... yes, sure.

Hmm. Wish we could say the same here!

We need a bit of everything to do a world, innit.

On 26 Feb 2007 04:14:55 -0800, "La Puce" wrote:

On 26 Feb, 12:05, "Pete ‹(•¿•)›" wrote:
Why not have a night foray and try to discover exactly what it is?
Mind you, sods law dictates he'll not appear

Indeed. I'll do that. Doesn't sound exotic though - often there are
some escaped budgies, canaries and even once we found a bird of pray
seriously large, with a bell on its foot. Might even record the mad
bird and send the tape to Bill Oddie ;o)

Say some prayers.

Errr... yes, sure.

Hmm. Wish we could say the same here!

We need a bit of everything to do a world, innit.

I'll swap my neighbors for yours?


--









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On 25/2/07 17:04, in article , "Bob
Hobden" wrote:


"Josie" wrote ..
This winter wasn't good for garden birds in SW London. Greenfinch and
Goldfinch numbers were down, no siskins, no sparrows, starlings became
rare and we hardly saw any chaffinches.

I wonder whether other gardeners in the area had the same experience.

Plenty of Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Blue/Coal/Great tits, Wrens, Dunnocks,
a few sparrows, noticed the lack of Starlings especially as I still have
fruit on one of the Cabbage/Cornish palms (Cordyline australis) which they
normally go mad for, no Blackcap either which has visited for the last few
winters. Plenty of Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves too.

Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Wrens, Thrushes, Sparrows, Rooks, Blackbirds,
Robins, Woodpecker, and the owls which I think you told us are Tawnies, Bob.
They, in particular, are calling a LOT at the moment. Normally we hear the
classic 'hoo, hoohoo' call but the other night they seemed to be calling on
one long note. Does that sound Tawny to you or have we got something else
around? We've also got wood pigeons and collared doves and a pheasant is
roosting either in our garden or in the churchyard. We hear the call as he
goes to bed each night.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)

The message . com
from "La Puce" contains these words:

On 26 Feb, 06:11, "JennyC" wrote:
The sparrows and starlings are all over here in my garden :~)
Rotterdam Holland

Gangs of Bluetits everywhere here, perhaps more than we'd seen before,
sparrows and starlings, Robins, Mrs blackbirds looking for possible
nesting sites, turtledoves nesting in a red cedar, magpies nesting in
the lime tree opposite our bedroom window (always using the same
branches to get to it like little steps) and owls - but what is now
driving us a bit crazy in our litttle close is a bird which I cannot
identify as I haven't seen it and cannot recognise its churpings, from
midnight onwards it sings like there's no tomorrow, alone in the night
it seems as no other birds respond to it, waking us all up and carries
on for ages - once I kept awake until 1.30am! We are desperate to shut
it up even though we find it quite cute.

Here chaffinches are very vocal at the moment with a repetitive two note
call which goes on and on for hours on end but I haven't heard it in the
middle of the night. I believe robins are supposed to sing in the night
if there's any artificial lighting, eg street lights but that's a real
song, not chirpings.

Janet G

The message
from Josie contains these words:

This winter wasn't good for garden birds in SW London. Greenfinch and
Goldfinch numbers were down, no siskins, no sparrows, starlings became
rare and we hardly saw any chaffinches.

I wonder whether other gardeners in the area had the same experience.

Not in the area (in South Lincs). Here it's been quite busy with more
blackbirds than ever , the usual blue and great tits, greenfinches, some
goldfinches, chaffinches, dunnocks, wrens, collared doves, wood pigeons,
etc. We are lucky in having a lot of tree sparrows and they have kept up
a good presence through the winter - about eight on the grass near the
feeders this morning. They often outnumber the house sparrows. There's a
very noisy and aggressive mistle thrush around too.
The real change has been that I've had jays for most of the winter
though I haven't seen them for a week or two now and great spotted and
green woodpeckers. Also for a few days there were a lot of fieldfare
flocking down onto the apples I'd left under the Bramley. I think the
jays and woodpeckers are visiting because the trees are maturing and
they can now find acorns etc.

Lately also I seem to have been invaded by pheasants which roost in the
trees as night come on. If you walk round the garden, six or eight of
them fly off clumsily with a terrific racket, scaring all the other
birds.

Janet G

My garden has fields to front and rear, in the Chiltern AONB (something of an exaggeration). I had many more birds when I first arrived in 2000, they have been going down since. They used to empty a seed tube in a day, now I can end up throwing the seeds away after they have gone rotten after a month. Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Sparrow, coal tits used to be the hungriest, lots of blue and great tits, and dunnocks and robins (and bank voles) would pick up the seeds the fussy birds threw on the ground. Starlings and blue tits would empty the peanut feeder. Greenfinch, sparrow and great tit have become infrequent sights, hardly see them now, though just in the last week some greenfinches have turned up and emptied the feeder over the course of a week. Goldfinches are a relatively new arrival, but only spotted occasionally. Peanuts always go rotten now. A few years ago I had a linnet nest in the garden, but not been repeated.

