Where have all my birds gone?

[Dan&Nan]

Your group was SO helpful to me a few years ago when my yard was overrun by pine siskins - I’m hoping you can help again.

We had the usual tons of birds & squirrels up until the last week in September. But that week nearly all the birds and squirrels in my yard vanished (finches, wrens, cardinals, doves, woodpeckers, crows, etc. ). I still see a few squirrels in our woods (& we do have MANY nut trees). Also I can still hear some birds in the distance and occasionally see one at the feeders or birdbath. I’m not surprised the blue jays are gone - the ones in my yard always migrate in/out for a few weeks around this time. But other than that I don’t see more than a handful of birds any more. I didn’t even see squirrels at the birdbath.

In late summer I did have a horrible problem with seed falling to the ground growing white mold. I did everything I could to keep that cleaned up (& I kept the feeders & birdbath clean) but the mold on the ground was an unending problem. I put heavy blocks below the feeders to make it easier to clean up the fallen seed but still very few birds. And we MISS them.

-- Now I’m terrified the moldy seed killed them all.
— I also put a tiny solar fountain in our birdbath - could that be scaring them off?

Thoughts?
Thank you,
Nancy Whelton
Sent from my iPad

[John McKitterick]

This is actually a common question. My belief is that at this time of the year, when seed crops are ripe, the weather remains warm, and the young have fledged and are on their own, that there is plenty of food out there away from the feeders. I've noticed this at my feeders, particularly with the bluebirds, who have now congregated in a flock that roams the neighborhood. When the weather turns colder, they return to the feeder where they can get sunflower chips without the effort to hunt down insects.

When the weather gets colder, they should return.

--John McKitterick

Columbia, MD

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[Paul Woodford]

Another possibility is that a hawk has started hanging around your house.

Paul

Ellicott City, MD

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mdbirding/CAJ_cCs1iC7HC%3DYGrUOsYraed%2BCFYfqahHkWO9ZJ%3DoZh4DPp42g%40mail.gmail.com.