Please think of the birds

[gruntygiggles]

Yep, it's that time of year again. I have just done my morning shift feeding the birds and had to break a layer of ice over their water dish.

Please remember people, they need our help through the cold days and nights with good quality, high calorie bird food.

If Maria can come along and give tips, I think we'd all appreciate it, but you can start with wild bird seed, peanuts, sunflower hearts, suet and fat balls. Use up your leftover bread by melting some lard and pouring over stale breadcrumbs and mixing with seed. Suet is great as are fat balls as they all give the birds lots of energy to keep themselves warm

Don't let any of the food sit out if it has gone mouldy...it can kill them and please make sure they have fresh water that is not frozen

Thank you on behalf of garden birds everywhere :-)

http://www.cardsunlimited.com/largeimage/ChristmasRobin.jpg

[Berlin]

I think about Birds all the time! :love: ;)

[Littlepeahead]

Saw the robin back in the garden on Sunday for the first time so I'd better buy some mealworms for him. I wonder if the blackbird that attacks my cat will be back this year, he's a noisy little git in the spring and poor Cromarty is very nervous of going into the garden when he's out there at full volume. My cat is a wuss.

[gruntygiggles]

Saw the robin back in the garden on Sunday for the first time so I'd better buy some mealworms for him. I wonder if the blackbird that attacks my cat will be back this year, he's a noisy little git in the spring and poor Cromarty is very nervous of going into the garden when he's out there at full volume. My cat is a wuss.


Haha - you can get food specially for Robins now with mealworms and everything else in. I LOVE blackbirds. Luckily they are scared of the dogs, but I love all the posturing and tail flicking...lol.

[missyburd]

Good thread GG :-D

I nearly froze all my fingers off yesterday morning replenishing the bird feeding station in the garden! Hope they're appreciating the pain and lack of feeling (in my fingertips) that's involved :-D

As for tips on feeding, you've covered pretty much everything Grunty! We have a pot in the kitchen for the birds, all the scraps get chucked into it (now we have no dog to spoil :-( ) and also any leftover fat from frying sausages, bacon etc. If the fat is solid when you come to give it to the birds then I just whazz it in the microwave for a few seconds and mix it up with everything in the pot plus seed.

Tip is to not put everything in feeders, leave a bit of food in a dish weighed down with a stone (but elevated off the ground, we have a little wall to sit it on) if you don't have a bird table. Birds like robins and dunnocks tend not to feed off feeders as much as the tits, preferring to peck about on the floor. Mealworm supplements are very popular too but not for the squeamish :-P

I get so much enjoyment watching them from the conservatory while I eat my brekkie and lunch. We now have a lovely little crowd of birds making the most of the food: dunnocks, house sparrows, coal blue and great tits, blackbirds, a very territorial pair of robins, the odd thrush and goldfinch. The house sparrows never used to venture near the feeders, always too shy and instead used to hop and squabble in the bush nearby. Now we have a small crowd of them that squabble over the feeders instead :-D Even a little wren came out yesterday to say hello :-) And I swear the blue tits are getting rounder and rounder the more I see them!

[embee]

I have feeders up all year. The opinions seem to have shifted a bit, some used to say you shouldn't feed during the summer but it appears now that it's fine, these things come in and out of fashion!

I use sunflower hearts and black sunflower, the bigger finches (greenfinch/chaffinch) seem to prefer the black ones and they are cheaper! The hearts are demolished by goldfinches, I get them in flocks of a dozen to 20 at a time, lovely little things. Goldfinches also like nyger (niger/thistle) and the useful thing is that they are the only ones which can get them out of the feeders with the very small holes, so they do tend to last longer between refills.

I've noticed that the robins in my garden have "learnt" to take from the feeders, they never used to but will now.

One slight fly in the ointment is that a sparrowhawk seems to have moved in, it perches in my ash tree regularly which doesn't go down well with the little birds! :smt103 Still, they have to live aswell.

I've just ordered another load from Brinvale (https://www.brinvale.com/), trying some different mix this time. Brinvale can be thoroughly recommended, postage is free above 10kg and when they say next day delivery they mean it, so far totally reliable.

[gruntygiggles]

Haha, yep, we have some rather round blue tits here as well. Saw the first dunnock this morning on the ground under the feed station. We have so many blue, coal and great tits in the garden it's unreal. The long tits, about 20 of them come thorugh for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon and I just love them. We have 2 pairs of blackbirds in the garden, one at the top and one at the bottom, so when a strange blackbird comes in, it's like WWIII out there. There's a male robin in our garden and one next door, so they can get quite raucous as well. The buzzard has been sat on top of the telegraph pole all morning looking for rabbits, the pheasants are all over the field and one ran/flew up the garden making a racket and frightening all my little birdies :-(.

