Birdwatching webchat with Peter Holden MBE, 28 May 1-2pm

Why do the great tits in the garden build a nest, lay eggs and then abandon it? This has happened for the last two years running.

Can you give me some idea of what will attract robins to nest in the beautiful des res robin nest I have provided for them? It doesn't face the sun through the day, is at a suitable, safe height, isn't accessible by cats, isn't near the feeding station, has some cover from a pear tree and laurel bush, isn't brightly painted. I could go on....

Instead. they prefer to squeeze through the slightly open door of my out house and nest precariously in the well of an unused galvanised bucket! I converted this room to make a potting shed and house my garden hose reel, so can't go in there now until they fledge.

What can I do to attract them to their purpose built nest nest time?

I've lived in this house for 20 years & have never seen this before this year.
Bluetits are queueing up on a buddleia bush outside our living room window to flutter at the glass. I put up a window feeder to try & discourage them as I was worried they may hurt themselves & they now sit in the feeder & tap at the window(& help themselves to the food before they fly off). After a few days they started doing it to my kitchen window & also cloakroom & front door- which are frosted- so doubtful it is because they can see their reflections & think it is a rival bird to be attacked.
We have nest boxes in the garden -although I don't think they are being used this year- but they are nesting in a vent outside the kitchen.
We have no wooden frames so they cannot be after anything living on the windows & it is only the glass they peck at. It cannot be the food as it started before I put the feeder on the window & there are plenty of bird feeders in the back garden anyway.
It started with just one bird but now we have several.
It's amusing the grandchildren & driving the cats potty but I'd love to know what it going on if you have any idea.
Thank you
H

I had a bluetit that played on my car windscreen for a few mornings last year. It would flutter to the top of the windscreen then appear to slide down to the bonnet, then do it all over again for about half an hour. I assumed it was trying to attract its reflection, but not sure now, given what GrandmaH has said.

The tree outside our living room (which is up high above the garage, so when we look out we are level with the top of the tree) is daily full of about half a dozen beautiful goldfinches, presumably all males as they are so colourful. We have lived here 11 years and this is the first year I can remember seeing so many every day. Do they have an predators, as they are so colourful they are not very camouflaged so must be easy to spot ?

I saw some strange behaviour between a collared dove and a wood pigeon. They were sitting side by side on a neighbour's trellis and the dove was cosying up to the pigeon. Suddenly the dove put his wing over the pigeon's back and then tried to mount it. Was this a frustrated collared dove?

Wow; can rember Peter Holden from the young RSPB junior section years ago when my DDs were young!
Is there a specific time related to dawn that the Dawn Chorus to start each day?

We have not lived in this house for long but we have a bird that often sings outside our house at about 3.30 in the morning when it is still dark. It sounds like a blackbird. I have never heard a bird singing this early, before dawn. Is this unusual behaviour?

Last year we changed one of our bird boxes, which has been used by bluetits for several years, to one with a webcam, since then this site has not been used. Are the bluetits camera shy?

I heard a cuckoo yesterday about 6.30 am. I thought it was a pigeon cooing at first, but it definately was cuckooing.

Is there a reducing population of Robins? We used to have two little pet robins that appeared every year round about Christmas- but no more! I know they may have passed on, very sad! but it just makes more conscious I don't see as many.
I live in Northumberland in www.alnmouthvillage.org, and we used to be absolutely surrounded by them in every garden.

I think your robins are living down here Joanall. They're nesting in my outhouse, and their relatives are swanning around in my friend's garden - she had five at once last weekend, dotted around her big garden. We seem to have more wrens this year, which is such a treat - they like to potter around in my strawberry beds and under the rosemary bush.

Do birds have colour preferences for feeders? We had one green feeder and one silver-grey feeder hanging from our bird table. The birds (tits, sparrows, robins, finches) all fed mainly from the silver-grey one. The perches on the two models were different so we assumed that this was the reason for the preference. We bought another feeder (gilt effect) with the same sort of perch as the silver-grey one but they STILL preferred the silver-grey one. We even swapped them over so the new one was where the old one had been hanging and vice versa. However, all varieties of bird seem to make a beeline for the old feeder, generally only going to the new one if all the seed has been exhausted from the old one. Any information on what draws them to one feeder over another and how we can persuade them to use both equally?

why do sea birds call at night? They don't seem to have a dawn chorus!

The other day a house sparrow came and nosey-ed (beaked?) her way around the potted clematis outside our French windows, and then chomped her way through two young clematis leaves. I thought sparrows ate insects and stuff - are they into greens, now, too?

I saw two Red Kites today near Bentley Hants. How far have they now spread in England since their introduction to Stokenchurch?

A really unusual looking bird landed on my BBQ a few days ago, very excited I tried to look for it using the bird identifier tool on the RSPB website, it didn't come up

It was large, maybe slightly smaller than a crow, and had black, brown, white and blue feathers, and a strange face, unlike anything I've ever seen.
That's probably not the best description, I live near Richmond if that helps

Is it becoming normal for Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers to feed on nut feeders in gardens as I have seen it for the first time this year?

we have also set up nesting box with web cam, but the blue tits have shown NO interest.

also why is the Big Bird Watch held at the end of January, we have a dismal number of birds to report yet a week or two later there are loads of them, friends report the same thing.

Is it better for garden birds to find their own food during the summer, and do you have any suggestions for bird-feeding without attracting rats?

My garden has many birds but....wood pigeons...magpies..the larger variety. in an attempt to attract the little ones, put out food, nuts etc. The squirrels eat the food. HOW CAN I DISCOURAGE these creatures and the larger birds from taking over the garden and scaring the little birds away. They're just rats!

Hi,why have blackbirds taken the trouble to build nests in my garden and then left them unused? We get so excited to see them so busy and then suddenly no sign of them,thank you

How do you, as a member of the RSPB, equate the loss of habitat and environments with the apparent need for extra transport links and the increase in employment?

I live in north Kent and have been a member of the RSPB for over 40 years and a member of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust for over 20 years. Although having spent many a happy hour walking, the Hoo Peninsular...this is not a “NIMBY” concern as I am very aware of the need for employment in this area and if I’m being self-centred, it would make my over-seas travel a lot easier. However, I’m also aware of the need to save environments and habitats for the recreational need of the local population, as well as saving the local flora, fauna and migrating birds. Then there is the issue of ‘bird strike’. Could a large sea bird still bring down a modern plane if sucked into one of the engines?

Due to these mixed views I have felt unable to sign the many local petitions to block any of the five possible locations for this new airport. (Personally I’d favour the development of Manston Airport)

I would be very interested in your thoughts about this on-going issue.

nanajan I have a regular Sparrowhawk which swoops in every month or so and takes out a goldfinch. I feed niger seeds to my goldfinches, so I get plenty. I feel very mean that I am laying on a food source for the Sparrowhawk, but they are magnificent creatures too. Would Peter care to say a few words about Sparrowhawks and wild bird populations?

twinsmum100 was it a Jay? I only say that because they are very striking and have some blue in them