I've got 7 bullfinches (3m & 4f), 8 goldfinches,3 chaffinches, 10 green finches & lots of sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes etc.
Forgot to mention tits;blue, great,coal & longtailed.

A squirrel.
:mad:
:hihi:

I've got 7 bullfinches (3m & 4f), 8 goldfinches,3 chaffinches, 10 green finches & lots of sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes etc.

28 cats :hihi::hihi:

lots of tits :hihi: sorry childish....

seriously
coal, blue and great tits
a few blackbirds
some very messy nuthatches
the odd robin

a wren and dimmock hovering up the mess left byt the nuthatches

I've got 7 bullfinches (3m & 4f), 8 goldfinches,3 chaffinches, 10 green finches & lots of sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes etc.

One satisfied cat, licking his lips.

Seriously, nothing. I don't have one because there are cats about and I thought it would be mean to serve birdies up on a plate to them. I sometimes hang bits and bobs off the line for them though, and can't stop them hunting for slugs and snails. We've got a blackbird, a thrush and a new addition of a cock robin.

2 baby robbins,tits and a couple of nasty magpies that keep throwing the fat ball and nut holder on the floor,grrrrrrr

I've tried leaving out the carcasses of pigeons as I'm trying to encourage the local birds to give cannibalism a try.

a squirrel, loads of birds.

I've tried leaving out the carcasses of pigeons as I'm trying to encourage the local birds to give cannibalism a try.

must be some ugly women round your way:hihi:

One very fat squirrel who seems to have introduced a lady friend today Grrrrrrr....

The usual suspects flitting back and forth. Various tits and finches etc. But on top of that I've had a couple of Jays and a Woodpecker pecking at my nuts.....oo er missis. Not sure what the species of Woodpecker it is but it's mainly black and white.

The biggest , fattest squirrel i have ever seen , its stomach is enormous , it must have eaten the contents of everyones bird feeders and probably some of the birds by the looks of it :shocked:!!!
Gonna have to invest in one of them squirrel proof bird feeders .Does anyone know if they are actually squirrel proof tho ?

I respect the bird population too much to put them in harm's way by encouraging them to come into my garden and be sitting ducks for my little furry killing machine of a hand reared feral moggie (aka Baby).

Here in North Lincs. we have pretty much the same range of birds as melv, but on Christmas Day we had a nuthatch (we're not far from Twigmoor Woods). Long-tailed tits appear in groups of 6-8 or so and comb the bushes for insects etc., but they don't seem interested in the feeder.

Fortunately our cat is too fat and lazy to chase birds. So am I.

Never thought I would find (feathered) birds so interesting!!
But - today in our garden:
Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Great Tits, Blue Tits, a Coal Tit, Blackbirds, a Robin, a Mistle Thrush, a Crow, Magpies, Pigeons and of course squirrels!
All the above less than 15 feet from the window.
Fantastic!

Hmm I don't know what eats the stuff I put in my bird feeder, because I never actually see anything on it. The food magically disappears though, so something's obviously taken a liking to my balcony, God knows what though, sneaky little buggers:suspect:

All we seem to get are huge squabbling groups of starlings.

When we first moved here in April we were visited by robin, tits, finches, collared doves, blackbirds, wood pidgeons as well as crows and magpies.

Now all the smaller birds are nowhere to be seen, we get the occasional magpie and a brave pidgeon not put off by the 20 fighting starlings...

If anyone has any suggestions....

A squirrel.
:mad:
:hihi:

I see your squirrel and raise another squirrel !! :|

Been a ravening hoard in our garden today, and when the food's gone they just sit on the wall waiting for the next hand-out.

Loads of blackbirds and various tits and finches, three robins under a temporary cease-fire, plus a rarely seen tree creeper and a woodpecker on one of the fat balls.

A THIEF!!
http://s203.photobucket.com/albums/aa303/BigDaftOwl/?action=view&current=Picture044.jpg

I caught the little bugger red handed a few weeks ago...

I've got 7 bullfinches (3m & 4f), 8 goldfinches,3 chaffinches, 10 green finches & lots of sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes etc.
Forgot to mention tits;blue, great,coal & longtailed.

