Birds. Anyone else noticed....

[cee-dee]

Has anyone else noticed a distinct lack of the usual birds?

There doesn't seem to be anything like the number there uses to be.

Also, one thing that stands out is the usual food that birds consume isn't getting eaten.

I noticed that Blackberries are just dropping off the briars (and later on, like last year many will just go to rot) and that applies to wild rasberries too.

There's a Damson tree on a bit of rough ground which is absoluely loaded, branches hanging under the weight of the crop and they're starting to split, they'll be dropping off soon. There's Elder bushes/trees weighed down with elderberries and the usual birds "purple slodges" are not apparent either.

There's all sorts of plants (weeds?) covered in seeds and no birds are taking them so what's going on?

It's been said about many species (not just birds) that the decline in numbers is put down to "loss of habitat" but that surely can't be the case with the birds? There's plenty of food so what gives?

[blackburn_stevie]

Anybody seen this?

http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/329911-44-million-birds-lost-since-1966?utm_medium=website&utm_source=tw...

[astrologica]

I have read that Sparrows and Starlings are declining, but both those birds are doing well where I live. We also have Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Redpolls and Chaffinches visiting our bird feeders. And a beautiful Sparrowhawk who likes to 'dine out' in our garden occasionally! I wonder if the birds are not eating the wild berries and fruits, because we humans are providing so much good and easily accessible food for them.

[**bustysinclaire**]

Yes I have noticed it too CD, we usually have a lot of bluetits and finches around and are not seeing many at all this year, there does seem to be a glutt  pigeons and  magpies, perhaps these are frightening off the little ones.

I have also noticed it with other little creatures aswell, butterflies and bees don't seem to be around so much now either.

Such a shame, we need these little creatures they all play a part in the great stream of things.

[bankhaunter]

Some years ago fishing on an East London canal when the sparrows had young in the nest, the adults would boldly help themselves to maggots from my bait box that would be right by my side within easy reach.

Now there are no sparrows there at all.

[right-then-petal]

we got a million landgulls down here if anyone wants em

[bankhaunter]

I have also noticed it with other little creatures aswell, butterflies and bees don't seem to be around so much now either.

Some years ago I was involved in a television series about gardens.

Visiting one due to be remodelled, I was struck by the hum of insects and the number of butterflies etc. but, having seen the plans, I knew all that wildlife would be gone after the remodelling had been done, the garden would be almost clinically clean.

Of course along with those insects, the birds that relied on them would also go.

[**bustysinclaire**]

---

@bankhaunter wrote:

I have also noticed it with other little creatures aswell, butterflies and bees don't seem to be around so much now either.

Some years ago I was involved in a television series about gardens.

Visiting one due to be remodelled, I was struck by the hum of insects and the number of butterflies etc. but, having seen the plans, I knew all that wildlife would be gone after the remodelling had been done, the garden would be almost clinically clean.

Of course along with those insects, the birds that relied on them would also go.

---

I'd rather have a proper garden with old tree stumps and piles of this and that giving a home to all kinds of natures wonders.

My Dad's and Mum's place is getting really over grown and I am toying with the idea of trying to make it more of a haven for wildlife. It's just trying to find the time.

[upthecreekyetagain]

All our plum and damson trees were stripped clean by parakeets!

No sparrows, a few starlings, large numbers of rooks, blue **bleep**, wood pigeons and magpies.  Quite a few jays, pheasants, robins, king fishers and green woodpeckers.  Even had a pair of swans on the river.

[sir_arthur_strebe-grebling]

---

@cee-dee wrote:

Has anyone else noticed a distinct lack of the usual birds?

There doesn't seem to be anything like the number there uses to be.

Also, one thing that stands out is the usual food that birds consume isn't getting eaten.

I noticed that Blackberries are just dropping off the briars (and later on, like last year many will just go to rot) and that applies to wild rasberries too.

There's a Damson tree on a bit of rough ground which is absoluely loaded, branches hanging under the weight of the crop and they're starting to split, they'll be dropping off soon. There's Elder bushes/trees weighed down with elderberries and the usual birds "purple slodges" are not apparent either.

There's all sorts of plants (weeds?) covered in seeds and no birds are taking them so what's going on?

It's been said about many species (not just birds) that the decline in numbers is put down to "loss of habitat" but that surely can't be the case with the birds? There's plenty of food so what gives?

