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Birds
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Message 1.Â
Posted by AngelaWatson (U3126654) on Thursday, 19th August 2010
Why do I hardly see any birds in my garden. I put out a bird table and filled it with seed but it has hardly been touched and it is in perfect view, I also have one situated next to a conifer but they don't seem to come near it. The only birds I seem to attract are seagulls and pigeons.
Any ideas.
Thanks -
Message 2
Posted by Rainjustlearning (U12861332) on Thursday, 19th August 2010
The conifer is the problem more than likely, its a hiding place for anything, can you move the feeder, I have mine in the open so the birds have a good all round view, I have 12-16 Dunnock's come down guess they are 2-3 families with youngster's, juvenile robin, collard doves and off spring, magpies, wood pigeons, blue tits and the odd male Gold finch, it needs time for them to feel safe in the garden, give them time or a very bad spell of weather and they will come, I feed mine 24/7 as I get so much enjoyment watching them.
Rain -
Message 3
Posted by nanpickle (U14258493) on Thursday, 19th August 2010
Hi Angela - have you tried a variety of food ? I put out wild bird seed, niger seeds, dried mealworms, suet, fat balls, breadcrumbs,table scraps, nuts and raisins. I also use a variety of feeders, some are squirrel proof, others for the nuts and fat balls and I also strew some on the ground for the ground feeders. Nan x
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Message 4
Posted by GraciePetunia (U14181526) on Thursday, 19th August 2010
Try Sunflower heart seeds, they love them and will soon come flocking. This time of year can be a quiet time for bird visits as there is plenty of natural food around for them, and they do take a while to get used to a new feeding station. Patience is the key!!
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Message 5
Posted by garyhobson (U11055016) on Thursday, 19th August 2010
We are assuming that there are birds in your locality, in your neighbours' gardens, for example.
Some shrubs and trees, not too far away, are very useful.
Regularity in putting food out is very desirable. Birds take a little while to learn that there is food, whereever you put.
I put food out regularly at 6am, and there is always a queue waiting, actually on a pergola, about 6 feet from the birdtable. -
Message 6
Posted by JakiB (U4322875) on Thursday, 19th August 2010
Bird feeders should always be situated where there are nearby trees and shrubs so that, at the first sign of trouble, they can get under cover. Don't put the feeder out in the open as has been mentioned previously, you're just inviting the predators to come in for lunch!
I have several feeding stations, consisting of various types of feeders (mostly squirrel-proof in our case) and they are under the pergola which is covered in Clematis, next to a thick forsythia hedge and also right next to an enormous Escallonia. When the Sparrowhawk tries to nab one of the smaller species, he doesn't have much luck because they fly into the bushes. It's usually the collared doves and pigeons that are unlucky because they will insist on sitting on top of the pergola where they get picked off!
When we first moved into our house we were told by the previous owners 'we don't get any birds in the garden' but now it's a very busy bird restaurant!
The important thing is once you start feeding, don't stop - birds use up a lot of energy getting their favourite feeding places so they need to have something there when they arrive!
Finally two large German Shepherd Dogs dissuade any cat that thinks it will have one of my Blue-tits for lunch!!! -
Message 7
Posted by garyhobson (U11055016) on Thursday, 19th August 2010
Different types of birds have very different feeding habits.
Finches and tits, the prettiest birds, prefer hanging feeders. Jacqui mentions feeders hanging under a pergola. I have some there too. The pergola is covered with prickly roses that the birdies feel safe sitting in.
Robins and blackbirds prefer a bird-table.
Many little brown birds prefer food on the ground.
Ground and table feeding birds simply cannot use hanging feeders. -
Message 8
Posted by garyhobson (U11055016) on Thursday, 19th August 2010
The household supermarkets sell 'Robin Feed'.
You might wonder whether it's a gimmick. I put out a tablespoonful each morning, along with lots of other stuff. The robins go straight for the robin feed. They know what it is.
Also forgot to mention that tits prefer peanuts, and finches prefer seeds. -
Message 9
Posted by missrose81 (U14589605) on Thursday, 19th August 2010
Same here i recently moved house and from having birds i could never fill i now have no birds at all my table is quite near a rose bush and nearer to a big blackberry bush they love it not mine next doors! they may all start coming back in the winter when its harder for them to find food. Also found out when they do come they love Fat balls!
