Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Garden sightings

Hello, just wanted to let everyone know about the birds visiting my garden over the past month or so.

I have feeders with Sunflower hearts and Nijer seed in.  Also scatter some on the floor for the blackbirds (which are my favourite) and sometimes put out old apples.  Costs me a fortune but worth it to see  all the lovely birds coming down for the food

Brambling - about 17 counted last week
Redpoll - 2
Song Thrush - not seen it for a while but there was a Thrush singing when I got home today so assuming its the same one
Blackbirds - about 15.  Get a lot this time of year but will soon be back down to the odd one or two
Goldfinch - more than I can count most days but guessing about 25
Chaffinch - about 8
Greenfinch - about 3
Goldcrest - seen briefly one morning before work
Starlings - there is a group of about 50 which hang about and sometimes come into the garden if I put bread down
Then I have a few House Sparrows ,Dunnock, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Robin, Wren, Also have Collared Dove & Woodpidgeon which are a bit of a nuisance scoffing all the food!

Havent seen any Siskin yet but I did have about 15 turn up about this time last year.

4 comments:

Choccy said...

That's a good long list. Blackbirds are my favourites too.

Brian Sumner . said...

Thats an impressive list Vicki .

David Sutcliffe said...

That's a great list Vicki. I found these comments on the BTO web site this evening. - This winter has seen incredibly low numbers of Siskins in British gardens, according to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Garden BirdWatch.

The small finch that traditionally turns to our gardens for food during the winter, but the presence of most birds in gardens is dependent on food availability in the wider countryside and the weather. This particularly applies to Siskins, which rely on the seeds of Sitka Spruce. In years where there are a lot of seeds available, Siskins have less need to come into gardens in search of food, except when the weather is wet and the Sitka Spruce cones close up. Some years, such as 2012 and 2007, there have been notable influxes of the species.

Bruce said...

Hi Vicki
Really good records. We have had very few Siskin this time. Normally flocks of 50+ at Cromwell Bottom Nature Reserve are seen.