Where have all the wee birds gone?

Why would a blackbird hang around in my garden when the nearby hedgerows are groaning with blackberries? They'll be back.... meanwhile the jackdaws are eating all the early-ripened rowan berries.

 

I don't use peanuts at all as they only encourage squirrels.
The young male blackbird had all the berries from the rowan at the back of the garden here a while ago, because all the native rowans have berried up extremely early - normally later this month for that. They're even ahead of the hawthorn in that respect. Brambles are ripening early here @Escarpment, but are still a bit sharp, as I discovered the other day
We have a large stand of them at a junction not far away, that borders a little wild area and a small park. There's some of those 'boxes' put in by phone companies right next to some of them. They're definitely further on, and when you walk past them and feel the heat from them, it's not surprising...
I think the bullfinch has had all the developing berries on the Amelanchier. I only realised that last week when I noticed there weren't any, and I'd taken a pic of him in there a while back. I'm glad, because it means the pigeons can't try to get in at them, and break young branches like they did last year.

 

Did you know that Magpies pair for life?

I moved into a village location a couple of weeks ago to a house that had been standing empty for a while. Only on the fifth day a few birds started to return to the feeders but numbers are slowly increasing. So far Siskins, Blue Tits, a couple of Chaffinches and a lone Coal Tit. A Blackbird and scruffy Robin are taking berries from shrubs. This despite the abundance of cats here.

 

Feeder with double wire net for the last 2-3 years and the squirrels have never even tried this year and/or possibly last year. Previously with a single wire feeder they bit through it - don't know how they see the difference!

 

Thanks to everyone for weighing in with reports of what birds you have around you at present. At first the smattering of comments from people based in the north of the UK led me to wonder if there was something regional amiss in the south this year, but the number of subsequent posts has pooh-poohed that theory. It all seems very random. On my morning constitutional strolls it's the same picture for neighbouring roads – all pigeons and magpies. Not a small birdie in sight. Magpies perched on chimney stacks like portentous sentinels.

(For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not anti-magpies. It was suggested that the lack of small birds was on account of the magpies, so I'm trying to validate the theory. Although a magpie did dig up my newly laid gravel probably because of a glinting pebble. I'd also like to know why magpies bicker so much. What an almighty racket!)

One half-success is that my new bird bath has become much visited by the local pigeons. (That'll have to do until the small birds return.)

 

Can anybody tell me why pigeons always bring their talc with them to the bathroom? They always leave the water covered in a thick layer of the stuff and I have to give the whole thing a good rinse out after they’ve visited.

 

Why are you washing your pigeons in the bath, try them in the shower and ring forming talc will go straight down the plughole.

 

No change here John except the "flyers" the (swallows, swifts & house martins) left here about 1-2 weeks ago - normal for here. Had blue, coal , long tail and great tits all over the garden this morning. Only a robin or two and a single wren and no blackbird, but he was around yesterday.

 

Magpies and a few collared dove still around but none of the usual suspects. Haven't seen a chaffinch, robin or woodpecker for weeks. The sparrows and tits that feed and nest up near the house have disappeared in the last few days so I'm assuming they local birds are moulting after all the parenting and getting new feathers to get thru winter.

Still a few swallows and sand martins swooping about but they'll be gone soon enough.

 

One lonely long tail near the feeders today but more heard in the garden.
A great viewing of house martins and swallows over the house last night.
One swift.

 

That seems very early for swallows etc to leave @DiggersJo . They don't leave here for at least another month - usually early October. I wouldn't have thought they'd be so much earlier where you are. All the ones along the road at the farm were swooping around as usual on Monday when I went past.
Not seen the little willow warbler for a week or so, but hopefully it'll be back. All the usual visitors have been in, in large numbers, although the wee nuthatch has been absent again. Love them, so it's always good to see them in. Robin was in too, and it seems to be one of the two youngsters we had earlier, so they must have sorted out their territories after some argy bargy!

 

I was on chook duties this morning and the sparrow flock that lives in the chicken shed roof is definitely present and busy. The house flock is still quiet.

Only ever hear our willow warblers @fairygirl. Shy little birds with lots of cover here.

 

I don't see them in the garden very often @Obelix-Vendée , but I had two coming in briefly a while ago - maybe last year, but this single one had been coming in regularly for the last month or so. There was something very tasty in the clumps of fennel, because that was where it spent most of it's time. You can always tell when they're youngsters, as you can with many creatures and birds.
We have loads of suitable habitat around here for them, but it isn't always easy to spot them in amongst that.
It took a while to narrow down the exact type, as there seems to be so many warblers that are similar, but @strongylodon kindly confirmed it for me.