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Message 10
Posted by Rainjustlearning (U12861332) on Friday, 20th August 2010
Dont panic, this was taken last year and as you can see my bird feeder is in the open and I get loads of visitors, guess it's 'horses for courses' as to where feeder are placed, there are some very tall conifers in the garden next door which is were I think they roost as they seem to come from there every morning, I don't get cats in the back garden as I too have a dog, my cats don't go out but just sit and watch from the bedroom windowsill, I put muesli in with the bird seed, that was a tip from a thread on here at the year's start when we had all the snow, and as I said I feed mine 24/7 so there is always some sort of action in the garden.
Rain -
Message 11
Posted by Rainjustlearning (U12861332) on Friday, 20th August 2010
Forgot to say that the feeder on the fence with the dome is a Robin feeder, you can move the dome up and down to suit small birds, the Robin that come into my garden is a cheeky chappie he gets in it for food then stays there chasing the Dunnocks and Blue tits away even the Starling's try to get it.
Rain -
Message 12
Posted by blackeyedsusan (U2456655) on Friday, 20th August 2010
Just endorsing Gracie's message (4). I only feed the birds in the winter, and my bird table is always very busy then. However, the rest of the time there is plenty of wild food available beyond my boundary. This year I have finally learned my lesson and will NOT buy peanuts again - some of them get eaten in the winter, and the rest stay in the feeder, and eventually end up in my compost bin. And these are the best sort, guaranteed OK and all that!
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Message 13
Posted by Rainjustlearning (U12861332) on Friday, 20th August 2010
I'm with you on the peanut's, have given up as they always get left so I dont buy them any more they just end up mouldy and not fit for anything other than the bin.
Rain -
Message 14
Posted by Rainjustlearning (U12861332) on Friday, 20th August 2010
Just found this if anyone's interested
Rain -
Message 15
Posted by JakiB (U4322875) on Saturday, 21st August 2010
I agree about the peanuts but I do still put them out but I only half-fill the feeder - less to throw out if they do go mouldy. I suppose birds have got used to the variety over the years - when I was a kid we could only get peanuts to feed the birds with - now there's so much to choose from!
As has been said above, fat balls seem to be the favourite menu item, I squash some down for the ground feeders so they don't miss out. Mine also have cooked potato on occasions and apples every day (again mainly for the ground feeders).
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Message 16
Posted by JakiB (U4322875) on Saturday, 21st August 2010
By the way, I love the little bird house in your photo, Rainjustlearning
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Message 17
Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Sunday, 22nd August 2010
Talking about birds I was in Birmingham city centre
this week strictly as tourist, and there was a blissful garden near the B rep theatre, but with not a single bird in it, for any time during the hour that I ate my lunch.
They may have decided that the penance of pigeons in city centres, (which makes Regent's park in London such an abominable place to visit for their behavior as vermin) is better dealt with by bird excluders.
They certainly advertised a CCTV systen in the garden, and anybody feeding them therein is probably dealt with.
Birmingham city centre is well worth a visit right now. The Hanging Flowers garden of Birmingham. Absolutely bloody marvellous!
A delightful city centre, well worth it to the tax payer for the aura of tranquillity it brings to a bustling centre with architectural and design pleasures a plenty! -
Message 18
Posted by jo4eyes (U13654107) on Sunday, 22nd August 2010
I grew up not far from Brum, I agree the new centre is wonderful.
Back to the bird feeing- I only do it from Sept to late Spring as I found that the food was ignored late Spring/summer & so wasted. Squirrel proof feeders vital for us. I have to watch the seed feeders as it's a pain, literally, weeding beneath.
We are surrounded on 2 sides by a Sycamore 'grove', lots of wild Cherry, hawthorn & blackberry hedges so lots of cover/habitat. I also have trees in the garden & 'berrying' shrubs that the birds love & so have plenty of hiding places away from the local cats who get 'yelled' at & run when they see me!
We regularly have a good variety of garden/woodland birds visiting us & nesting in the garden too. J. -
Message 19
Posted by Neophyte (U14590779) on Monday, 23rd August 2010
Once you've got the birds back, buy a sonic cat repeller, it's really worth it and saves heartache! There are online sites that sell them half the price of the big DIY stores...
