Before we went away we had a great number of different birds, but mainly
Sparrows, both House and Hedge, along with Dunnocks, Blue Tits, Great Tits
etc etc etc. but there seems to be a great decline in the Sparrow
population. All the others have returned to the many feeders we have, but
the flocks of Sparrows which would number 20 - 25 sometimes, are down to
half a dozen.

I understand there has been a hard winter, is this the reason? Killed of?

Mike

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Killed of?


sorry, killed 'off'

;-)

Mike

"Mike" wrote in message
...
Before we went away we had a great number of different birds, but mainly
Sparrows, both House and Hedge, along with Dunnocks, Blue Tits, Great Tits
etc etc etc. but there seems to be a great decline in the Sparrow
population. All the others have returned to the many feeders we have, but
the flocks of Sparrows which would number 20 - 25 sometimes, are down to
half a dozen.

I understand there has been a hard winter, is this the reason? Killed of?

House sparrow numbers have been doing odd things over the past 10 years.
Where I grew up (council estate on north side of Dublin), they used to be
easily the commonest birds and every house had one or two nests under the
roof tiles (big orange ceramic tiles). Now they are still there but in
very small numbers. Where I live now (Dublin suburbs, we have a local
resident flock of about 10 birds. I worry that nesting sites in cities are
getting harder to find as people do not like them nesting in their fascia
and soffits and under tiles. Suburban gardens are also now tidier, possibly
with more cats and fewer big seed covered weeds? I wonder what the sparrow
numbers are doing in the countryside?


Mike

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------

I think yours have all come to my garden : ((

:-))

That's fine as long as they are OK.

You can send them back if you like. Plenty of feeding for them, + some new
ones :-))

Mike

"Sue" wrote
I understand hear the recently changed farm subsidy system

Whoops, 'hear' shouldn't be here.

--
Sue

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sue" wrote in message
reenews.net...

"Sue" wrote
I understand hear the recently changed farm subsidy system

Whoops, 'hear' shouldn't be here.

there their don't worry ;-) I did a to and meant a too in my birds posting
;-)

Mike

Des Higgins wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
...
Before we went away we had a great number of different birds, but mainly
Sparrows, both House and Hedge, along with Dunnocks, Blue Tits, Great Tits
etc etc etc. but there seems to be a great decline in the Sparrow
population. All the others have returned to the many feeders we have, but
the flocks of Sparrows which would number 20 - 25 sometimes, are down to
half a dozen.

I understand there has been a hard winter, is this the reason? Killed of?

House sparrow numbers have been doing odd things over the past 10 years.
Where I grew up (council estate on north side of Dublin), they used to be
easily the commonest birds and every house had one or two nests under the
roof tiles (big orange ceramic tiles). Now they are still there but in
very small numbers. Where I live now (Dublin suburbs, we have a local
resident flock of about 10 birds. I worry that nesting sites in cities are
getting harder to find as people do not like them nesting in their fascia
and soffits and under tiles. Suburban gardens are also now tidier, possibly
with more cats and fewer big seed covered weeds? I wonder what the sparrow
numbers are doing in the countryside?

This is not scientific, but they are one of the most numerous visitors
to my feeders. The tits (great, blue and coal) are next, followed by
green finches and chaffinches. We had a few magnificent gold finches
around during the long cold spell of early spring, but no sighting of
them this week end (I am a week end observer, not being about in
daylight hours during the week).

Cat(h)

"Cat(h)" wrote in message
ups.com...

Des Higgins wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
...
Before we went away we had a great number of different birds, but
mainly
Sparrows, both House and Hedge, along with Dunnocks, Blue Tits, Great
Tits
etc etc etc. but there seems to be a great decline in the Sparrow
population. All the others have returned to the many feeders we have,
but
the flocks of Sparrows which would number 20 - 25 sometimes, are down
to
half a dozen.

I understand there has been a hard winter, is this the reason? Killed
of?

House sparrow numbers have been doing odd things over the past 10 years.
Where I grew up (council estate on north side of Dublin), they used to be
easily the commonest birds and every house had one or two nests under the
roof tiles (big orange ceramic tiles). Now they are still there but in
very small numbers. Where I live now (Dublin suburbs, we have a local
resident flock of about 10 birds. I worry that nesting sites in cities
are
getting harder to find as people do not like them nesting in their fascia
and soffits and under tiles. Suburban gardens are also now tidier,
possibly
with more cats and fewer big seed covered weeds? I wonder what the
sparrow
numbers are doing in the countryside?

