Tits on my nuts, but what other species are around?

Sun 21 Apr, 12:51

Very happy to see a wren nesting somewhere near … and robins are building in our log store. Last year blackbirds built there, but abandoned the nest. 

Sat 20 Apr, 07:04

Sat 20 Apr, 07:00

Very briefly about 10 years ago I saw a pair of mandarin ducks on the river – for any twitchers, this morning would be a good one to rush down to the bridge as they are there again today. Obviously not native, but apparently there are a few pairs surviving in the wild, and they seem to have found their way back 

Thu 7 Mar, 09:45

First time I've had one of these in our central Charlbury garden...

Wed 10 Jan, 16:34

This caused me to re-read The Darkling Thrush - Thomas Hardy's poem; to quote a few salient lines:

At once a voice arose among

The bleak twigs overhead

In a full-hearted evensong

Of joy illimited;

Wed 10 Jan, 14:29 (last edited on Wed 10 Jan, 17:37)

Thank you both Katherine and Kieran, a song thrush sounds likely. I love this thread (do I get a prize for being post no. 100).

Wed 10 Jan, 12:13

Birgit - would guess song thrush from your description. A fair few singing at this time of year (and will continue to sing into the summer). You can listen to examples of the song on the RSPB website. Sounds similar to blackbird (rich and melodic)  but with repeated sections of song.

Wed 10 Jan, 12:00

Birgit you could download an app called Chirpomatic and have it listen to your recording.  It's like Shazam but for birdsong.

Wed 10 Jan, 09:42

Has anyone else noticed the beautiful bird sound by the station? I heard it a lot before Christmas (not sure about now) and it always seemed to be coming from the same tree, the first tree on your left coming down the steps. As it is always dark when I come home, I have not been able to see the bird but its song is *very* melodic and loud, and can even be heard above the engine noise of starting cars (yes, I made a recording). It’s the kind of bird song I associate with summer. Any ideas?

Tue 9 Jan, 07:47

It will have been greater spotted. Lessers are pretty scarce (and also tiny - the size of a sparrow!).

Willow tits are also scarce round here, so much more likely to have been marsh. Easier to tell apart by song rather than visually.

Mon 8 Jan, 21:29

We had a woodpecker, but I wasn't sure if it was greater or lesser spotted. 

Mon 8 Jan, 21:25

Most likely marsh or willow (no can’t tell either). Could it have been a cole tit? Too small?

But yes, blackcaps around also. 

Mon 8 Jan, 21:20

Treecreepers beaks will get into the tiniest crevice won’t they?

Mon 8 Jan, 20:59

Rather pleased to see a treecreeper in the garden today - we didn't notice one at all last year.  We do have sunflower and peanut feeders out, but it seemed much more interested in creeping up the apple and plum trees to see what it could find in the crevices...

Mon 8 Jan, 18:12

Thanks Alan, I know that more blackcaps are staying all year now, so maybe this was  one, especially with your wife seeing one earlier.

However marsh/ willow tits are equally super. So, am glad I saw whatever it was!

Mon 8 Jan, 16:57

Sandy, we see more marsh tits than blackcaps in the garden, but either is possible.  (I don't expect to be able to distinguish a marsh tit from a willow tit, but just assume they are all marsh tits.)  Blackcaps have historically been seen as summer visitors, I understand, but our occasional sightings seem to be just as likely to be in winter.  Indeed, my wife believes she saw one in the garden this morning, so perhaps that is also what you saw?

Mon 8 Jan, 11:56

Walking down Crawborough I suddenly noticed a “bird in the bush”  just above eyelevel and it was easy to see it’s black capped head. I know it could be either blackcap, marsh or willow tit, but it disappeared deeper in the bush before i could tell. Which is most likely?

Sun 10 Dec 2023, 15:44

Had a lovely Nuthatch on the bird table yesterday. First one I’ve seen in a few years. 

Thu 20 Jul 2023, 09:25

Egret fishing in a little pond on Sandford Park yesterday morning. Might be the same that Stephen spotted. It's so beautiful!

Thu 20 Jul 2023, 08:54

Last August I posted a photo on this thread of a Little Egret that briefly visited us in Park St. I am delighted to report that it has returned (can it be the same bird?)  and is now on its third full day disturbing the sediment to feed in our shallow spring feed pond. Unfortunately, we also have seen a neighbours' cat stalking it. 

