No small song birds for a while/yet!

Box Brownie

Box Brownie

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I reduce and stop putting food out over the summer to late summer period and then start again once the weather changes towards autumnal.

I put the first lot of food out about 4 weeks ago and as yet no small birds other than the very occasional Robin. The larger ones still come through as they always have done such as the Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Magpie.

This is in the SE in Surrey near Guildford.

What by way of visitors and numbers have you been seeing.....and whereabouts in the UK are you?
 
Same where I am in Somerset. The blue tits, goldfinches, blackbirds etc reared their young then disappeared. There have been a few sparrows around all summer but only a few. Starlings are starting to appear now and the other morning I had the blackbird back rearranging my bark mulch, but nothing's coming to anyone's feeders. My neighbour who feeds all year said it's saving her a fortune..... Like you I have food out now ready for when they need it. I don't feed over the summer either. It's very rural just here so there's lots of natural food. The birds don't usually disappear completely like they have this year though. I think (hope) everything's out in the fields and hedgerows. On the plus side the tawny owls that live and nest in the woods up the lane have been very vocal when I've been out for my early morning walk.
 
I'm in Ayrshire and it was a quiet summer, loads of house sparrows though, the odd satrling, jackdaws etc.

Now though, it's coming alive, goldfinches galore, has been for the last 2 months or so, the odd siskin, greenfinches on a daily basis, blue tits, coal tits, robin, dunnock, wren, starling, blackbird, the occasional GSW, pesky jackdaws, which get sent on their way and at a guess, 40 odd houseys.
 
In our garden in east London almost any time goldfinches outnumber all the other small birds combined. However, over the last couple of weeks there have been quite a few blue tits and the odd great tit. The local group of about half a dozen house sparrows are still around. A couple of great spotted woodpeckers use one of the feeders but not very frequently as do the parakeets.
Over the last month or so magpies have learned how to hang on to a feeder and are now fairly regular visitors.

Now I'm in NW Scotland and the most numerous bird on the various feeders are coal tits, there are also quite a few chaffinches and great tits.

Dave
 
We feed through the summer and haven't noticed much change in numbers, just that the proportions of Sparrows : Tits : Finches etc. varies. Guessing that the mealworm consumption will slow down when the Starlings head South for their Winter Sun!
 
Well, apart from the squirrel caching the hazelnuts the sunflower hearts remain untouched.

So not sure what to make of it???
 
Definitely reduced in numbers in this area over recent years ,,, used to see plently of Redpoll, Siskin, Greenfinch, LTT but very few and far between now, get small flocks of Linnet and Goldfinch as well as Sparrows but the decline is clear here.
 
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I'm also just outside of Guildford and can agree that the bird numbers have definitely dropped of this year.

In fact, it's been a terrible year for me for wildlife photography all together and I have travelled more than ever before and even at new places I've never been to before are quiet.
 
In my area of Shropshire, I have loads of blue, great and long tailed tits, Robins and nut hatches visiting my feeder (fat balls). The bigger birds include black birds, pigeons, even the other day about 10 crows sitting waiting for a spot on the feeder.
 
I had 17 goldfinches in the garden yesterday. Also nuthatches, chaffinches, 60+sparrows and a few dunnocks. Robin and nuthatch, and "merde", a couple of sparrow hawks... I do feed them well though. My blue tit nestlings are two down, but still feed all day. Usual coal tit and Great Tit. Noticeably, my blackbirds rarely show, an occasional male. In June I had three females and a couple of males. All disappeared during the summer...………..:-(

5 collared doves and friendly jackdaws, and a wimp of a rook...………….

Sunny Swansea ish
 
Same up here in north wales , I’m getting the birds in on my home feeder tree and at one reserve where a bird loving lunatic is putting out copious amounts of food daily , but go for a walk about in the general area and there’s been virtually no small birds to be seen and the wife says she can’t hear them either .... something really weird been going on this year .
 
It maybe because of where I live, but I'm surrounded by small birds (and larger ones). The only bird that seems to have gone since the summer are the Gold finches. The Tawney owl population looks like (well sounds like) it has gone up a bit, the Barn owl's looked like they had a successful breeding.
 
I was remarking to SWMBO, as I gazed out the window, that the Corvids (crows and Magpies) seem to have become more in numbers........and could they have affected the song bird variety & numbers.

As the days get colder I hope that we will get the song birds/smaller birds coming to feed again ~ fingers crossed :)
 
Having been away for a week and a bit I've come home to find the garden has gone from summer mode to winter. The feeders/table were out but hadn't been touched when I left. I came back to see half the previously untouched suet ball has gone and early this morning there were two blue tits on the peanuts. Haven't seen a blue tit in months. And the robin was sitting on the fence. So they're coming back. The blackbird left bark all over the path for me to clear up...............
 
All the small birds have gone awol only Magpie and Wood Pigeon about. Been away for a few weeks and have now put up the feeders, but only one Great Tit seen yet. magpies have now found that they can hold on to feeders. All this from the midlands.

Wilst away in Pembrokeshire never seen so many Jays in one area all emptying the Oak trees of there Acorns and burying them every were.

Trevor
 
I'm in coastal West Dorset and have a wildlife garden (lazy low maintenance) which includes small ponds which are very valuable for birds. I put out food all year and this year have seen substantial increases in Goldfinches and Sparrows.

Birds benefit from garden feeders ALL year and in summer are breeding and need fast and easy food for their young. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise! Feed 'em all year!

I don't top up feeders, I wait until a feeder has been emptied. Birds will come and feed or not as and when they need, it's up to them but I prefer to have food and water on offer all year. My reward is hearing birdsong through my nearly always open window and photographing them.

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GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER by Robin Procter, on Flickr
 
I'm in West London, near Heathrow and I have a regular band of Starlings & Goldfinches on my feeders, with the odd Robin & Sparrow. A guy down the road keeps Pigeons, and they come in en mass at times but the Starlings hold their own.

For the first time ever, the local Magpies have been at the fat balls, but this may be because we are now in range of the ever expanding Red Kite population, and they are probably jumping on any carrion that's around.
 
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