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
--

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
They can neither afford the cost of living nor the "Livingstone"
congestion charge with all that flying! :-)

Broadback 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.
::
:: Joe
: They can neither afford the cost of living nor the "Livingstone"
: congestion charge with all that flying! :-)

Your goldfinches and chaffinches have moved here in enormous numbers but the
only starlings I've seen are in the city centre which is most unusual.
Plenty of different tits, robins and blackbirds but no greenfinches

"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.

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

I am not in London but have seen plenty of starlings,have only seen 1
greenfinch & chaffinch (so they must be around),the usual blackbirds,Robins
,wood pidgeons,collared doves .not seen so many blue tits/great tits.The
resident dunnock has a mate now.
--
Thanks Keith
Nottingham UK

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"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.

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

Im in Swale, Kent, and have seen plenty of Starlings and Sparrows... the garden is literally covered with Starlings most days. We also have a resident Dunnock and Robin, with the occasional visit from a pair of Blue Tits and a pair of Great Tits. Add a couple of Collared Doves to that and it's a pretty busy garden... but Sparrows and Starlings are in great numbers here...

I am in Hampshire and bird numbers definitely down here. I think its because the weather has been so mild they have not needed to come to the feeders. as there is still so much to eat in the fiels and woods surrounding us. The berries on my pyracantha are normally stripped bare by blackbirds but this year most of them are still there. Had a starling checking out a robin nesting box last week that was quite funny. It couldn't get its bottom in. Kept trying for nearly half an hour!!

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)

"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

In message
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.

Is that because all the greenfinches in SW London are queuing up at our
sunflower feeder to the annoyance of the regular tits and chaffinches ?
Agree with lack of sparrows and siskins but Goldfinches are around these
parts.

Paul



--
CTC Right to Ride Representative for Richmond upon Thames

Message from Paul Luton on Sun, 25 Feb 2007 22:13:15
Garden Birds:

In message
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.

Is that because all the greenfinches in SW London are queuing up at our
sunflower feeder to the annoyance of the regular tits and chaffinches ?
Agree with lack of sparrows and siskins but Goldfinches are around these
parts.

I also feed sunflower, but greenfinch numbers were down by 90% I'd say
in winter. Numbers are picking up now. The chaffinches in my garden
don't feed at the feeders but on the ground beneath them.
--

In message
Josie wrote:


I also feed sunflower, but greenfinch numbers were down by 90% I'd say
in winter. Numbers are picking up now. The chaffinches in my garden
don't feed at the feeders but on the ground beneath them.

Our chaffinches do at least try the feeder with much fluttering. The tits
grab a seed and take it to a branch to eat and the greefinches just sit and
munch. The space underneath is popular with dunnocks and the blackbirds.

--
CTC Right to Ride Representative for Richmond upon Thames

On 3 Mar, 17:50, Martin wrote:
On Sat, 03 Mar 2007 17:19:57 GMT, Paul Luton wrote:
In message
Josie wrote:

I also feed sunflower, but greenfinch numbers were down by 90% I'd say
in winter. Numbers are picking up now. The chaffinches in my garden
don't feed at the feeders but on the ground beneath them.

Our chaffinches do at least try the feeder with much fluttering. The tits
grab a seed and take it to a branch to eat and the greefinches just sit and
munch. The space underneath is popular with dunnocks and the blackbirds.

For two years we had a white painted metal bird feeder. As it was getting rusty
we bought a transparent plastic one. The birds didn't appear to be interested in
the transparent plastic feeder. I put the same sort of food in the old white
metal feeder and it had all gone in two days.The plastic feeder is still half
full after two months.
--

Martin

I make my own bird food, 1loaf bread crumbed, Porridge oats, 1 mug
wild bird seed and 1 mug parakeet mix with 1 pack of dripping.
Cut the dripping into pieces and melt in the microwave on top of
breadcrumbs, mix in oats and rest of dripping melt and mix it all
together, then add the seed, mix, then I cut the tops off a couple of
2 litre pop bottles and ram the mixture into them with a rolling pin.
When set I cut the plastic bottle away and put the "Cake" in the nets
you get Oranges etc. in. Then these are hung in side a couple of empty
hanging baskets fastened together by 2 chains at the top to form
hinges with the 3rd chain having the food hung on it.
We have had up to 16 birds on the feeder at one time, and have greater
spotted wood peckers on them daily as well as a colony of long tailed
tits. in all we are feeding around 200 birds a day from 4 feeders.
If I change the colour of the nets, or hang the food flat instead of
down then they are less inclined to feed than from vertical orange
nets
Strange things birds
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries