Sunday birdless gardenwatch

Firstly I would like to say that I did realise that it isn't Sunday today... just! I would also like to say that I am exaggerating a little when I say that the garden was birdless. So actually the title for this post is a little misleading-never mind! There were a few around but the feeders weren't exactly filled with birds. I am happy to say that our main feeder has been half-emptied today. Just my luck that its Monday, I missed the action while I was at school and it was nearly dark by the time I had got home. Nevertheless I saw enough yesterday to post about and enjoyed going outside to look for the birds for a change.

So, why were our feeders quieter yesterday. As Shirl correctly mentioned in her wildlife blog, it is probably due to the more mild weather we had then. Today, it was absoloutely freezing, and low feeder levels matched this dip in temperature. Tiny Coal Tits were a feature in our garden yesterday. I talked about these last week too but I must say that I couldn't resist talking of them again. Blue Tits and Great Tits were also present in numbers but the Coal Tit is a bird that is a bit rarer and more fun to photo.

The Dunnock is a bird that will visit when every other bird isn't around. In fact, I think they prefer visiting the quiet feeders. There were 4 of them at the end of our garden and they flit in and out of cover. They are quite shy, but as long as you are careful, they allow you to go nearer to them. I find that they tend to prefer the seed mixture that we have in one of the feeders and the bird table.

There weren't many of the usual dominant Greenfinches or Chaffinches, so it gave an opportunity for the smaller birds to come in and feed. The Dunnocks don't tend to feed on the fat feeders but some of the others have been very busy feeding. Coal Tits, Blue Tits and Robins have been taking food from them. In the winter I find that it is important to provide some high-calorie foods that will help the birds keep their energy levels up through the cold winter months.

Its interesting to see what has been going on in Shirl's garden. The chaffinches she saw yesterday weren't in our garden in such large numbers but I'd love to see them in our garden this weekend. Although our feeders were quiet yesterday, the Jay has visited again. Every time it comes, it gets closer to our bird table. Fingers crossed that I will see it again soon. The Blackbirds aren't really feeding on our lawn as much as last year but there are definately more of them around. They have been in numbers in bushes either side of our garden.

All photos taken in my garden on 9/11/08