When the birds come calling


THIS IS a fantastic time of year to see all the different types of birds that visit your garden.

There is the robin, the dunnock, the wren, the blackbird, the song thrush, the chaffinch, the greenfinch, the goldfinch and the bullfinch; the pied wagtail and the house sparrow.

The blue tits are very busy bringing nesting materials to their nest boxes.

The great tit can be heard making his ‘teacher teacher’ sound. Part of his call though is also like somebody pumping the wheel of a bicycle.

The coal tit sounds almost the same but with a higher pitched tone and he seems to be pumping

The bicycle wheel faster!

The chiffchaffs have now arrived from Africa and the sound is as the name suggests.

Soon to arrive will be the house martins, the sand martins and the swallows.

Later, we will have the high- pitched screeching of the swifts, usually in the early morning or late evening.

Bumble bees can be heard humming going from blossom to blossom.

If you are planting flowers, make sure that they are pollenating flowers suitable for bees, butterflies and other insects.

For information on identifying garden birds, click on to birdwatchireland.ie

On this website, you will find all kinds of articles on birdwatching suitable for adults and children.

Click on the Special ‘FUN AND LEARNING’ section of our website which is packed with activities that you can do from the comfort of your home or garden.

Parents will find the ‘FOR TEACHERS’ section particularly helpful as it contains lots of downloadable

activity sheets and fun projects they can do with their children.

Children themselves will find plenty to amuse and stimulate them in our ‘’FOR KIDS’’ section as well as the back issues of our ‘’Bird Detectives’’ children’s magazine.

See also our ‘Garden Birds’ section for bird identification and click on to our Facebook and Twitter pages where we are doing a competition every day in our ‘’whoami’’ mystery bird quiz.

Finally, we would ask everyone to please heed the Irish Governments regulations to stay indoors or in your garden.

Leaving your home for the purpose of Birdwatching is not permitted under the current Covid-19 regulations.

Birdwatch look forward to continuing outings and activities when it is safe to do so.

Meanwhile, stay safe and keep others safe.

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