Goldfinches are back at the feeder
The first bright males showed up this week. A nyjer feeder kept clean seems to be all it takes to keep a small flock coming back each morning.
Field notes from the backyard
A quiet corner for people who like watching birds. We jot down what visits the feeder, when the migrants pass through, and what to plant to bring more of them around.
Read the seasonal guideRecent field notes
A quiet trick for shy thrushes
Leaving a patch of leaf litter under the hedge brings ground-feeders in close. Give it a few weeks and the robins and thrushes treat it like a buffet.
Counting the morning chorus
We tried a five-minute count from the back step every day for a month. Simple, calming, and a nice way to notice which songs arrive and fade with the season.
Seasonal guide
Spring
Clean feeders, top up water, and watch for returning migrants. A little mess in the garden goes a long way for nesting material.
Summer
Keep baths topped up in the heat. Let part of the lawn grow long — the insects it brings feed hungry fledglings.
Autumn
Leave seed heads standing and rake less. Fallen leaves shelter the insects that ground-feeders rely on through the cold.
Winter
High-energy food matters most now. Unfrozen water is often harder to find than food, so a shallow dish you refresh daily helps.
About
The Birding Home is a small hobby project — just a shared notebook for the birds that pass through ordinary gardens. No experts, no gear reviews, only notes we found worth keeping. If a page here helped you notice one more bird, that is the whole point.