Topic: Where have all the sparrows gone?

[tricia]

They have been diminishing in numbers in my garden over the past couple of years, but this year I feel lucky if I see any at all!

By far the most numerous of the birds which eat me out of house and home on the feeders are the goldfinches. There are so many it is difficult to count them, but often there are upwards of forty -  feeding on the feeders, underneath on the ground, on the bird bath or waiting their turn on the crossbars of the feeding stations. Still see lots of blue tits, great tits and coal tits. The robin also makes an appearance several times a day, but I haven't seen any blackbirds for weeks.

I do miss the sparrows though.

Tricia

[Unwashed]

Do you mean chaffinches?  I see goldfinches in gardens at times, but it's the chaffinches that I'd have thought were far and away more numerous.  Back in Essex in the 70's and 80's we had sparrows in the garden (tree sparrows I'd guess, but I couldn't say for sure) and a chaffinch was unusual, but even then chaffinches were more common on the west of the country so there's is a regional variation.

[Digeroo]

Sparrows moved out of here years ago.  Starlings went as well, though they are putting in an appearance again.  Blackbirds seem to turn up as soon as there are red currants and cherries on offer.  ::)   I used to have a chaffinch which fell in love with itself in the car wing mirror but have not seen the mess on the mirror recently.

[goodlife]

Looks like all the sparrows are over here.. ::) Numbers are growing year by year..and so does the amount of food we need to provide..all year around.. ::)
In summer one cannot hear oneself thinking with 'rattle' they give from the hedgerows.. ;D ;D
But we have lack of finches..plenty of black birds..some tits..owls...starlings come and go depending what's on offer.

[Digeroo]

I blame freezers myself.  We used to throw out the ends of the loafs but now we have very little waste.

[grannyjanny]

Plenty in our garden too. We use the no grow mix & OH sprinkles it all over the garden & they love it.

[gazza1960]

who said weve gone missing  !!!!!!!!!!!!



yawnnnnnnnnnnnnn    ,were all kipping in the bushs down here in Devon.



yer and me.



and us



and me..........



Ill hide a bit..is that better.

[pumkinlover]

Cracking photos'  Gazza- and not a dinner plate in sight ;D ;D

[tricia]

Unwashed - I do mean goldfinches - although there are often a couple of shy chaffinches on the ground too.


Anja - I wonder if the sparrows and goldfinches decided to swap locations? ;D

Gazza - where are you? Your profile says you are in Middlesex but the photos (lovely btw) were taken in Devon - where I live!

Tricia

[Aden Roller]

Upvc soffits don't help the poor old house sparrow - locked out they are in many areas - homeless.  :(

[manicscousers]

Lots here, can't hear myself think sometimes, for the racket. They love next door's leylandii  ;D

[Obelixx]

Loads here.  I feed them all year round and we now have a colony nesting under the front eaves and another nesting behind the guttering at the back where there are no eaves.  I've had to block off the corners of the attic to stop them fledging in teh wrong direction.   I feed them all year and they have tribal conferences in the two main hedges or the twisted hazel which is near the main feeders and gives them safety form the occasional sparrowhawk and kestrel.   Others roost in the barn.   Very noisy.

We have several varieties of tit too, occasional chaffinches and dunnocks plus wrens, robins, blackbirds, warblers and so on.  No goldfinches round here and no songthrushes but we do get fieldfares.

[small]

They are all here, despite the UPVC soffits, we plugged the hole with stiff foam and they worked and worked till it was all picked out and scattered - then there are the bunch nesting in the leylandii - I love them despite the noise. We have all sorts of tits and finches as well, and this year the flocks of starlings have returned, and as for blackbirds and thrushes, can't move for them, just looking forward to the fieldfares and redwings to eat up the windfalls...

[gazza1960]

Yes,we live in Middlesex Tricia,but we were holidaying in Tor Cross, Slapton sands south Devon and decided on a trip across to Bigbury Bay ...but after buying a £3.99 kite me and jude were like a couple of kids flying it over the sandy beaches and after tiring ourselves out we sat at a small food stall and the "Sprogs" were hiding enmasse in the bushes and kept flying in for our freebies.


Windswept day out with Burgh Island in the background

Gazza

[Aden Roller]

Yes,we live in Middlesex Tricia,but we were holidaying in Tor Cross, Slapton sands south Devon and decided on a trip across to Bigbury Bay ...but after buying a £3.99 kite me and jude were like a couple of kids flying it over the sandy beaches and after tiring ourselves out we sat at a small food stall and the "Sprogs" were hiding enmasse in the bushes and kept flying in for our freebies.


Windswept day out with Burgh Island in the background

Gazza

Nice photo - the holiday looks good  ;)

[tricia]

Ah - thanks for the explanation gazza. The Middlesex bit caught my eye as I was brought up in Harefield during the war. I came to rest here in Devon 12 years ago - after many years of living abroad.

I think one of the answers to my lack of sparrows is probably as another poster suggested - new soffitts were installed a couple of years ago to keep the feral pigeons out. Ah well! can't have everything and the pigeons were a real pest and needed to be dealt with.

Tricia

[Aden Roller]

I saw a sparrow nest box for sale the other day. It was an elongated box with several nesting spaces all joined together to make the little chirpers feel at home and right neighbourly.  ;)

[Robert_Brenchley]

When I was a kid there were sparrows everywhere, and they nested in some old 19th Century warehouses up the road. Now the area's been redeveloped, and of course they can't get in under modern roofs. I think that has to be a large part of the problem.

[Fuchsias]

I think most of the population are in my garden, eating me out of house and home.  We have barely had any the last 5 years or so but have arrived en mass this year, feeding all summer with the exception of august and september.  We have regular robins and blackbirds and tits.

No finches though  -  you lucky people