What's on your bird feeder?

[sixxsix 10]

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.

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!

[LitleMermaid 10]

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? Cheers! I shall definately be taking some of that advice. I love willdlife.

 

 

Not a problem.

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!

 

@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?

[melv 16]

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

 

 

 

 

@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.

[chin_wag 10]

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.

[LitleMermaid 10]

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:

 

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

[Dave650 10]

Bird food

[pattricia 574]

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 ?

[sixxsix 10]

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 ?

 

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.

[hillsbro 30]

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.

[sixxsix 10]

^^^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.

[LitleMermaid 10]

^^^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.

 

Thank God my cats are indoor kitties:hihi:

[Twitcher 10]

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