London (Inner City) Wildlife

Six-a-bag-of-nuts

cafcfan said:

Six-a-bag-of-nuts said:

killerandflash said:

Six-a-bag-of-nuts said:

SoundAsa£ said:

Athletico Charlton said:

Stig said:

Another tip that's not so obvious: If you already have birds in your garden that are not very common, think very carefully before putting food out. You might be better not doing it or, at least, not doing so regularly. Or, if you have a large garden, being careful to place feeders away from their haunts. Feeding the birds will tend to attract the very common garden species because they are the ones that tend to be more comfortable in human presence. Sometimes these more common birds can scare off the less common ones. It's a bit of a conundrum and you won't know if you've found the right or the wrong answer until you've seen the results. Good luck.

Before we had only collared doves and magpies so it has been great seeing more diversity.  In lockdown we actually had a magpie rip the head from a dove on our lawn and fly off which was somewhat gruesome!

 Very spiteful bastards magpies, which have slowly proliferated enormously over the last 40 years or so.
You would never see one other than in genuine countryside and even then not very often.

Yeh, it's hard to believe now that the Magpie was once thought of as a country bird.
When we moved on to Abbey Wood Estate back in the late 50's, we lived in a 4-storey block of maisonettes facing the Southern Outfall Sewer bank, with abandoned Royal Arsenal land over the other side (which is now part of North Thamesmead housing development).
House Sparrows used to nest in the tops of the Hawthorn trees opposite, as well as in the crook of the drainpipe running down from the rooftop of the block.
Over the sewer bank in the hedgerow running along the Arsenal access road (which became Nathan Way) every spring and summer you would find nests of Blackbird, Song Thrush and Dunnock.
I rarely seem to find nests in semi urban hedgerows these days and I haven't seen a Sparrows nest in over 50 years!
My mother-in-law was thrilled to have Blackbirds nesting in her grapevine a couple of years back.
I told her the nest was so visible they wouldn't stand a chance if the Magpies spotted it.
Sure enough MIL was quite distressed to witness a Magpie plucking out the nestlings one by one.

The bigger birds - woodpigeons, magpies, crows - who seem to thrive alongside man, are surely one of the reasons why so many smaller bird species have declined in numbers?

I believe predation by corvids has been a big factor, alongside habitat loss

Corvids are not the problem. This from the RSPB site.

"To find out why songbirds are in trouble, the RSPB has undertaken intensive research on species such as the skylark and song thrush. To discover whether magpies could be to blame for the decline, the RSPB commissioned the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to analyse its 35 years of bird monitoring records.

The study found that songbird numbers were no different in places where there were many magpies from where there are few. It found no evidence that increased numbers of magpies have caused declines in songbirds and confirms that populations of prey species are not determined by the numbers of their predators. Availability of food and suitable nesting sites are probably the main factors limiting songbird populations."

And then, of course, there is that supreme hunter:  the domestic cat. A study in America found that cats took 79% of birds shortly after they left the nest. Another UK study found that domestic cats were responsible for 30% of sparrow fatalities.

LOL. I should keep up, I am an RSPB member.
Interesting that, but it still surprises me a little and I am having trouble accepting it.

Billy_Mix

Six-a-bag-of-nuts said:

killerandflash said:

Six-a-bag-of-nuts said:

SoundAsa£ said:

Athletico Charlton said:

Stig said:

Another tip that's not so obvious: If you already have birds in your garden that are not very common, think very carefully before putting food out. You might be better not doing it or, at least, not doing so regularly. Or, if you have a large garden, being careful to place feeders away from their haunts. Feeding the birds will tend to attract the very common garden species because they are the ones that tend to be more comfortable in human presence. Sometimes these more common birds can scare off the less common ones. It's a bit of a conundrum and you won't know if you've found the right or the wrong answer until you've seen the results. Good luck.

Before we had only collared doves and magpies so it has been great seeing more diversity.  In lockdown we actually had a magpie rip the head from a dove on our lawn and fly off which was somewhat gruesome!

 Very spiteful bastards magpies, which have slowly proliferated enormously over the last 40 years or so.
You would never see one other than in genuine countryside and even then not very often.

Yeh, it's hard to believe now that the Magpie was once thought of as a country bird.
When we moved on to Abbey Wood Estate back in the late 50's, we lived in a 4-storey block of maisonettes facing the Southern Outfall Sewer bank, with abandoned Royal Arsenal land over the other side (which is now part of North Thamesmead housing development).
House Sparrows used to nest in the tops of the Hawthorn trees opposite, as well as in the crook of the drainpipe running down from the rooftop of the block.
Over the sewer bank in the hedgerow running along the Arsenal access road (which became Nathan Way) every spring and summer you would find nests of Blackbird, Song Thrush and Dunnock.
I rarely seem to find nests in semi urban hedgerows these days and I haven't seen a Sparrows nest in over 50 years!
My mother-in-law was thrilled to have Blackbirds nesting in her grapevine a couple of years back.
I told her the nest was so visible they wouldn't stand a chance if the Magpies spotted it.
Sure enough MIL was quite distressed to witness a Magpie plucking out the nestlings one by one.