You've got a lot of birds! Are all these on the bird feeder at the same time? Do you live in a rural area? 7 bullfinches?!! I wonder where the eighth one was, as these usually go in pairs. I saw loads of these birds at Linacre Reservoirs the other day including a jay and a nuthatch as well! There seems to be this one spot near the reservoirs in a woodland bit, where you just seem to see a loads of different species at the same time, its weird!

We actually had three bullfinches in our garden last week - I guessed it was Mr Bullfinch, his wife and his girlfriend. Maybe there was another Mr Bullfinch s(k)ulking in the shrubbery. A green woodpecker called briefly on New Year's Day - as usual I heard it's call before I noticed it. Just now, as it is beginning to get dark, a mistle thrush has dropped in to see what it can scavenge.

I know Linacre Reservoirs and the good bird-watching spot mentioned. It's also good for wild flowers - roll on May/June when you can walk through the woods there and smell the wild ramsons...

The biggest , fattest squirrel i have ever seen , its stomach is enormous , it must have eaten the contents of everyones bird feeders and probably some of the birds by the looks of it :shocked:!!!
Gonna have to invest in one of them squirrel proof bird feeders .Does anyone know if they are actually squirrel proof tho ?

The "latest"(?) idea, of a sleeve that slides down over the nut cage is not bad, but I've often watched a squirrel sitting close-by, fairly obviously working on a plan!
The last s-proof feeder I bought had super-strong steel mesh and looked the business.
Two days later, he'd figured out that all he had to do was nibble away at the wood that held the mesh in, et voila!

A dead squirrel.

I've got 7 bullfinches (3m & 4f), 8 goldfinches,3 chaffinches, 10 green finches & lots of sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes etc.
Forgot to mention tits;blue, great,coal & longtailed.

You're doing well - we've had three bullies at one time, 2 male and 1 female, but never over winter. They really are strikingly beautiful birds, but hounded on to the RSPB red-list - max 200,000 breeding pairs? - by the fruit farmers, apparently.
Have had goldcrests over summer, and a couple of sitings of a firecrest too...very nice.
The longtails are currently doing their squadron bit in the garden - see one, see a dozen for a few minutes - before they're all off again.
Blackbirds, m and f, dunnocks galore and the greenfinch on occasion.
A reminder to all to make sure that you should ideally have water available at present, not just food.

Have had goldcrests over summer, and a couple of sitings of a firecrest too...very nice.

The longtails are currently doing their squadron bit in the garden - see one, see a dozen for a few minutes - before they're all off again.

A reminder to all to make sure that you should ideally have water available at present, not just food.

We saw goldcrests regularly when I lived in Wadsley (I still do from time to time - untill we sell the bungalow!) but a firecrest is quite a rarity and I've never seen one - at least not to be able to identify it conclusively. Long-tailed tits would also visit our Wadsley garden regularly every winter, as you say "doing their squadron bit" but we also had one that would repeatedly fly, kamikaze-style, into a bedroom window. I couldn't work out if he was attacking his reflection or could see something else that I couldn't.

Yes - water is important. Before Christmas I saw a blackbird trying to break the thin ice on the bird bath for a drink.

We had to stop feeding the birds because of rats :-(

I have regularly on my bird feeder Blue tits, Great tits, Robins as well as Bullfinches both male and female. In the garden I regularly get blackbirds etc. Over the years I have Blue tits and Great Tits nesting in the boxes I have put up.

Over the years I have had problems with the squirrels, not just taking the bird seed...but also wrecking the bird feeders.They will chew through most things to get at the feed inside.

I have bought one of the plastic domes which is hung over the seed feeder..its hung from a branch on the tree in the garden. Its low enough so the squirrels can't reach it from the branch it is hung from.

Anything which is put out on the bird table they take too.. does anyone have any ideas to stop them

cheers

We saw goldcrests regularly when I lived in Wadsley (I still do from time to time - untill we sell the bungalow!) but a firecrest is quite a rarity and I've never seen one - at least not to be able to identify it conclusively. Long-tailed tits would also visit our Wadsley garden regularly every winter, as you say "doing their squadron bit" but we also had one that would repeatedly fly, kamikaze-style, into a bedroom window. I couldn't work out if he was attacking his reflection or could see something else that I couldn't.

Yes - water is important. Before Christmas I saw a blackbird trying to break the thin ice on the bird bath for a drink.

