I'm feeling so creeped out this morning! I've been really busy the last couple of weeks, but up til then I was really aware of all the birds everywhere around the garden. This morning there are none. I can distantly hear a pigeon, a magpie, and a crow, and that's it. I should imagine that most are over the frenzy of raising their young now, but I did see a dead fledgling outside at work so I know not all the species will be finished, and anyway, surely birds have to eat? Why aren't they hopping about on the lawn and fluttering between bushes? I'm so afraid the answer is they're dying off because of the weather - lack of insects, shortage of seeds, heat, lack of water... We have a pond and a bird bath but I don't know if birds who hang out at the other end of the garden know about them. I put out bowls of water and food during the last heatwave, and they were keen on the food. I've just put some more out but I don't see any coming for it.
The garden is massive, about an acre, and fairly unkempt so it's not that they're put off by intensive 'gardening', and we're rarely out in it. We have had a family of magpies but they can't have finished off all the many sparrows and smaller birds can they?! Also, we've had no swallows back this year. They're normally swooping all over the place - I've only seen a handful all summer, and none back to their usual nests on my property. I feel so sad.
Has anyone else noticed the birds have disappeared? What's your theory?