In message , J.Poyner
writes
The bumper crop certainly makes them stick around but the reason they come
in the first place is that they are pushed out by shortage of food supplies
or cold weather in their normal range. They just hit lucky if it's a bumper
crop here.

I've noticed a recent increase in birds - some just passing through,
some I presume are garden residents returning from wherever they've been
feeding. We usually put food out all year, but we stopped in August this
year when we went on holiday and haven't started again yet. The berry
crop is very good, and there's a lot of wet rotting wood about with
plenty of insects. Still a lot of insects on the wing as well. We had
quite a few tree creepers in the garden the other day - quite common,
but we don't usually have a group of them. The apples are the best we've
ever had and the windfalls are certainly attracting the thrushes and
blackbirds, also a red squirrel which was a first for us.
I thought I would start putting extra out for them in a few weeks, or
sooner if it turns cold.
--
Anita Evans
North Cumbria
(anita[at]ra.evans.clara.co.uk to reply by e-mail)