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?

Awwwww! I'm v jealous thirst

May try to sneak a peak in our box today, see what went wrong

I'm very concerned neither of the parents have been around the nest today

Last seen activity was late Sunday evening had a peek last night and 3 chicks are dead and 3 are alive. I've called the sspca they are going to come out today

Unfortunately all are dead. Gutted

Oh no!!! So sorry thirst
Nature is cruel!

We have some sort of rodent turn up yesterday. Its jumps around and has a very loud squeak. Its brave and jumped up at the cat, squeaked at it, when she stalked it.
Dont think its a rat as tail isnt bald and think its tail looks too short for a mouse. Its much bigger than the field mice we normally get. Wondered if its a vole?
Any one have any ideas?

its a rat

@bruffin - I sympathise. We noticed a rat around our bird feeders a couple of weeks ago. Thought we'd managed to raise them high enough but sadly not. We hadn't realised how agile they are and we saw it again the other day.

We have a squirrel baffle on the bird feeder, so it cant get up there thankfully.
I didnt see it yesterday , so i hope its gone but still going to put a trap down

I am delighted to announce that as from yesterday I am the proud granny of twin baby goldfinch. They are a lot fluffier than their parents and have pretty wings but don’t yet have their red caps. They are not very adept at balancing on the squirrel buster but once there they know exactly what to do with sunflower seeds.

We want to build a wildlife pond. I'd love to see some pictures!

We have a squirrel baffle on the bird feeder, so it cant get up there thankfully.

I find even with those a fair amount of seed still gets on the ground. We've got a trap coming today too ☹️

We've had to give up feeding the birds because our nice but daft neighbour over fed ... whole fat balls and slices of white bread on the lawn type of thing - and inevitably attracted rats. she didn't seem able to see the difference between our pole feeder and what she was doing so we had to stop too.
There are quite a lot of birds in the Ivy and shrubs, and the patio barrel ponds are popular for bathing and drinking but the garden is so much less alive than it used to be.

That's such a shame, errol

We have a small pot of seed on the ground, at the moment. The woodpigeons and blackbirds are appreciating it.

And our tree was hopping with blue tit fledglings, yesterday. Might put out a bottle of gin for their parents.

The birds in the garden have been enjoying the bird bath tonight. Lovely to watch. Still missing my blue tit chicks

@Sproutfan I watched a magpie the other day desperately trying to take a hanging half-cocount away. Fortunately DH had wired it on to the bracket to stop it blowing away. I'm sure if he hadn't the magpie would have taken it. Maybe it was the same with your feeder? Maybe it managed to dislodge it but it was too heavy to carry?

Posted too soon - also wanted to say that I've started putting a handful of dried mealworms into the birdbath of an evening, and then sitting and watching all the birds going mad over them!

We found the rat dead the next day and fingers cross no sign of anymore

I've noticed since the tits abandoned the babies the garden overall has become quiet. Thinking something has spooked them all

thirst that's true for ours too although this week they've suddenly all returned! Maybe yours will too

I sat in the garden this morning and had six blue tits sat above me chirping away. Before you started this thread I would have said I'd never seen a blue tit before. Turns out I just wasn't looking. Ditto the goldfinches, coal tits and red kites that are apparently long established residents.

Highlight of my week was seeing a red kite flying just a metre above our house. I was half willing it to land on the roof, half worried it would swoop down and steal my cat

Hi, had an awful experience yesterday. I was sitting in the garden enjoying the fledgling blackbirds hiding in the hedge and being fed by dad. Then everything went quiet, in a flash a Sparrowhawk swooped down low over the garden with a small bird in its talons, closely followed by squawking parent bird! I think they were sparrows!
I know it’s natural and was probably food for the hawks chicks, nevertheless upsetting.
Although I have a large water trough for the birds in my back garden, I’ve also put a bowl of water in my front garden, for the small birds that frequent that garden.

beebumble2
I find things like this upsetting aswell even though I know its nature. My Mum has had a baby crow in her garden for the last few weeks. The parent birds have been around and keep dive bombing my Mum when she leaves the house. Despite that watching it has given my Mum such joy

Seen a few little birds in the garden today have no idea what they are. They were small fat little things with dumpy tails and what looked like yellow bellies. Anyone any ideas?