General Chat

If you are like me and love wild life go to the following website: w w w(.)rspb(.)org(.)uk/bugcount and you can be sent a splatometer - this you put on your number plate of your car and it registers or you count how many bugs there are on it. The RSPB are doing survey cause if you put this splatometer on your car in London, you would be lucky to find any insect on it!!!!!! but in the country - wellllllll. So have ago cause it means the birds in London don't get many insects!!!! :O((((((( Jude

Jude, did you do the 2004 birdwatch as well? I have done it for the past two years online. At the moment I am writing my level 3 science research project on feeding garden birds for my degree. Viv.

perhaps you two ladies can tell me then ,why i don,t get nearly as many birds in my garden as i used to ,and why there arn,t the species as there used to be either ,as i love all wildlife i find this very worrying ,. p/s we don,t have a cat problem.Denis.

Denis, We have the same problem as you but we do have a large Magpie population. We did notice that one year the Magpies were not so plentiful and the smaller birds did appear. Jacky:-)

that could be a reason Jackie ,we do indeed have a couple in the area ,i wish i could move them on ,i do miss the finches, and dunnocks ,not to mention our thrush that was so tame it would,nt fly off when i wen,t near it [ most other birds run a mile], including the missus, lol.It can,t be lack of bugs as i took the wife to Seahouses yesterday ,and i couldn,t see the road half the time for yellow smears over the windscreen[ugh]Denis

Denis , according to the RSPB the populations of house sparrow,song thrushes, starlings and blackbirds have dropped dramatically in the the past 25 years. Apparently better farming methods, destruction of natural habitat and widespread building construction are to blame with lots of smaller factors being attributed as well. Keep feeding them and providing fresh water and if possible some nest boxes,especially for the poor sparrow. Hope this has helped, Viv.

Dennis, One of the reasons their are fewer birds is the lack of food especially in the breeding season. Many people still put their birdtables away as they begin to sort their gardens out in the Spring. The BTO are asking that if you feed the birds in winter that you continue to do so all year. Water too is vital. Rosemary(Essex)

Oh dear ,and i stop feeding the birds in summer because i thought it would make them lazy in their feeding habits. Never mind ,i still have the nut containers which i will fill up again in the morning [slaps his wrist] ,but i was putting the water out ,honest .I,ll do owt to get them back.Denis.