Long tailed tits

[PLUMPUDDING]

I had a lovely surprise this morning when I opened the curtains. There were 21 long tailed tits on the fat block and queueing in the tree right outside my bedroom window. They are such lovely colours close up. I wanted to take a photo, but daren't get my camera in case it frightened them away.

We've had flocks of about nine regularly in the garden but I've never seen so many together.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Plumpudding, i'm still waiting to see ours, they do make for a lovely sight.
For some reason, i often spot them in the Churhyard first of all.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Hello OH,

They do seem to have a regular routine. Mine usually go through the shrubbery before they come to the feeders. They also like the Mahonia flowers too. I don't know whether they eat the petals or whether they can get something off them. The black cap likes the Mahonia too.

I had recorded 16 species this morning in about 20 minutes when the Sparrow hawk shot through the middle of them and frightened everything away.

[Monika]

Plumpudding, we always find that the long-tailed tits are one of the earliest birds to arrive in the morning, when it's still quite dark. The earliest are usually the robin and blackbird.

Have you seen any greenfinches this winter? We used to get so many but I have not seen any for months now. The huge hips on the rosa rugosa hedge which they used to rip open for the seeds, are still untouched.

[PLUMPUDDING]

It's funny you should say that Monika, I had noticed that they were here before it was properly light, and the other afternoon they were back again when it was virtually dark at about 4.30.

Our garden has been absolutely teeming with birds this week with the bad weather, up to 18 species every day, and large flocks of gold finches and a smaller flock of about 9 greenfinches. I was thinking this morning what beautiful colours our wild birds are when there were bullfinch, green and gold finch, chaffinches, blue, great, coal and long tailed tits, robin, starlings, colared doves and all the other common ones on all the feeders and queueing in the trees. Oh and today's special was a solitary Lesser Redpoll.

We only seem to see Redpoll when there's been snow and they really like the seed heads on the evening primroses. These are also very popular with the Goldfinches so I always leave a few clumps in.

[Monika]

That sounds lovely, Plumpudding! We live opposite our 2 acre village Nature Reserve with lots of trees (I have been the warden for nearly 20 years). And, like you, we only see redpoll on snowy sunny days, usually feeding high up on birch trees, though we have not seen any this winter yet, unfortunately.

I am glad you still get greenfinches. Our local population was devastated 2 years ago with avian trichomoniasis and has never really recovered.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Plumpudding, i reckon you should be selling day tickets to bird watchers.

We have only had the odd Greenfinch abut this year.

[Catherine]

I have got quite a few bird feeders up in the garden but I am very disappointed at the bird population that comes to the garden. I dont know what to do to get a more different variety. There is a large garden behind ours but we have a huge leylandii hedge between us and the big trees and they dont seem to make it into our garden. I may be wrong. We had quite a few goldfinches last year but we have seen none this year.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Catherine, do you put different sorts of feed out, or is it just peanuts, just wondered if this might be the reason.

[Clive.]

At work this week we have seen a white Blackbird with just a very few black flecks..makes it look like a Pigeon of sorts at a distance.
Feeding on fallen Apples...and some extras that we tipped out as a result of "Rolands" destructive work.

Somehow the white colouring makes the "whitebird" look larger than its associate blackbirds...I wonder if it makes it more or less visible to the resident "Sparrow-nabber" ??

Clive.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Clive, the white bird will be less visible when it snows.

[Catherine]

Dear OH We have a variety of seed out there. But this year we bought a big bag of mixed seed for a very good price and I dont think they like it as much as some we have put out over the last few years. This year we did not put Niger seeds as yet, so I think I need to get some and try it.

Funnily enough we stayed in the Lake District in November for a week and we took the mix we bought in bulk and the birds did not really take to this either so we ended up buying some well known make and then we had all sorts of birds particularly the nut hatch and a woodpecker

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Catherine, thats interesting about the bag of cheap seed.
You will have to let us know if a different type does bring a wider range of birds into your garden.

[PLUMPUDDING]

I like the idea of selling tickets OH, but I birdwatch while I'm having my breakfast in bed, the feeders are directly outside my window, so it would be a bit limiting on numbers and they'd have to take their boots off!!!

I've planted trees and shrubs that provide fruit, berries and cover, and I leave lots of seed heads on over winter and dead head in spring. I leave a few fallen apples in the orchard and put out fat blocks, hull-less sunflower seeds (everything's favourite), peanuts, a mixed seed and grain food from the agricultural food merchant I get the hen food from. I get the "superior" one which has more sunflower seeds etc. in it. In winter I also buy a large bag of "Songster mix" from Haith's which is popular with blackbirds, thrushes, chaffinches and the usual doves and pigeons. My hens prefer the superior bird food as a teatime treat.

It really is worth keeping the seed heads on the evening primroses as they get lots of goldfinches on them and also the redpoll when they are about. I've also seen the goldfinches eating the seeds on the michaelmas daisies near the feeders.

I try to keep the area below the feeders clear of plants and shrubs that cats could hide under and have stuck a row of garden canes along the side of the bird table that was most at risk from cats, so now they can't creep up and jump on the table.

The wren, nuthatch and tree creeper like to delve about in the cracks in the bark on the pear tree that the feeders are hanging from too.

I do find the mixed seed gets taken better from the bird table than from the seed feeder where they seem to pick out the bits they like and either leave the corn and stuff or throw it on the floor.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Plumpudding, the Long Tailed Tits have appeared this morning.
They came through the Church hedge into the Rectory garden.

There was only eight in number, but i think they
probably had better markings then yours.