Our Feeding Stations :):)

  for sharing your photos Safariman, it's lovely to see who's visiting your feeders, and all the scruffy young fledglings are wonderful to see. It's a great time of year. Magpies are beautiful but have a bad reputation!

That Wood pigeon chick looks like he's having a bad hair day    but lovely to see.

Lai

Fascinating to see the new young birds around the feeding station now that the adults have left them to their own devices. Some are not sure what to do while others quickly attack the food and some just prefer a drink of water. I suppose it is a steep learning curve for them particularly if they hope to survive. A few photos of some of the young birds.



Young robin just getting its' distinctive red breast





A young Magpie a little unsure of itself



A young starling




p.s The second brood of Moorhen chicks have just hatched on the pond, not quite sure how many, could be 4 or 5. Will try and get some photos.

SM

Lovely to see the young ones around it's the same here, and from looking at your photos they do look a bit nonplussed   , but hopefully they will soon wise up. \i' have finaly managed to get our feeders back up, after finding a way to get the stan through the concrete, but unfortunately they are just out of view of our window now, so I need to find a new position to capture them with the camera. Looking forward to seeing some pics of the new Moorhen brood. Thanks for the update SM

WS

Will Britain's garden birds stay for winter?

Last winter Britain’s gardens were unusually quiet, with their usual visiting birds largely absent. Blackbirds, robins, song thrushes and chaffinches were among the birds that chose to spent their time foraging in the countryside instead of in gardens due to the abundance of food available there.

But a quiet winter was followed by a busier spring and summer, as the warmer weather enjoyed by the UK in 2014 meant that bird numbers were able to pick up quickly, according to findings from the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) Garden BirdWatch.

Now the BTO are keen to find out whether the birds will stay for the colder months, or whether they will once again prefer to spend autumn and winter in the countryside rather than in gardens.

The Trust rely on recordings taken down by their Garden BirdWatch volunteers, who over the past year have provided valuable data that revealed average robin numbers have been higher this year than in the previous two years. BTO say that this could be due to a mild winter and a good breeding season.

Numbers of great tit were also seen to have rapidly increased in May, reaching their highest average numbers in September than in the past seven years. Other birds that were seen to do well in gardens over the summer months included dunnocks, blue tits, and great spotted woodpeckers.

BTO theorise that the birds might return to the countryside for the winter, as it seems that this year might be another good year for wild berries. In order to find out, they are encouraging people to become involved with their BirdWatch volunteer programme. Kate Risely, Garden BirdWatch organiser, explains: “Our volunteers provide us with invaluable data about what is happening in gardens. Without them, we won’t be able to see how our birds fare this winter. Anyone who spend a few minutes each week watching what the birds get up to in their garden is already doing enough to take part in the BTO Garden BirdWatch.”

Those interested in volunteering are encouraged to get in touch with BTO, and they will receive a free magazine and information pack on how to take part. Email gbw@bto.org, phone 01842 750 050, or write to GBW, BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU

I dont know about you Guys, but our Birds have gone really quiet again at the moment, like last year

WS

Thanks for that WS. An interesting read. Our feeders are relatively quiet too although our Nuthatch is back which is lovely. Plenty of Goldfinch but not many Blue Tit, or Great Tit. It is so mild just now I wonder what will happen over winter?

Lai

A light covering of snow this morning and suddenly the bird feeders were very busy.
Sorry about the quality of the photos but it was still rather dark and the kitchen window is very dirty!!



Long-tailed tit



Long-tailed tit and Blue tit



Great tit and male Black cap



Great tit



Black cap



Blue tit

SM

An interesting confrontation on the bird feeder yesterday between a Greater Spotted Woodpecker and a Woodpigeon!!



Greater spotted woodpecker enjoying some food



The Woodpigeon arrives!!



With inevitable consequences!!

SM

Well Woody got a bit of a shock. Never seen a Wood Pigeon on ours we get lots of Collared Doves, or rather did ', but a Sparrow Hawk decimated them, and we only get the odd one. We still get our Spotted Wood Peckers, but unfortunately I had to move our feeders because the winds kept blowing then down, and now they are not in view of the windows so not easy to take photos.

WS

We saw a Greenfinch on our feeders Thursday first since 2013

WS

That's a good spot WS. Their numbers have seriously declined. We haven't seen many this year

Lai

Yed their numbers have been ravaged by disease

WS