Our Garden Birds

[grindle]

Dylan's fur looks to be popular, hope it keeps them warm

[SueA]

I bet they love that grindle, top quality bedding! I tried that a couple of years ago with some alpaca wool which looked very similar, it was sold in a little box for a couple of pounds & I put it in a wire suet block cage & hung it off the gatepost at the end of the garden , I think I should have cut it up though as I did see some of the sparrows etc. really struggling to pull it out.
We don't often get the goldfinches in the garden but I think this is a little lone one who has been coming to the feeder by himself & singing in the nearby trees & has now got himself a girlfriend, I think they might be nesting next door but one to us.
3 jays visited yesterday & came down together, they looked a bit like parents & last year youngster, not sure if they do stay in families but they looked like they got on/knew each other.The pics. are of what looked like the young one.





I did see a little woodmouse run across the lawn & grab some bird food as well yesterday morning, hope it didn't get spotted!

[SueA]

Another new bird for me, never seen one before but I think this is a linnet which visited our garden yesterday, there seemed to be another 2 high up in the oak tree but this one swooped down briefly onto the feeders, just managed to get a quick snap of it through the window. You can't really see on the pic. but it had a pink chest & tiny bit of pink on it's head.


We also saw a couple of ring- necked parakeets in Sefton Park in Liverpool earlier in the day - didn't know they'd reached this far north but I don't know if they'll bother moving in around here, too wet & windy!

[grindle]

not seen a linnet either, parakeets are everywhere, especially t he south east Hampton Court has a huge amount. Another new one for me, I think a black cap ( I did try to identify it online and I think that's what it was, a bit far away on the feeder to really see properly

[SueA]

There was a thrush singing in next door's tree yesterday, never see them in our garden at all so this was a bit unusual, a pair of longtail tits keep visiting & the goldfinches are regulars, good job I didn't cut down the teasels! One of them was trying to rip the catkins of a willow near the patio this morning.

[grindle]

that second picture is a good one SueA

[grindle]

www.facebook.com/WidlifeGadgetman/videos/1707025872688308/UzpfSTE1OTI0MDQxNTc3NDQxMTg6MTk5MjM0MTY1MTA4MzY5OA/

this is a good idea

[SueA]

That does look useful grindle - & quite easy to make.

[grindle]

a good bit of recycling I thought

[grindle]

over the moon, just seen a pair of thrushes in the garden, one is exciting, but two is fantastic, must mean they're nesting nearby

[steve]

That good grindle, strange isn't it how what used to be common when we were young is now rare and birds you hardly saw like Goldfinches are now getting common in gardens! We have a pair nesting in a Garrya elliptica

[grindle]

I haven't seen greenfinches for ages, used to get loads in my last garden, but sadly not here, you're lucky to have goldfinches nesting steve, they flit in and out but never seem to stop

[steve]

Greenfinches have been decimated by a disease grindle but are said to be back on the increase now, but yes they were very common in hedgerows a while back

[SueA]

I'd never seen goldfinches much until recent years either but they seem to be nesting next door but one & there are a lot fewer sparrows around than there used to be, I got excited because a thrush was singing from the top of the oak tree for a few days a week or so ago grindle & as you say steve they were quite common when we were young. Never used to see woodpigeons or collared doves then though, I think a lot of it is because farming & the countryside (what's left of it!) has changed so much & different birds have learnt to visit gardens instead as their natural habitat has been lost.

[steve]

Although Greenfinches are not colourful you did get a flash of yellow as they flew off from the bar on their wings, Woodpigeons seem to have learned that there is plenty of food under everyones bird feeders And Pied wagtails seem to like car parks for some reason?