Don't forget the birds

me always feed the birds..

walked Monty down the canal yesterday and fed the ducks and put bread out for the birds and sat waiting.. and a robin came along.. and a magpie.. was ace..

[gruntygiggles]

I love feeding our birds here. We have a Robin, pair of Wrens and pair of Blackbirds that are here all year round and have become incredibly tame around me and the dogs. The robin will perch on the bench under the window less that 3 feet from me while I open the window and fling the seed and suet out...he just waits for me to finish and picks up the bits that fell to the ground under him while the blackbirds have what I've thrown on the wall.

I always feed all year round too. Nice thread Messie

here we are.. bread ready- yes there was brown bread too I know we shouldnt feed white.. oops..




it was cold cold cold.. and the ducks and birds were really happy for the bread and birds loved the nuts..



waited 15 mins for this lil fella to pop out.. felt a bit wierd skulking in my car with camera at the ready .. got some odd looks







monty not happy - he made a noise cos birds getting more attention than him..




then home to feed Monty






and left behind something for the birdies..

[gruntygiggles]

Awww...look at Monty...lol. If I put bread out, I spread lard or some form of fat on it as they need plenty of fat for energy this time of year. That's pretty much all I've ever been told, so to make up for it, I buy RSPB wild bird seed...lol

oo cheryl I will do that tomorrow - lard on the bread.. .. good idea

We put bread out, but the bird didn't touch it. Mrs W then found and old pack of nuts and raisins in the cupboard, so we put those out and the birds loved them. We don't have a bird table and the plate that we put out is now buried under several inches of snow this morning. Will have to go and dig it out.

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by Quiff Wichard

oo cheryl I will do that tomorrow - lard on the bread.. .. good idea

If I've got bread and nuts, I like to whizz them in the food processor with suet and they absolutely LOVE it.

Originally Posted by Quiff Wichard

monty not happy - he made a noise cos birds getting more attention than him..

Just an idea Dave but you could try ripping up the bread a bit for them, huge baps are difficult to break down into bitesize chunks and the birds will waste more energy trying to break bits off. Bet they love you though, what a feast! No wonder Monty's a bit jealous, cracking photo of him btw!

Originally Posted by gruntygiggles

out, I spread lard or some form of fat on it as they need plenty of fat for energy this time of year.

Definitely a good idea, we keep meat fat and mix it with lard, add a load of seed and breadcrumbs then make into little cakes and leave to set, great all year round.

[Stu]

I've put out water, fat from my sausages and nuts & raisins.
I don't expect the birds to touch it - how would they know it's there? I've never done it before.

Originally Posted by Stu

I've put out water, fat from my sausages and nuts & raisins.
I don't expect the birds to touch it - how would they know it's there? I've never done it before.

You'd be surprised how quickly they detect its being there, it might take a few days before you'll actually notice them feeding as it might just be one or two birds in the beginning and not very often. At this time of year more birds are having to go further afield just to find food so its a really good time to spot them. The best times are early morning when birds are most active.