This is not scientific, but they are one of the most numerous visitors
to my feeders. The tits (great, blue and coal) are next, followed by

That is reassuring but the numbers really have changed. In the 1960s/70s in
Dublin suburbs, apart from starlings, you would get 20 sparrows for every
chaffinch/blue tit/great tit combined, coming to gardens to feed.
Starlings were seasonal and you would suddenly get 30 in one go and then
none for a while.


green finches and chaffinches. We had a few magnificent gold finches
around during the long cold spell of early spring, but no sighting of
them this week end (I am a week end observer, not being about in
daylight hours during the week).

Cat(h)

"Mike" wrote in message
...


--
-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sue" wrote in message
reenews.net...

"Sue" wrote
I understand hear the recently changed farm subsidy system

Whoops, 'hear' shouldn't be here.

there their don't worry ;-) I did a to and meant a too in my birds posting

not too worry; I just did one two.


;-)

Mike

Des Higgins wrote:
"Cat(h)" wrote in message
ups.com...
That is reassuring but the numbers really have changed. In the 1960s/70s in
Dublin suburbs, apart from starlings, you would get 20 sparrows for every
chaffinch/blue tit/great tit combined, coming to gardens to feed.
Starlings were seasonal and you would suddenly get 30 in one go and then
none for a while.



Just a question: how old is the tradition of feeding birds in gardens
in Ireland andthe UK? It seems to me to be a relatively recent (say a
handful of decades) pursuit?
Does anyone know whether it is compensating for hte loss of food
sources from fewer hedgerows, and evolving farming practices?

I know it's not very on topic, but I must say it is one of the most
enjoyable parts of owning and maintaining a garden. The blackbirds
*love* foraging for worms in my mulched beds :-)

Cat(h)

"Cat(h)" wrote in message
oups.com...

Des Higgins wrote:
"Cat(h)" wrote in message
ups.com...
That is reassuring but the numbers really have changed. In the 1960s/70s
in
Dublin suburbs, apart from starlings, you would get 20 sparrows for every
chaffinch/blue tit/great tit combined, coming to gardens to feed.
Starlings were seasonal and you would suddenly get 30 in one go and then
none for a while.



Just a question: how old is the tradition of feeding birds in gardens
in Ireland andthe UK? It seems to me to be a relatively recent (say a
handful of decades) pursuit?
Does anyone know whether it is compensating for hte loss of food
sources from fewer hedgerows, and evolving farming practices?

I did it in the 70s and my granny used to do it before that so some people
have been doing it for ages.
I suspect that it does not make up much for lost habitat etc. To really
make it count you have to do it consistently (I believe).
I suspect most people who do it, do it now and that is not enough to really
change feeding patterns.


I know it's not very on topic, but I must say it is one of the most
enjoyable parts of owning and maintaining a garden. The blackbirds
*love* foraging for worms in my mulched beds :-)

Cat(h)

We have always put out feed for the birds but this can be a very expensive hobby.All the specialist food stuff for wild birds sold in the shops are well worth it though when you can see all the varieties of birds that come into the garden.Here there are still sparrows, tits, robins and wrens so no shortage of takers for our troubles.

"Mike" wrote in message
...
Before we went away we had a great number of different birds, but mainly
Sparrows, both House and Hedge, along with Dunnocks, Blue Tits, Great Tits
etc etc etc. but there seems to be a great decline in the Sparrow
population. All the others have returned to the many feeders we have, but
the flocks of Sparrows which would number 20 - 25 sometimes, are down to
half a dozen.

I understand there has been a hard winter, is this the reason? Killed of?

Mike


It hasnt been an especilaly hard winter by historical standards, just hard
compared to the last few years. In addition to structural changes in the
countryside (less stuff lying around in fields after harvest, fewer nesting
sites in suburbia) ISTR that if you do the maths, the 65,000 or so pairs of
sparrow hawks there are now, will eat at least 10 million sparrows every
year. 20 years ago or so I think the number of sparrow hawks was maybe 10%
of what it is now?

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

Des Higgins writes

I suspect that it does not make up much for lost habitat etc. To really
make it count you have to do it consistently (I believe).
I suspect most people who do it, do it now and that is not enough to really
change feeding patterns.

BTO has information on this
http://www.bto.org/gbw/Species/

Their view is that garden feeding is important for many species. Some
have become more common as a result, others use garden food sources at
times of the year when agricultural areas are poor in food.

General flavour atm is that some suburban areas are richer in species
(not just birds) than some agricultural areas.
--
Kay

"Lisa" wrote in message
...


We have always put out feed for the birds but this can be a very
expensive hobby.

Much depends upon where you buy the food, I get ours from Morrisons, and it
is very reasonably priced there, in the supermakets and garden centres it is
almost twice the price!

Alan