Seagulls!!!!

madpenguin

I have lived here for 18 years and only ever seen 1 seagull.
This morning I had 5 large Herring gulls on the drive.They had taken the suet block from inside a caged feeder I use for blackbirds and other ground feeders.The block was only put out last night and usually lasts 2 days.
Cannot afford to feed the seagulls who have presumably come in from the coast as no visitors on the seafront during lockdown.
Now have to see if I can fashion a cage within the cage.Thinking of another suet block holder so blackbirds can get it but seagulls cannot drag it out!!

Busy-Lizzie

What about one of those anti-squirrel bird feeders?

madpenguin

I find most squirrel proof feeders also stop blackbirds,I have this feeder to stop the wood pigeons who are generally the ones that snaffle everything.
Hedgehogs have also been known to get inside this feeder!
This is the feeder.Normally has a hanging tray inside but have now put a fat ball feeder inside until I can get a cheap block holder that I can attach inside.
I think the seagulls have a long reach and are strong enough to drag out a whole block!

Dovefromabove

These are good 
https://www.arkwildlife.co.uk/product/ground-feeder-cage/

fix to the ground with sturdy tent pegs ... seagulls can push between the bars of the ones line yours, but can’t get through the mesh of these ones. 

josusa47

Sorry, my computer won't let me upload photos, so I hope this description is clear enough.  My square wooden bird table is topped by a homemade, unsightly but effective contraption.  A circular metal tray is upturned on top of a cylinder of plastic garden mesh, the gaps are about 4cm square.  The mesh is reinforced by a few sticks woven vertically through it.  The mesh cylinder sits inside the raised wooden rim of the bird table.  The whole structure is held in place by a bunjee cord stretched over the top and hooked under the edge of the table.

Starlings and anything smaller can get inside the mesh to feed.  Pigeons, blackbirds and jackdaws can perch on the table edge and reach through.  Gulls can only stand on the tray and yark in frustration. 

mikeymustard

"Yark in frustration" what a fab phrase. I'm gonna try and introduce that one into every conversation I have today!

Fairygirl

I regularly hear people like that too @mikeymustard.
Usually when they can't find the 'kwinoa' or the right size of eggs... 

I based my bird cages on ones similar to those ground feeding ones. It should be relatively easy to make something that the blackies can get into. Mesh of varying sizes is available almost anywhere, and you can wire it together to make a cage

madpenguin

I bought a cheap suet block holder and have fitted it to the chains in the ground feeder.
All the regulars can now access it as usual but the seagulls can't.
They may be able to peck at it through the bars but they can't drag the whole thing off!!

madpenguin

Seagulls today managed to open the suet block cage within the ground feeder cage!!! 
Now I have to have a clip to keep the cage shut!

Dovefromabove

You wait until they bring their bolt croppers with them!  

wild edges

There's a video on Youtube of a herring gull catching and eating bats as they leave their crevice roosts in someone's roof. Amazingly terrifying evidence of the skills these birds can have (and amazing how many bats you can fit inside one gull   ).