Friday 18 September 2015

Wild Birds Visiting Our Garden



Bird Boxes In Garden

Birds Visiting Our Garden

I Love birds, feeding them, watching them and we have quite a few regulars to our garden. Our garden birds helped me so much when I had severe back and sciatic pain. When I could do nothing else and barely move out of my home, I could watch them out of the window and laugh at their antics and marvel at their beauty.

Here are some of our bird visitors. Please note that my priority is always not to disturb the birds so for this I do sometimes sacrifice photo quality. Please do not copy the photos without my permission. 

I have included some videos here not taken by us but which are very lovely too, I hope you like them.

Bird on fence

Our Garden And Our Birds

When we first moved into our home, the garden was not much to speak of. It was of moderate size and just grass. It did have a mixed hedge at the bottom of the garden.

The previous owners had used pesticides and slug pellets etc to keep insects and pests away from their flowers in pots.

The garden seemed a bit too quiet for our liking so the first thing we did was to plant some nature-friendly shrubs and get rid of any trace of pellets etc. We have never used pesticides but were aware that it could take years for a garden to recover from that usage.

We planted shrubs and flowers that would attract insects, butterflies, etc and also piled up some logs to rot away so a good home for many bugs.

We planted dense growing shrubs that would eventually, be great nesting places and shelter from cold winds and snow for the birds.

We started feeding the birds every Autumn and Winter and provided a birdbath for their use.

Eventually, we were rewarded with more wildlife coming into our garden. That was a wonderful thing to have to happen.


Beautiful Blackbird In The Garden


Blackbird

Source: Authors own

Bird Feeder-For Birds Only!

It is lovely to feed the birds,. However, you may also unintentionally be feeding other wildlife as well! 

One of the animals who like to visit bird feeders are squirrels. While it is magic to watch their antics you may find the food disappears very fast. So you might for at least some of your bird feeders get one that is as squirrel proof as possible.

I would personally be surprised if any bird feeder deters squirrels completely but this one does a good job.


 Feeding Birds On The Ground


Some birds like Woodpigeons will find it difficult or impossible to feed out of feeders so I always put some seed on the ground they can take advantage of. 

We have two pairs of woodpigeons who visit our garden regularly now.


A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song."
Chinese Proverb


Bird Tracks

Loved finding these bird tracks one very cold snowy morning!I thought this was an amazing sight to greet me one frosty morning.

 I had no idea that the birds came so close to our house or that there were so very many tracks all over our garden.

Source: Authors own


Spring would not be spring without bird songs."Francis M. Chapman

Greenfinch Calling In The Spring

 

Poor indeed is the garden in which birds find no homes."Abram L. Urban

Bird Nest Boxes.

If you love birds in your garden it is a good idea to put up a few nest boxes for them. You can buy many different types for different species of birds from the very tiny right up to Owls.

Here is a fairly standard nest box easy to site in any garden.
When siting a nest box do make sure that it is not sitting in the full sun all day as this could kill baby birds as they will overheat.

It should be best positioned in at least partial shade with some natural covering and away from easy access of cats.

Wooden Bluebird House

 

 

Bird In The Bath.

I love this photo greeting card of a bird having a really good time in our birdbath. 

You can customise this card for a loved one with your own special message. 



 I do think having a birdbath in every garden is just as, if not more than important than feeding the birds. 

Our birdbath is used every day by a wide range of birds from sparrows to blackbirds to wood pigeons. 

It is vital to keep it clean and well filled up as once the birds get used to it they will come often to drink and bathe.

When the snow is deep there is no way the birds can make use of the birdbath. So every day in the freezing weather my Husband or I would go out clear it and put in fresh water.


It was quite a task as it was snowing heavily and freezing deeply but at least we knew for a while the birds could get fresh water and do a little bathing - if they wanted to!

Song Thrush and Blackbird

 



“In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence"Robert Lynd

Whitehall Products Oak Leaf Suet Feeder, Oil Rub Bronze.

Here is a very nice looking bird feeder in bronze. It will look lovely in any garden and help to keep the birds well fed. 





It is good to have a variety of bird feeders. Mine vary from very standard ones to ones that are more beautiful to look at.

The birds really do not care! However, it all depends on how you wish your garden to look.

For me, the bird feeders form part of the look of the garden as well as being useful. So I put the more nice-looking ones where they will be on show more.

Our Wood Pigeons.

We have regular wood pigeons. These wood pigeons are very bold and look me right in the eye when I look at them. 

I guess they know by now that I will not hurt them in any way. They are regular visitors to the birdbath and then spend ages walking around the garden.

Bird Feeders To Buy - Enjoy watching the birds as they feed

Lovely bird feeder you can fix to your window.

These types of feeders are great to keep the birds well fed and healthier and also give you the opportunity to watch them at your leisure.

Over time if you are patient and quiet you may be able to get quite close to the window to observe them feeding. Often nice for children to watch birds via one of these feeders.

Dine Around Window Bird Feeder

  


You May Be Interested in this page about Our Nesting Blackbirds


Visit my Zazzle Store for many Bird Gifts and craft items. Here are some bird stickers. 
 If you like this post please share and do consider joining us on Diary Of A Wild Country Garden Community Facebook Page




Thank you for stopping by my page about the birds in our garden. I appreciate you taking the time. I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our garden birdlife. Love to hear from you :)

Do You Love Birds? Tweet To Me!

Here are some comments from when this page was published on a different platform. We would love to hear from you 


jmsp206  Melbourne, Australia
What lovely birds you have in your garden. Birds brighten the day.

smine27  Tokyo, Japan
What a beautiful hub. Enjoyed this very much.

Paula Atwell  Cleveland, OH
We put up a bird feeder for the first time this summer. I really had fun watching the birds.

ecogranny San Francisco
Lovely! I look forward to seeing more of the birds as you add them throughout the year. I especially appreciate your Chinese Proverb about the reason the bird sings. A good reminder for us all!

billybuc Olympia, WA 
I love the spirit of this article. We have a bird garden, and bird sanctuary, and we have an aviary with twenty quail....yes, we love birds. :) Nice to meet you. Looking forward to more from you. Have a great weekend.


RaintreeAnnie  
@Craftymarie: Thank you so much for your lovely comment and blessing:)

RaintreeAnnie
@PNWtravels: Thank you Vicki, I appreciate that :) I will have more beautiful bird photos to add as I take photos through the year!

PNWtravels  Wandering the Pacific Northwest USA
I enjoyed seeing so many beautiful birds that visit your garden!

Craftymarie 
I love your nature pages - just filled with wonderful photos which you have taken and your personal thoughts. Highly recommended - I'm awarding this one a blessing today.

annieangel1 England
nicely done



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