I'm like you Maria...I could honestly sit and watch them all day long. :-)

[storm rider]

Yep, it's that time of year again. I have just done my morning shift feeding the birds and had to break a layer of ice over their water dish.

Please remember people, they need our help through the cold days and nights with good quality, high calorie bird food.

If Maria can come along and give tips, I think we'd all appreciate it, but you can start with wild bird seed, peanuts, sunflower hearts, suet and fat balls. Use up your leftover bread by melting some lard and pouring over stale breadcrumbs and mixing with seed. Suet is great as are fat balls as they all give the birds lots of energy to keep themselves warm

Don't let any of the food sit out if it has gone mouldy...it can kill them and please make sure they have fresh water that is not frozen

Thank you on behalf of garden birds everywhere :-)

http://www.cardsunlimited.com/largeimage/ChristmasRobin.jpg
Love the pic gg,

How do you add a pic to your thread?

Phil..

:smt039

[missyburd]

Goldfinches also like nyger (niger/thistle) and the useful thing is that they are the only ones which can get them out of the feeders with the very small holes, so they do tend to last longer between refills.

I've noticed that the robins in my garden have "learnt" to take from the feeders, they never used to but will now.


I was surprised to see a dunnock eating from the niger seed feeder yesterday! And the blue tits occasionally grab a seed or two, must copy the coal tits as they both take a seed and end up hammering it like mad to open it, not having the finch bill to just crack them open. I need to get one of the smaller niger feeders, I get a problem with the seeds sprouting and clogging up the larger feeder because of the moisture...need to get round to it!

We have so many blue, coal and great tits in the garden it's unreal. The long tits, about 20 of them come thorugh for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon and I just love them.

The long-tails haven't turned up round here yet, they move up a little bit later in winter. Saw a few in summer though, real treat when they do arrive :-D

Watch out for waxwings at the moment if you have any berry trees in the garden, there's an influx of them down the UK at the moment, loads more than usual coming in from Scandinavia, they've been in our area but I've not been so lucky! Beautiful birds, really want to see one :-(

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/resources/listimg/birds/birds_september_2008/waxwing_bto@body.JPG

[gruntygiggles]

I have feeders up all year. The opinions seem to have shifted a bit, some used to say you shouldn't feed during the summer but it appears now that it's fine, these things come in and out of fashion!

I use sunflower hearts and black sunflower, the bigger finches (greenfinch/chaffinch) seem to prefer the black ones and they are cheaper! The hearts are demolished by goldfinches, I get them in flocks of a dozen to 20 at a time, lovely little things. Goldfinches also like nyger (niger/thistle) and the useful thing is that they are the only ones which can get them out of the feeders with the very small holes, so they do tend to last longer between refills.

I've noticed that the robins in my garden have "learnt" to take from the feeders, they never used to but will now.

One slight fly in the ointment is that a sparrowhawk seems to have moved in, it perches in my ash tree regularly which doesn't go down well with the little birds! :smt103 Still, they have to live aswell.

I've just ordered another load from Brinvale (https://www.brinvale.com/), trying some different mix this time. Brinvale can be thoroughly recommended, postage is free above 10kg and when they say next day delivery they mean it, so far totally reliable.

I get a real sinking feeling when I see the sparrowhawk in the tree. On one hand, I can go in our bathroom, stand at the door and be about 10ft away from it, so it's amazing to be able to spy on it spying on the birds, but I'd rather not see it succeed....just do it when I'm not looking...lol.

I don't feed all year here because food is so abundant, but I used to when I lived in Bristol as wild food sources were not as readily available.

[gruntygiggles]

Love the pic gg,

How do you add a pic to your thread?

Phil..

:smt039

Thanks....taken from google images...lol. I just hover over the picture (make sure it has no copyright on it) and right click, then copy. Then go to the message form on here that I have written my post/reply in and paste. If you do it from photobucket, you just copy and paste the image code in. :-)

I was surprised to see a dunnock eating from the niger seed feeder yesterday! And the blue tits occasionally grab a seed or two, must copy the coal tits as they both take a seed and end up hammering it like mad to open it, not having the finch bill to just crack them open. I need to get one of the smaller niger feeders, I get a problem with the seeds sprouting and clogging up the larger feeder because of the moisture...need to get round to it!



The long-tails haven't turned up round here yet, they move up a little bit later in winter. Saw a few in summer though, real treat when they do arrive :-D

Watch out for waxwings at the moment if you have any berry trees in the garden, there's an influx of them down the UK at the moment, loads more than usual coming in from Scandinavia, they've been in our area but I've not been so lucky! Beautiful birds, really want to see one :-(

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/resources/listimg/birds/birds_september_2008/waxwing_bto@body.JPG

Maria, firstly thank you :-)

Secondly, come down here if you want to see them. I have seen these almost every day for the last 2 weeks. Have been meaning to look them up as I didn't know what they were, but you've identified them for me now. I've only seen two together once. Normally, one will fly through, sit right at the top of the berry bushes, eat a few and go, then another will fly through and I'll see them again the next day.