Tue 7 Feb 2023, 16:27

We've got a huge crop of Roehips this year on bushes that urgently need pruning , but are delaying as long as possible in case we get a really bad snow/ice freeze before spring is fully sprung, and emergency food supplies are needed. How many birds eat Rosehips?

Interestingly, as we erratically put mealworms and seeds out - erratically as we don't want to create a habit which could reduce their foraging widely behaviour - when a couple of birds who grew up in our garden see me they fluff up and waggle their wings in the baby bird "feed me" behaviour which is usually rewarded by a sprinkling of mealworms. Started by a male Blackbird and a Robin has now copied it. 

Should I try and hand-feed train them?

Tue 7 Feb 2023, 10:30

Great Spotted Woodpecker having a go at mine this morning - Tits not amused!

Thu 15 Dec 2022, 12:00

I’ve noticed that in this weather the blue tits are active in searching for insects in hidden places…cobwebs, crevices in walls and in bushy plants too. Imagine that your bush will harbour insects in its depths.

Thu 15 Dec 2022, 11:17

No, Christine they’re not feeding on the berries as the blackbirds ate them all in a few days in the summer.  

Wed 14 Dec 2022, 23:41

Mahonias have berries which ripen properly after freezing. That's why Mahonia is also called the Oregon Grape.

Amanda's bluetits are presumably feeding on these. I think humans are advised to cook them first, but I believe that they are harmless (except to very young children). And in fact I have sampled them raw in the past. 

Wed 14 Dec 2022, 23:28

We’ve also had  a frequent male blackcap, a spotted woodpecker on the nuts on Sunday and a good number of redwings gorging on next door’s apples in Woodfield Drive. No fieldfares yet, though, after a single frequent visitor last year.

Wed 14 Dec 2022, 22:03 (last edited on Wed 14 Dec 2022, 22:10)

I’ve had blue tits in my garden who seemed to be finding something to eat in my mahonia.  No idea what unless the flowers are tasty.

Wed 14 Dec 2022, 19:51

We had redwings as well Miles, feasting on the crab apples on our tree a few days ago.

So far there have been no fieldfares but slightly surprisingly, there was a blackcap hopping about the lawn a few days ago, just before the freeze started. They're normally a summer visitor but the RSPB suggests that they are becoming more common in the winter here in the UK.

Wed 14 Dec 2022, 10:30 (last edited on Wed 14 Dec 2022, 11:45)

We recently had 2 great spotted woodpeckers on our feeder, which was incredible.

We have plenty of blue tits and great tits and yesterday and this morning we had three long tailed tits, which I've never seen before - they're very cute.  

Sat 10 Dec 2022, 09:40

We have a gang of Redwings in the garden at the moment. They are so beautiful. What’s happening in your garden? 

Mon 31 Oct 2022, 13:57

The little egrets are often at the river in cornbury. Beautiful little things. 

Mon 31 Oct 2022, 12:55 (last edited on Mon 31 Oct 2022, 16:54)

In trees along hedgerow between Hundley Way and field into Banbury Hill farm wood I saw a flock of bramblings this morning.
Of course they were doing that thing where every step from me, they flew on just that bit further, however I could see the light chestnut patches on their breasts.

Tue 23 Aug 2022, 07:31 (last edited on Tue 23 Aug 2022, 08:18)

Juvenile Egret on our spring-fed pond in Park St.

Lifts the spirits.

Sun 1 May 2022, 15:19

Has anyone noticed that we have a lot of greenfinches in Charlbury at the moment? This is good news as they are in sharp decline. They have been in trouble because of disease spread on bird feeders, so remember to safely disinfect bird feeders to protect them where they are thriving. 

Mon 27 Sep 2021, 12:32

Has anyone seen any Redwings yet this year?

Sat 24 Apr 2021, 21:41

Last time i walked that way pps 2 weeks ago, I totally failed to look or listen. Thanks for reminding me. Let you know if i do.

Sat 24 Apr 2021, 13:27

Sandy, are the Redpolls still arround? Ive never seen one.

Sat 24 Apr 2021, 13:26

Perhaps well get a murmuration!

Fri 23 Apr 2021, 19:48

Starlings this evening - about a dozen of them on the school field just now. I know Miles mentioned them in his original post but these are the first I recall noticing in Charlbury for ages. 

Tue 23 Feb 2021, 14:57

Redpolls on Quarry Lane  ( section where it narrows past quarry edge onto muddiest bit)  twittering away delightfully between mouthfuls. They didn’t seem at all aware of me standing under the tree watching.

