Bird feeder/tables

[Missredhead]

;D fussy beggars aren't they

[Chuckles]

I've started to up the amount of seed I'm putting out as the nights are getting colder. Have 2 seed feeders on the go and I'm filling them up about 6pm just before dusk so they have a feed before roosting. They are getting half emptied so they then have the rest for breakfast, spoilt birds in my garden ;D

[Ladygardener]

I'm really missing the birds in my garden but I did see a Chaffinch the other day.

[Chuckles]

I'm not seeing much of a variety really LG, just my usual flock of upto about 25 sparrows, a couple of hedge sparrows who come early doors and late evening to pick about on the path and a robin that seems to be following me whenever I'm in the garden ;D Oh and the resident pair of doves.

[Missredhead]

I have seen a few blue tits so I am going to start putting food out again....

[Jilly]

I'm still seeing my Sparrow flock too, it started with about half a dozen in the Spring, then they've all been breeding all Summer & there must be about 20 or 30 now of various sizes i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/smiley.gif

Loads of starlings & the occasional Blue & Great Tit.

The house next door has been empty all summer & the garden has gone even wilder, I spotted a flock of about a dozen Long Tailed Tits in the next door tree yesterday, but they didn't call in for a snack i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/sad.gif

I did put this on the Confessions thread but I've just found that my chicken keeping friend can get hold of dried meal worms from a feed merchant for about 1/4 of the price of the ones you get in the GC.


Jillyx

[Chuckles]

As we are dipping into the colder weather now I've put another feeder out, got 3 on the go now. I have noticed the birds haven't needed so much seed etc particularly while we've been having this milder spell, anyone else noticed.

[Ladygardener]

My lot are fussy anyhow Chuckles. I only ever get a few at a time. I have however put out an extra feeder with fat balls in it, so far it's not been touched. I have everything in different parts of the garden.

[Jasmine]

Jan 13, 2012 9:56:04 GMT Chuckles said:

As we are dipping into the colder weather now I've put another feeder out, got 3 on the go now. I have noticed the birds haven't needed so much seed etc particularly while we've been having this milder spell, anyone else noticed.

I didn't notice any restraint amongst the feeding frenzy in the apple tree while the temps were higher i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/cheesy.gif I think it's easy food and they tell their bird friends about it!
I worry that I don't top up on my long days at work and then there's only a few feeders with food in and some are empty i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/undecided.gif

[carolann]

I have almost run out of fat balls so a trip to Poundland extra is called for.

[Missredhead]

I had to break the ice twice on the water bowls today and my fat balls are frozen solid..I did change them and brought the old ones in to defrost..will put them out when the others have been eaten or frozen

[Ladygardener]

I bought another suet and insect block and hung it up on the middle oblisk this afternoon. Hopefully that'll encourage a few birds into the garden.

[Jilly]

Had to laugh yesterday, this pic, which looks a bit like a scene from The Birds is what happens when the starling babies discover that I've put out an extra serving of meal worms i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/grin.gif



But the funniest thing was a few hours later, when all the food was finished, it was pouring hard, & everyone was using the birdtable as a makeshift shelter, a bit like a queue of people at a wet bus stop i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/grin.gif


Jillyx

[Ladygardener]

Well taken Jilly, my starlings have left me for the summer. I do have some lovely Chaffinch and Blue Tits and of course the friendly Blackbird. Unfortunately I have Pigeons too although I've stopped leaving seeds and food on the ground.

[Barbara]

Good pics Jilly, hubby said this morning when he was leaving for work there was a red bird on the washing line pecking at the fat ball, I wonder if it's an escapee from someone.

[Ladygardener]

I've noticed that the little family of blue tits has returned to the feeders and table in my garden this week. i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/smiley.gif No sign of the blackbirds 'tho, hopefully the 2 of them will come back as well.

[Ladygardener]

I have lots of birds coming into the garden these past couple of months. It's hard to believe Starlings are on the amber or red list as they come here like in your place Jilly. I had a long tailed Tig in the garden the other day and I've noticed that the little blue tits are searching around the garden now too and not staying at the feeders.
Don't forget that next weekend is the RSPB Birdwatch weekend. What does anyone bet that none of them will come in the hour I'm watching.

