Live Stream of my Bird Box - Bluetits Nesting - Chicks Hatching Now

Nazbit said:
Goldfinches - not that I'm aware of. I believe that the red and white on their face doesn't develop until they mature as an evolutionary way of helping them avoid predators. Without the red and white face they can be a bit more hidden until they have better survival instincts. Then in later life I think the vibrancy of the red is involved in mate selection. But differences between the sexes not that I know of.

This is what I tend to get in my garden

Plentiful: Goldfinches, Sparrows, Blackbirds
Common:Bluetits, Robins, Green Finches, Chaffinches
Once in a while: CoalTits, GreatTits, Starlings, Magpies, Crows
Rare: Siskins
OMG WTF is that: Sparrow Hawks

Think that's everything
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I sometimes wish we could see the extra colours as I feel birds would probably look even more spectacular.

That's a decent amount of birds! We get a lot of GreatTits and Magpies in my garden. The magpies in particular enjoy making noise right out the window at about 6am. I am determined to befriend them though!

Don't think I've ever seen a sparrow hawk in the wild but my partner got me a bird of prey experience for my birthday in December where I got to fly a few different owls and a Harris Hawk (who decided my head was a nice place to sit!) and they had a little sparrow hawk there but he wasn't ready to be flown that day.

If I ever move to the country I'd love to take up falconry

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Junglist said:
Same reason I have a love hate relationship with seagulls. They're pests but I can't help but respect how brazen they are
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I’m unfortunately more on the hate side of seagulls rather than love but I spent a period living by the sea where they were nesting in the tops of the buildings around the house and they start screaming at half four in the morning especially when they have young. Plus they seemed to enjoy taking aim at my freshly washed car :mad::D

We are currently getting mobbed by young Starlings, we counted 21 in the garden this morning. I’ve been filling the fat balls up twice a day lately.
 
Minxy said:
I’m unfortunately more on the hate side of seagulls rather than love but I spent a period living by the sea where they were nesting in the tops of the buildings around the house and they start screaming at half four in the morning especially when they have young. Plus they seemed to enjoy taking aim at my freshly washed car :mad::D

We are currently getting mobbed by young Starlings, we counted 21 in the garden this morning. I’ve been filling the fat balls up twice a day lately.
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Yeah we have lots that nest on top of our office, so they do get very noisy. I also quickly learned to never get my car washed and drive it to work the following day as 90% of the time they'd drop a substantial present onto it!
 
Living by the seaside also got a love/hate
Relationship with seagulls
I actually like most gulls
It's the herring gulls that tend to be the yobbos mostly lol
 
Its brutal here. The very much Alpha predator birds are Crows and Magpies.... Ive watched them working together to easily kill Thrush/Blackbird size birds that flock here to strip the trees of berries.
Ive never considered them to be more than scavengers, not cold blooded killers :P

One of the first things im doing when i move into my new house is sorting out a bird feeding area. We have a large Pine tree in the garden and its gonna be perfect for birds and Red squirrels.

I should get some great photos !
 
Efour said:
Its brutal here. The very much Alpha predator birds are Crows and Magpies.... Ive watched them working together to easily kill Thrush/Blackbird size birds that flock here to strip the trees of berries.
Ive never considered them to be more than scavengers, not cold blooded killers :p

One of the first things im doing when i move into my new house is sorting out a bird feeding area. We have a large Pine tree in the garden and its gonna be perfect for birds and Red squirrels.

I should get some great photos !
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We get a lot of crows and magpies
As well as all the herring gulls
My partner actually saw a crow swoop down and take out a wood pigeon that
Was sitting on the fence
Get a lot of wood pigeons here too
I knew crows would kill smaller birds but
Pretty surprised it did in a wood pigeon
The herring gulls and crows are always fighting lol
On the ground the gulls have the upper hand
But in the air the crows are just too manoeuvrable for them as herring gulls are more designed for gliding than tight manoeuvres
Look forward to some photos :)
This has turned into a great thread/post
None of the nastiness you get in some
Posts is great makes this post a pleasant
One to keep coming back to :):):):)
 
I get the report through for a local bird ringing group that operates in a wood nearby (I help out occasionally with brush cutting and the like).

Among others they registered 26 Blue **** last weekend. 22 of which born this year.

Thought worth sharing given the unfortunate outcome above.
 
@taB that's very pleasing to hear

Between us in this thread we've had quite a bad year for fledging so it's good to hear that it's not the case everywhere.
 
Nobody likes Starlings but everyone likes chickies.....

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Unfortunately these were taken through a very dirty window. Practically opaque. The double glazing has failed and got all kinds of residue on the inside. Needs replacing :(

And yes this is a starling proof feeder! Might leave this photo as a review on their website! :p
 
We’ve had some song thrushes nesting in the honeysuckle next to our patio. It’s been great to watch. They fledged today and are in the bushes around the garden. I’m sat outside eating my breakfast and notice a rat along the fence - luckily I was there as it chased one of the baby birds, but stopped when it saw me. Nature is tough to watch sometimes.

Edit: it got one :( - I’m the guarding the rest with a spade seeing as it seems to want more. It was sad to hear the baby get killed after it got dragged under the decking.
 
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I quite like the starlings, they are so hostile to each other over the bird feeders, we have five feeders in the garden but they all seem to want the same one. We’ve spent a lot of time laughing at them as they’ve bickered between themselves.
 
I started putting out Sunflower Hearts in the mesh tray and feeder and have been rewarded by a visit from some Goldfinches today - absolutely beautiful birds :)

Really nice to watch given I'm working from home now, the feeder station and accessories have been a great investment, as have the jet sprayer and spikes to keep cats out! :D
 
Was on a walk yesterday, not even in a woodland area at this point and at the last minute spotted this guy sat on a wall. He was eating a snail and must've really been enjoying it as i had enough time to take a few photos. He flew off into the tree and then realised it was a breeding pair as two of them were above us! I've gone from barely seeing them to always bumping into them!

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Nazbit said:
Goldfinches - not that I'm aware of. I believe that the red and white on their face doesn't develop until they mature as an evolutionary way of helping them avoid predators. Without the red and white face they can be a bit more hidden until they have better survival instincts. Then in later life I think the vibrancy of the red is involved in mate selection. But differences between the sexes not that I know of.

This is what I tend to get in my garden

Plentiful: Goldfinches, Sparrows, Blackbirds
Common:Bluetits, Robins, Green Finches, Chaffinches
Once in a while: CoalTits, GreatTits, Starlings, Magpies, Crows
Rare: Siskins
OMG WTF is that: Sparrow Hawks

Think that's everything
Click to expand...

Impressive selection!

I have:
Regularly: crows, wood pigeons, white collared doves, blackbirds, great ****, blue ****, Robins, dunnocks
Occasional: long tailed ****, sparrows, magpies
Rare: goldfinches, blackcaps (male and female)
Wth is that: redwing
Unconformed: coal ****, wrens
 
I always thought Wrens were pretty common. Get a few of the loud buggers in the woods near me. Shame our new garden wont be that big as I don't see the point of putting one in there if it's not big. They'd have to be pretty bold to eat from it
 
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