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  • 1 month later...

Great spotted woodpecker has now decided to feed on the goldfinch feeder.  Not really sure it was designed for them - this is sunflower seeds, doubt if it would feed on niger seeds.

All my tadpoles gone, I've never had success.  They may have been eaten but don't think algae or other elements of water quality were the reason.

 

From my understanding gold finches have benefited in recent times from garden feeders, with increased numbers as other species decline.  We've a flock both in the front and back gardens, but not yet reached earlier year's peaks. 

https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/goldfinch

Edited by malumbu
  • 2 weeks later...

Does anyone know why someone might hang a dead jay by a noose (head covered with a little hood) from the roof of their house? We were pretty disturbed by seeing it on a local house this morning. By this evening we could just see that it was resting up in the guttering. Could there be a sane reason for this?

We've got a family of woodpeckers visiting the bird feeders which is lovely.  And a jay hangs around, not sure what it is feeding on.  And for the first time a couple of starlings.

How much this is related to habitat destruction, climate change and the like I don't know.  Woodpeckers natural food is not bird feeders.  And the nearest starling I have seen have been in car parks a good mile away (their numbers have been absolutely decimated).

Pond flora has gone crazy and the wildlife meadow doing well - yellow rattle is the first thing to plant which then self seeds and reduces grass growth

33 minutes ago, malumbu said:

How much this is related to habitat destruction, climate change and the like I don't know. 

Nothing.  If you provide an abundant supply of free food, they'll feed on it, even in preference to their "natural" food.

As to the "hanging" Jay in a previous post (by sunbob), I'd suggest that (without having actually seen it myself), short of a local witches' coven, the poor bird probably just spotted what it believed to be a tasty morsel on the roof, was unfortunately caught up in some random debris and fluttered about trying to get free before ending up in the roof guttering.  Sad, but also completely natural.

Edited by RichH
On 03/06/2023 at 14:04, malumbu said:

We've got a family of woodpeckers visiting the bird feeders which is lovely.  And a jay hangs around, not sure what it is feeding on.  And for the first time a couple of starlings.

How much this is related to habitat destruction, climate change and the like I don't know.  Woodpeckers natural food is not bird feeders.  And the nearest starling I have seen have been in car parks a good mile away (their numbers have been absolutely decimated).

Pond flora has gone crazy and the wildlife meadow doing well - yellow rattle is the first thing to plant which then self seeds and reduces grass growth

When I lived out of London I had a family of woodpeckers visit the bird feeders, even though the house backed onto a wooded area where presumably they had access to more "natural" food.

I used to have loads of starlings come to my present garden. However after one was carried off in great distress by a bird of prey, I never saw another starling. Weird.

  • 2 weeks later...

I saw a stag beetle in my garden yesterday. This is very good news because stags are now classed as endangered and in decline. Please consider putting a wood pile in your garden if you have the space. You can register your woodpile, complete with photo of your creation  on the People's Trust for Endangered Species website. You can also record and photograph any stags you come across under their Great British Stag Hunt category. Happy hunting!

9 hours ago, vladi said:

Went out this morning to se why my miniature water fountain was not operating. It has been popular with the birds since we have had all this dry weather.

Turns out our local fox had chomped clean through the cable from the solar panel.

Might not have been a fox. Could have been a gang of snails 😂

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