Knoiw what you mean about the firecrest, but the red head stripe is distinctly red when seen next to the yellow/orange goldcrest version. My beloved spotted it first of all, and called me over for "proof"....and sure enough, for a few moments only, they were both in view in the same 25' Chrimbo tree in the garden.
Checked to make sure that it wasn't a case of m/f of goldie only, but pleased to say that it wasn't the case.
The longtail 633's nested last year in one of the dense shrubs we have : great fun watching the adults - more than 2 involved, interestingly - building their "ball" nest, a bit at a time. They must fly bloody miles overall....
Unfortunately, a few days after the chicks hatched, a squirrel (or I suspect more likely, a magpie) got 'em, and the nest was strewn all over the place....really sad, but nature, I guess.....

I live near Meersbrook park so I'm quite lucky for birds. I've got my feeders on a steel pole situated near a perennial fuschia, so they can get some cover if a sparrowhawk attacks. To deter squirrels I mix a solution of vaseline,fiery jack, chili powder & 3 in 1 oil & smear it on the pole. They only try to get up it once:hihi:

I live near Meersbrook park so I'm quite lucky for birds. I've got my feeders on a steel pole situated near a perennial fuschia, so they can get some cover if a sparrowhawk attacks. To deter squirrels I mix a solution of vaseline,fiery jack, chili powder & 3 in 1 oil & smear it on the pole. They only try to get up it once:hihi:

i bet the fiery jack gives them roasted nuts:hihi:

I live near Meersbrook park so I'm quite lucky for birds. I've got my feeders on a steel pole situated near a perennial fuschia, so they can get some cover if a sparrowhawk attacks. To deter squirrels I mix a solution of vaseline,fiery jack, chili powder & 3 in 1 oil & smear it on the pole. They only try to get up it once:hihi:

sounds tasty:cool: chilli

Not a birdtable, but we usually put peanuts out, and fat balls!:D Yesterday a squirell knicked a fat ball!:hihi::help:

Not a birdtable, but we usually put peanuts out, and fat balls!:D Yesterday a squirell knicked a fat ball!:hihi::help:

It'll get heart disease - serves it right too! :hihi:

Is it possible to attract lots of different birds ot a balcony then? I don't know much about it but it would be nice to give it a go.:)

Is it possible to attract lots of different birds ot a balcony then? I don't know much about it but it would be nice to give it a go.:)

You may be surprised at the number and variety of birds that turn up, especially if there are woods nearby, or just scrubland, allotments etc. The RSPB website gives a few pointers on how to attract and feed birds, see for example http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/how.asp

Is it possible to attract lots of different birds ot a balcony then? I don't know much about it but it would be nice to give it a go.:)

Not a problem.:thumbsup:
Just buy as many different types of bird food and hangars/dispensers as you can afford, sit back and watch them come flocking especially when it's as cold as it has been.
Oh...and don't forget to keep you're cats well away!

You may be surprised at the number and variety of birds that turn up, especially if there are woods nearby, or just scrubland, allotments etc. The RSPB website gives a few pointers on how to attract and feed birds, see for example http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/how.asp

Oooh that website is good isn't it?:D Cheers! I shall definately be taking some of that advice. I love willdlife.


Not a problem.:thumbsup:
Just buy as many different types of bird food and hangars/dispensers as you can afford, sit back and watch them come flocking especially when it's as cold as it has been.
Oh...and don't forget to keep you're cats well away!

:hihi:@the cat thing-they are indoor cats anyway, but my computer table is right next to the balcony door, so I can just see them perched on the top of it watching the birdies greedily:roll:


At the moment I only have one crappy little bird feeder that i always forget to fill up, where's the best place to buy feeders and food from?

Oooh that website is good isn't it?:D Cheers! I shall definately be taking some of that advice. I love willdlife.




:hihi:@the cat thing-they are indoor cats anyway, but my computer table is right next to the balcony door, so I can just see them perched on the top of it watching the birdies greedily:roll:


At the moment I only have one crappy little bird feeder that i always forget to fill up, where's the best place to buy feeders and food from?