One thing that has happened around us in that time is that the field use is changing. The field behind the house used to be left to do its thing, but is now mowed for hay to feed horses. Other local fields used to have grain growing on them, but increasingly are just mowed for hay. I am wondering if these mowed hayfields have less value to these small passerines than the previous fallow and grain fields, and therefore there is a smaller reservoir of birds to visit our gardens. In the fields, but not the gardens, are skylarks and occasionally yellowhammer. I've seen a barn owl a few times, and I had to brake my bicycle sharply to avoid a badger the other day. All 5 common corvids are commonly seen in both in the fields and in the garden, and seem to be increasing.

Gardens deeper into suburbia seem to have a lot more birds than ours.

"Sacha" wrote in reply "Bob
Hobden" who twittered on after
"Josie" wrote ..
This winter wasn't good for garden birds in SW London. Greenfinch and
Goldfinch numbers were down, no siskins, no sparrows, starlings became
rare and we hardly saw any chaffinches.

I wonder whether other gardeners in the area had the same experience.

Plenty of Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Blue/Coal/Great tits, Wrens,
Dunnocks,
a few sparrows, noticed the lack of Starlings especially as I still have
fruit on one of the Cabbage/Cornish palms (Cordyline australis) which
they
normally go mad for, no Blackcap either which has visited for the last
few
winters. Plenty of Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves too.

Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Wrens, Thrushes, Sparrows, Rooks, Blackbirds,
Robins, Woodpecker, and the owls which I think you told us are Tawnies,
Bob.
They, in particular, are calling a LOT at the moment. Normally we hear the
classic 'hoo, hoohoo' call but the other night they seemed to be calling
on
one long note. Does that sound Tawny to you or have we got something else
around? We've also got wood pigeons and collared doves and a pheasant is
roosting either in our garden or in the churchyard. We hear the call as
he
goes to bed each night.

Take a look at the following link where there are some short (very short
unfortunately!) call sounds for all the Owls, click on the bird you are
interested in and then the song/call. You can choose QuickTime or MP3.
Let us know if any are what you describe.
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birdindex.htm

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

On 26/2/07 16:39, in article , "Bob
Hobden" wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in reply "Bob
Hobden" who twittered on after
"Josie" wrote ..
This winter wasn't good for garden birds in SW London. Greenfinch and
Goldfinch numbers were down, no siskins, no sparrows, starlings became
rare and we hardly saw any chaffinches.

I wonder whether other gardeners in the area had the same experience.

Plenty of Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Blue/Coal/Great tits, Wrens,
Dunnocks,
a few sparrows, noticed the lack of Starlings especially as I still have
fruit on one of the Cabbage/Cornish palms (Cordyline australis) which
they
normally go mad for, no Blackcap either which has visited for the last
few
winters. Plenty of Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves too.

Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Wrens, Thrushes, Sparrows, Rooks, Blackbirds,
Robins, Woodpecker, and the owls which I think you told us are Tawnies,
Bob.
They, in particular, are calling a LOT at the moment. Normally we hear the
classic 'hoo, hoohoo' call but the other night they seemed to be calling
on
one long note. Does that sound Tawny to you or have we got something else
around? We've also got wood pigeons and collared doves and a pheasant is
roosting either in our garden or in the churchyard. We hear the call as
he
goes to bed each night.

Take a look at the following link where there are some short (very short
unfortunately!) call sounds for all the Owls, click on the bird you are
interested in and then the song/call. You can choose QuickTime or MP3.
Let us know if any are what you describe.
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birdindex.htm

Hearing this and reading the info on Little Owls and Tawny Owls makes me
wonder if we've got both! Certainly, we hear the hooo, hooo, oooo call
during the day time, sometimes around 2pm and on into the night. I'm very
confused!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)

"Sacha" wrote
Take a look at the following link where there are some short (very short
unfortunately!) call sounds for all the Owls, click on the bird you are
interested in and then the song/call. You can choose QuickTime or MP3.
Let us know if any are what you describe.
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birdindex.htm

Hearing this and reading the info on Little Owls and Tawny Owls makes me
wonder if we've got both! Certainly, we hear the hooo, hooo, oooo call
during the day time, sometimes around 2pm and on into the night. I'm very
confused!

The problem is they are very short recordings and if you heard the full
"song" it would become clearer but I can't find a site that has such, sorry.
There are DVD's that have the sounds of all UK birds btw.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

Josie wrote:
This winter wasn't good for garden birds in SW London. Greenfinch and
Goldfinch numbers were down, no siskins, no sparrows, starlings became
rare and we hardly saw any chaffinches.

I wonder whether other gardeners in the area had the same experience.

Joe

Alternatively, it may be good for these birds and they have no need to
search out the food put out in gardens!