[hindle8907]

are they not meant to fend for their self ?

[gruntygiggles]

are they not meant to fend for their self ?

They find it hard when we keep building on their territory and therefore depleting their natural food sources, so it's only responsible of us to help them as best we can.

[hindle8907]

good point :)

[embee]

are they not meant to fend for their self ?

A bit like we are, those supermarkets are just for the namby pamby types, get out into the woods and forage!

[missyburd]

Whole fruit cut in half if it's too overripe for your taste and mild cheese is an idea too.

are they not meant to fend for their self ?

Yeah sure they are in the natural way of things but if we didn't help at all then a lot of the smaller birds would die. With the winters getting colder and the nights frostier it's obviously becoming harder for the smaller birds to find food to build up the vital fat reserves they need to just survive at all. A lot of garden birds supplement their diet with worms and insects but severe winters mean the ground is too hard to probe for these and insect numbers are decreasing with the cold anyway.



Also embee, reading you post about feeding all year round, it's fine to do that but you have to be careful what you put out in the spring and summer months when chicks are being raised. Apparently peanuts are not a great idea, same with bread and fats as the chicks can choke. I would say bread's fine if you blend it first to turn it into crumbs. And fat melted with seeds is better than large chunks of solid lard.

[embee]

...Also embee, reading you post about feeding all year round,.....

Yes good point, I only put out peanuts in winter, I find they aren't taken all that much anyway. Sunflower hearts seem to be very popular year round and certainly the goldfinch population doesn't seem to suffer from year round supplies!

[missyburd]

Sunflower hearts seem to be very popular year round and certainly the goldfinch population doesn't seem to suffer from year round supplies!
Sunflower hearts are great, shame they're so blumin' dear!

[BanannaMan]

My wife feeds them year round.

In the winter Cardinals and Blue Jays are the most colorful.
I like the cardnals best.

Taken in my garden Jan 2010.

http://www.allenschevron.com/1_31_010.jpg

[gruntygiggles]

Oh Bill ,I love Cardinals, used to see loads of them when I visited Texas. Used to see the occasional mountain bluebird in CO as well and they are like an electric blue dart flying past :-)

[missyburd]

jealous much Bananaman, why do you have such colourful birds over there! Not that I don't like ours, but the range of beautiful shades over in America, NZ and such, just staggering, wanna go dammit!

[missyburd]

Inch thick layer of ice in the birds water dish this morning! Freezing out there! And I swear evert tit in the neighbourhood is on our feeders, they must be so hungry bless 'em. They haven't stopped feeding all morning. We had the local squirrel up on the feeders a couple of days ago but there wasn't much for it to take as I let the food run low occasionally. Food provisions must be few and far between if the squirrels are getting desperate!

[gruntygiggles]

Funnily enough Maria, our squirrel has been frantic under the chestnut tree this morning looking for all the food it hid a couple of months ago. I've been out and putting fruit and nuts out for it and so far, it had completely ignored the bird feeders.

We had a little ice on our water this morning, so a ball has gone into it. I have done this in winter with horses for as long as I can remember. With horses, use a football and the horse will push it down and drink the water under the ice. With birds, I do it so that I can just remove the ball in the morning leaving a drink hole, rather than have to break the ice all the time.

My favourite regular feeder at our bird station is this handsome chap or chappess...

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll318/gruntygiggles/DSCF2863.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll318/gruntygiggles/DSCF2864.jpg

:-)

[missyburd]

wow we'd be so lucky as to get woody woodpecker in the garden! they are in the area but far too shy to come up into the garden unfortunately.

[Smudge]

I stick some of them lardy seed n nut balls on the washing line they seem to like em but all that fat can't be good for their calestral!

[gruntygiggles]

I stick some of them lardy seed n nut balls on the washing line they seem to like em but all that fat can't be good for their calestral!

It's perfect for them. They need it just to keep warm, let alone fuel flight.

Feed them as many lardy fat balls as you can :-)

[gruntygiggles]

wow we'd be so lucky as to get woody woodpecker in the garden! they are in the area but far too shy to come up into the garden unfortunately.

The lesser tends to be seen once every two or three weeks on top of the old telegraph pole. This greater is loving the bird feeder, it's there nearly every morning around 10am and will stay on there for a good 10-15 minutes. None of the smaller birds will go near it, they just sit in the tree behind chirping away until woody finally flies off.

The green woodpecker is the most noticeable though. He sits in the middle of the garden eating worms.

Had a black pheasant on the gate a couple of days back and there was a pheasant at the bottom of the garden today digging at the base of a tree, then lying down in the sun :-)

[Smudge]

It's perfect for them. They need it just to keep warm, let alone fuel flight.

Feed them as many lardy fat balls as you can :-)

It's amazing that the birds love my lardy fat balls.

