Watching birds (and other wildlife) in the garden

[FleetwoodRaincoat]

Not sure if this is the right place to post but I couldn't see a wildlife thread anywhere.

I've been really enjoying watching birds in our garden over the past year. I've put up several feeders, a bird box, built a little wildlife pond etc.

For the past few days I've been watching a pair of blue tits going in and out of the nest box. At the moment they seem to be going in then throwing stuff out, rather than building a nest.

Anyone else interested in what's going on in their garden?

This is absolutely my favourite thing. I love feeding the birds. This is my first proper year of twitching. I find if I put different food out I attract a different birds- which I know makes perfect sense, but I always bought mixed seed. Now I buy separate seeds and each month I’m seeing new species of birds come in to feast. I find it so exciting!

And don’t even get me started on composting.....

We've had a pair of cheeky little Robins lately, I love to watch them. Also, last week I saw a sparrowhawk perched on the neighbours' garage which was fab. I spotted a red kite while walking through the local park recently too - still a rarity here in my bit of the East Mids and I've only had one other sighting (over my garden last summer). We have little egrets living on the local brook too, I really love to see those!

We have a pair of robins, hedge and house sparrows and blue tits. I put mixed seed in the feeder and robin food on the bird table but the sparrows eat that too,

Love it! We have a couple of woodpeckers who visit the garden and this past year, green parakeets have sat in one of the trees in our garden. We can see a crow’s nest from our garden and with binoculars we saw them feeding their chicks last year.

@Retrievemysanity

Love it! We have a couple of woodpeckers who visit the garden and this past year, green parakeets have sat in one of the trees in our garden. We can see a crow’s nest from our garden and with binoculars we saw them feeding their chicks last year.

I wish we had parakeets.

I’m with you! We’ve seen loads (edge of suburbia). Woodpecker, all the tits, robin (babies last year), goldfinches, black cap, Cumnock, heron, sparrow hawk catching bats, and this year the magpies are nesting in our hedge. They dive bomb the pigeons 🤣.

*dunnock

I'm jealous of your blue tits.

There are coal tits in my garden but I don't think they've bothered with the nest box yet.

I think it's lovely to see. I am becoming obsessed with the bird life outside our windows 😁. I blame lockdown. We have a pair of wood pigeons that always work out how to get food from the feeders for small birds. Some lovely doves that like the tree in our garden, they haven't turned up this year yet, and I keep hoping to see them. All the little finches and bluetits. We have put a birdbath out and groups of starlings use it every evening. A joy to watch.

I love feeding the birds and watching them! We get robins, sparrows, blue tits, coal tits, blackbirds and a new addition is a wee wren. Oh and starlings which are always funny to watch they are like arguing teenagers robins love mealworm if anyone is trying to encourage them into their garden.

Two years ago we had a pair of blue tits that had chicks in our bird box. Last year it was used by honey bees which was also nice to see. Been leaving sheeps wool in the bushes hoping to encourage them to build a nest again this year. The sparrows seem to be taking it all though

I love it to. Moved to a house with a lovely nature garden.

I can't in my garden as we have cats and a dog who mimics the cats so I do t feed them.

I don't want any to get eaten. The cats haven't ever brought any in but the dog has once!

I like watching them in the park and I saw a woodpecker last week in the park for the first time!

And can I just say what a lovely refreshing post!

We are lucky to live in the country on the edge of a golf course. We spend a lot of time looking at the wildlife. It is so soothing to see the birds and animals going about their business. We have a 'pet' pheasant called Pete and we love the group of 3 deer who are regular visitors to the field behind us.

My wee blue tit chicks

We have wagtails, goldfinches and long tailed tits, all beautiful. I could watch them all day!

The blackbirds have been busy in our garden. Their chicks have already fledged and are blundering around under the bushes.

We have a nestbox camera this year and have been watching our blue tits for a couple of weeks. They filled the box up with nesting material and things were looking hopeful until another one turned up. There were big fights in the adjacent tree and the interloper (DS has named him, first bad tit and now nicker tit 🙈) spent a whole day pulling everything out and letting it blow away! There were a couple of days with no action and a sad empty box but today a pair have filled it back up and it’s almost looking like a nest. DS thinks nicker tit has stolen the other ones girlfriend as well as his home. We are very hopeful for babies!

We have all the tits, at various points, a woodpigeon who lives in our tree and all her fellas who fight like they're at the Bigg Market, collared doves who let the local magpies know who is boss, house sparrows, goldfinches who sound like space invaders, though they rarely come down to ground level, assorted jackdaws - our garden tends to attract all the scruffy, lame, exiled outcasts, Robins and blavkbirds

Not so much of the blackbirds, this year, mind. There was a huge bust up, last year with several casualties and our local make appears to be no more as I haven't heard his song - the only one I can hear, at the moment, is a way away and sounds different. Shame, as their babies often lived in our garden until they were independent, following me around, everywhere.

And yes, we have the occasional wren visit and we've had a woodpecker and a sparrowhawk.

I fed the birds all winter. Had great tits, blue tits, coal tits, sparrows and blackbirds and a field fare all over the garden. Now I have a pair of great tits investigating the bird box I put up and wrens and Robin's also about. It is lovely watching them. Have been doing a lot of garden work so the blackbirds and Robin's are enjoying that too.

Lots of wood pigeons too and buzzards over the fields.

Nice to see it's not just me! Loving all these stories. Nature is so fascinating - I spent hours last summer watching cuckoo wasps waiting for leaf-cutter bees to make nests and then jump into them and lay their eggs as soon as the bees flew off ☹️.

The sparrows have decimated my bird feeders this week, I'll need to buy seed by the sackload at this rate.

I've got a bird bath but the birds don't seem to like it. Any tips on where to site it?

We do buy food by the sackload; at certain times of the year we have to refill three feeders daily. I worked out recently that the various garden critters (all sorts of birds plus hedgehogs) cost us more in food than the dog does! God help them if we ever move house.

Nature can be brutal, though. One of the most upsetting things I’ve seen is a sparrow hawk tucking into a wood pigeon on our lawn whilst the pigeon’s visibly traumatised mate looked on. I also had a sparrow hawk fly away inches above my head with dangling prey, having swooped into the garden to get a sparrow.

No tips but our birdbath is a heavy solid stone one and is out in the open. The birds flock to it from the trees.