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Alice
The same happened to us some years ago. We had a feeder on the wall right next to our kitchen window. We thought the weather was so warm that we could stop the feeding of sunflower seeds, and so we did. But.. suddenly we heard tapping on the window. It was angry Bullfinches who flew near the window, and they knocked on the window with their beaks. We was very surprised and ashamed, said we was VERY SORRY, and drove immediately to the store and bought more seeds. Then the Bullfinches calmed down. A week later we tried to stop the feeding again, and now the Bullfinches accepted. It was a very special experience. So every spring I check the food supply for Finches very carefully before I stopp the feeding season, I can not take the risk of being unpoplar..

The birds are still eating from my feeder, because the spring has been very cold this year. ( the exception was the end of March, when we had temperatures over 20 degrees )
Greenfinches (Carduelis chloris), there is a little romance in the air these days

Lussio The greenfinch photos are great.

I especially love the last one -- the two of them look so sweet and adorable.

A big surprise was waiting for us about 70 meters from our doorstep this morning!! I have had a little hope that they would come because the field was sown again this spring, but thought maybe it was too late...
But luckily it was not
The pictures are a little blurry because I was afraid that they would disappear before I got the pictures taken, so I was a bit stressed.
Cranes ( Grus grus ):



- here we got a little too close..

oh Lussi you were so lucky!

I love cranes

I just now managed to get caught up on all the postings here. Alice, you were right, at least here in the central USA we do still call kestrels "sparrow hawks." I think that is because they are so small compared to the other hawks & falcons, not because they hunt sparrows! I think they mostly eat mice & insects. I like to see them hovering above the side of the road when I am driving in the country. I always wonder what they are hunting when they do that. And they are strikingly beautiful, too, a flash of reddish-brown & bluish-grey as you drive by.

The photos of ducks on tour was cute! And Lussi, you got lucky with the photos of cranes!

Yesterday, I was allowed to attend to a special event. The 8 hatched barn owls (Schleiereulen) have been ringed by the local nature conservation Association (Naturschutzverein) . It was a special experience for me, since it was the first time ever, to see these fascinating animals so close. Therefore I would like to show you a small selection of images:

WOW!!! Manu, an amazing experience, you are so lucky
GREAT pictures, thank you for showing us

Thank you, Manu! Those are wonderful pictures of wonderful young barn owls. You must have had a good time.

What amazing and wonderful pictures all of you have posted!
I cam across a wood pigeon and a jackdaw on my walk last Saturday morning in Richmond

The other day I witnessed a fight between pigeons and remembering how they fought at the feeding place in winter ...

They have become a menace over the last weeks here in my area! I don't know how often I do chase them off my balcony when I am at home, and I am still having the net (which we had because of the cat, but the net is old and actually needs replacement)

Sparrows are nesting at our "sleeping-room" window. Now they are feeding the chicks.

Today a great tit was in my garden.

You have got some special lodgers for a while Manu, and the bird parents have busy times of raising their young.
Two very nice videos, thank you Manu

But here are really great photographs, real photos! Thank you, Lussi, Felis Silvestris and Manu. The Barn owls.. goodness, what beautiful they are

When my father was still alive and in his house, he had one wall of his house covered with a creeper (we called it "wild wine", I'm not sure what it was actually) and during summer sparrows used to live inside. They stayed until the leaves fell, sometimes with the birds still sitting on them It was loud, they made a lot of noise, I used to call it the youth hostel, because a lot of young birds were there.

When I saw all the pictures of the tits, I remembered that in spring I also tried to catch some of them in the tree next to the house (I don't have a kitchen window with a tree close to it)

I have zoomed and cut the photos:

Today I had a day off (actually the car had to go for the technical inspection) and I took the chance and nice weather to make a short outing to the zoo.

I think, he (?) tried to impress a bit



And I make it a point to visit them (there are two, this is one of them) and I am always amazed how "petite" they are!







And this little guy was not shy at all

Nice pictures Felis!

This year I have a new guest in one of my nesting boxes:
Eurasian Wryneck ( Jynx torquilla)





- Raven in the sky ( Corvus corax)

- Buzzard ( Buteo buteo), too far away, but I show it anyway:

@Felis: Nice pictures from the zoo and this cute little sparrow.
@Lussi05: Ohh, you have a very special guest in your nesting box. Very nice...