Birds

Isn't it amazing the way gold finches feed from those special containers we hang up for them? Such minute holes from which they extract the seeds, and yet they appear to waste about half, as so many drop to the ground, and seem not to be attractive to other birds. Do you have any thoughts or advice? I love feeding our garden birds, but wish they would clear their plates!!

I feed them sunflower hearts, which they squabble over enthusiastically. Unfortunately, there is still quite a lot of waste.

i have screwed plastic plates underneath as a temp measure and they land on them and gobble up the otherwisw waste niger seed.  I agree for such tiny birds they create such a mess (god bless em)  I have a gang of eight and they cost me a fortune.  However my fav bird is the little wren that darts around the waterfall but is too damm quick for me to photograph. 

Also earlier this year we had a lovely looking rat but it was soon joined by some others so I had to remove them

I grow wild teasel Alan(some people call them weeds!) and it is such a pleasure watching the gold finches performing acrobatics as they pick the seeds. They seem to be very gregarious, like the starlings and always arrive in groups of at least 6-7. The Jays still reign supreme, giving the squirrels a hard time competing for the peanuts! This year a pair of parakeets nested nearby and produced two young ones. They keep us alert with their loud chatter. Watching the wildlife does help to get through the bleak winter months......roll on spring

not gets wasted round here,the pigeons or hate to say it R...or m...will eat any droppings of seed that's why you have to be careful but you cant really prevent it all sorts of devices tried .I found some of the seed growing into corn or what ever which is interesting if not annoying when I have to pull it up.

You lucky people!  I have tried everything to attract goldfinches but they just don't seem to live around here. Almost every other usual species visit but not them .

I put up a little niger seed feeder and in the end took it down as they went mouldy and even started sprouting.  Have grown teasel for several years too and we did have one visit but they must have been "passing through". 

The finches with their large beaks spit out a lot of the seed onto the ground but then ground feeders like the Chafinches, Wood pigeons, come along and scoop the lot.  I only use sunflower hearts which is very popular. I too can't wait for Spring but in the meantime, the wildlife visiting is keeping me entertained.

When the seeds germinate into wheat or ehatever if its not in way I allow to ripen and then put stalks on my bird table.

We have gold finches, blue, great tits, This year there have been a couple of nuthatch, Their antics are also very amusing. Just had 3 starlings visiting, Mr Robin (very bossy) and wood pigeons who walk around under the feeders eating the detritus from the other birds. Also I think Black caps but not sure. Have not seen Chaffinched this year and blackbirds hop around on the fencebut don't visit at moment.

I do feel lucky about the goldfinches as at last house we saw them but they never visited.

I have just been outside in the rain to look what needs doing in the garden. I spotted 2 goldfinches on our niger feeder.  1 was very drab looking but had all the marking on the face and wings.  i can only assume it is a jouvenile from this year. Anyway the robin was nearby ready to clean the deck after them and i'm sure i heard a pigeon too.  even the murky weather can't detract us from the beauty so close.

I am going to be so bold to suggest that it is down to us gardeners that the Goldfinch is doing so well. It was in decline and now seems to be thriving again thanks to the niger and sunflower heart seeds we provide for them in our gardens. A quote from British Garden Birds website  "More  interestingly, this finch is increasingly using garden bird feeders, this may be  because natural resources are in steady decline or more gardens are offering  niger seed and sunflower hearts, which are both high energy foods that  Goldfinches seem to prefer."

Goldie-finches are beautiful, but wasteful philanderers of Niger seeds. I get a good crop of sedlings geowing underneath where their feeder hangs, and they only eat 1/2 of what I put out, the top half of the feeder. Ungrateful little wretches !  I do have tho' a very voracious cock peasant wot scratches up the grass as a sort of lawn scowerererer. Large patches of well worked grass around and about !  Bless ! He'll be for Xmas lunch !

Caz you are not alone!

We too have an absence of goldfinches this yr! The squirrels go for the niger seed & am now trying sunflower hearts on their own in a separate caged feeder.

What does annoy me is the tits & co that can hang easily from feeders divivng on the ground feeders tray as soon as it is refilled! J.

A classic line from radio 4 and Gardeners QT. as heard by Mary Whitehouse.........

'tits, like coconuts........................................................................ ......and

sparrows like breadcrumbs.

When I was out riding recently there was whole flock ,I think,goldfinches ,chasing each other from tree to tree,the trees now felled they where pine.I have never seen so many chattering their song as they went.may be they like the pine cones.

That reminds me - nearly time for GQT - thanks Peat 

I am not sure if its goldfinches (pale brown with yellow stripes on lower parts of wings, but I have had to kill two lately with that snotty nose desease, dont know what its called but I am sure it must be spreading. We do keep the feeders clean.

Thinking about it, they are not goldfinches, anyone know what they are?

Siskins maybe? J.

Female greenfinch? 

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greenfinch/index.aspx 

click the arrow to find the female illustration.

Anybody know why birds are chirping  at midnight I've never heard this in winter?

Hi budlia63,  One reason for birds singing at night is from light pollution, if you live where there are lots of streetlamps which are on all night.  The effect gets worse in big towns when it is cloudy as the clouds reflect the light making it seem just like a dull day every night.  I live near a main road with huge lamps and some birds (particularly Robins) sing all night.  Unfortunately, it's not good for them:

http://www.britastro.org/dark-skies/wildlife.html

Another theory is that it's noise pollution and in areas where it is very noisy during the day (again, probably near busy roads), they prefer to sing at night as they can't compete with man-made noise during the day:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6591649.stm

Either way, it seems we humans are to blame.