[urbane1]

We have been putting food out for the birds for the last two weeks (since it started snowing!) Left some fish out for the penguins, as apperently they are migrating here this year - we were the second coldest place on the planet on Tuesday (-47 C windchill), the South Pole was the coldest.

We are also feeding the rabbits, deer, squirrels and a porcupine.

[missyburd]

we were the second coldest place on the planet on Tuesday (-47 C windchill).
:shock::smt103

I want a porcupine in my garden! :-P

[gruntygiggles]

Me too! I would love to live out there!

Penguins and porcupines make our gardens sound so dull...lol!

Most of us in Britain can't even comprehend those kind of temps. Makes me cold just thinking about it! x

[urbane1]

:shock::smt103

I want a porcupine in my garden! :-P

Would you also like a moose, elk, brown bear and a cougar (not all at once!)

[missyburd]

Would you also like a moose, elk, brown bear and a cougar (not all at once!)
indeed i would, plenty of drawing material! :-D

[gruntygiggles]

Would you also like a moose, elk, brown bear and a cougar (not all at once!)

Yes please...although I have been lucky enough to see all of those in the wild. The cougar only for about 1 second (seemed like 10 seconds to me at the time). I walked around the side of a big boulder on a ridge in CO and it was about 60-80 yards away. I think we both saw each other at the same time, both froze staring at each other and then it was gone. Then I ran back around the boulder trying not to break into tears as I told my friend Stacy what I'd just seen.

Yes, I cry when things like this happen...makes me feel very humble and I am mad about wildlife.

You should have seen me when I sae 3 male wolves take down an elk in Yellowstone. Now that's a story!

[gruntygiggles]

I think you are incredibly lucky Urbane....I would LOVE to have that on my doorstep! :-)

[Milky Bar Kid]

Holy crap -47!!! I thought it was bad when we reached -21 here last year!

[Nobbylad]

Any tips on what food NOT to leave out for the good old British garden bird?

Actually a list of Do's and Don'ts would be handy...

[missyburd]

Any tips on what food NOT to leave out for the good old British garden bird?

Actually a list of Do's and Don'ts would be handy...

It's mentioned somewhere in this thread the stuff not desirable in the spring when chicks can choke on large globules of fat, nuts and bread. Also if you're putting out scraps from the kitchen and such then make sure they're not out there long enough to go mouldy, the mould will kill the smaller birds.

Yesterday I melted some lard into a pan with some oldish gravy, leftover muesli and breadcrumbs/chunks. Put it to one side to cool so the lard sets and Voila! One homemade fatcake to stuff the coconut with.

[gruntygiggles]

That's a good point Maria...when you put out fat balls and fat cakes, make sure you keep an eye on them and take them down if they go mouldy before they are finished. :-)

[Fruity-ya-ya]

We have a leopard geko and she never eats all her grub (meal worms etc).
The birds love it.
Plus I made a squirrel feeder for my wife (one valentines day - long story) so I like to think I do my bit for the local wildlife.

[timwilky]

Hmmm, thinking of birds right now.

Pheasants, roasted with red wine, mushrooms and shallots.

[anna]

I heard somewhere that milk was bad to put out for hedghogs and you should put dog or cat food out instead??

[Fruity-ya-ya]

Hmmm, thinking of birds right now.

Pheasants, roasted with red wine, mushrooms and shallots.

LOL - roasted chaffinch would not fill you up.

[TazDaz]

I was thinking about a bird earlier, name is Sofia Vergara.

[timwilky]

A quail stuffed inside the pheasants then to put a bit more on the table, maybe throw in a couple of woody breasts half way through cooking.

I disapprove of feeding song birds. the sky rats take it. Only compensation is the local kestrels know where to find the sky rats, but they make a mess on my lawns with the feathers.

[Fruity-ya-ya]

I was thinking about a bird earlier, name is Sofia Vergara.
(Shiver) Now I can see why you might have been doing that.

[timwilky]

I was thinking about a bird earlier, name is Sofia Vergara.


Sod messing about with the woody breasts she can have a nibble on my meat without the stuffing.

[Smudge]

I've got a small bird feeder where they have to go into a small hole to get the food it stops crows eating all of it, but I sometimes wonder if they eat too much will they get out?

[Fruity-ya-ya]

I've got a small bird feeder where they have to go into a small hole to get the food it stops crows eating all of it, but I sometimes wonder if they eat too much will they get out?
If not they wont starve.

[missyburd]

I heard somewhere that milk was bad to put out for hedghogs and you should put dog or cat food out instead??

You heard right Anna, milk will give hedgehogs diarrhoea as it does dogs and cats. Tinned meat as in dog and cat food is better and a dish of water...although be careful of it freezing over now of course! Shame there's not as many hedgehogs in gardens now as they're used to be :-( One hedgehog apparently needs about half a dozen gardens linked together to use as its territory, like a "corridor" but thanks to people building on them or concreting them over, these corridors are becoming rarer = not good for hogs.