I buy all of my feed from a wholesaler on the Hellaby industrial estate. A 13kg bag of sunflower hearts costs about £14-00. I buy my feeders from a garden centre near to Coal Aston (I've forgotten its name) its near to the Dyches Lane roundabout. Buy one with metal ports, the squirrels will chew through anything made of plastic!
I've also made my own feeder by drilling 22mm holes with a zip-bit in a 4" diameter log, that's about 3ft long. I then get half a pound of lard or dripping, & add some chopped-up peanuts or sunflower hearts.I then put it all in a saucepan & melt it. I then pour the mixture into the holes & let it set. Then hang it in a tree or on a clothes post.All the birds love this feeder. You can knock some nails under some of the holes, so the thrushes & robins can feed as well.

I've had two or three pairs of bullfinches (and their young) visiting every day for the past few years. They particularly like the window feeders for some reason which is lovely.

I buy sunflower hearts from Wilkinsons and have given up on other seed as most birds seem to prefer these.

I get lots of goldfinches, greenfinches and tits but dunnocks, robins, wrens and thrushes can also manage sunflower hearts which is a bonus as they clear up most of the dropped seed. In this weather a little home made bird cake goes down a treat too if they reach it before the magpies descend.

I buy all of my feed from a wholesaler on the Hellaby industrial estate. A 13kg bag of sunflower hearts costs about £14-00. I buy my feeders from a garden centre near to Coal Aston (I've forgotten its name) its near to the Dyches Lane roundabout. Buy one with metal ports, the squirrels will chew through anything made of plastic!

Ahhh a wholesalers...I think I may be gone in the head...I work at chuffin MAKRO:roll::hihi:

Why I haven't thought to have a look round there I don't know. Just wait until I am supposed to be doing the shopping for the coffee shop on Saturday morning and get caught eyeing up bird feeders:hihi:

Thanks:D

Bird food :|

Ive put everything up for the birds. Peanuts in nets, fat in balls strung up, and bird seed in the bird bath. The wont touch anything!!! Is it the cats ( not mine) that patrol the gardens ? :huh:

Ive put everything up for the birds. Peanuts in nets, fat in balls strung up, and bird seed in the bird bath. The wont touch anything!!! Is it the cats ( not mine) that patrol the gardens ? :huh:

Almost certainly.:(
Birds won't chance it while there is still plenty of wild food out there. They may chance a cat infested environment when it gets very cold and wild food becomes rare.
Basically.......get rid of the cats.

Basically.......get rid of the cats.
Easier said than done - and believe me I tried with my garden in Wadsley. I put wire netting on the wrought-iron gate to prevent slim moggies from slipping through - whereupon they somehow climbed up the 7-foot wooden gatepost and dropped down the other side. Barbed wire along the top of the high wooden fence was treated with pussyfooting disdain as they stepped neatly over the barbs like feline ballerinas doing a tricky pas-de-quatre. I lined the privet hedge with wire netting (so they clambered over the top - swaying a bit on the thinner privet fronds but finally getting into the garden in whisker-twitching triumph). I put so-called cat-deterring stuff around the garden (they completely ignored it). The little blighters even found a way of getting on top of the front bay windows, using this as a step-up to the guttering which ran all round the bungalow. The only crumb of comfort was that making my garden resemble as much of a feline Fort Knox as possible deterred some of the older, flabbier moggies, so the cat count became low enough for some birds to visit the table, and a fairly good variety of birds would fly in and out of the apple trees. Here in Lincolnshire the garden is large enough for a well-patronised bird table to be surrounded by a clear space big enough for the birds to see any cats coming and beat a hasty retreat. Our own moggy couldn't care less - as I write this he's fast asleep after a hearty breakfast.

^^^I find that a bucket full of water thrown at them usually does the trick of scaring them off. They seem to remember the experience as well, for if they catch a site of me looking through the window at them they tend to disappear pretty sharpish.
Or maybe that's just my general appearance.:gag: :hihi:

^^^I find that a bucket full of water thrown at them usually does the trick of scaring them off. They seem to remember the experience as well, for if they catch a site of me looking through the window at them they tend to disappear pretty sharpish.
Or maybe that's just my general appearance.:gag: :hihi:

Thank God my cats are indoor kitties:hihi::D

2 baby robbins,tits and a couple of nasty magpies that keep throwing the fat ball and nut holder on the floor,grrrrrrr

Baby Robins? Are you sure? How can you tell as they normally only keep the speckles for a few weeks before getting the redbreast. I can't imagine there being any babies around in January

No-one's mentioned greater spotted woodpeckers, we get plenty of these on our feeders, last summer we had a juvenile in the tree in our garden. It was being fed from the feeder, by one of its parents. We have seen one green woodpecker in the area. We get loads of goldfinches, greenfinches and chaffinches, but bullfinches only rarely. We get blue tits, great tits (both species have nested in our garden), and coal tits. Nuthatch is a regular visitor; we also get jays, occasionally. A juvenile goldcrest visited once (to our knowledge) last summer. Robins and blackbirds are regular visitors, but funnily enough we never get starlings or sparrows.

