up with the lark

I arose this morning, not to the sound of a lark, but a crowd of cackling Magpies (AGAIN) Ive noticed that over the last few years there has been a predominance of Magpies, while the usual bird population has very much declined, my bird table no longer is used, except by pigeons and my bird boxes stand empty with the for let signs hanging loose, anyone else noticed the same.

Re: up with the lark

We still have a variety of birds that visit our garden.
The ones that wake me though, are Collard doves and Wood pigeons.
I have an intense dislike for the awful noise that the crow family make, like wise, seagulls. They all sound so angry and it sets my nerves on edge.

Re: up with the lark

We have noticed a big change in the bird population over the last couple of years.
We are still getting birds coming to our bird tables that we have at the front and the back of the garden but they come and go. Some weeks we dont have any visitors and others we get about 30 at a time.
I love to watch them as some of them come to the bird baths and have a good clean which is quite funny to watch.

Re: up with the lark

We've been in our present house for 42 years and there has been a big change in the bird population in that time. There are a lot fewer species of small birds and many more of the larger birds like pigeons, jackdaws and magpies. We still get lots of sparrows and blackbirds but hardly any other birds.

Re: up with the lark

We don't seem to be overpowered with magpies here. I used to be woken up at dawn by starlings fighting over cherries on the tree outside my bedroom window. I had the tree cut back some years ago (the fruit was tasteless) so I don't get that problem now.

Being on the edge of woodland and meadows we get a good mixture of birds here. My favourite is the wren which hops around on the stone patio wall

Re: up with the lark

Mall darlin', Aitch matey, you two should be so lucky. Down here I have Herring Gulls nesting amongst the chimney pots above me. They wake up at first light and begin their screeching calls right outside my bedroom window in the early dawn light.

Re: up with the lark

I still have 3 bird boxes in my garden, but as I said they are no longer used, mainly because of the predators which invade my space, I wont mention what kind but leave that to your purrfect reasoning, also I used to get squirrels, but even they have gone the way of the rest, the only small birds I see are a couple of pied wagtails which frequent my garden.

Re: up with the lark

I'm lucky here as there's lots of trees in the garden and I'm rural as well and get a variety of birds including woodpeckers I do get lots of collared doves as well and they eat quite a lot of the bird food so when they've gone I put out more for the small birds.

Re: up with the lark

We have a wide variety of birds here in the garden as well, but a few too many crows, magpies and wood pigeons for my liking, the smaller birds such as tits and finches are much more interesting...

Re: up with the lark

aitch, we are very luck too, we have lots of different birds come to our garden. Blue tits, great tits, sparrows, wagtails, goldfinch, chaffinch, lesser or greater spotted and green woodpeckers, blackbirds, robins, magpies, wood pigeons, collared doves, thrushes and crows.
Occasional and one off visitors, chiff chaff, bullfinch, starlings, dunnocks and birds of prey (kestrel and sparrow hawk). We live in a quiet neighbourhood, and I think the secret of success for us is to put out a variety of seeds, peanuts, fat balls and not too much on the bird table. (the squirrel eats it ) It is lovely watching the woodpeckers hang upside down on the peanuts. The wood pigeons and sparrows clean up the mess
They all disappear at times but as long as the feeders are well stocked, there is always a good amount of birds about.
Has anyone noticed how spruce the robins are looking?