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Message 20
Posted by bookertoo (U3655866) on Monday, 23rd August 2010
Until recent years I have always had cats and fed the birds. The RSPB, who I imagine know a thing or two about birds, say that feeding birds will save more birds than any your pet cats will catch. After a couple of seasons when they did seem to get quite a few, they just stopped bothering, it was just too easy maybe, and cats and birds shared the garden amicably for many years.
I always feed the birds all year around, the young ones need to learn where the food is, and the older ones get quite exhausted at the end of the breeding season, and need to fatten up easily before the winter. Thye will always prefer fresh natural food but a bedtime top up, and an early moring starter do help their chances of survival.
I am frantically fighting the curse of the super squirrels, I reckon they are getting up to 50% of the bird food, but it reaches standoff with everything we try. Please don't take the kindly trouble to tell me about garlic, pepper, chillie, soap, lemon rind, etc. etc. been there, done that for years. There were two of them the other day trying to bend a young tree branch down to use as a road to the feeder .......... you could almost admire them for persistence! Must go an buy some more seed, make a few more fat balls, and re vaseline the pole upon which the feeder hangs - at this moment it is 0-0 in the score of me v. squirrel - it won't last!! -
Message 21
Posted by nanpickle (U14258493) on Monday, 23rd August 2010
Hi bookertoo - I have given up trying to outwit the squirrels, I now buy monkey nuts and put them out in a separate dish away from the bird feeders. They spend a lot of time burying them or opening and eating them and they don't seem to bother so much with the bird feeders. Nan x
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Message 22
Posted by bookertoo (U3655866) on Wednesday, 25th August 2010
I have tried that one, but they decided that the monkey nuts were just too much like hard work and came back to the feeders!! However, later in the year when it get beyond a joke for the little birds, I will try that again, maybe down by the hedge that they use as a road.
We also have a great tit who is a right bully, he is now sitting on the top of the feeder, daring any of the other small birds to come and eat - he usually gets bored with posturing there after a while, and goes off to bully someone else, so the little blue and long tailed tits, sparrows atc get a look in. -
Message 23
Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Wednesday, 25th August 2010
I sometimes get immigrant field fares like that in my garden, in winter meting out injustice to the blackbirds.
They just put up with it and scavenge until he has left the area back to Viking Denmark -
Message 24
Posted by Summerchild (U14187397) on Wednesday, 25th August 2010
Because I want to feel free to go away I do not "feed" the birds, even in winter. What I do is to grow lots of plants with berries and I leave seed heads on all winter. I grow trees and shrubs with a variety of height and shade and I have a tall privet hedge on both sides of the garden and a mixed hedge at the back. I also leave cuttings on the ground for a while for the blackbirds to flick over, and I kick windfall apples into a "natural" area near the apple tree, for birds and small mammals to pick at.
The privet has been home to several bird families this year, including greenfinches, which I have not noticed in great numbers before. The robins, and wrens have had their own territories over several generations and the thrushes like a concrete path path that is their anvil. Lots of tits like to do acrobatics on a cherry tree and on an amelenchior. A woodpecker has shown interest in the branches of a decaying pine tree and I see pheasants and partridges some early mornings. I also hear lots of birds that I never see.
I am lucky to have space at the moment but shall aim for the same variety and predictability of habitat when I move to a much smaller garden. It will take time to establish.
Good luck, Angela,
Summer -
Message 25
Posted by AngelaWatson (U3126654) on Thursday, 26th August 2010
I was thinking of a cat repeller as I am plaqued by cat or cats in the garden and the borders are full of cat's mess which puts me off gardening.
Might be worth an investment then. -
Message 26
Posted by AngelaWatson (U3126654) on Thursday, 26th August 2010
Thanks to everyone for all your replies. I certainly did have birds in the winter so maybe it is best to just feed them then when food is more scarce for them then that way they will hopefully look for beneficial insects to eat in the garden etc.
I like the idea of the robin food so will keep a lookout for that also. -
Message 27
Posted by Miss-polly (U14402803) on Thursday, 26th August 2010
you could always chuck em in the wheely bin
Only joking !
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