Our biggest problem is squirrels - they drive us mad, absolutely mad, mainly because they scare off the birds and eat substantial amounts of expensive sunflower hearts!

Our biggest problem is squirrels - they drive us mad, absolutely mad, mainly because they scare off the birds and eat substantial amounts of expensive sunflower hearts!

Squirrels are cuddly-looking pests, but in Wadsley we had a jay that put one over on them. He would wait for the squirrels to find nuts and bury them, and then as soon as they cleared off he would dig the nuts up with his beak. Clever!

Good story about the jays - very impressive birds. Squirrels are tree-rats, cuddly looking yes, even comical, but defiant and absolutely impossible to get rid of. Not even water puts them off. And they are responsible for putting at risk our native red squirrel population!

Theres a cat that keeps loitering around our bird table, how do we get rid of it?


We try knocking on the window, it runs away then keeps coming back.

What do we do?

Theres a cat that keeps loitering around our bird table, how do we get rid of it?


We try knocking on the window, it runs away then keeps coming back.

What do we do?

Exactly the same problem we have with the squirrels! We don't have a cat problem, but we can have three squirrels in our garden all at the same time. We've also had rabbits in the garden and I believe the occasional badger. I don't think there's a solution to the squirrel/cat problem, to be honest - I'm almost resigned to putting up with it.

Theres a cat that keeps loitering around our bird table, how do we get rid of it?


We try knocking on the window, it runs away then keeps coming back.

What do we do?

Not long ago I had a pheasant on my bird feeder, cats soon dissappeared :hihi:

trying to encourage buzzards down but they dont want to know, any ideas???

Had a fantastic day birdwatching at work (it's pretty slack during the hols.).
The environment close to where I work is a mixture of parkland, cemetery, golf course, small pockets of woodland, rough grassland, suburban gardens and school playing fields and it's on these playing fields that there was an ornithological show the like of which I have never seen outside a RSPB reserve!
After the snow of yesterday and from reading the posts on this thread I thought I'd buy some wild bird food and take my binoculars to work.
As soon as I arrived at work (it was still dark) I spread the bird food round the edge of the playing field and waited with anticipation.
9am. Bloody Magpies! That was it:mad:. About 15 of them were feeding/squabbling for about 15 mins until they flew off to the other playing fields but luckily leaving most of the food behind (pretty stunning birds though when viewed close up). It seems that they ate all the sunflower seeds and left the less nutritious stuff.:clap: I'm glad I didn't buy just sunflower seeds.
Between about 9.30am and 11am there was very little activity other than the usual Blackbirds and Crows turning up. I even managed to do some work which is more than I can say for my boss.:hihi:
Then from 11 till about 2.30, what a show.
At first I saw a flock of about 30 Starlings but spread around the field were masses of Redwings. I lost count at about 60. Mixed in with these were 8 Mistle Thrushes and 2 Song Thrushes with 17 Blackbirds counted spread out around the area. The usual Pigeons, Crows, Gulls and Magpies were still hanging around.
Smaller birds I counted were 3 Chaffinches, 12 Bullfinches, 6 Greenfinches, numerous Sparrows (Tree and House), 5 Great Tits, a squadron of 8 Long Tailed Tits but only 1 Blue Tit (?)! Also, no Robins!
However the best show came in the form of a flock of about 20 Goldfinches which were accompanied by a pair of Goldcrests or Firecrests and stayed for most of the day until the grand finale which happened at about 2.30pm.
All the birds were feeding on the ground close to the school perimeter fence which seperates the playing fields from a public footpath when everyone of them (except the Crows and Magpies) flew up and landed on the top of this 8 foot high fence. It was obvious that something had startled them and I thought it might have been somebody walking their dog but there was nobody to be seen.
It was at this point that every single bird on the fence (about 300) flew into the air in all directions with the Goldfinches heading towards a small woodland further down the valley and out of site.
At the same time I saw a glimpse of a large bird (bigger than a Kestrel, smaller than a Buzzard) come from behind me at breakneck speed and disappear into the woodland that the Goldfinches had just dashed to. At first I thought it might be a Sparrowhawk but from the speed it was travelling, the shape of it's wings and the generally grey colouring of them it was certainly a Peregrine Falcon!
Whether it managed to grab a Goldfinch or not I don't know but that was the last I saw of the Tits and Finches. However the Crows and Thrushes carried on feeding as though nothing had happened.
So, all in all, not a bad days bird watching!:thumbsup:

