I was so dissapointed with the turnout for todays big count. Really bad timing i think as we had a BIG thaw overnight and above freezing temperatures all day with some rain showers. With the snow over the past couple of weeks theres been a constant flutter of activity all day long and i've had to top up the food several times as day with 16 chafinches, 9 blackbirds, 12 starlings, 6 sparrows, 2 doves, 5 pigeons, 2 robins, blue tits and great tit a jackdaw and a crow all feeding at my tiny table. Today they havent even finished breakfast and all I saw in my hour was 16 chafinches, 4 sparrows,1 starling, 1 pigeon, 1 blackbird and 1 robin that only just made it in time!
Hi Jenny, love the cat's name! I have 2 killer cats next door and have taken down my bird table because I can't bear the carnage. Had nesting blue tits in the summer, until frightened away by a very determined cat. Do you use any other method of cat scaring other than chasing them away?
Love the nickname for the cat. That's what you can hear me muttering on a regular basis!
I have had the same problem in my bird watching hour, When all the snow had settled i was refilling my bird tables, feeders and bowls every 3-4 hrs it was going like hot cakes and we even had new visitors including 2 male chafinches and a little green bird that vanished as quickly as it arrived we also saw 2 great tits that was really nice, we also had an extra robin through the snow. But since the snow has gone all we seemed to get it 4 ferals a pair of blue tits female chafinched a pair of black caps 2 robins and countless starlings. but we also had a tiny bird arrived and it was actually a goldcrest i was sooo shocked to see one. 3 mornings ago i went out to feed the birds early and there was 1 unusual bird in my tree and it flew to the tree next door and it turned round chirping with its wings fluttering and it was a waxwing apsolutly stunning it then flew to the tv arial next door and there was 8 waxwings all sitting on the line, later on that day we went for a walk and there was 24 waxwings on a house roof we were in amazement, I have now purchased a good camera to take snaps of these rare occasions. Any hints on how to get more birds to visit will be greatly appreciated thanks
I have thought of getting one of the electronic cat scarers, but there are too many problems trying to find just the right position, and I think that after a while, the cat would just raise two claws at it. So it's just a regular chase!
The (RSPB) bird table was a problem initially when I set that up last year - the cat would jump up and knock it over (and the local gulls could and did topple it, too). To make it more stable, I've put 4 heavy plant pots around the base, and to make it cat proof, I've inserted a piece of wire mesh underneath the top, so that it sticks out by a few inches all the way round. Works a treat.
The herring gulls have given up visiting the table now that I only put seed mix and bugs/buggy nibbles on it. They get fed kitchen scraps and left over cat food (from my own elderly indoor cats) on the top of a low wall. One of the gulls stares into the kitchen every morning waiting for me, and there are two that nearly knock me over when I feed them! They are so funny when there are a few of them, because the regular one spends so much time trying to fight the others that he/she misses out on the food while other birds sneak in! If there are a lot of scraps, or they are feeding young, we get magpies, jackdaws, rooks and hooded crows, too.
This morning was exciting, as I saw a male blackcap on my birdcake. (Why didn't he come on Saturday morning?!)
(I am near the East coast of the Isle of Man)
I was disappointed too as I usually see two pairs of robins (only saw 1 pair) more blackbirds (only saw 1) quite a few sparrows, a few starlings and I didn't see any this time. Seem to be more pigeons. However, I quess it was perhaps too cold.
My husband was also very disappointed with his bird count this year but we couldn't stop laughing this morning when we looked out and there were 8 Goldfinches and 2 Bullfinches all hanging off of one of the feeders! On Sunday after a disappointing hour seeing hardly any birds my husband went for a walk up to the allotments and low and behold on a field that is usually used for horses there was a whole flock of Fieldfares feeding on the ground. What a pity he didn't have a camera with him.