Thanks Pansyface for the lovely photo - Am I right in thinking the blue flowers are flax? If not, what they are called. I'm trying to do a blue and white garden so might save some of the linseed seeds for me.
This thread reminds me that I need to get a feed tray asap. Also I've been buying The Range bird mix and it takes awhile to go down so may go for the more expensive mixes.
We have great tits, blackbird family, robins, wren, goldfinch, starlings and blooming wood pigeons.
The Range are opening a new superstore about 2 miles from me in a few months.. I shall have to take a look at their garden section...It might prove interesting thanks...I am no ornithologist but I knew about the chickens as had 3 flocks in my time...Lovely eggs.. Sigh....
When we moved into the house a couple of years ago it was a barren waste - all grass but no wildlife apart from the neigbbours cat and a fox. I tried plastic bird feeders which worked until the squirrels pulled them off the fence and ate all the food - plastic hangers are no problem for my squirrels.
Trial and error gave me a pot from a ready made Jelly, or yoghurt (washed) with a wire through the bottom as a hanger. I will fill this with a dry seed mx (I am still experimenting with this - supermarket bird seed mix is more expensive than human seed mix - so this month I am trying a mix of lentils and oats). When we have a roast pork for dinner I save the fat from this - you can melt enough in the microwave in 30 seconds to pour into this mix as a DIY fat ball. The pot keeps it waterproog and the bigger birds out. I hang thse on a new apple tree about 1m from a hedge. Cheaper than fat balls and works as well
Different birds go for different mixes - the Robins don't come for this months but the tits do, the magpies don't eat the oats when I put this mix on the bird table - the birds are quite picky
Stagbeetle - I put the bigger porridge oats in a small blender for a short while, just to make them smaller, but I think some people put them out as they are. You can get some makes which are ground smaller too. I chop cheese into little pieces for them - they're quite happy to pick those up - even robin sized birds have no problem
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
'living with birds' - suet cakes and a bulk bag of sunflower hearts, those are two things I'd definitely recommend, I've never used niger seeds but I know they're populate with finches. It takes time, birds are not going to sense food in your garden, they're too busy looking out for predators and looking for food in places where they have gotten food in the past, though once one bird finds your food they'll always remember your garden! When I first put my feeders up the I would top my feeders up once a week, they know consume about 400g a day and I top it up one every night.
Positioning the feeder is also essitial, when my feeder was in the open only the bravest of birds would visit, now my feeder is tucked away under a small tree with vegetation surrounding it they're very happy eating from it. Water is alway important, I use a plant pot dish, simple, cheap but the birds bath and drink in it.
Suet balls and Sunflower seeds. Could never ge the Finches to eat the Nyjer seed. Odd bit of cheese. Uncooked meat fat (as long as its not bacon, because of the salt).
You'd be surprised what they will take, though local populations seem to have their own tastes. Will be interesting when the Teasel produces seeds this year.
Posts
Thanks Pansyface for the lovely photo - Am I right in thinking the blue flowers are flax? If not, what they are called. I'm trying to do a blue and white garden so might save some of the linseed seeds for me.
That is flax, OH used to grow fields of it, looks lovely with sun shining on it.
Thanks Lyn, I'll save some and see what comes up. I think we saw fields of these in France a few years back - it was lovely.
This thread reminds me that I need to get a feed tray asap. Also I've been buying The Range bird mix and it takes awhile to go down so may go for the more expensive mixes.
We have great tits, blackbird family, robins, wren, goldfinch, starlings and blooming wood pigeons.
The Range are opening a new superstore about 2 miles from me in a few months.. I shall have to take a look at their garden section...It might prove interesting thanks...I am no ornithologist but I knew about the chickens as had 3 flocks in my time...Lovely eggs.. Sigh....
Do I grate the cheese? Also do I chop up the oats to a very small size? Sorry for the daft question.
When we moved into the house a couple of years ago it was a barren waste - all grass but no wildlife apart from the neigbbours cat and a fox. I tried plastic bird feeders which worked until the squirrels pulled them off the fence and ate all the food - plastic hangers are no problem for my squirrels.
Trial and error gave me a pot from a ready made Jelly, or yoghurt (washed) with a wire through the bottom as a hanger. I will fill this with a dry seed mx (I am still experimenting with this - supermarket bird seed mix is more expensive than human seed mix - so this month I am trying a mix of lentils and oats). When we have a roast pork for dinner I save the fat from this - you can melt enough in the microwave in 30 seconds to pour into this mix as a DIY fat ball. The pot keeps it waterproog and the bigger birds out. I hang thse on a new apple tree about 1m from a hedge. Cheaper than fat balls and works as well
Different birds go for different mixes - the Robins don't come for this months but the tits do, the magpies don't eat the oats when I put this mix on the bird table - the birds are quite picky
Stagbeetle - I put the bigger porridge oats in a small blender for a short while, just to make them smaller, but I think some people put them out as they are. You can get some makes which are ground smaller too. I chop cheese into little pieces for them - they're quite happy to pick those up - even robin sized birds have no problem
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
'living with birds' - suet cakes and a bulk bag of sunflower hearts, those are two things I'd definitely recommend, I've never used niger seeds but I know they're populate with finches. It takes time, birds are not going to sense food in your garden, they're too busy looking out for predators and looking for food in places where they have gotten food in the past, though once one bird finds your food they'll always remember your garden! When I first put my feeders up the I would top my feeders up once a week, they know consume about 400g a day and I top it up one every night.
Positioning the feeder is also essitial, when my feeder was in the open only the bravest of birds would visit, now my feeder is tucked away under a small tree with vegetation surrounding it they're very happy eating from it. Water is alway important, I use a plant pot dish, simple, cheap but the birds bath and drink in it.Suet balls and Sunflower seeds. Could never ge the Finches to eat the Nyjer seed. Odd bit of cheese. Uncooked meat fat (as long as its not bacon, because of the salt).
You'd be surprised what they will take, though local populations seem to have their own tastes. Will be interesting when the Teasel produces seeds this year.