Sparrows

Silicone ear plugs FTW 🙂
https://www.boots.com/boots-silicone-ear-plugs-6s-10321253

Haha, me too!

I also have the most virtuoso blackbird belting it out dawn and dusk.

TWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETTTWEETT

Mine are actually in the window casing in the bathroom so not too bad. But for ages i thought I was going bananas. I’d go for a piss, hear the aforementioned tweetings. So I’d open the window and stick my head out and it would immediately go quiet. Took me ages to work out where they were. I was sitting on the throne with the window open and actually saw the adult bird in the mirror flying in and out.

This lot have flown the nest but there will be more.

little argumentative sods

That's what I love about sparrows. Often when there is a huge argument going on in a bush full of sparrows you can't actually see the little ****ers, just hear them. Makes me chuckle 😃

More interesting than the wood pigeons and collared doves that sit on our roof and just coo all bloody day.  Interspersed with the magpies cackling and trying to see off everything that comes anywhere near!

That’s what I love about sparrows. Often when there is a huge argument going on in a bush full of sparrows you can’t actually see the little ****ers, just hear them. Makes me chuckle

The witch hazel tree in our garden was the sparrow hangout when I were young. A favourite memory is one day when the squabbling got too much and 2 of them fell down to the ground to have a proper rolling around scrap. The rest of the bunch immediately flew down to surround them in a circle and the noise level went right up! You could just hear them cheering and shouting "fight fight fight fight" 🙂

I have read that birdsong is getting louder due to high background noise levels

I have read that birdsong is getting louder due to high background noise levels

Or is it the other way around? Makes you think.

The wood pigeons here just 'hoo hoo hooooo' from before the sun comes up until my alarm goes off. That seems to the the trigger for them to bugger off from the gutter outside my bedroom window.

Once it's light then Wednesday mornings also include the gulls fighting over the rubbish that the stupid ****ers on my street keep putting out unsorted, unwashed and on the wrong week.

I YEARN for sparrows 🙂

All I  get is herring gulls.  The chavs of the bird world.  Noisy, discordant and loud with added littering

This clip shows how quickly things can escalate in Sparrow World. They end up apparently forgetting what they were fighting over.

This clip shows how quickly things can escalate in Sparrow World. They end up apparently forgetting what they were fighting over

Like the Starmer thread?

Well if we are comparing bird noises, having two amorous tawny owls sat at each side of your house. All fekking night all you could hear was the owl twit-wooo version of:
'You OK?'
'I am good. You?'
'Sound.'
'How's it going?'
'Ok. And you?'
'Sweet'
'You OK?'
'I am good. You?'
'Sound.'
'How's it going?'
'Ok. And you?'
'Sweet'
'You OK?'
'I am good. You?'
'Sound.'
'How's it going?'
'Ok. And you?'
'Sweet''You OK?'
'I am good. You?'
'Sound.'
'How's it going?'
'Ok. And you?'
'Sweet'
'You OK?'
'I am good. You?'
'Sound.'
'How's it going?'
'Ok. And you?'
'Sweet'
'You OK?'
'I am good. You?'
'Sound.'
'How's it going?'
'Ok. And you?'
'Sweet'
'You OK?'
'I am good. You?'
'Sound.'
'How's it going?'
'Ok. And you?'
'Sweet'
'You OK?'
'I am good. You?'
'Sound.'
'How's it going?'
'Ok. And you?'
'Sweet'
(etc)

😁🦉

Try a freshly fledged rook.

Squark! Squark! SQUARK? SQUARK! SQUARK!!! SQUA..UG ug uggle (as food is shoved in).

At 5am.

I've got sparrows for the first time this year, really happy, they are lovely little guys. Still got all the bloody starlings too mind, if you ever feel down about your sparrows I can recommend having a clan of starlings move in.

We've got a combination of most of the above. ****ing annoying wood pigeons sat on a light on the side of the house 'coooo'ing all day. Jackdaws ca cawing. Although I don't mind these, they're pretty intelligent and they're like the mobsters of the neighborhood "eeeey, I'm walkin here!'. There's a mottled white and black one that I think I could probably feed by hand if I had the patience, they're quite happy close to humans. The starlings are the worst though, loads of young ones at the moment and they even fight about whose turn it is to take a bath in the drinking water we've put out 🤣

Random cockatoo today on nextdoors roof this afternoon. Until the magpies spotted

ta11pau1
Full Member

The starlings are the worst though, loads of young ones at the moment and they even fight about whose turn it is to take a bath in the drinking water we’ve put out 🤣

They're lovely birds when you get a close look, and very clever, and they're great mimics too. But they're also wee shites. Like, I'm used to birds fighting over teh feeders but not to them fighting and then not actually feeding- it's just "oh you want that do you? TOugh luck!"

There's a lot of speciesism going on
on this thread. Starlings have beautiful plumage if seen at the correct angle in sunshine, they also preform spectacular ariel displays. And they have impressive vocal capabilities.