---

There is no doubt that many bird species are declining in numbers but I think you're drawing the wrong conclusion about the uneaten berries this year and last. In most parts of Britain, 2013 had an exceptionally heavy crop of many wild fruit including blackberries, and some areas are experiencing similar this year (most unusual for it to happen two years running). There is actually so much food in the countryside that the birds, and the other fruit-eaters like mice, aren't eating all of it. If they did eat all of it, some would starve and they'd be in trouble ... as it is, birds are currently enjoying this bumper harvest, as they did last autumn/ winter as well.

See e.g. http://www.bto.org/news-events/press-releases/robins-take-break-gardens-thanks-extremely-mild-weathe...

[bankhaunter]

I'd rather have a proper garden with old tree stumps and piles of this and that giving a home to all kinds of natures wonders.

On the sides of railway cuttings there seems to be a policy when trees are cut back, to leave bundles of logs held together with wire mesh.

Presumably the idea is that as they rot they provide a habitat for many beetles etc.

[cee-dee]

Thank you for your interesting comment but..... where are the birds? I just don't see or hear them?

There are definitely less around here than there used to be.

The old chestnut "There's lots of berries, a sign of a hard Winter to come" is really a sign of a favourable season?

There's not the number of sparrows than there used to be and even Blackbirds and Robins are not to be seen in any numbers, just the odd one or two now and again instead of many per day.

The Swallows arrived and raised four but although I've seen a couple of Swifts, there's not been the numbers flying around making that "scree-scree" sound when they're flying around in a group. House Martins? Ain't seen any.

I've been watching Coot and Moorhens, they seem to have done quite well. A pair of Coot had nine and raised seven of them. The Moorhens skulk around so much, I dunno which pair raised how many and would you believe a pair have just nested and today I saw them with one tiny ball of fluff, it's head was barely above the water. It was smaller than most of the leaves floating on the water. I don't know if there were any more in the Bulrushes but they had more than one egg! Will it survive the Autumn and more particularly the Heron?

[margaret*e]

Didn't take the birds long to eat all the fruit from my neighbours cherry tree.

[tommy.irene]

Anyone know were CD lives..

[cee-dee]

Ah, yes. The Cherry trees round here were quickly stripped. The birds I saw doing it were mostly Thrushes.

This morning on a mile long walk round through the woods and along the road were a Robin (didn't see it, only heard it), a Woodpigeon and nearing home, four Jackdaws, nothing else!

[rose2008-2008]

We always used to put bread and things out for all the birds who visited our garden when i was young. I used to love to sit at the window and watch them. Where i am now i do see birds and have seen more unusual ones but not so many Sparrows or Starlings now you mention it!!!.

[ed_blackadder_1]

Plenty of birds here, we have a power cable across the road from us and it is full of starlings just sitting there squaking, we have loads of sparrows, siskens, robbins and blue **bleep**, we even had some finches on the bird hanger yesterday which is unusual, I have had to move my washing line because of the birds eating the blackberries in the hedge and pooping on my washing.  I have also had plenty of different butterflies as well, but my garden is planted with things to attract them.  We do live in the country so there is plenty of food for them this year.  We have also seen a few bats.

[saasher2012]

I think there is a lot of truth in what you say Ed. Most gardens seem to be full of specimen plants nowadays & so pristine that the birds not only don't like it but also there is nowhere to feed or nest in safety, we have had two mild winters & fairly decent summers so it can't be that, not many gardens have wild flowers & weeds anymore, good for us but not for butterflies & birds. I've moved from the country & had the good fortune to see a great variety of birds The only birds I've seen so far in town have been Blackbirds, 1 Robin & pied wagtails, I have seen Bats though .& hundreds of pigeons of course. Even a few butterflies ! The strange thing is during the breeding months I have got up to the dawn chorus but where they are I've no idea as I've never seen them, for the past month it's silent not a bird in sight except for the ever present flying rat.

[bankhaunter]

Saw a great white egret actually in Aberystwyth by the river, seen an otter there as well.

A number of curlews along the Dyfi estuary and one lonely osprey perched by his (I think) nest.

http://www.dyfiospreyproject.com/

[cee-dee]

Well I wasn't thinking of a bird-spotting thread, I was wondering what other people had found with regard to the apparent demise of common birds.

This afternoon, I saw three Coot, seven Moorhens, umpteen Mallard, a Heron and (what I think was) a common Gull.

However, I didn't see the birds I'd usually expect to see so why not?

What I did see was plenty of Grey Squirrels! I'd say there are far too many of them. They've already stripped all the nuts off the Hazel bushes/trees and I don't know if the Beech Nuts are falling naturally or whether they're stripping those as well, the ground beneath Beech trees are covered with the open shells.

I've long suspected Grey Squirrels (often referred to as tree rats!) to have raided the nests of our common birds and wonder if anyone has any certain knowledge that's the case?