I have been quite concerned this spring with bird activity in the park - last spring we had 3 pairs of breeding Nuthatches but I only managed to see one juvenile and I remember thinking last spring in general that species across the board semed very low on juveniles( see post June 09). Today happily I have managed to find one pair of Nuthatch which I assume will breed and also just one pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers - it seems we have lost our Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. Other than 3 singing Blackcaps and 2 Chiffchaffs there was very little else in the way of bird song but at the bird feeding station which had been freshly supplied with seed there were 20 Grey Squirrels and not one bird in sight. I have no proof but a gut reaction tells me that perhaps last springs breeding was possibly decimated by the squirrels hence the lack of bird song this spring - however it is still early and still cold. I have thought about our very cold winter and its affect on our small birds but I did have some singing Wrens this morning and against everything I have just said our Treecreepers seem in a healthy state with at least 3 pairs seen - I shall continue to monitor!
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