Although I do have a special soft spot for the naughty but salt of the earth, cor-blimey-hows-your-father, chirpy cockney sparrows.

And magpies have great dress sense.

magpies have great dress sense.

..and hate all other birds,will kill/eat the small ones and annoy the big ones.
They are utter (well dressed) bastewards.

I don't think that hate is an emotion which birds generally experience but many birds will of course eat other birds, in the same way that many mammals will eat other mammals.

Although in the case of magpies most of their dinning out involves eating invertebrates and fruit.

Jackdaws here. Sat en mass on the neighbours roof making as much noises as possible. Bastards! I’m sure I’ve seen some of them drinking white lightening. Then there’s the murder of crows in a couple of trees at the end of the road. It’s a good 500 metres away but that doesn’t make any difference.

In contrast the back of our house of an evening is brilliant. Owls in the trees by the allotment and canal and the fat pigeon family waddling around the garden. No idea how long they live for but we’ve had a pair of them bobbing around the garden since we moved in back in 2012. They’re like weebles with wings and make me smile.

I’ve got sparrows for the first time this year, really happy, they are lovely little guys. Still got all the bloody starlings too mind, if you ever feel down about your sparrows I can recommend having a clan of starlings move in.

I only get maybe half a dozen sparrows, sadly, but I estimate about thirty-plus starlings, the majority are this year’s, and the screeching and squealing as they fight and peck at each other is incredible. They have a go at the blackbirds too, little sods. I occasionally get a pair of carrion crows, and a pair of magpies, but they’re not much of a threat to any of the other smaller birds. The adult starlings are stunning in sunlight, but that doesn’t excuse them all needing ASBO’s.
And this time of year, silicon ear defenders are a permanent bedside fixture - I no longer need, or want, a 5am wake-up call!

Bloody thousands of sparrows here, a few blackbirds, but my fave are Gold Finches, so happy with their chirping as they go.

I’ll swap you for the family of magpies nesting/roosting in my neighbours cherry tree. For the last 2 months they cackle from 03:30 to 22:00. I’m tired, so tired. My cats just sit and look at them even when they’re hopping around less than a metre away from them in the garden.

I absolutely love listening to all the birds, I think I have about 5 bird feeders up in the tree now and subscribe and saves set up with Amazon for the 2 different types of seeds and worms to keep them topped up.

We've got a few regulars; the wood pigeons (who are very funny when they chase each other round the garden), robins, sparrows, starlings, blue and great tits, swifts, occasional visits from a couple of goldfinches and my favourite the blackbirds. I could (and pretty much do on home working days) listen to them all day long.

Lately I have become conscious of how much I talk about the birds to my wife and kids so I'm reeling it in a bit before they start to worry about me.

Although in the case of magpies most of their dinning out involves eating invertebrates and fruit.

And roadkill, at least on the rural roads around here.

We have a local Sparrow Hawk that definitely keeps the Sparrows on their toes.

Mainly sparrows and starlings here, who decimate the bird feeders when I fill them. A few tits, an occasional robin, and this morning a rare and brief appearance by a pair of goldfinches.

Pretty sure we have blackbirds nesting in the hedge, see them scavenging the lawns regularly through the day.

Pleased to say fewer magpies this year.

Just a reminder to put water out as well as food, the blackbirds in particular find all that singing thirsty work.

Well if we are comparing bird noises, having two amorous tawny owls sat at each side of your house.

When it rains they quieten down, as it’s too wet to woo.

We have thrushes nesting in our eaves. Have done for many years. There are also magpies hanging around in the tree opposite, waiting for the thrush chicks to fledge. Little gits, and what a racket they make. Very unpleasant sound.

fasthaggis
Full Member

..and hate all other birds,will kill/eat the small ones and annoy the big ones.

Mine aren't, they and the crows are now upstanding citizens with an important part in the feeder food cycle- they knock stuff on the floor for the obese pigeons,blackbirds, and the young starlings, and break up the B&M Bargains fatballs that nobody else wants to eat otherwise. But also they're part of the whole neighbourhood watch scheme, as soon as a crow or magpie is there smaller birds flood in because they know it's safer from cats. I guess it's so food rich round here that there's no point in killing a small bird when you can just eat the feeder stuff? But it's all very animals of farthing wood.

In which case, if I ever forget to refill them it's going to be carnage...

The dB of sparrow chat appears to have gone down a little bit today.  Just a bit.

By some coincidence, tiny sparrows are now flapping about trying to figure out how to use a bird feeder (by use, I mean fling the seed everywhere for the stupido wood pigeons to peck up)

When it rains they quieten down, as it’s too wet to woo.

<Groans>

By some coincidence, tiny sparrows are now flapping about trying to figure out how to use a bird feeder (by use, I mean fling the seed everywhere for the stupido wood pigeons to peck up)

I had to stick a squirrel guard on my seed feeder since the pigeons otherwise kept flying into it in order to knock all the seeds to the floor and then eating them. Still try now its on but less successfully.
This year the Starlings are less numerous. Often got up to about 30-40 of them but seems more like 10-15 this year.
Sparrows have appeared from nowhere again for the breeding season feeding frenzy.
Magpies, jackdaws and crows dont seem to overly bother the smaller birds. If anything they benefit since are less capable of hanging off the feeders so rely on stuff being dropped to them.
The tits and finches seem to vanish mostly this time of year but come back when everything else sods off.
Occasionally get one or two cockatoos and more occasionally a woodpecker.