Mon 22 Feb 2021, 13:03

I thought I had a flock of fieldfares on the grass in front of my window but they were smaller than the blackbirds sitting next to them so I checked on the BTO website and watched a helpful video titled 'How to tell a fieldfare from a redwing.' And then I was quite sure that they were redwings.

Mon 22 Feb 2021, 11:53

Moorhen on our pond in Park St this morning - may have been displaced from the clearance work further upstream?

Mon 15 Feb 2021, 20:48

Yes, that’s them.Thanks. They were an absolute delight on a miserable day.

Mon 15 Feb 2021, 07:57

Probably Fieldfares, same size as a Mistle thrush, same family, visiting from Scandinavia.

Mon 15 Feb 2021, 06:05

Walking in Cornbury yesterday I saw a group which I thought were mistle thrushes but closer they had grey underneath and black patch on the rear...?

Thu 11 Feb 2021, 13:58

Looks like a woodcock to me! Good spot!

Thu 11 Feb 2021, 12:22

Thank you Richard. Here it is (I have 2 more):

Thu 11 Feb 2021, 12:12

You can drag a picture from your desktop into a forum post if you like, and it’ll appear (doesn’t yet work on mobile though!).

Thu 11 Feb 2021, 11:54

Just taken some pictures of a bird in my garden - I think it may be a woodcock. Happy to send pics to anyone who can identify it!

Fri 5 Feb 2021, 18:12

Is there anything better than a gang of Long Tail Tits in the garden? They come through like a gang of Dickensian street urchins, cherubic individually, but unruly, noisy and frenetic as a gang. Love them.

Sun 31 Jan 2021, 10:47 (last edited on Sun 31 Jan 2021, 11:01)

Siskin, redpoll, brambling and blackcap on or around our nuts this morning in Rochester Place.

Sun 24 Jan 2021, 16:46

Must have been a goldcrest in our garden on The Green today, then!

Wed 20 Jan 2021, 23:36 (last edited on Wed 20 Jan 2021, 23:38)

Like you, Andrew: first sight of a recognisable goldcrest, about five feet away. Only the one, just past where Quarry Lane and the path past the skate park (Ticknell Lane?) join. Yesterday.

Wed 20 Jan 2021, 19:59

Not in my garden, but this morning I saw a pair of goldcrest in the wooded area to the west of Hixet Wood, just over the stone wall of Lee Place.

I think this is one of the very few times I have seen goldcrest, and certainly the first time I have been so close to them (about 5 feet away), and thus absolutely certain what they were.

Wed 13 Jan 2021, 11:54

Oh no Nick! 

The Goldfinches are fed Niger seeds in a different part of the garden, seems to keep everyone happy!

Wed 13 Jan 2021, 11:24

A black cap has arrived in my garden and is chasing all my goldfinches away! The dilemmas of natural selection. Also had the first Starling for ten years at the feeder this morning.

Tue 12 Jan 2021, 12:31

Mrs blackcap brought Mr Blackcap to the garden today to show him the coconut shell - very excitedly!

Tue 12 Jan 2021, 10:09

It's official - winter's nearly over.  There's a thrush in one of the gardens on Hixet Wood that's already started its territorial singing, and our local sparrows are sussing out potential nesting sites.  Either they know something that we don't about the seasons, or else they've got it badly wrong.

Mon 11 Jan 2021, 22:42

We had a very sleek Fieldfare eating the many crab apples on our Malus today.  The Sparrowhawk is a fairly regular visitor as well!

Mon 11 Jan 2021, 18:32

We have had a female blackcap visit the garden over the last week or so. She has found the coconut shell filled with lard, peanut butter and mixed seeds and seems to be enjoying it.

Sun 10 Jan 2021, 12:54

Saw my first Redwing this week too.

Sun 10 Jan 2021, 09:57

Steven,

I'm pretty sure your mystery bird will be a Sparrowhawk.

Sun 10 Jan 2021, 09:21

Redwing numbers are up this winter. From the British Trust for Ornithology:

https://bto-enews.org/NXK-76UN8-F70E52AC79C6C8B41FIB122E1B1058E5A9D22A/cr.aspx

The BTO website has useful videos to help with ID.

Fri 1 Jan 2021, 15:25 (last edited on Fri 1 Jan 2021, 15:25)

We had a redwing today on our holly tree in Rochester Place. Not seen one in this garden before.

