Still got the Bullfinch and Goldcrest.

Keep Birding

My better half swears that she saw a moorhen crossing the road outside our house,which would be a megga garden tick for me.Just a shame i,ve got to work

cheers geoff

Phil Owen wrote:

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Chris, this will be either a Collared Dove or a Feral Pigeon.

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So sure Phil? On balance perhaps but there have been more than a few records of over-wintering Oriental Turtle Dove in northern Europe. Either way, that would be a job for Derbyshire's rarity committee and not me but out of county sightings do need to go in the out of county section Chris

Cheers Chris, nice number of Redpoll, hope the dove turns up again, if it does maybe the bits and bobs out of county thread is the place for your Derbyshire sighting.

Stay happy and keep birding.

Interesting Chris what area of Manchester do you live in?

a Goldcrest today was the first for several weeks

15th January.

Birds in the garden in the recent cold spell feeding on slices of brown bread cut into small cubes and spread thickly with margarine - Stork margarine naturally! - what else could you serve to birds?! Trying to give them a high fat content - just worried about the salt levels of marg?

Plus they have eaten bags and bags of re-hydrated sultanas. Strangely enough there have been some articles in papers that bread has low nutritional value for birds yet the birds have generally preferred the bread to the sultanas? Also sunflower hearts which have been taken by all birds.

Max counts:- 22 Blackbirds - they always arrive well before first light and drop onto the back lawn in the dark - a risky strategy but indicative of just how hungry they are? The Blackbirds space themselves out evenly like pegs on a chequer board - not liking others of their kind to invade their own small feeding territory. 1 Song Thrush has been a nice sight and it has been left alone by the Blackbirds - they have been too busy scrapping with each other! 2 Mistle Thrush have been regular visitors, 2 Dunnocks have eaten everything that has been put out - apart from the sultanas. Up to 30 Starlings and 12 House Sparrows have also been frequent visitors. I haven't seen the 2 Magpies come down for food at all - they have just carried on nest building throughout the whole of the cold spell! 1 Robin - which has just started singing again as the cold spell comes to the end.

A male Sparrowhawk has discovered where the birds are feeding. Haven't seen it get anything - you can tell when it has been in though - have a ornamental flowering cherry tree at the bottom of the garden which has a dense tangle of clematis growing through it. When the Sparrowhawk has been in there is usually a good number of birds perched right up against the trunk of the tree amongst the tangle of branches - so that they can see what is going on but the Sparrowhawk because of its size would take a time to clamber through the vegetation to get at them?

Cheers,

Bill.

-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Friday 15th of January 2010 02:33:20 PM

-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Friday 15th of January 2010 02:35:58 PM

The provision of some cheap Co-op apples has lured the local Fieldfare into my small garden.

There don't seem to be as many different species coming into the garden at the moment, but we keep putting food out and we are having good numbers of Blackbirds coming in. Its always a relief when a bird you haven't seen for a few days puts in an appearance, and this was the case yesterday when two male Bullfinches came in but unfortunately didn't stop for long.

A Redwing today was a first for the garden.

Todays birds so far include

2 Coal Tit
10+ Blue Tit
4+ Great Tit
2 Magpie
Dunnock
2 Robin
Song Thrush (appear to be a pair around)
5+ Blackbird
Chaffinch (f)
3+ Starling
2 Bullfinch (male)

-- Edited by Karen Foulkes on Monday 11th of January 2010 12:58:56 PM

I had a grey heron sat by our 6 foot pond the other day in the centre of warringtondesparate stuff

-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Monday 11th of January 2010 12:59:27 PM

I've lived at the same address (my parent's) on and off for the last 23 years, but this week I've had several "firsts" in the garden. All but one have been seen from the garden before, but never in it... Just shows how desperate the birds are getting!
These new birds are:
Redwing
Fieldfare
Pied Wagtail
Jackdaw
Bullfinch

Also, where are all the Goldcrests? We've had at least 2 resident individuals over the last couple of winters, but this winter there's only been two sightings... 2 birds on one day in November, and 1 bird one day this week. This theme is also apparent outside our garden.

No shortage of House Sparrows coming to our seed in the warford garden, upto 15, also Redwing and Fieldfare this last week, never seen Redwing in before also 2 Rooks which was unusual.

Not as good as the last garden on Mill lane at Borsdane Wood this morning which had a Willow Tit and a pair of Yellowhammer!

Oldham Rd, Middleton - Two large (mistle?) thrushes glimpsed this am.
Regular visits from robins, blackbirds(m&f) dunnock, local group of up to 20 starlings, wood pigeon and collared dove but no tits or finches seen all week - is this common?

Redwing in my garden (Davyhulme) today. A new garden tick.

Hi all,
my garden is only small & relatively new build so only seem to get a few birds, best ever was the sparrowhawk eating a bird before Xmas. Snow has brought a few new ones in:
3 blackbirds (1 resident & fights & hisses at everything in sight!)
1 wren
1 robin
2-4 blue tits
1 great tit
2 woodpigeons
2 mistle thrushes
10 starlings
1 pied wagtail overhead

my visiting song thrush is having a terribly hard time from one particular adult male blackbird - which will happily let it look at the food from the tree but not actually let it have any.

it resorted to trying to break a frozen solid snail under the snow covered patio table - to no avail obviously. so i brought the snail in gently thawed it out and put it back out for my poor new friend.

when i got back it was gone, hoping the bloody song thrush got it and not the bully-boy-blackbird!

Snipe over garden this morning, Ashton on Mersey.

Keep Birding

I've received quite a few reports of Robins almost fighting to the death rather than share food.

I think you should go out and give those Blackbirds a good talking to - assuming that they are local birds and can understand Wiganese

Steve

Clearly the bad weather forcing them to forage further a field, because i too have had a garden first Fieldfare today. Sat low in hedge feeding on the apple put out for the blackcap.

Also redwing in trees across the road.

Fieldfare on the bird table this morning, now thats a first and unexpected

Keep birding

A Mistle Thrush came into our garden today and was fighting with a male Blackbird under the feeding station whenever it tried to get to the food.

Today:-
1 Brambling
1 Moorhen
6 Tree Sparrows
1 Mistle Thrush

female blackcap on my feeders as i type

8 inches of snow on the ground and a magpie just flew into my bay tree carrying nesting material