I disapprove of feeding song birds. the sky rats take it. Only compensation is the local kestrels know where to find the sky rats, but they make a mess on my lawns with the feathers.

We have no feral pigeons here. Sometimes the odd fat woodpigeon but actually not seen it for a while so its probably been got. We have a keen crow that appears to know me coming out with food now and also the odd magpie. But at the end of the day they still need the food as much as the other birds :)

[G]

The tree outside the front of my house has never been so busy... the birds are fighting over the berries.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1230.snc4/156203_468887709836_502519836_5292571_4309482_n.jp g

[gruntygiggles]

We have no feral pigeons here. Sometimes the odd fat woodpigeon but actually not seen it for a while so its probably been got. We have a keen crow that appears to know me coming out with food now and also the odd magpie. But at the end of the day they still need the food as much as the other birds :)

I miss hedgehogs. Have always had them in the garden, but not here. :-(
Agree about all the birds and animals needing the food. We have a few crows, jackdaws and blackbirds and loads of wood pigeons.

The tree outside the front of my house has never been so busy... the birds are fighting over the berries.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1230.snc4/156203_468887709836_502519836_5292571_4309482_n.jp g

That's a lovely pic. They'll be very glad of the food and water you're putting out, they'll need it with snow and ice around.

The daily routine in our garden at the moment is...

Sunrise, the tits descend on the feeders and don't leave till sundown.
9.30ish, the goldfinches and greenfinches descend, closely followed by the chaffinches.
10-10.30 the greater spotted woodpeckers start coming. I know there are two after seeing them fighting in the same tree, but we get one regularly back and fore to the feeder until about 3pm.
Midday the Jay starts coming down and will hop around the garden picking up all the seed and suet off the floor.
2.30pm onwards we get the nuthatch and that will come regularly right up til sundown.

We get occasional visits from bullfinches and the blue tits have got so tame now, they'll come and feed off the windowsills, when you're face is leant up against the window the other side...lol.

[blue curvy jester]

hedgehogs.

wood pigeons.


:cool:
MMMMM free ingredients for your next Tome

[G]

They are still feasting away... do they eat it all or go store it somewhere, they must be getting full by now.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs564.ash2/148608_468944424836_502519836_5293246_4223340_n.jp g

[fenjer]

I've got a box of readybrek in the cupboard that the small person wont eat - do you think if I made it up, then mixed in raisins, some bread, cheese and what ever other bird friendly scraps are lying about and moulded it in yoghurt cups the birds would eat it?

I usually have fat balls and seed for them but this year finances haven't allowed for me to be so generous to my feathery friends.

[missyburd]

I've got a box of readybrek in the cupboard that the small person wont eat - do you think if I made it up, then mixed in raisins, some bread, cheese and what ever other bird friendly scraps are lying about and moulded it in yoghurt cups the birds would eat it?

I usually have fat balls and seed for them but this year finances haven't allowed for me to be so generous to my feathery friends.

I'd eat it if I were a bird :-P Sounds just right that. If you have any lard kicking about then that melted in with the mixture will give it a better consistency when in the cups or whatever. Why not get your small person to help you!Might get a bit messy though...:-D

[missyburd]

A few of the birds in our garden

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs733.ash1/162719_10150358785535553_879760552_16052412_630418 9_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs971.snc4/76466_10150358784585553_879760552_16052386_2711355 _n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs598.ash2/155004_10150356908415553_879760552_16023729_788301 1_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs583.ash2/150588_10150356907985553_879760552_16023712_672914 7_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs993.snc4/76628_10150349676380553_879760552_15899991_7076993 _n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs492.ash2/76574_10150358785795553_879760552_16052417_469216_ n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1334.snc4/162679_10150356907340553_879760552_16023695_222693 5_n.jpg

:-)

[fenjer]

Aww, we used to have a Heron that would frequent our pond. I love the shot of the blue tit flying in. Lovely!

I'll have a go at making the mix without the small person first - I can make quite enough mess on my own! lol

As a random aside I've got the same set of feeders as you - the plastic bottles with the blue/other colour bottoms. I need to get refills for them, when time and money allow.

[missyburd]

As a random aside I've got the same set of feeders as you - the plastic bottles with the blue/other colour bottoms. I need to get refills for them, when time and money allow.

Refills? I don't buy refills, I just buy a big bad of seed and fill them up myself with a jug! But then I am a skinflint :-P

[gruntygiggles]

Refills? I don't buy refills, I just buy a big bad of seed and fill them up myself with a jug! But then I am a skinflint :-P

+1

I just have a big bag of 50 fat balls as much cheaper to buy that way and I got a 15kg bag of wild bird seed rspb approved for a tenner...much cheaper than buying the little bags. Will probably only last a month though the way they get through it in my garden. I do mix in suet and sunflower hearts and I have a niger seed feeder and a peanut feeder, but just the wild bird seed is better than nothing.