I found a very health crop of greenfly on a rose ove the weekend!

PK
in SW London

Birds in the last few days have been very sparse - usually get a few
Blackbirds, one male with a white patch on his right chest - been here a few
years, Robins, Sparrows and the mandatory Ring Necked or Collared Doves and
pigeons.

However two days ago had a sparrow hawk perched on the main feeding
station - only seen the pigeons the last day or two.

Have tried to attract tits and other species with sunflower hearts and nigra
seed - over the last three months but to know avail - my friend a few
streets away gets loads feeding from feeders filled with those seeds.

"Alan McKenzie" wrote in message
...
Birds in the last few days have been very sparse - usually get a few
Blackbirds, one male with a white patch on his right chest - been here a
few years, Robins, Sparrows and the mandatory Ring Necked or Collared
Doves and pigeons.

However two days ago had a sparrow hawk perched on the main feeding
station - only seen the pigeons the last day or two.

Have tried to attract tits and other species with sunflower hearts and
nigra seed - over the last three months but to know avail - my friend a
few streets away gets loads feeding from feeders filled with those seeds.

I have most success with 'fat balls'. I use any seed mixes I can get from
various sources. There always seems to be one bird or another that eats it.

Saw a tip in a magazine for feeding peanut butter. Take a large old pine
cone - hang it upside down on a bit of string - smear peanut butter on and
into the cone......wait for the birds to arrive :~))

Jenny

Thanks Jenny I'll give it a go.
"JennyC" wrote in message
...

"Alan McKenzie" wrote in message
...
Birds in the last few days have been very sparse - usually get a few
Blackbirds, one male with a white patch on his right chest - been here a
few years, Robins, Sparrows and the mandatory Ring Necked or Collared
Doves and pigeons.

However two days ago had a sparrow hawk perched on the main feeding
station - only seen the pigeons the last day or two.

Have tried to attract tits and other species with sunflower hearts and
nigra seed - over the last three months but to know avail - my friend a
few streets away gets loads feeding from feeders filled with those seeds.

I have most success with 'fat balls'. I use any seed mixes I can get from
various sources. There always seems to be one bird or another that eats
it.

Saw a tip in a magazine for feeding peanut butter. Take a large old pine
cone - hang it upside down on a bit of string - smear peanut butter on and
into the cone......wait for the birds to arrive :~))

Jenny

On 26/2/07 18:57, in article , "Bob
Hobden" wrote:


"Sacha" wrote
Take a look at the following link where there are some short (very short
unfortunately!) call sounds for all the Owls, click on the bird you are
interested in and then the song/call. You can choose QuickTime or MP3.
Let us know if any are what you describe.
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birdindex.htm

Hearing this and reading the info on Little Owls and Tawny Owls makes me
wonder if we've got both! Certainly, we hear the hooo, hooo, oooo call
during the day time, sometimes around 2pm and on into the night. I'm very
confused!

The problem is they are very short recordings and if you heard the full
"song" it would become clearer but I can't find a site that has such, sorry.
There are DVD's that have the sounds of all UK birds btw.

Oh Bob, don't be sorry! You've helped me a lot both now and in the past
with this conundrum. When he came here 25 years ago, Ray was told there
were Little Owls in the garden but if you remember, an urg 'conversation' we
had a year or so ago, cast a lot of doubt on that.
We think these must be Tawnies and last year one got into one of the
glasshouses and appeared stuck. None of us had a camera at hand, of course!
However, we opened all the vents and it took off quite happily. We think -
think - one is now living in the churchyard and that's so close as to be in
our garden and certainly there are times when it sounds as if it's sitting
right on the rose outside our bedroom window. But just try to catch sight
of it.........!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)

On 26/2/07 19:51, in article ,
"Alan McKenzie" wrote:

Birds in the last few days have been very sparse - usually get a few
Blackbirds, one male with a white patch on his right chest - been here a few
years, Robins, Sparrows and the mandatory Ring Necked or Collared Doves and
pigeons.

Did you see the press photographs of the blackbird that is pied? It's not
an albino and it doesn't just have a fleck here or there, it's genuinely
pied. Apparently, hopes are not high for its survival because it is so
conspicuous. I would add to that my fear/belief that its own kind will kill
it.

However two days ago had a sparrow hawk perched on the main feeding
station - only seen the pigeons the last day or two.

They don't usually take wood pigeons, or so we're told, but they will take
collared doves.

Have tried to attract tits and other species with sunflower hearts and nigra
seed - over the last three months but to know avail - my friend a few
streets away gets loads feeding from feeders filled with those seeds.

We put out nigra seeds and have a strong suspicion that the squirrels are
benefiting most! I've hung a bird feeder outside my study window and that
is on the first floor of the house, not the ground floor. I have tied it
with fishing line to the interior window catch and then swung it outside and
hastily closed the window to trap the feeder outside. No squirrel gets to
this one, so I can enjoy the birds that do.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)