Birds, or rather lack of.......

[Dave7]

I have a feeder with seed, peanuts and fat blocks.
We use to get so many birds that we no longer see eg Siskins, Green finches etc.
About a mile away "they" have torn down the woods to build 1250 houses on what was green belt land.
I guess that plus bird flu have done the damage.
We still get blue tits, great tits. We have a Wren that visits plus a resident Robin.
And just 20 minutes ago a small flock of L T Tits.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I'm off soon to the cemetery where I'll put more seed down, hopefully in the right place this time!!

 

[Gillstay]

If you have a shed or garage that you can leave open its a good thing to do so so in this cold snowy weather so the Wrens can go in and eat the spiders etc. My one has the routine now to such an extent that it complains when i go in and even bumped into me one day. Fantastic.

 

[lazybloke]

Actually, that applies to other wildlife too...

I suffered a very traumatic wasp attack*** when I was a small child which left me terrified of the yellow and black beasties <snip>
*** Any children reading this - don't make the mistake that I made... Yes, I know it looks like the wasp nest is broken because there is a big hole in it, but honestly, the wasps do NOT want your help to block that hole with sticks!!!

Hope this doesn't reignite your phobia, this nest was about 15 inches long, hanging in a tree at Wisley last October

 

[Gillstay]

Sorry but that's a shrub. I know I should just let it go, but....

 

[Accy cyclist]

I put some seed on Bird Lady's grave this afternoon.

Not too much though as someone else had put lots of seed next to her grave. As I drove to the 'feeding station' I didn't see any birds around the place, suggesting they were either full or they're not too keen on certain types of bird seed. I wonder where those greedy Wood-pigeons are these days as they'll eat anything offered to them! 🤔

 

[lazybloke]

Sorry but that's a shrub. I know I should just let it go, but....

I'll correct you in a few years

 

[Accy cyclist]

This is what you need, according to an article I read last night about small birds losing 10 percent of their body weight on a very cold day if there's no food available.

It said to buy lard or suet pastry, soften it by hand or in your microwave, oven etc, add crumbs of oatmeal bread, and or porridge oats, and or crushed unsalted peanuts, and or bird seed. No salt if possible, but it didn't mention sugar.🤔 I'm going to slightly soften it in a bowl in my air fryer, then add wholemeal bread crumbs, porridge oats and bird seed. Then I'll put it on my bathroom outside window bottom (I live in a top floor flat, so high up windows means no easy access to the fat etc for cats or rats and obviously none for dogs) for the small birds to eat. 😉

 

[Dogtrousers]

There was a bloke in the radio this week warning that feeders can spread bird diseases. So I gave my main feeder a quick clean before filling it today. Just squirted it with a hose to get most stuff off then poured boiling water over it and let it dry. Don't know if that was sufficient, or even necessary

 

[Gillstay]

There was a bloke in the radio this week warning that feeders can spread bird diseases. So I gave my main feeder a quick clean before filling it today. Just squirted it with a hose to get most stuff off then poured boiling water over it and let it dry. Don't know if that was sufficient, or even necessary

Yes it is needed. I tend to disinfect mine but we are very busy with birds.

 

[Accy cyclist]

This is what you need, according to an article I read last night about small birds losing 10 percent of their body weight on a very cold day if there's no food available.

View attachment 799493

It said to buy lard or suet pastry, soften it by hand or in your microwave, oven etc, add crumbs of oatmeal bread, and or porridge oats, and or crushed unsalted peanuts, and or bird seed. No salt if possible, but it didn't mention sugar.🤔 I'm going to slightly soften it in a bowl in my air fryer, then add wholemeal bread crumbs, porridge oats and bird seed. Then I'll put it on my bathroom outside window bottom (I live in a top floor flat, so high up windows means no easy access to the fat etc for cats or rats and obviously none for dogs) for the small birds to eat. 😉

I made the mix of lard, bird seed and wholemeal bread last night. I'm going to put it onto my bathroom's outside window bottom later. Let's see if the small birds find it.😉

 

[annedonnelly]

I have two sets of feeders so I can swap them over for cleaning. You should also move them around so that the ground underneath doesn't become a hotbed of germs. I put different foods at different places each time. And don't put out more than they can eat in a couple of days.

 

[oxoman]

As kids we always fed the birds and there was always a good mix with pigeons being a rarity, fast forward a few decades and we hardly get any. Admittedly we live in a less rural area now, but we always had tit's, blackbirds, thrushes, starlings and sparrows, can't remember the last time I saw sparrows or starlings. Get to many fat lazy pigeons and also squirrels. I know bird flu has decimated numbers as has dodgy bird seed. I've also noticed a lot less wasps and bees over the last couple of years as well. Is it cyclic or global warming or what, I know not. Hopefully numbers recover.

 

[Gillstay]

Bird numbers are way down for many species and with global warming may well continue. Esp for sea birds. This is a crisis, that I feel is certain.

 

[gbb]

Perhaps localised but I notice here there are very large flocks of white dove / semi domesticated pigeons ?, hundreds of them seem to roost on one or two roofs in particular, smaller numbers spread nearby. Last year for instance you'd find a very sick looking one of them which would inevitably get killed by a cat or die anyway. You'd see one every few weeks in this condition, occasionally a dead one up i the gutter of a house.
So bird flu seems to be prevalent among them so it begs thee question...are they major conduits for bird flu into wild birds ?