Birds in the garden
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We bought a big tub of bird food from Pont Vert, not at all cheap but it is in a big bucket with lid and contains Sunflower seeds in one section, mixed seed in another and the remainder is fat balls for the tits.
I am planning to serve the seeds in a sieve which I will alter to serve as a basket, think hanging basket. This is to stop the rain from turning the grain into soup and to attempt to limit feeding the rodents. It is also easy to clean.
The temperatures are forecast to plunge over the next few days with the probability of overnight freezing conditions.
I have therefore this afternoon started up the feeding station. Water is not a problem here there is running water about two seconds flying time away and we always have water for them on a big dish on the patio.
I have given them mixed seeds a fat ball and some sunflower seeds. Some beef fat is reserved until tomorrow.
It didn’t take them long to find the food. It is now a busy place. Lots of scrapping though.
Robins, Great tits, Blue tits, Chaffinch, Blackbirds, Jay and a wren on the ground so far.
The feeding station is a sieve mounted on bamboo canes. The idea being to stop the food becoming waterlogged and going off as well as not blowing away.
Crowds of birdwatchers have continued to flock to a quiet cul-de-sac for a second day after a rare sighting of a species perched on a garden washing line.
The report of the scarlet tanager in Shelf, near Halifax, is believed to be the first time one of the birds has been sighted in Yorkshire.
The stocky songbird normally travels between the eastern United States and lowland South American forests twice a year.
Hopefully they will be able to get a photo of it!
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I really miss feeding the birds now. I had to stop for fear of encouraging rats but still, although I stopped after last winter and my loft is devoid of any of my belongings, I have again had them in the loft!
My heath robinson bamboo cane, bootlace and sieve birdfeeder has been a huge success but with caveats.
There are birds constantly on it from morn til night however the birds will not tolerate sharing, which means a queue situation develops. Being concerned that the wait may be detrimental to the birds coming to the food, I have added a second sieve.
We now have two birds being able to feed at the same time.
I now plan to add a third sieve, maybe a fourth.
There has been no build up of food on the ground so something similar could work for you Fruitcake. The odd seed has fallen but Dunnocks and Chaffinches quickly clear them up. Last year we had mice and voles running back and forth from the feeding station. This year none.
You can also deter rodents with a spray of peppermint oil and water. They don’t like the smell.
I think we have a dead mouse in our car but I cannot find where.
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The bird food was this morning just a solid frozen lump of snow at the top and food below. I have turned them the other way up and added more seed. As a one off I have scattered seed on the ground as well.
I am very torn about this Bonjour, I didn’t feed with seed last year just mealworms and fat squares but still had rats in the garden so stopped then I got them in the loft after that.. I also had that apple stealing rat in the house so I am very wary of doing anything to attract them but feel so sad when I see birds flitting about looking for food.
Rats are omnivorous, they love to eat meat and fat.
What if you made a feeder arrangement with say a dustbin lid below it that caught any spillages. You could then recycle or dispose of such spillages? My guess is that the birds would see it as a big feeder and eat most of the waste.
Position the lid well above the ground.
I am sure Gleaner could design you something cheap, easy and effective.
Further, if you proof your house they won’t get in. The FC we know and love on here will not be defeated!
Not my house (bungalow) Bonjour The landlady did send a builder who determined the rats were going into the cavity via a hole by the drain, (I had mentioned the hole before) they then entered the kitchen, again from the cavity, via a hole in the wall where a base unit isn’t butted up to the wall and where the plaster on that wall has blown due to damp.
Actually it went in my favour to say that I didn’t feed the birds so could not then be accused of attracting them. Unfortunately, while the pug was still green (not gone off) the determined rat made a perfectly formed hole in it and I have, today, again heard scratching by the unit. I have twice contacted the landlady, one massage about the hole in the mortar (no reply) and today a voicemail to tell her the rat is back is by the unit and that I don’t want a rat in my kitchen – especially not when I’m paying £1050 pcm rent!!
Can you screw up some chicken wire or similar and block the hole with that?
The birds are ravenous at the moment…a joy to watch…we bought another feeder in action that fixes on the window …so you can watch them feeding.
SNAP. I ordered one of those, it was guaranteed to arrive today between 1300 and 1600.
It didn’t, the message was that the van couldn’t reach us despite it going past us this morning!
This is Peggy Sue ‘our’ one legged blackbird. She tends to settle on her tummy when she is resting but is able to hop around and she she holds her tail well to the side to balance herself. We don’t generally feed the birds because of our cats but we do supplement her in the morning and evening and she follows us via the branches squeaking to tell us she’s there and waiting.
I just discovered where our resident Robin had his family nest earlier in the year.
I had to start another pallet of bois de chauffage yesterday, and in the top of the wood in the pallet was a neat little nest of moss and fibres. between two lumps of wood and under the polythene cover on the top of the stack – what a sensible little robin – he/she is a dear little soul, so tame it brings tears to your eyes.
And he/she is still about on the fat balls.
I adore robins. I have always had one in every garden we’ve had, and each one has followed me around the garden, singing his heart out – such an uplifting song.
Our bamboo cane and sieve bird feeding station has been supplemented with two of the clear plastic bird feeders that attach to the window with suction cups that actually work.
We have a number of fat balls hanging from the sieves and canes and others placed in the bushes and olive trees.
I can report a number of observations.
As well as the large numbers of Great tits and Blue tits around five per cent of the visitors are now the much rarer and less seen Marsh and Willow tits and I have seen one Coal tit.
In times of fine weather and full daylight the Great tits and Blue tits are very intolerant of sharing a sieve with each other however they ignore the Marsh and Willow tits presence. As it gets dark or inclement weather their territorial behaviour decreases and they are only interested un the food -perhaps this is a survival instinct?
Although we do have food on the ground there seem to be very few finches despite us providing lots of sunflower seeds. We are yet to see a Greenfinch or Yellowhammer which is rather unusual.
The other observation is that this is not a cheap hobby on this scale. They can demolish a mug full of sunflower seeds in less than two hours.
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Not cheap, scuse the pun, to feed the wild birds. But such an interesting, enjoyable and rewarding pastime. Nyger seeds are a wonderful attractor for beautiful goldfinches. We have bought our bird seed from vivara.fr for many years. Good quality seed and peanuts and a reliable company.
Twinkle,
Thank you, we are inclined to place an order with Vivara and they invite me to use a promo code. Would you happen to know where I could find one please?
Thank you.
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