Birdwatching in the garden

they're pritty spectacular birds, but it never seems to hang around long. it's still really nice to see though

I'd love that, I hear an owl sometimes but I've yet to see it.

I get to see a barn owl every now and then fly past the house, it's amazing just how big they are when they're flying, but they're really quite small when they're perched

I use the Merlin bird ID app, you can take a photo and it will ID from that, or from birdsong, as well as having the directory to look through of birds that could be in your local area.

Oh could be. Hasn’t realised they weren’t so keen on flocks. I must admit I’m not great at identifying the types. Like I’d know a gull from a robin or whatever but the more subtle ones, not so much. I should get a book to help identify them. Lots of garden visitors though curiously empty skies today. Too still and warm? 

I have more bird feeders than is probably good for me! I just invested in some metal bins to start buying food in bulk because it's so much cheaper that way.

Between those, the oystercatchers and the curlews they can make quite the noise.

A few weeks ago the lapwings were out in force, more than I've ever heard before. It's a very strange call but lovely all the same. I'm very lucky to live where I do

I like to put bird seeds on the bird table and watch them fly down and gobble it up.

Love both of them! We have a nature reserve with lakes not too far from our house so I do see and hear them flying over sometimes.

They haven't visited my garden because they aren't garden birds, but I hear lapwings and curlews this time of year

Hi. I am wondering if they were starlings as they come in flocks and eat bugs in the grass. Blackbirds are very territorial and tend to see others off unless their own recent fledglings.

They're some of my favourite garden visitors, we have a couple of local pairs and I love watching them hop about.

They really have, stable, sizeable populations through a large portion of the Midlands down through Oxfordshire and further south, as well as a good population back in Scotland, plus the Welsh population is now much larger and has recovered well from the genetic bottleneck caused by the tiny population size of mid 20th Century. I think at one point DNA analysis showed that the entire Welsh population was descendants of a single female bird.

Yes, absolutely. Although if you'd asked me 20 years ago if I'd be excited to see starlings in the garden I'd probably have sworn at you, they were a bit of a pest then, going through all the food in one fell swoop.

Their wee orange beaks are so vibrant

I like blackbirds. They look spooky especially when they are in and on old buildings.

I had a flock of blackbirds (about four and twenty I think) descend onto my garden the other evening.

The grass was at just the right length - recently cut but with enough regrowth to give them a good tradeoff between visibility and cover, and I think that's what they liked. I watched them do their thing for ages - hopping about between the grass, the ivy covered bordering wall, and the apple tree. It felt nice to have been chosen. Well, that my garden was.   

Oh neat, so they have made a real comeback then.

At least it's always a pleasant surprise though when old birds suddenly fly in to your garden. It always leaves me feeling in a happy mood.