Tue 1 Dec 2020, 16:41

Helen, thanks for the picture. I'm no expert but it looks most like a Hobby, which as far as I can tell wouldn't be out of place visiting a garden in a rural area like ours. 

Mon 30 Nov 2020, 18:03

Oh! Maybe it was a Merlin that I saw on Saturday in my garden. Here's a couple of links to the rubbish photos I managed to take before it flew off. What do you think?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RvMFkuBF0gIKoHx6fzFw5kRNF8n_b15G/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BK45hlQNJ1y8qE6p6Ooh7SLfIK50bwCl/view?usp=sharing

Mon 30 Nov 2020, 16:52

We spotted a kestrel in the tree outside our house (Wychwood Paddocks) last week, and then later in the week saw another small bird of prey just failing to snatch a blackbird off the school field gate. Today we happened to be watching the blue tits etc. foraging in the hedge when a bird of prey swooped in and this time successfully took a blackbird away. Judging by its size and fanned tail it was either a kestrel or (less likely I imagine) a merlin - RSPB suggests that both types are increasingly coming from farmland into gardens, where bird feeders offer them easy prey.

Sun 1 Nov 2020, 10:47

Alex Gerrard - 3 of my favourites right there!

Sun 1 Nov 2020, 09:40

Time for some rare migrants apparently.... https://www.bto.org/community/blog/migration-blog-23rd-–-29th-october?

Mon 26 Oct 2020, 23:05

Flocks of Long Tailed Tits, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Goldcrest recently

Mon 26 Oct 2020, 18:30

We get nuthatches regularly on our feeder. The secret is sunflower seeds, their absolute favourite;)

Sun 25 Oct 2020, 10:19

Friend had a Nuthatch in his garden the other day. Haven't seen one in years.

Sat 24 Oct 2020, 16:01

We had a pheasant wandering along the roadside in Wychwood Paddocks the other day. Not where I'd expect one to end up.

Is anyone seeing winter migrant birds around Charlbury yet? 

Sat 8 Feb 2020, 10:31 (last edited on Sun 25 Oct 2020, 11:47)

For some years I have had a punk blackbird frequenting my garden, but I have not seen him for quite some time now. He had some feathers sticking up in the middle of his back (hence why I refer to him in that way) - maybe he had been attacked by a cat or something and just managed to get away. If anyone sees him I would love to know :-) 

Sat 8 Feb 2020, 09:47

Male sparrowhawk on a hedge in The Green this morning.

Mon 3 Feb 2020, 17:13

Two greenfinches in Rochester Place this morning - first we've seen for a long time.

Sun 2 Feb 2020, 10:16

I have the range of tits, goldfinches and other garden birds. Not seen a thrush or a greenfinch for 3-4 years. Very pleased to see a solitary chaffinch about a month ago + the odd blackcap. 

Saw a flock of about a hundred linnets just after Christmas on a walk near Burford.

Sun 2 Feb 2020, 09:35

We had the World's most optimistic Sparrowhawk sitting on top of a feeder. Also, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Marsh Tit, the usual array of Blue, Great, & Long Tailed Tits, & dozens of Goldfinches. Pigeons, Doves & Corvids are daily visitors too.

Sat 1 Feb 2020, 16:09

We've had several owls on/around Wychwood Paddocks. Both male and female tawny owls and either a barn owl or something like it - a screechy one anyway. The tawny ones could still be heard as late as 7-8am in the darker mornings.

Sat 1 Feb 2020, 16:05

Not seen any Redwings yet, or heard any cuckoos. Glad to hear that they are about though.

Sat 1 Feb 2020, 10:21

I always enjoy watching cuckoos' progress at https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/cuckoo-tracking-project. They are beginning to move our way! But the numbers locally are dropping every year.

At this time last year we had a pair of redwings in the garden (The Green) devouring the berries on our cotoneaster. This year none. Has anyone else had them in their garden, or does the mild weather mean they are happily staying out in the fields?

Sat 1 Feb 2020, 09:34

Heard a Cuckoo last year in Mid-May at Potter's Close (top of Lees Heights).

Fri 31 Jan 2020, 21:12 (last edited on Fri 31 Jan 2020, 21:12)

Bullfinches! First Ive seen in new house. Anyone else? 

Tue 20 Aug 2019, 10:34

Greenfinches! and a lot of Goldfinches. 

Sun 7 Jul 2019, 13:15

Young vixen seen sauntering down Hughes Close recently, with a brown chicken in her mouth. So if you are missing a brown hen,she unfortunately ended up as a foxes family meal.    JH

Sun 7 Jul 2019, 13:13

We occasionally get foxes in Hixet Wood.  I saw one crossing the road from Lee Place a couple of weeks ago.