Theres a cat that keeps loitering around our bird table, how do we get rid of it?


We try knocking on the window, it runs away then keeps coming back.

What do we do?

^^^I find that a bucket full of water thrown at them usually does the trick of scaring them off. They seem to remember the experience as well, for if they catch a site of me looking through the window at them they tend to disappear pretty sharpish.
Or maybe that's just my general appearance. :gag::hihi:

I live near Meersbrook park so I'm quite lucky for birds. I've got my feeders on a steel pole situated near a perennial fuschia, so they can get some cover if a sparrowhawk attacks. To deter squirrels I mix a solution of vaseline,fiery jack, chili powder & 3 in 1 oil & smear it on the pole. They only try to get up it once:hihi:


Have just read your solution to your squirrel problem. The squirrels get the hot pepper on their paws then rub their eyes, the pepper gets into their eyes and they are in agony. Not really the best solution.
In my garden I have a bird feeder on a pole, 3/4 up the pole is a metal cylinder approx 18" long, the squirrels cannot get onto the bird feeder past the cylinder.

The bird's on the feeder are Blue Jays, bright red cardinals, yellow breasted finches and loads of mourning doves. Up to now my husband has put out 50lbs of seed and the birds are on to the 2nd block of seeded suet.

Belated Happy New Year. Cynthia, Canada.

We get blue tits, a coal tit, sparrows a dunnock and a robin. I think a flock of long tailed tits passed through once or twice but didn't stop :(, and I've seen goldfinches across the road but they haven't ventured this far yet...

Compared to my parents garden it's feeble, but I suppose it's not bad for a terrace!
My parents get the occasional sparrowhawk, but they've not seen it as much since the tree had to come down.

Have just read your solution to your squirrel problem. The squirrels get the hot pepper on their paws then rub their eyes, the pepper gets into their eyes and they are in agony. Not really the best solution.
In my garden I have a bird feeder on a pole, 3/4 up the pole is a metal cylinder approx 18" long, the squirrels cannot get onto the bird feeder past the cylinder.

The bird's on the feeder are Blue Jays, bright red cardinals, yellow breasted finches and loads of mourning doves. Up to now my husband has put out 50lbs of seed and the birds are on to the 2nd block of seeded suet.

Belated Happy New Year. Cynthia, Canada.

Good point about the potential agony caused to these creatures - having a pole does not always stop them taking bird food, however. We use a pole for our feeder but the pesky squirrels just jump on the feeder from the tree in the garden or from the garden fence! We use 20kg of sunflower hearts a month - how much of that, I often wonder, feeds the local squirrel population?

I got Great Spotted Woodpecker, goldfinches, robin, blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits, blackbird, jay (occasionally).

If you want goldfinches - put some Niger seed out, they love it.

Oh yeh and the squirrels just trashed the nutnet lol

My cats are too busy with vole population to both with the birds.

Caz

Nearly burnt the toasted cheese sandwiches we have just had for lunch because spotted a redpoll on the feeder! Looking out now for its return, hopefully ...

i live at owlthorpe and only have a small garden, but have loads of trees and fields behind us.

Over the xmas hols we have had the following in the garden feeding on seeds, nuts, and fat blocks

Pheasent, patridges, magpies, blackbirds
Tits - Blue, Great and Coal (and the long tail squadron!)
Finches - Chaffinch, Green, Bull, Gold
Robins, Dunnocks, Nuthatches, GS woodpecker, Pidgeon, Dove
A field mouse (cute!)

AND LOADS OF BL**DY SQUIRRELS - COUNTED SIX AT ONE TIME THE OTHER DAY

On other days we have also had a green woodpecker and a sparrowhawk is also a regular visitor usually after the greenfinches.

