Birdwatching in the garden

Oh! dear! lol ! looks like the automation on this page sees the title of two of those birds to be non-printable. lol. 

They do, I was being chided by the robin earlier, it was definitely telling me to hurry up!

lucky you. There are a group of photographers around my area who are into wild life and they go about trying to take a photo of the kingfisher in the local area. I once saw it, but alas did not have my camera. They are stunning aren't they! 

Love woodpeckers. 

Blue ***, goldfinches, robins, collared doves, wood pigeons, great *** to name but a few. 

Always so delightful to see. 

They all have their own little personalities too. 

I’ve only seen a kingfisher once in my whole life, I’d so love to see one again. Such stunning colour and so unusual to see colour like that on a bird in the U.K. So beautiful!

Ah, no! I know it's just the way of things but it does make me sad.

The sound of the curlew is one of my all time favourite sounds in nature, sadly we don’t have them near where I live so I only hear them on days out/holidays. It’s the most wonderful sound! 

We had a blackbird nest in our garden and I was very sad the other week that a magpie raided it and took the chicks. 

I love Springwatch, I didn’t know it was starting again, I will be watching

That would be amazing if they did!

My mum and dad have a woodpecker on their birdfeeder too! They are lovely birds to watch, and we've put up a bird box in case they decide to nest!

Goldfinches seem to be the most common of the finches that I've seen recently. I hear and see them flying around all the time, yet to tempt them in to the garden though. I've planted some teasels in the hope they'll like those and got a nyger feeder, so we'll see whether that works.

Yes that's interesting as Chaffinches used to be common and again I haven't seen one for a while.

I wondered that recently as well. Turns out there's been a decline in their population as well as chaffinches:

www.bto.org/.../disease-drives-decline-another-familiar-garden-bird

I have a question. When I was a child we often had greenfinches in our garden but I haven't seen as any for years. Does anyone get greenfinches visiting their garden?

Yep, that was the deal with my husband, I could have bulk loads of feed if I could guarantee it wouldn't attract rodents. Other than the squirrels on the bird feeders!

It is a good idea to have bins, as one year a mouse found our seed. It made a nest in a welly boot.

I'd love to I've in a village but my husband is a confirmed city boy unfortunately. Maybe in a few years I'll convince him because that all sounds wonderful!

Starlings are quite comical, making a bit of a chattery noise and not keeping still for long. Their feathers have a greenish shimmer if the light catches them. In contrast blackbirds are still in between and either sing beautifully from trees or make a high pitched alarm call if there is a threat in sight.

Becky,

I live in a village and used to get a green woodpecker in my garden quite often. Once there was a pair of them with a young one - they were stunning.   i've not seen a great spotted..... yet.

Another time, during a snowy period, we had a red kite hanging around for a few days. He caused some excitment,  the local children thought he was a golden eagle!

I often hear owls hooting, but alas never see them.

It's good to have a garden.

Ben