"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.

I was thinking only last week that this winter we've had far fewer birds
come to the feeders and birdtable. Whether that's because the weather's
been mild enough that they've had plenty of natural food around I don't
know. This year we had the best crop of rowan berries we ever had on one
tree and they lasted all through winter, which was a first. Usually the
blackbirds strip them in no time. Greenfinch numbers are well down and
we haven't had a squabbling flock of starlings on the lawn for quite
some time now.

--
Sue