Are your garden birds AWOL?

[FGSWhatNow]

Don't know whether it's the unseasonably warm weather recently or what, but I don't seem to have many birds visiting the garden atm. I've been wfh this morning and, apart from one plucky little robin, I've seen nothing on the feeders at all. The bird food isn't going down half as quick as it used to. Anyone else noticed the same?

I have a cat so most birds are sensible and dont bother

It is however party time down at the allotment and I’m filling the bird feeders every 2 -3 days

They are all in my garden!

I have ALL the starlings in the uk at the moment, when they all take off from the grass at the same time it's like a wind tunnel!
Also a lovely wee robin, a whole family of rooks, another family of crows and the odd pesky seagull.

Very busy here in south west Scotland (maybe I have the best food 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Yes definitely a decline in L’pool-(a ‘garden suburb’ - we’ve hedges/trees galore so no change to habitat- I think may be a combination of factors - summer was so hot 🥵- poss bird flu too - I think spread by neighbours’ bird bath - we’re getting blackbirds and robins back though thank goodness and one bonus is fewer feral pigeons 👍🏿☘️

There should be fewer black caps and things like goldfinches around as some of them migrate south for the winter.
The goldfinches always disappear from my garden in the winter and reappear in spring.

I've got a robin and a pair of blackbirds at the minute. A few sparrows and tits flitting about. Loads of pigeons.

We live by the woods and at the v least would usually see loads of robins but barely seeing any at the moment.

3.8M birds are dead so far :(

We only had pigeons and seagulls during summer. Even they have gone.

I live very rurally, but we've had blue tits, coal tits, a nuthatch, sparrows, a robin and a woodpecker on bird feeder today. They've emptied a feeder of peanuts since yesterday

I'll think I'll carry on putting small amounts of food out and hope that the birds are tempted back as the winter sets in properly. I've just seen the resident mouse under the bird table so at least someone's getting fed!

Very fuzzy (max zoom through the window) but this is a busy as it's been all day!

@smooththecat oh no, that’s just awful. 😢

And sadly that's probably a conservative estimate! ☹️

I've had a flurry of blackbirds today which was refreshing as I don't see much since the city of pigeons claimed squatters' rights. I don't put out bird food any more although the pigeons gorging themselves to heart attacks maybe isn't such a bad suggestion.

Bird flu has been identified recently within 3 miles of here.

We still have birds, though I'm not spending any time in the garden now really so not sure if it would be as many as the summer.

Lots here. More than usual today although that is possibly due to the hard frost.

Tits, sparrows, thrush, blackbirds, pigeons, robins, collared doves, crows and magpies.

We've got loads of birds at the minute- tits: great, blue, coal, willow; tree and house sparrows; robins, chaffinches, starlings, a woodpecker, magpies, crows, wood pigeons, thrushes, parakeets and a squirrel

We don't see any birds on our feeders anymore new neighbour has moved in with a cat and that's put paid to our little feathered visitors

Oh, there is a thrush here too. No chaffinches or parakeets though.

My work is on the edge of a small town. Lots of hedges and bushes. So many birds there but mainly clouds of blue tits. They look magnificent. And

Bird flu here so many dead sea birds. But the woods are full of berries a stupendous year for autumn food

No change here. Feeders emptied quickly, and birds waiting for us to come out in the morning.

We’ve hardly got any, but several neighbours have bought cats over the summer so I think that’s driven them away.

We have about 80 starlings which visit us. They come down for Calci worms about 30-40 at a time. Sounds like a wall falling down! 🤣

My bullfinches haven't been around recently (although I have heard them). Getting lots of goldfinches, blue tits, coal tits, great tits, the occasional nuthatch and wren, robins and blackbirds and woodpigeons. I've had siskins and woodpeckers on the feeder earlier this year but not recently. I am on the edge of the countryside though, and close to a nature reserve.

Oh and the redwings were next door recently, eating all the holly berries. They've moved on now though.

It's the opposite here (West Yorkshire). During the summer months we just have our usually big gang of house sparrows (who I love 😊) and some pigeons and doves. Lots of different types are arriving at the moment though - tits, blackbirds, dunnocks, robins, wrens and bigger birds too. Yesterday, there was one lone starling but he came back today with about 50 of his mates 😂

I'm putting out a no mess bird seed mix, as well as suet pellets and dried mealworms. They absolutely demolish the suet pellets within about half an hour, but have been emptying the seed feeder in about a day as well.

I have a cat, but thankfully she leaves the birds alone (or is not daft enough to try to get at the feeders, which are in a holly tree). We have no rodents (probably because of the cat as she has caught a baby rat before so I think they steer clear now).

It's sad to read about so many birds dying from bird flu 😢