No birds !!!
hello, a few weeks back i asked whether i should buy a squirrel proof bird feeder to stop bigger birds quaffing all the food. i looked at these but decided against them as i wasn't convinced that the Robin could access the food properly. i bought a more secure seed feeder and a robust fat ball feeder. i put these out on my new feeding station straight away but to my dismay, not one bird has bothered with either of these, not even the greedy pigeons/magpies or jackdaws. i moved the pole last week but unfortunately, the stabilising prongs fell apart so i took it back for a refund. i've removed the fat ball feeder due to the rain and put the seed feeder slightly higher up in my dwarf pear tree. Still no birds and i think the Robin has been killed by a cat because i haven't seen him for a few weeks. i think that i'll have to give up trying to help birds that are not interested in my garden which is a shame but there we are. i'm very confused and disappointed and don't know what else to do.
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The birds will be building up energy for mating and nest building and egg laying so they will come eventually. When we moved to our last garden - ex farmhouse in Belgian countryside - it took nearly 3 years before the local sparrows and tits realised what the fat balls were. In the meantime we had started converting pasture to a garden with shrubs and hedges for shelter and a pond for drainage. We ended up with whole colonies living in the eaves and other brown jobs, tits, warblers, robins, woodpeckers and so on coming in form local woodland and fields.
thanks, shazza
Agree with other comments that birds like bushes near the feeders so they can flit back and forth for safety. My parents constructed a 7' high wire cage around their feeder with ~2" x 1" holes. The little birds seem to love it and will hang around next to the bird feeder, presumably because they feel safe from predators.
If the squirrels have an easy source of feed they don't bother with tricky bird feeders.
That's the theory anyway!
I have two cats,that don't bother with birds,or anything else for that matter!