When I have leftover bread, I let it go stale and blitz it up with peanuts and lard...they go mad for it.

[fenjer]

Refills? I don't buy refills, I just buy a big bad of seed and fill them up myself with a jug! But then I am a skinflint :-P

Well, thats what I meant, I didn't mean a specific "refill" for those feeders.

+1

I just have a big bag of 50 fat balls as much cheaper to buy that way and I got a 15kg bag of wild bird seed rspb approved for a tenner...much cheaper than buying the little bags. When I have leftover bread, I let it go stale and blitz it up with peanuts and lard...they go mad for it.

Probably is much cheaper but still too expensive for me! :(

[missyburd]

Well, thats what I meant, I didn't mean a specific "refill" for those feeders.

Ah sorry, I know you can buy refills for those type of feeders so thought you meant those.....Just stale crusts mixed up with leftover scraps will do for them im sure, they're not that fussy at this time of year! :-D

[missyburd]

Thought I'd show you a couple of visitors to the garden of late

Meet Mr Great Spotted Woodpecker, now getting more confident, likes those fatballs!

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs009.ash2/33809_10150368258740553_879760552_16211477_1534905 _n.jpg

And today, although not feeding and just passing through were a pair of winter visitors, Redwings!!! I was a tad excited and praying they would stay perched while I went for the camera :-D They don't tend to go near gardens, preferring to stay on fields and feeding in flocks so to see a lonely pair at the bottom of the garden was thrilling! for me :-P

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs740.ash1/163283_10150369705760553_879760552_16238686_431708 0_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs588.ash2/151048_10150369705910553_879760552_16238687_451458 _n.jpg

You can just make out the "red wing" :-)

[gruntygiggles]

Wow at the redwings Maria, that's fantastic. I'm glad your woody is getting more confident. I wanted to ask you about ours actually. Both are definitely greater spotted, but one has the red patch on the crown and one doesn't? Does that mean one is male and one is female?

[Quiff Wichard]

there aint any birds in my garden now at all.. ever

[hongman]

We are going to have an epidemic of obese birds in the UK which are too fat to fly!

[missyburd]

Both are definitely greater spotted, but one has the red patch on the crown and one doesn't? Does that mean one is male and one is female?
if the top of the head is all red (i.e. all of the crown) and pale pink trousers then it's a juvenile. if it's red at the back of the head it's a male. No red on the head at all, female. :)

If a red crown with no red "trousers" then its a lesser :)

[Dicky Ticker]

Sitting watching about 50 Starling's devouring leftovers of a rather large cottage pie.
Peas,carrots the lot is disappearing,I didn't realise they ate cottage pie.

[gruntygiggles]

I would so love ot have Starlings in the garden :-(

Thanks Maria, it's certain then, we have definitely got a male and female, Lone Wolf saw them both Monday morning too. When these two are in the tree together, all is peaceful, but I think we may have another male or a juvenile as occasionally, another will come when one is on the feeder and all hell breaks loose!

[missyburd]

Ya never know GG, if you've got a pair you might have baby woodys in the spring! :)

,I didn't realise they ate cottage pie.
They don't seem to give a monkeys. We've out out left over sausage casserole we didn't want, rice all sorts. I think at this time of year they can't afford to be fussy!

[gruntygiggles]

Yay, I am sat upstairs working and there must be 12-15 long tailed tits on the balcony and fat balls...I will never stop thinking how cute they are!

[Daimo]

Starlings? I thought everyone had them? We've got LOADS round our area.

We ensured to put out bird seed during the snow. The bird table had "quite" a lot of snow on it, so we resorted to a tupperwear container sat in the snow instead.

Didn't get too much.

Starlings
Pidgeons (tidy ones, not those fat ugly greasey london ones)
Sparrows (dying out in the UK :( )
Blackbird
few robins
Bluetit
Seagulls lol
Wagtails


But the snows gone again, and theres lots of food for the birds. Next door neighbour must put out 1kg a day in bird food. Steal all our birds :( lol

[missyburd]

But the snows gone again, and theres lots of food for the birds. Next door neighbour must put out 1kg a day in bird food. Steal all our birds :( lol
Haha, I sometimes feel like that! There's a garden a few doors down with a couple of feeders up that the Jay sometimes goes to, gets my goat :-D But I know we get loads more variety at our feeders, and the birds are getting so tame, they just sit and tweet at me when I go out to feed, at a safe distance. The robins are very cheeky though. The way I see it is if you go out regularly they soon get to know you and know what food becomes available with the odd treat. Sometimes I don't have time to refill feeders and they get low, then it only makes sense for them to exploit what they can and visit other gardens, don't mind that haha

[Amanda M]

We put some fat balls up and a cheeky squirrel ate them! Honestly, he was hanging off a branch pulling out handfulls of the stuff. I thought the birds had ate them all, but then I saw the squirrel robbing it all :mad: I've put some proper feeders (nuts and fat balls) out instead now and have some blue tits, a robin and chaffinches visiting. Love watching them :D

[Daimo]

We had a resident blackbird this year. I was all happy, had some chicks, was looking forward to seeing them fly.

