blackbird gone

[gazza]

I had a pair of blackbirds nesting in my conifer and i haveint seen them for about a week the conifer that they where nesting in is next to my path that u have to walk down to get out of the garden so u walk straight past the conifer as well so do u thing they have just been frightend away and gone to nest some where else:(

[Shamal]

They may have been raided by a Magpie and decided to find another location. I don't think you would've have scared them off, they are surprisingly tolerant birds in that regard.

[oasisjack]

They say that 90% of blackbird nests fail to fledge any young so chances are the nest was raided by a predetor.
We had blackbirds nesting in our ivy. Then day by day all 5 nestlings were caught by our neighbours cat. Sad thing is theres not much we can do about it. A bell on a collar doesn't really work when the birds cant even fly off when they here it.
Any ideas?

[NotQuiteBlackCoot]

That is a shame about your neighbours cat. Is a cat guard alarm out of the question?
Our 3 cats don't seem to bother with birds, especially the 2 older ones, about 10 years olds, they prefer to sun themselves or sleep indoors if it's not sunny. The youngster would like the birds to play chase with him but fortunately he's a rubbish climber. If he decides to sit outside and wait for them he hasn't worked out you need to hide, so the birds just laugh at him from inaccessible vantage points. Then we squirt him with a water pistol so he goes indoors and the birds can eat in safety. Actually we don't need to squirt him now, he runs before we even pull the trigger. But if any of the cats look like becoming a serious threat to our birds I'll look into a cat guard. Maybe you can alter the range like you can with security lights so the cats can at least go where birds aren't so at risk. It would be harsh to totally deny them any chance to go outside at all, and in reality impossible to keep them in as cats are the best escapeologists around.