Cubist
Still wavin'
- Location
- Ovver 'thill
Ah, welll I cheat by layering peanuts with suet pellets, about three stripes of each in a long feeder.nigelb said:
I wish......I wish I wouldn't keep losing my birds...
- Thread starter Crackle
- Start date
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beanzontoast
Guru
- Location
- South of The Peaks
Fat balls, seed feeders, nut feeder and water dish is our recipe and it seems to work, hung from 2 bushes about 10 feet away from the house. Even so, there are 'quiet' times - even days - when we seem to get fewer visitors.
Sometimes when we've had bad weather (especially rain) for a few days, they wont go near the seed or fat balls. As soon as I clean it all out and restock, they're back.
Sometimes when we've had bad weather (especially rain) for a few days, they wont go near the seed or fat balls. As soon as I clean it all out and restock, they're back.
Cubist
Still wavin'
- Location
- Ovver 'thill
Persistence pays off then! Hours of wasted day watching the interaction between the species. I had some goose fat left over from Christmas which I mixed with seeds and left in two bowls on the drystone walling. Had a lovely hen thrush going for that this afternoon, and a big glossy magpie that decided he'd arrive and scare all the little guys off. He never stays long, I wonder if he knows about the air rifle?Crackle said:
Sometimes birds will 'desert' a particular area for no apparent reason, no matter how many goodies you put out for them. About three years ago the house sparrows (a species which you probably know has been going through a rocky time lately, the RSPB has it on a watch list) disappeared entirely from our area. We went for several walks around the area, binoculars at the ready, but not a single sparrow to be seen. My wife was so concerned, she wrote to the RSPB. But later in the year they came back. And this year they're in plentiful numbers. You just can't answer for the birds.
Have plenty of shrubs in the garden for birds to perch on, but keep them trimmed back and twiggy, not too many big branches that cats can climb.
We've just put up a new nestbox on our birch tree (28mm size - for blue-tits) seeing as the old one had got decrepit* and the hole had become too big for the blue-tits' fancy. My wife reports they're already taking an interest in the new one. Fingers crossed!
*BTW, you're supposed to take the box down and clean it out every autumn, anyway.
Have plenty of shrubs in the garden for birds to perch on, but keep them trimmed back and twiggy, not too many big branches that cats can climb.
We've just put up a new nestbox on our birch tree (28mm size - for blue-tits) seeing as the old one had got decrepit* and the hole had become too big for the blue-tits' fancy. My wife reports they're already taking an interest in the new one. Fingers crossed!
*BTW, you're supposed to take the box down and clean it out every autumn, anyway.
gbb
Squire
- Location
- Peterborough
Crackle said:
Have you fed birds there before or is this a new attempt to get the birds feeding in that area.?
I wonder if they're seeing their reflections in the window...and its spooking them. Just a thought !
Apples cut in half...birds (particually blackbirds) go mental for them.
gbb said:
I wondered that but things have picked up since I put the fatballs out. I had two Robins in together this morning. I though there'd be a big fight but they just danced around each other a bit and carried on scratting about.
I'm thinking about putting a nest box on the wall now, when's the best time and what kind of nest box do people think?
goo_mason
Champion barbed-wire hurdler
- Location
- Leith, Edinburgh
I live in a top floor flat and put out some feeders on the balcony off my daughter's room a few years ago. My initial visitors used to be swarms of bluetits, but in the last year it's been lots and lots of greenfinches, the odd bluetit and robin, mountaineering squirrels, and lots of starlings when I put up a suet block.
The greenfinches go daft for sunflower seeds; they'll empty a large feeder in a day when I put them out. They like the peanuts too, but they're second best to the sunflower seeds. They all used to love fat balls, but only the more expensive ones. I bought a huge tub of cheap ones a year ago and they'll rarely touch them.
Birds obviously have high standards when it comes to food!
The greenfinches go daft for sunflower seeds; they'll empty a large feeder in a day when I put them out. They like the peanuts too, but they're second best to the sunflower seeds. They all used to love fat balls, but only the more expensive ones. I bought a huge tub of cheap ones a year ago and they'll rarely touch them.
Birds obviously have high standards when it comes to food!
I'd always thought that nestboxes for small birds have to be on a tree, but apparently the RSPB suggests otherwise. See here. You should get the box up ASAP - birds will be already looking around for nesting sites, and you want the human smell to dissipate as quickly as possible. The RSPB gives guidance on sizing, but I suggest you go for a type suitable for small birds, for starters, blue-tits especially: they are more easily persuaded to use the box.Crackle said:
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