The bigger birds - woodpigeons, magpies, crows - who seem to thrive alongside man, are surely one of the reasons why so many smaller bird species have declined in numbers?

I believe predation by corvids has been a big factor, alongside habitat loss

And predation by the introduced pestilent grey squirrel - nest raiding, vermin infested, diseased  opportunist tree rats.  Tasty barbequed with rosemary and served with whole grain mustard as it happens

Raith_C_Chattonell

Bird lovers may enjoy the BBC's recently released series of podcasts 'Flight of the Ospreys'.

It hasn't much to do with the inner city or London as it starts in Loch Garten and ends in Ghana. Going by the dates you need to start at the bottom of the page and work up.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001ddnd#:~:text=Follow Scotland's ospreys on their,from Loch Garten to Ghana.&text=Emily Knight follows Scotland's ospreys,Autumn flight to West Africa.

Stig

Ring Necked Parakeet in Maryon Wilson Park just before the match this afternoon.

I was thinking of going Mudchute at some point to try and see a Monks Parakeet or two. Looking at this article though DEFRA are expecting their plans to wipe them out. Looks like @Swindon_Addick's trip was done at the right time. 

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/ring-necked-parakeets-in-london-and-uk.html

killerandflash

Regent's Park on Tuesday, my first goslings/ducklings of the year

killerandflash

Not London, but here are some Bristol goats. They've been brought in to clear the trees in a section of the Avon gorge.

Arthur_Trudgill

Love biological solutions to environmental problems, but you have to be careful.
This one sounds great!

killerandflash

Arthur_Trudgill said:

Love biological solutions to environmental problems, but you have to be careful.
This one sounds great!

They've only in a securely fenced in area. And it's goat breeds who like eating trees and not grasses and wild flowers, which is what they're trying to promote!

Raith_C_Chattonell

Removed some fluff from the underside rim of a flowerpot yesterday when it suddenly burst into a seething mass of tiny golden spiders.




Google informs me each one will turn into a monster 

Kap10

Raith_C_Chattonell said:

Removed some fluff from the underside rim of a flowerpot yesterday when it suddenly burst into a seething mass of tiny golden spiders.




Google informs me each one will turn into a monster 

Eeeek

Billy_Mix

Raith_C_Chattonell said:

Removed some fluff from the underside rim of a flowerpot yesterday when it suddenly burst into a seething mass of tiny golden spiders.




Google informs me each one will turn into a monster 

meantime they'll provide nutriscious breakfasts for your local blue tits.  They love a beak full of little arachnid. 

jonseventyfive

Bottom picture looks like the mother-in-law.

Big William

Couple of visitors last night

kimbo

Fox chilling on Mycenae Road 

LenGlover

Sunflower hearts attract goldfinches, chaffinches and Great and Blue tits to the garden in my experience.

Elthamaddick

we've got blue tits nesting in the bird box in our garden, can hear the babies from our back door with the mum and dad in and out a hundred times a day

SoundAsa£

killerandflash said:

Not London, but here are some Bristol goats. They've been brought in to clear the trees in a section of the Avon gorge.

Will they get rid of pigeons?

Huskaris

At my local pond, it looks like we now have a very very secretive female mandarin (I think she only comes out as it gets dark, and is probably nesting near by)


Unlike her presumed partner (although there are currently 2 male mandarins on our pond!)



My favourite time of the year, where the chicks come out! 7 Egyptians, and the neighbouring pond managed to get 3 all the way through to a decent size.



And here's a bonus.... Weird. 

Big William

LenGlover said:

Sunflower hearts attract goldfinches, chaffinches and Great and Blue tits to the garden in my experience.

We put some out as a treat for the Goldfinches, they loved them but once the local parakeets discovered them they scoffed the lot and were fighting each other to get at them. Unfortunately the goldfinches didn't get a look-in after that, so it was back to the nijer seed for them.

SoundAsa£

Big William said:

LenGlover said:

Sunflower hearts attract goldfinches, chaffinches and Great and Blue tits to the garden in my experience.

We put some out as a treat for the Goldfinches, they loved them but once the local parakeets discovered them they scoffed the lot and were fighting each other to get at them. Unfortunately the goldfinches didn't get a look-in after that, so it was back to the nijer seed for them.

