Kitchen Garden Forum

I'm wondering if our garden is reflecting the general situation elsewhere in terms of increasing activity by more unusual species visiting.
This morning we had the unusual sight of a black & white spotted woodpecker sharing the tube bird feeder with a green parakeet, while a pheasant foraged round the lawn by the bird table and a jay tried repeatedly to get peanuts out of the nut cage.

From time to time we see all these birds separately but to catch them all together seemed like Christmas from a bird watcher's point of view. On the other hand however, I'm sure it denotes that birds are being forced to widen their boundaries in the search for a decreasing supply of food this autumn. I looks like our bird food bill is set to rocket. The pyracantha bushes have already been stripped of their sparse supply of berries.

Just the usual suspects with us at the moment - more goldfinches than anything else which is usual on our feeders. In fact probably fewer birds in general than usual - my sister has very few birds on her feeders and tables at the moment.

We have a great spotted woodpecker occasionally but not recently and the bullfinches which were fairly regular have disappeared.

Lots of birds this week of up to 20 different species. Today's specials are the first two Bramblings here this winter.

The bullfinches are back, and the wretched sparrow hawk is back making regular attacks several times a day. On Tuesday I rescued a chaffinch from the cat took the cat indoors and put it out of harms way in a bush, and the next thing the silly bird had hopped down and was whisked away by the sparrow hawk. Then the day after it made an attack on the woodpecker, but I don't know whether it escaped or not.

More birds about here, too, with the first brambling (just one male) on Tuesday, which is the first October sighting of a brambling in nearly 30 years' recording. Usually they don't turn up until late November/early December.
On the bird feeders (sunflower hearts, nyjer seeds, home-made fat blocks with dried mealworms) it's mainly blue, great, coal and long-tailed tits, chaffinches, goldfinches with the occasional great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, bullfinch and starling. A "feral" hen which roams all the gardens around here usually hoovers up anything that falls down from the feeders. Nobody claims her and everybody feeds her!
Apparently, there are several jays in the area, too, but I have not seen one yet.

Dear Monika, we have always had Jays here, keeping to the woodland, but this year they seem to be a lot bolder, and i have spotted them round the village.