I find it amazing that we get such a variety of birds just by putting out some seeds.

It brightens up may day - everday.

:cool:

What's on your bird feeder?

Some bread and peanuts.

We use a pole for our feeder but the pesky squirrels just jump on the feeder from the tree in the garden or from the garden fence! We use 20kg of sunflower hearts a month - how much of that, I often wonder, feeds the local squirrel population?

Bird table needs to be at least eight feet from nearest jumping point, - tried five and seven feet but eight defeated them.

I have an upside down plastic waste bin on my pole mounted four feet off the ground - stops cats, rats and squirrels.

Fat balls and feeders are hung from a branch on a very thin wire, - squirrels can slide down them but when I see one I let the dog out. He sits underneath barking while the squirrel is frantically trying to climb back up the wire - real Tom and Jerry stuff :D

Bird table needs to be at least eight feet from nearest jumping point, - tried five and seven feet but eight defeated them.

I have an upside down plastic waste bin on my pole mounted four feet off the ground - stops cats, rats and squirrels.

Fat balls and feeders are hung from a branch on a very thin wire, - squirrels can slide down them but when I see one I let the dog out. He sits underneath barking while the squirrel is frantically trying to climb back up the wire - real Tom and Jerry stuff :D

I think you're right about the jumping distance, problem is garden at moment restricts where we can put pole (partner objects to sunflower hearts taking root in grass). If, or when, we redesign our garden we could deal with this ... the plastic waste bin is a good idea.

The bird table has pretty much the same as everyone elses but sitting on the privet hedge the other day was a rather beautiful Sparrowhawk - at least I think it was. It sat there for quite some time - the garden was eerily quiet and free from other birds for a while! I live in S11 and was very surprised to see it there.

This morning I was still half-asleep when I heard the familiar "yaffling" call of a green woodpecker. Although it didn't sound quite right, I leapt out of bed, went downstairs and grabbed my binoculars. Sure enough - the bird table was deserted (hardly surprising as a squirrel had probably nicked all the food at dawn) but up in the plum tree were three starlings. Evidently one of them was a clever b*gger that liked to do green woodpecker impressions... Starlings will mimic anything - I remember one that did a pretty fair imitation of a chain saw.

At home I usually have up to 4 Blackbirds visiting my garden to feed. I've seen much less of them this winter mainly due to this
http://s215.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/sixxsix/?action=view&current=139.jpg
in one of my neighbours gardens!:D

I

If you want goldfinches - put some Niger seed out, they love it.



Apparently so, but my parents just got bullfinches on it - evidently no-one has told them :hihi:

I'd like to know how pheasants and partridges get on a bird table, I'm always highly entertained by watching woodpigeons try - they're quite unwieldy :D

The starlings at home used to do milk bottles clinking together, nobody has milk delivered any more though. Apparenlty the buzzing and clicking noises they make comes from sitting on electric wires - they mimic the sounds they hear (or possibly feel?)!

We had to stop feeding the birds because of rats :-(

Me too, I love seeing the birds, but we had a family of rats visiting :sad:

Apparently so, but my parents just got bullfinches on it - evidently no-one has told them :hihi:

I'd like to know how pheasants and partridges get on a bird table, I'm always highly entertained by watching woodpigeons try - they're quite unwieldy :D

The starlings at home used to do milk bottles clinking together, nobody has milk delivered any more though. Apparenlty the buzzing and clicking noises they make comes from sitting on electric wires - they mimic the sounds they hear (or possibly feel?)!

We had a pheasant visiting our area for a while, a couple of years ago, but it suddenly disappeared. We often wonder whether it ended up on someone's plate.

The woodpigeons are frequent visitors to our garden, one has even learnt how to use the feeder!

We get quite a few with living in the Peak, We even had a parrot which I think must have escaped. One of the best places to go to see wild birds feeding is up at Fairholmes just opposite the Ranger office - My son works up there and it's lovely first thing in the morning before anyone is up and about, The wild birds seem to flock there.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/Peak-District/birds.jpg

I forgot to mention my squirrel & cat deterrent. It's a super soaker water pistol..they don't like water with a bit of fairy liquid in it, up 'em:D

Dried worms. As usual, they're not interested.

We've had blackbirds,greenfinches,goldfinches,bluetits,coalt its,great tits,a wren,a dunnock,wood pigeons and magpies.Haven't seen any starlings for ages and only the occasional sparrow.No thrushes for ages either.

