Thanks for your replys, you seem to have the patience that is required. The question is what happened to all the Blue tits, Sparrows and even the starlings. Still, I shall persevere and hope the cold weather brings them in, it's ridiculously mild, so that might have something to do with it.
Planted a lot of Pyracantha hedging this year with other shrubs that bird should like. So looking forward to next year, the need to mature but hopefully the wild life should come.
I've found that the seed mix you use really does make a difference!
Far and away the most popular is the feeder with the sunflower hearts. It gets mobbed by crowds of green, gold and chaffinches, with great and blue tits and the robin grabbing the odd seed and siskins and red polls joining in and is always the first to empty..
The chaffinches like the mixed corn I feed my hens, and so do the pheasants and the ring necked dove.
Greenfinches like the black sunflower seeds and gold finches are the only ones that go for the niger seed.
Dunnocks and the reed buntings hop about, picking up the bits the others drop. The buntings like the fat balls too.
The cheaper mixes largely get left unless my ducks can find a way to get to it. They will eat anything!
The blackbirds like the fat blocks and the insectivorous mix with additional mealworms while the robins like the suet sprinkles as well. The blackbirds also like chunks of apple. They have systematically stripped all my blackcurranrts, elderberries, viburnums and several types of cotoneasters and now only the holly berries remain. I don't know if they will make it to Christmas!
hi buttercupdays sounds like you have a good varety of birds in summer we do also and yes I notice how other birds pick up what others drop my Labrador just lays and looks at them the wife has a few collar doves that almost take out of her hand about 3to4 inch away our rocky robin this is his first year he took over from the old one.we have 2 regular woodies come and a good lot of what you say going down to our farmers butchers to buy (some fat for meat ( mostly get it for nothing )birds love it I put it in a flat bird feeder I have a double plum tree in garden this year the finchs tits blackbirds and a few others stripped it next year a big fleece go.s over it (we spend more on bird seed than my dog )gets £20 but it is nice to watch them
I find Gardenwildlifedirect.co.uk does the best prices on bulk sunflower hearts. With sunflower hearts up, no one much cared for the nyger so I stopped it. Usually have birds eating suet pellets from Wilkos out of a peanut feeder but with my new feeder no one seems to like it so I just scatter them.
People on the RSPB forum have recipes for making your own suet cakes and it's supposed to be quite economical but I don't even bake for myself so I'm not going to for birds.
After I put trellis up on my garden fences I found the crows were using it to get to the feeders so I had to hang feeders from a clothes line across a corner of the garden so they have nothing to perch on.
Posts
Thanks for your replys, you seem to have the patience that is required. The question is what happened to all the Blue tits, Sparrows and even the starlings. Still, I shall persevere and hope the cold weather brings them in, it's ridiculously mild, so that might have something to do with it.
Dave Humby - we have woodland over the fence and get lots of birds all year round.
Wrens, robins, bluetits, chaffinches, nuthatches, woodpeckers, blackbirds and thrushes,
and, today, a flock of redwings arrived. the holly berries will be devoured in a couple of days,
I have a lot of berried shrubs in the garden to attract the birds as well as the bird feeder.
joyce21
Planted a lot of Pyracantha hedging this year with other shrubs that bird should like. So looking forward to next year, the need to mature but hopefully the wild life should come.
Nick = the blackbirds love pyracantha berries. I find they eat the yellow berries before the red ones.
I have a pigeon showing up everyday now. This is a first and I've lived here for 25yrs.
I've found that the seed mix you use really does make a difference!
Far and away the most popular is the feeder with the sunflower hearts. It gets mobbed by crowds of green, gold and chaffinches, with great and blue tits and the robin grabbing the odd seed and siskins and red polls joining in and is always the first to empty..
The chaffinches like the mixed corn I feed my hens, and so do the pheasants and the ring necked dove.
Greenfinches like the black sunflower seeds and gold finches are the only ones that go for the niger seed.
Dunnocks and the reed buntings hop about, picking up the bits the others drop. The buntings like the fat balls too.
The cheaper mixes largely get left unless my ducks can find a way to get to it. They will eat anything!
The blackbirds like the fat blocks and the insectivorous mix with additional mealworms while the robins like the suet sprinkles as well. The blackbirds also like chunks of apple. They have systematically stripped all my blackcurranrts, elderberries, viburnums and several types of cotoneasters and now only the holly berries remain. I don't know if they will make it to Christmas!
Buttercupdays, what an amazing range of birds you have visiting you! They must cost a small fortune to feed! Lucky you.
hi buttercupdays sounds like you have a good varety of birds in summer we do also and yes I notice how other birds pick up what others drop my Labrador just lays and looks at them the wife has a few collar doves that almost take out of her hand about 3to4 inch away our rocky robin this is his first year he took over from the old one.we have 2 regular woodies come and a good lot of what you say going down to our farmers butchers to buy (some fat for meat ( mostly get it for nothing )birds love it I put it in a flat bird feeder I have a double plum tree in garden this year the finchs tits blackbirds and a few others stripped it next year a big fleece go.s over it (we spend more on bird seed than my dog )gets £20 but it is nice to watch them
I find Gardenwildlifedirect.co.uk does the best prices on bulk sunflower hearts. With sunflower hearts up, no one much cared for the nyger so I stopped it. Usually have birds eating suet pellets from Wilkos out of a peanut feeder but with my new feeder no one seems to like it so I just scatter them.
People on the RSPB forum have recipes for making your own suet cakes and it's supposed to be quite economical but I don't even bake for myself so I'm not going to for birds.
After I put trellis up on my garden fences I found the crows were using it to get to the feeders so I had to hang feeders from a clothes line across a corner of the garden so they have nothing to perch on.
We use CJ Wildlife, always been happy with their products and they sell plants too