Abandoned!

[CeriH]

Hi! first post so sorry if this is not in the right place, or duplicates another thread...

Looking out of the window right now at a very lonely (& noisy) sparrow, a dunnock and a robin. What's the problem? you may think - but I usually have a flock of about 20-30 sparrows, blue tits, great tits, finches, starlings, collared doves, the odd blackbird or two and a few long tail tits, not to mention the finches. But over the last week I have only seen "The Three Amigos".

I've not changed the food I put out, or the feeders that I use, in fact instead of having to fill my feeders every 3 days or so I haven't filled them since last weekend and they will not need filling this weekend by the looks of it.

Has anyone else been abandoned?!

[Farplace]

Do you have any new cats in the neighbourhood? Or could there be a sparrowhawk scaring them off perhaps? If nothing has changed, just keep providing the food. I am sure they will be back.

[sunnydale]

Originally Posted by CeriH

I've not changed the food I put out, or the feeders that I use, in fact instead of having to fill my feeders every 3 days or so I haven't filled them since last weekend and they will not need filling this weekend by the looks of it.

Hi Ceri and welcome to the forum!

Perhaps your regulars have found a better cafe with a more extensive menu further up the road!

Seriously though, I'm sure the birds will be back again soon, as they know it's a reliable food source!
If nothings happened by the end of this weekend, it might be an idea to clean your feeders while you have chance. Change the food too, as it could be getting a bit damp and yukky by then.

Tracey

[Kayleigh]

My bet would be as Farplace has said and the culprit being a predator..
I think they will be back soon.

Welcome to WAB..

[rossy]

welcome to the forum cerih ,what people tend to forget is , THE BIRDS ARE WILD, and they move around at this time of the year, but i would not worry they will be back, i have quite an active garden, BUT when i come home from work , occasionally, the food for them ,hasnt been polished off, now as put before, a predator has been around, rossy.

[FUDGEY]

Hi mate, funny you mention this. I have a hide in a wood I built myself for photography purposes. I have over 15 feeders at it and on average top up about 5kg a day. Yesterday I went up and the food had hardly been touched. I sat in my hide for an hour just to observe to see what was happening re bird numbers. In that hour a Male Sparrowhawk attacked 5 times. As sooon as the birds came to the feeders he was in minutes later. I love Sparrowhawks and didnt mind him disrupting things one little bit. Good chance this might have happened with you too.

[CeriH]

Thanks for all your replies.

No new cats, nothing changed - unless you count that the electricity company have been putting up new poles? Sparrowhawk could be a possibility although I've never seen one around.

Appreciate that the birds are wild and could have found a better Cafe than mine but I don't even hear them any more. It was quite sad listening to my lonely sparrow this morning calling for his flock mates

Oh well - I'll just keep my fingers crossed that they will be back soon - I've been out with the mealworms this afternoon to try to tempt them back

[FUDGEY]

Im sure they will be back dont worry. Last winter I noticed a pattern at my garden feeders. I had over 50 siskin, 50 goldfinch and 20 Brambling at different times along with other species. Very rarely were all the species there together. For example the Goldfinches would dissapear for a few days, then the Siskins them the Bramblings. I think they were rotating the feeding stations they attended.

[Doggle Avaddit]

[quote=rossy;704212]welcome to the forum cerih ,what people tend to forget is , THE BIRDS ARE WILD, QUOTE]




Well that isn't really true if you are feeding them 5Kg of food per day.


Where does this notion come from, that if I (and all my neighbours) feed all the birds in the vicinity, that they are going to behave naturally?


Very bizarre.

[Littlesparrow]

In my area there are loads of berry bushes full of lovely food for the birds, so they don't really need me feeding them at the moment, they all come back when they weather gets colder.