2010. Over 30 goldfinches, 10 bullfinches, 20 green finches & the usual blue, great & long tailed tits.

birds? bloody freeloading immigrants.

look at them all, coming over here, because they know we're a soft touch for a peanut. once we get rid of the idiots that run this country, we should put up a big net, and keep them out.

you walk round the run down places in this city like castle market and the moor, and they they all are, cluttering up the pavement, begging for scraps, chattering away in their own language. it's a bloody disgrace - is Sheffield not full?

woe betide if you speak out against them, or stand up for yourself - you end up with the RSPCA and all the bleeding heart 'animal lovers' saying that your cruel. political correctness gone mad.*


*may have been spending too long reading other threads in this forum

LOL Moke.....

blackbirds, starlings, robins, ring neck doves,two mice and a squirrel

two tiny mice live in our bird table, they have become quite tame and will take food out of your hand, they also sit amongst the birds (some of which are 4 times their size) while eating.

My feeder hasn't had any visitors yet. A robin looked interested but didn't take the plunge. I've scattered some food elsewhere around the garden and have had blackbirds, magpies, a dunnock and a cat. The tree next door has berries which has attracted redwings.

Almost certainly.:(
Birds won't chance it while there is still plenty of wild food out there. They may chance a cat infested environment when it gets very cold and wild food becomes rare.
Basically.......get rid of the cats.

Rubbish. My cat is a demon for catching birds even with 3 bells on her collar and it doesn't deter the birds in my garden in the slightest.

Nearly burnt the toasted cheese sandwiches we have just had for lunch because spotted a redpoll on the feeder! Looking out now for its return, hopefully ...

I had one of those last year - stood there thinking "what on earth is that?" I know now though!

Had a fantastic day birdwatching at work (it's pretty slack during the hols.).However the best show came in the form of a flock of about 20 Goldfinches which were accompanied by a pair of Goldcrests or Firecrests and stayed for most of the day until the grand finale which happened at about 2.30pm.



Must admit I have never, ever seen goldfinches feeding on the ground.

[QUOTE=raganoonande;2986625 7 bullfinches?!! I wonder where the eighth one was, as these usually go in pairs. [/QUOTE]

I have seen a bullfinch in my garden only twice in 8 years - the second time being yesterday! Both times it was just a single bird.

2 baby robbins,

There'll be no baby robins at this time of the year.

I had more than 70 starlings bombarding the table just before 3pm this afty. I waited until they'd gone back up to sit in the tree, and had a go at counting them. I got to 74 before they came and bombarded the table again, I wish they'd sit still LOL I'd hazard a guess at a good 100 starlings.

We also have a blackbird, bluetits, greatits and coal tits... a robin, a good 10 or more sparrows and a wee dunnock. He's quite friendly, and will potter about under the bird table with me just a few feet away. Last year I spotted a bullfinch for a few mornings. I hope it returns. Oh and we have squirrels, thrushes and a sparrowhawk.
Pesky woodpigeons and collared doves. I very rarely put seed on the bird table now because of them. I tend to keep the seeds and sunflower hearts in hanging feeders to discourage them, but put suet pellets, raisins and mealworms on the actual table.

Oh yes, and 3 hens lol

I tried without much success last year to scare off the squirrels, so now I put a pile of peanuts on a little table down the bottom of the garden for them, and they tend to go for that rather than the stuff in the feeders....most of the time.

The usual, greenfinches, robins, blue tits and sparrows. And a pheasant.

on my feeder blue tits and long tail tits in the garden robins blackbirds starlings dunnocks and a song thrush which is very good but gets bullied alot by the other birds

We have bluetits, blackbirds, robins, pigeons, great tits,coaltits, thrushes, sparrows and a squirrel.
We did have a redwing the other day, a lovely looking bird

Also a pair of Jays last year, but sadly not this one.

A fairly decent mix on my feeders in Crookes.
Flocks of Goldfinches & Sparrows, Dunnocks, Occasional Greenfinches; Blue, Great, Coal & occasional Long Tailed Tits, Robin, Starlings, WoodPigeons, Collared Doves, Magpies, Blackbirds & a Wren or two.
Briefly had a Sparrowhawk land in the tree, at which point everything else left:(