Until they all jumped the nest. Couldn't pick them up, chicks parents were going mental, so left them to it.

Got up next day, still bopping about, so moved them to higher ground. Then a pidgeon got too close to one, daddy came to fight, baby got caught in the fight and had its neck broken.

Came home, other 2 were dead. Cat puncture wounds.

I was quite upset. I no longer want them to nest in my garden next year :(

[missyburd]

That's great Amanda! We too have a cheeky squirrel. I once put some nuts out in the tray in the hope of attracting the jay and who should turn up and merrily munch through the lot in front of me but this squirrel! He was so cheeky I hadn't the heart to shoo him away, he was only going to come back later on so let him eat them and I learnt a valuable lesson :lol:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs356.ash2/63597_10150363797120553_879760552_16142897_1180161 _n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1171.snc4/154395_10150363796365553_879760552_16142879_737005 2_n.jpg


And Daimo, for some reason the starlings stay away from our feeders! I think we have a couple that occasionally like to roost in a hole in the roof but never see them feeding. Shame as they're so pretty. This was taken from my bed :-D
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs608.ash2/156025_10150363798345553_879760552_16142927_473339 5_n.jpg

[Amanda M]

:( That's a shame about the blackbird. We had a blackbird nest in the bush right outside of the garage and we could see it through the garage window without the birds seeing us. It was fantastic seeing them going from eggs, to little noisy mouths and then one day just leaving. Felt right proud of them :D

If you want some sparrows we've got loads of them nesting at the front of the house that wake us up at stupid o'clock all the time :lol:

[Amanda M]

Quick question MYC - how likely is that a cormorant would end up at a river? I'm pretty sure I saw one the other day but I've only ever seen them on lakes, and I'm having no luck ID'ing it so far. We had mandarin ducks on the canal not so long ago, so I think birds/ducks get lost around our way ;)

[missyburd]

Quick question MYC - how likely is that a cormorant would end up at a river? I'm pretty sure I saw one the other day but I've only ever seen them on lakes, and I'm having no luck ID'ing it so far. We had mandarin ducks on the canal not so long ago, so I think birds/ducks get lost around our way ;)

fairly likely Amanda, their numbers are much greater inland now than they ever used to be. If you have a heronry near you you will probably find cormorants as they tend to muscle in on the heron nests and take over. Lakes are common habitats for them :)

Mandarins are gorgeous. Look out for Goosander if you're lucky at this time of year, one of my favourite diving ducks

Male
http://www.rampantscotland.com/colour/graphics/goosander_male_hoggan7396s.jpg
Female
http://www.rampantscotland.com/colour/graphics/goosander_female_hogganfield02956a.jpg
photos dragged off net.

[Littlepeahead]

We mostly get sparrows and starlings, the occasional magpie and a robin if I put the mealworms out. I had far more wildlife when I lived in London. Then I had a pair of very bold squirells that came into the kitchen for food plus toads, bats, frogs, hedgehogs and foxes.

I hope the blackbird nests in our neighbours hedge again - it's very funny watching him shouting his little head off to protect his babies at Cromarty Cat who only considers something edible if it has the word 'Sheba in jelly' printed on it.

[missyburd]

speaking of blackbirds, i have 2 male and a female sat huddled in the tree outside my window watching me draw :-D

[gruntygiggles]

Amanda, very likely. You get cormorants on the river right in the centre of Bristol very regularly and I've seen them here...in the middle of Wiltshire on the way into Melksham, just on top of a telegraph pole by the river, wings out to the sides, just like you see them on rocky outcrops at the coast.

I just wish we had starlings one because I think they so incredibly pretty and two because I know they need our support and I'd like to be able to give it.

We have three gardens within about 3 acres up this part of the hill and neither of the others put out feed. I noticed when we moved in that birds would stop briefly on their way through the garden from the woods to thee fields, but when I started putting food out, it's like trying to feed the 5000 every day. Just took a few little videos to show, so will try and upload them tonight.

[gruntygiggles]

Ah blackbirds....my first favourite bird, still up the top of the list. I just love the attitude when they flick and fling leaves all over the place as they feed off the floor. The abandoned the nest in the spring as I think when we moved in the dogs freaked them out, but they have already started frequenting that bush again. We have quite a lot in the garden and they are always shouting at each other...lol

[Daimo]

You will like this then :) Took them in the summer.