I’m having the same problem at the moment with a flock of Starlings……f’ing bastards can clean out two quite large bird feeders in less than two hours….nothing else gets so much as a look in.
Recently spent about £20.00 on various bird foods only for these bastards to scoff the lot!

Huskaris

Couldn't believe my luck, in the woods by the Chislehurst war memorial. A female sparrowhawk I believe!



A couple of weeks ago, I saw a bird of prey circling high in the air, and noticed a bird which looked like a crow flying in a strange way quite a bit below, which I assumed was behaviour to try and strafe and get away from the bird. I couldn't believe it when I actually saw this bird was flying towards the predator, and then started attacking it! The predator really didn't like it, and is clearly built for speed and stealth attacks and I watched the bird fly after it (and landing some pretty big attacks on it) for a long long way! It must have been protecting its nest, it was amazing to see, real bravery.

Huskaris

We have the same problem with parakeets, we have 3 feeders out and between peanuts, seed mixes and suet balls they can do the lot. 

I tend to notice that they arrive long after the dawn chorus and go to bed quite a bit before the rest of the birds do! A pair of goldfinches are often at ours first thing in the morning, very cute. 

Raith_C_Chattonell

Huskaris said:

Couldn't believe my luck, in the woods by the Chislehurst war memorial. A female sparrowhawk I believe!



A couple of weeks ago, I saw a bird of prey circling high in the air, and noticed a bird which looked like a crow flying in a strange way quite a bit below, which I assumed was behaviour to try and strafe and get away from the bird. I couldn't believe it when I actually saw this bird was flying towards the predator, and then started attacking it! The predator really didn't like it, and is clearly built for speed and stealth attacks and I watched the bird fly after it (and landing some pretty big attacks on it) for a long long way! It must have been protecting its nest, it was amazing to see, real bravery.

I've seen this behaviour on a number of occasions.  It seems the larger bird simply can't be bothered to react as it takes up too much energy, they simply leave the scene.  Twice I've witnessed large groups of parakeets escort a lone Heron outta town. Reminded me of an RAF flypast with the bomber leading the fighter planes. 

https://centerofthewest.org/2019/01/21/mobbing-what-it-is-why-birds-dont-defend-themselves/

Huskaris

Raith_C_Chattonell said:

Huskaris said:

Couldn't believe my luck, in the woods by the Chislehurst war memorial. A female sparrowhawk I believe!



A couple of weeks ago, I saw a bird of prey circling high in the air, and noticed a bird which looked like a crow flying in a strange way quite a bit below, which I assumed was behaviour to try and strafe and get away from the bird. I couldn't believe it when I actually saw this bird was flying towards the predator, and then started attacking it! The predator really didn't like it, and is clearly built for speed and stealth attacks and I watched the bird fly after it (and landing some pretty big attacks on it) for a long long way! It must have been protecting its nest, it was amazing to see, real bravery.

I've seen this behaviour on a number of occasions.  It seems the larger bird simply can't be bothered to react as it takes up too much energy, they simply leave the scene.  Twice I've witnessed large groups of parakeets escort a lone Heron outta town. Reminded me of an RAF flypast with the bomber leading the fighter planes. 

https://centerofthewest.org/2019/01/21/mobbing-what-it-is-why-birds-dont-defend-themselves/

Fascinating read! Thanks for that! I know that the two things are probably completely unconnected but a day or two later a quite weak crow with a visible mark on its head started using our feeder and gradually recovered over a few days. He/she was smashing a suet ball a day!

I like thinking it was the courageous crow but I doubt it! I definitely saw it making physical contact with the predator, and I think it might have got a bit back. 

Amazing how the predator knows it's just not worth the bother. 

killerandflash

Tube mouse at Kings Cross this evening!

Swindon_Addick

Gosling season here in Swindon. Each year the parents take over the ornamental pond in my local park, because the swans chase them off the main lake.

killerandflash

A swan versus goose fight sounds vicious!

Wilma

You can buy feeders that keep out bigger birds like crows, parakeets etc. Usually a standard type of feeder inside a big metal cage. The holes are small enough for tits to get through but not much bigger, similar to these

https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/bird-feeders-boxes-tables/bird-feeders/feeders-for-small-birds/rspb-suet-feeder-and-guardian.html

My Dad has a lot of crows and rooks where he lives and they break the normal feeders. He has something like the above now and the bigger birds just have to survive off the scraps that fall to the ground. 

Have a look in the bigger garden centres as I'm sure there are plenty of different styles out there. 

paulbaconsarnie

A very thirsty, tame fox cub visited my work earlier this week.

CatfordCat

Two of the three fox cubs in mum-cat's garden this year (a couple of streets back from the south circular), taken from an upstairs window, and they were maybe six feet at most from the house.