Where are the birds .... ?

Stunning swallow photos Mandy

We've had plenty of birds here too, the most common being on a daily basis - 10-12 Starlings, 20+ Sparrows, 3 Blackbirds, 2 Dunnocks, 2 Wood Pigeons, 1 Robin, 2 Collared Doves, 4 Magpies (2 adults and 2 young feeding on the table every day) and the least wanted 5-6 Feral Pigeons as they eat EVERYTHING in a matter of minutes leaving little else behind..

We've also had occasional Wrens, Jackdaws, Rooks, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Blue Tits and Great Tits.

We get Swifts and House Martins flying over everyday and there's a Green Woodpecker and Mistle Thrush that visits the neighbouring field almost daily.

Even though we've had very few Goldfinches, Blue and Great Tits in the garden they can be heard in the hedgerows and large trees every day. I have read and firmly believe that if food is plentiful in their natural habitat certain 'usually common' garden visitors can seem scarce during the summer months. This notion is supported round here by the fact that I can see and hear Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Blue and Great Tits every day in the large hedgerows and trees in our neighbourhood and yet at the moment they mostly just pass through/over our garden without needing to feed on our bird-food.

A classic example of this kind of behaviour are Long Tailed Tits, not very often seen in gardens in the summer but are quite common in the winter months..

 

Hi Shiney, Although I'm not an ardent twitcher I've been an RSPB member for many years and have supplied patch stats to the BTO and others for a long time. There's been a dramatic fall in some species. Personally I have noticed a big fall in Greenfinch too.
There are many reasons for declines/increases in Speicies and the weather does play an important part. Ground feeding birds for instance do OK in wet weather (Robins, Blackbirds etc but Hirundines such as swallows and Martins which rely soley on airbourne insects suffer dramatically.
One things for sure we do need a big improvement in weather soon to help the successful migration of our summer visitors!

 

The lack of live food needed by some may make them leave earlier than usual.

 

Another 5 house Sparrows have fledged in next doors eaves nest adding to the 15 or so already around and another 4 young Siskins have appeared making 11 including parents. A fat ball will be demolished in an hour or so by the mob of young Starlings now hanging around the garden.