[Jilly]

Jan 20, 2013 12:01:08 GMT Ladygardener said:

 I had a long tailed Tig in the garden the other day

Sorry Ladygardener   I can hardly type for laughing atm.

I was only thinking this morning that it's a pity the birdwatch weekend isn't this weekend, I might have an entry worth sending in if it was today. The starlings are being a bit cheeky though. I made a point of filling the bird table just before it got dark last night, so they had something to eat first think this morning. When I looked out about 11am the starlings were all sitting around in the trees looking hungry. But when I went to check there was plenty of food still there, they'd just run out of mealworms.

[Ladygardener]

What am I like.
I do that with the bird table and under the bench Jilly, put out food the evening before. The Robin comes really early in the morning for mealworms and you are right, the Starlings love them and in my garden, the suet pellets. They leave the bird seeds alone most of the time, they are fussy but at least now with the weather being colder, they are eating from the fat ball feeders.

[carolann]

I have this great big bully of a blackbird who is hogging the coconut I made up the other day he wont let anyone near it and he perches with his wings out trying to reach the goodies inside and he is doing a good job I must go and look for the rest of the shell to fill up so the other birds can have a feast.

[Ladygardener]

They do become very territorial don't they carolann. I even have cheeky Magpie popping in for a quick visit and to steal the smaller bits of fat balls I put on the bird table and ground.

[Jilly]

I was looking out of the window yesterday & saw a little brown bird that I assumed was a Sparrow, but when I looked closer it wasn't flying of behaving like a sparrow, more like a Tit & it had a sort of yellowish tint to it.

I kept an eye on it & OH went on google to look it up, it was a Willow Warbler (or possible a ChiffChaff) certainly not had one of those in the garden before, apparently they're Summer migrants and had probably just arrived from the Sahara, must be a bit of a shock for it, poor little soul.

[Ladygardener]

Oh my word Jilly the poor little bird. I hope it survives. He may become a regular visitor to your garden, would'nt that be lovely. I have a solitary little brown bird coming every day now but I think mine is a sparrow.
I can hardly believe the amount of food the birds are eating at the moment. The cold weather can't be helping them build their nests as well as everything else.

[Chuckles]

I replaced some of my feeders earlier this year, I had plastic ones previously and whilst they are reasonably cheap they had become brittle and broken over time.

I bought a couple of aluminium ones made by Gardman and I bought a screw in tray for the base of one of them and its great, not so much seed on the floor below

[Ladygardener]

Great idea Chuckles I've got a metal one similar to that and I just use it for black sunflower seeds as they're a bit bigger and don't spill so much. A tray underneath is something I've thought of making in some fashion or other but could'nt think how. I might invest in a proper one now I've seen yours. The only thing is that if I put seeds like that out the pigeons would eat them all and there would be none for anyone else. At the moment only the blue tits and great tits can get the black sunflowers.

[Chuckles]

Thats a good idea Ladygardener, how about a small plastic plate glued on with some really good heavy duty glue. The trays for the Gardman feeders screw in the bottom, if I recall the tray is £4.99. Worth mentioning they also have a few holes in them so as rain doesn't collect in the tray.

As well as less seed on the floor I've noticed more birds are able to feed as they tend to sit on the tray.

[Ladygardener]

I think I'll just buy one next time I'm at Pets at Home Chuckles . Now that I know they're worthwhile.

[Jilly]

The little Willow warbler was back last evening & he's got a friend  . I've read that they don't often use bird tables, but they were on the patio pots giving them a thorough going over for insects (which I thought was quite decent of them, they can stay  )

[Ladygardener]

Happy days Jilly they obviously like your garden. I have noticed some greenfly on the darker coloured tulips in my garden and a few on the roses as well.

[Ladygardener]

I bought a nice Guardman bird feeder this morning from Pets at Home. It has a dome thingy that can be elevated or dropped so that the seeds stay dry and it limits the size of birds who can feed from it. At the moment I've put it by the sunflower heart seeds and filled it with a new feed I also bought today called Raveshing Robin from the premium bird seed range to put in it. I got some suet balls and a block for the other feeders, that should keep everyone happy for a while.