Sparrowhawk occasionally pays a visit, probably a female since has taken out a couple of pigeons.

We get a combination of most of the above, with (thankfully!) exception of TJs herring gulls.

The jackdaws definitely make the most noise at our feeders in the front garden, so we only top it up in the morning so we don't get 4am lunacy.

Love watching the sparrows work up the courage to get on the feeders when the jackdaws are near.

Didn't like being woken to a load of noise when a magpie had taken a young blackbird. There were about ten adult blackbirds trying to scare the magpie off.

Quote from Family Guy: "Damn nature, you scary!"

We had actual baby robins earlier this year for the first time 😁. Nest was in a jasmine climbing up the garage wall. Adults were not phased by either us sat on the patio or the kitten trying to eat them.

I moved the stack of chairs just in case.

Adults were not phased by either us sat on the patio or the kitten trying to eat them.

I think the 7 cats that various neighbours own are the reason we have not had a single nesting bird in our boxes, shrubs or hedges this year and shrinking numbers in the garden.

We have lost the flock of goldfinches, the long-tailed tits have moved up the road, and I have not seen the goldcrest or wrens for over a year. 🙁

Saw my first Kingfisher last night while walking the dog.

I was more excited than a 54yr old probably should be! 🙂

You could just hear them cheering and shouting “fight fight fight fight”

Most bird-song is either "SEX, GET YOUR SEX HERE, LOVELY SEX" or alternately "COME AND FIGHT ME YOU MISERBALE NO GOOD LOSERS" some even manage both at the same time.

Makes me chuckle every time I read one of those loathsome poems or see a meme about the beauty of bird song when really its all just ****ing and fighting.

Apart from this year.

Is it because it's warmer, earlier this year (especially overnight) so you are leaving windows open? No figures to back it up but, anecdotally, it feels like that to me.

So the magpies have upped their game, this morning I was woken at 05:00 by one tapping on my bedroom window! It was clinging on to the horizontal frame bit that’s in the middle, my window was open so I’m surprised it didn’t come in. ‘Kin things

We’re currently experiencing sparrow overload - plus chaffinches, goldfinches, siskin, linnets, great tit, blue tit, coal tit. Currently going through 2 sacks of seed, half-sack of peanuts and 150 fat balls a month - and only refilling once per day. The hooded crows don’t help because they’ve learnt to shake the feeders and pick up the seed from the floor - but the mouse population has reduced considerably since their arrival.

Have sparrow nests on the roof join with next door on both sides of the house, starlings are nearby as are magpies, jackdaws, crows and rooks plus the swallows that come down from the hills for high level bugs. Also had a pair of blue tits turn up one morning to ravage the heather for nesting material presumably. No gold finches this year.

Thankfully no herring gull nests as apart from the dive bombing the chicks are just bloody annoying with their constant greetin.

Most bird-song is either “SEX, GET YOUR SEX HERE, LOVELY SEX” or alternately “COME AND FIGHT ME YOU MISERBALE NO GOOD LOSERS” some even manage both at the same time.

you forgot.

CAT CAT CAT CAT CAT CAT CAT CAT CAT

Just to update this, it not a nest.

It's one bird.

One jeffin' loud bird.

Strangely there are signs a nest was there this year, but not now.

Just him.

And his favorite spot is on the gutter outside my window.

And he's still there. Even as I type. His whole purpose in life appears to be just to tweet endlessly from the front of my house. In the same spot.

For hours. Every day. From 5am.

lol

i hope he gives you some peace at some point.

Well it hasn't found a mate and it's just there screeching its head off from just after sunrise, every day.

I'm starting to think it's a bit broken in the head.

Anyone with a shotgun licence?

aw bless 😀

The rate that the starlings are consuming the fatballs, (I’ve discovered that they will eat one particular type of Wilco’s own brand, thankfully) has gone up, and they’re emptying the four wire-mesh peanut feeders that I fill with suet pellets in a day, more or less - I fill them all up in the evening, and there’s barely a couple of inches left by lunchtime the next day! I was doing some washing up at around lunchtime, and there was one young starling sat on a branch by a feeder, who’d obviously decided to stake out the all-you-can-eat buffet while the rest had buggered off, and was there stuffing it’s face for well over half an hour, maybe more! And the noise! I reckon there’s around thirty starlings, and none of them are nesting on any of the neighbouring houses.
Im considering setting up a GoFundMe to help pay for the food, it’s costing me a fortune.

The sparrows have bred well this year, lots and lots of fledglings.
Lots and lots of other baby birds too. The feeders are emptying quickly.
I've not seen a baby robin yet :o)