Today there were no birds !

Some background information. I live in the west coast of Scotland. Im a photographer by profession and a very keen ornithologist who likes to photograph bird life.

I have 5 hangup feeders and a large bird table in my garden and all are used continually by various speices including....sparrows, starlings, blue tits, great tits, chaffinches, bull finches, gold finches, wild pidgeons, jackdaws, 3 magpies, 2 female robins and a tame male robin.

My wife checks the feeders every morning at 6.30, making sure all are filled up. At 7.30 she puts food on the brid table and is met (Since September) by a male robin who is now taking seed from hand. He guards the table against all who try to steal his food.

Today there have been no birds to any of the feeders and all are still full at the time of posting this OP (11.00pm). Usually 90% of all the food in the feeders and table is gone and needs to be replaced the next morning.

Temperatures remain as they have over the cold spell with a night temp of minus 3-8 and a day temp of -3 to +3. Today has been no diffirent.

I have checked for and saw no sign of any hawks or scavengers, nor any sign of any dead birds.

This is where it gets interesting. At 11.00 am My friend and I went walkabout with the cameras at a local beauty spot. The snow on the ground and the sun was shining. The secluded environment ment we were on our own from 11.45 till 1.30. It was a forest area with a frozen river. For the whole time we were out we saw no bird life apart from a group of 7 ducks standing on an ice ledge.

I am concerned and clueless as to why there have been no birds. I dont think it is weather related as if anything the snow has ment that the feeders have been realy busy.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

I enclose a photograph of the tame robin.

Respects





[edit on 10-1-2010 by captiva]

Birds are pretty sensitive to magnetic related energies here on earth, so maybe they lost there way of coordinatioN? I don't know, maybe its nothing to worry about.

Or maybe the magnetic shift is starting slowely :p

reply to post by colloredbrothers


Thanks for the reply although most of the spieces coming to the feeders actually live in the trees, bushes at the bottom of the garden.

To some they will think Im over reacting, but Im not. The silence today has emphasised how absent the birds have been.

Respects

I have noticed this a few times in my life, spending days at a time in the bush. It freaked me out at the time and I still don't know where the birds were when I noticed that there weren't any, but they were always back the next day.

Very surreal walking around the bush with no birds though. And this has happened at all times of the year for me.

Like you, I would love to know the reason though.

reply to post by tribewilder


I agree it is worrying. Hopefully they will be back tomorrow. The walkabout miles away from my garden and no bird life lends more concern.

Respects

Nice picture...

Please keep us updated if this becomes a trend...

Could be a sign that something is amiss with the magnetic fields... Or maybe its just too cold for them.

I had all the normal birds at my feeders today that I usually do. Nothing wrong here.

Birds are probably more sensitive to environmental factors than humans. You have probably ruled out the food as a cause unless you recently started a different batch. You did not mention seeing any predator threats in the area and Robins are usually not that timid anyways.

Do you use a Nelson?

www.nelsonmfg.com...

Something could have got crossed up there, or even a pollutant carried on the wind?

reply to post by Bordon81


Thanks for the reply. I dont use a water heater at all. The water in the bird bath attatched to the table is replaced daily ( As much as 8 times one day...-6).

Do you think it is a water problem? The river we walked to today was completely frozen over.

Respects

I've been seeing the normal amount of birds round here, plenty of starlings, gulls, crows, magpies - all pretty normal - not seen the buzzards in a while but not been looking for them, also I don't remember seeing any robins... I see evidence of prey birds, think we have a kestrel or 2 near by.

I can't put food out for them cos my garden is a hang out for all the local cats... It would be a slaughter!

Nothing out of the norm here tho.

reply to post by captiva

Maybe they are all in Australia...the noise on my back deck is deafening.

But seriously I have posted because I want to follow your story.
I have taken an interest in the disappearing bee populations globally...
...and am interested in seeing where this goes.

I hope they are back tomorrow!

It's cold here on the east coast of the U.S. and I'd have to agree with the OP...havne't seen any birds at the bird feeder whenever I've looked out...lots of squirrels but no black-capped chikadees (sp?); no cardinals; no sparrows; no finches.

Stangely, I was walking the dog the other evening, it was dark outside, and not once but twice there was a mourning dove resting on the sidewalk (once just outside the house and once down the street). Neither the dog or I saw the bird before we almost came upon it - it flew off.

I can't say whether it's the cold or what.

Best of luck to you & your little feathered friends.

For what it's worth, today Venus is in almost precise alignment with the Sun and Earth, and sunspot 1040 has grown to over 4 times as wide as the Earth. Perhaps that could affect animal behavior in some way.

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[edit on 10/1/10 by Evasius]

reply to post by captiva

An aside...
...we have a cuckoo like bird called a Kowl around each year, but not this year.

They migrate down from New Guinea in spiring...
...and one lays an egg in a Mud Larks nest in a neighbours yard each year...
...and the Mud Lark comes into our kitchen and helps itself to the dry dog bics to help feed the huge infant.

Our summer has been no more warm and stormy than other years...
...but certainly better rainful overall than the previous few...
...maybe he will be back next year.

Birds that visit my garden do not always show up either, sometimes it can be weeks before they come back for food or visit the area.
I don't really think there is any cause for concern as they might be travelling or feeding in a different area, nesting somewhere or even hiding, staying away from another preditor type that may have been in the same location.
Give it time, If those birds have been feeding there regulary and know about the food, They will remember and be back again.

Man that's an awesome looking bird!
Birds are so cool. They have legs and feet but not arms or hands - freaks me out a bit. I'd feel trapped if I was a bird, same with being a snake.

Anyhow, I haven't noticed any less birds but yesterday I did notice the only birds I could find where always standing on the highest point - like the point of a roof, or a telegraph pole. Usually I see them on the sides of roofs or on the fences. It was like they were looking out for something.

That's really interesting. I live in Indiana, and I also noticed that I didn't see any birds today. I didn't really give it much thought, though, until I saw your post. I've never heard about magnetic fields influencing birds...it's an interesting theory.

reply to post by Evasius


Maybe this is the cause for some of our earthquake activity and the birds are just in the know about more to come. It has been theorized that sun spot activity can cause areas with high counts of certain minerals to have earthquakes.

so what about this morning?
It is morning in scotland now right?