Sun 7 Jul 2019, 07:23

The last fox I saw Miles was about 7 years ago in what is now your garden, it crossed our garden and jumped into (yours) - in fact a pair of them were there for a couple of days.

Sat 6 Jul 2019, 15:12

Saw a fox in Charlbury last night. First I’ve seen here in years. 

Thu 4 Jul 2019, 18:35

We are getting tits and finches on ours, and today a nuthatch, Miles, but when we first put it out, it took a while for the birds to find it. 

Unfortunately, a clever rook has found it too, and swings on the feeder to spill some hearts out onto the ground, for it and its friends to hoover up.

Thu 4 Jul 2019, 15:40

Is that an African or a European swallow?

Thu 4 Jul 2019, 15:35

Put sunflower Hearts up - not a nibble! Wrong time of year.

Fri 28 Jun 2019, 07:03

Not an alcoholic swallow Jaime at 1018 in the morning?

Thu 27 Jun 2019, 10:18

I’ve just been enjoying a swallow in the garden.

Wed 26 Jun 2019, 19:57

Mike - I always refer to jackdaws as 'the street boys of the bird world' - they are clever/intelligent!

Wed 26 Jun 2019, 13:18

I’m pleased to report hearing a cuckoo several times over the last month. We also have a regular visiting Jay, and a constantly circling Red Kite. At the top of Woody Lane.

Wed 26 Jun 2019, 12:37

The unruly Clattering of Jackdaws, currently bullying the more nerdy birds of Charlbury, is driving me mad with their incessant tchacking. 

Wed 26 Jun 2019, 08:39

At this moment I have between 40 - 50 Jackdaws on my lawn competing with a dozen pigeons for something the rain has brought to the surface! Meanwhile a robin and blackbird fight over the feeder.  Too many cats around.

Tue 25 Jun 2019, 12:12

Blackcap, long-tailed tits, goldfinches and a songthrush as well many of those mentioned below.

Mon 24 Jun 2019, 21:27

Deborah, I have not heard a cuckoo for a couple of years. We used to have thrushes on our garden steps bashing the life out of snails, sadly, no longer. Greatly missed. Not even seen a robin as often as we used to, and goldfinches are rarely seen here now. Blackbirds a plenty, thank goodness for them.

Mon 24 Jun 2019, 16:13

I can only add Thrushes down by the stream and a Tree creeper.  In Sandford Park we have a resident Pheasant!  I've seen the Green Woodpecker scuttling along the ground picking up the dropped sunflower hearts.   It's never boring.

Mon 24 Jun 2019, 11:25

Great - Siskins, Greenfinch, Bullfinch and especially Nuthatch would all be very welcome. I will get some sunflower hearts. Thanks. 

Mon 24 Jun 2019, 11:13

I find it very sad & a sign of the times that the cuckoo we once use to hear up by the quarry in Ticknell Piece, heralding in the beginning of Spring, does not appear to have returned over the past couple of years. 

Would be interested to know if anyone else has heard or have had sight of one recently in the area?

Mon 24 Jun 2019, 09:31

No woodpeckers, Jays or Thrushes, but I can add Goldfinches on my sunflower seeds

Sun 23 Jun 2019, 22:59

We see the occasional nuthatch and jay in Wychwood Paddocks. 

Sun 23 Jun 2019, 22:32

We get chaffinches, greenfinches and occasionally bullfinches, and we get siskins in winter. They all seem to like sunflower hearts.(and the bullfinches like our fruit blossom as well!)

Sun 23 Jun 2019, 18:03

Thanks Richard. Yes seen all of them (and a wonderful Green Woodpecker nest by the bridge with young heads poking out), but I’m looking for garden birds. 

Sun 23 Jun 2019, 17:59

Jackdaws and wood pigeons. The best of British bird life. Plenty of swifts and martins around though and grey wagtails and an egret down by the river. 

Sun 23 Jun 2019, 10:37

We have just moved within Charlbury and I am trying to establish a garden full of birds again. So far we have mostly the usual suspects - Cole -blue-great tits, robin, goldfinches, black birds, sparrows and dunnocks, woodpeckers,  in the old house, thrushes, starlings, long tail tits, the odd wren. 

What else have people had regularly in their garden? Tips for specific birds they know are found in Charlbury?