Having a bath in the stream.

http://images58.fotki.com/v85/photos/4/48802/3111132/P1000724-vi.jpg


Move into the sun, find a nice spot...

http://images57.fotki.com/v496/photos/4/48802/3111132/P1000725-vi.jpg


Then dry myself in the sun :D He kept opening and closing his mouth. Think he was letting the heat out when breathing, but using the sun to dry his feathers.

http://images17.fotki.com/v281/photos/4/48802/3111132/P1000726-vi.jpg

This was our resident male Blackbird we had this year. He got to trust us in the garden and would regulary be only 3-4ft away sometimes. He's the dad who lost the chicks and whilst he hung around for a few weeks, he since dissapeared.

[Milky Bar Kid]

Daimo, those are brilliant pics!!!

[gruntygiggles]

Fab pics Daimo...love seeing them do that. I am looking forward to seeing what happens here in the spring. They all fight as it is as we must have 4-5 males and 4-5 females in the back garden, so come breeding time, I think it's going to be crazy.

I would love to be able to get such crystal clear pics like that though.

[embee]

Darned birds, eating me out of house and home at the mo'. Just had to order yet another 25kg of sunflower kernels! :help:

[Amanda M]

Great pics Daimo! He looks like he's enjoying himself :D

MYC and GG - thanks for the info! It was defo a cormorant then and I wasn't seeing things ;) We do get a lot of herons on that river and have seen the odd kingfisher there too. I've not seen any goosander round our way sadly but saw loads up in the Lakes a few weeks back and I love them :D I'm a bit of a closet bird-spotter :p

[Daimo]

He was a regular. used to enjoy sitting in the stream when it was hot and sunny.

We get the crowds of starlings and sparrows, but they are very nervous and fly away. I liked my resident blackbird, almost like a wild pet :lol:

[gruntygiggles]

A couple of videos of Mr. Woody. I am uploading some more that I think Maris will particularly like as they are full of a little bird I know she loves :-)

If anyone can embed them, please do or give me a "how to" post please :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jwl3KMTyYo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DQzHkcesxY

My fat cake ran out a few days ago, so I hung the half coconuts that I had...no woodys. They would come and use the peanut feeder, but couldn't use the coconut shells as they move too much, so if you have a woody nearby and want it to come and feed, I suggest getting a fat cake like in the video and securing it firmly to the tree. Mine are just put onto branch stubbs using the hole that's already in the plastic so they are secure. :-)

[missyburd]

great vids GG! I love the way woodpeckers use their tails as an extra leg, really rigidly supportive.

Strange you mention about them feeding on stable food holders, i was so surprised to see our woody clinging onto a little fat ball, the pre-bought type as seen in my photo. Maybe the northern woodys have a better sense of balance than their southern relatives? :-P

[gruntygiggles]

great vids GG! I love the way woodpeckers use their tails as an extra leg, really rigidly supportive.

Strange you mention about them feeding on stable food holders, i was so surprised to see our woody clinging onto a little fat ball, the pre-bought type as seen in my photo. Maybe the northern woodys have a better sense of balance than their southern relatives? :-P


Well it's odd...as you see in the vid, they don't mind hanging off the peanut feeder. Maybe they just don't like the coconut shells? lol.

Here's some pics for ya!

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll318/gruntygiggles/DSCF3161.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll318/gruntygiggles/DSCF3160.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll318/gruntygiggles/DSCF3153.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll318/gruntygiggles/DSCF3147.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll318/gruntygiggles/DSCF2973.jpg

[gruntygiggles]

Hmmm, that last pic is the wrong one, but hey ho!

[davepreston]

i cant help thinking of the birds in winter but wifey wifey doesnt like it
its that whole body reaction to cold weather that gets my attention

[AndyBrad]

i cant help thinking of the birds in winter but wifey wifey doesnt like it
its that whole body reaction to cold weather that gets my attention

:)

[Lozzo]

I put feed out for the birds every year, usually bought in string bags with peanuts in.

There's nothing more pleasureable than waking up in the morning and finding a pair of tits around your nutsack.

[Amanda M]

We now have a wren visiting the garden! So sweet! The squirrel keeps hanging upside down off the bird feeder stealing nuts, and the robin and wren pick up the bits that he drops. Got 2 blue tits (it was very cold this morning...) that are looking very well fed, so happy days in the M household :p

MYC - I saw a female goosander and the heron on his fave rock on the river on saturday so was very happy ;) Bet there won't be many fish left in there by spring time :)

[missyburd]

that's great Amanda, I am very much envious you have such close access to a river :-)

[Amanda M]

You wouldn't be if you saw the big feck off sheet-ice hill I have to get down to get to it ;) :smt103

[missyburd]

You wouldn't be if you saw the big feck off sheet-ice hill I have to get down to get to it ;) :smt103
Niiiiice :-P Really is cold out there, glad I'm stuck in drawing...