Wild birds and the cold.

[fireman 10,994]

If folks haven't got seeds or nuts then just soak some complete dog food biscuits and break a few into small bits,that will help all the birds get by.. and put out some water to as most puddles are now full of road salt snow water..

[Meece 1,958]

After the snow yesterday afternoon,  the tempereture  rose rapidly and a big thaw set in. Overnight and today the snow has gone completely and it has rained a bit. Took the spaniel for a wandrer round the orchards and it was muddy wet sloppy on top but frozen solid underneath which made it really hard walking. When the snlow melted there was a lot of scattered seed on the ground.

[sussex 5,777]

On 02/03/2018 at 19:17, sussex said:

Last week I filled the bins up , 25 kg peanuts , 20 kg wild bird seed , 10 kg niger seed and ten suet blocks ...the peanuts will last about a month , seed , probably 6 weeks and the niger seed about a month ..the suet blocks 3 weeks tops ..worth every penny .

one unusual bird is a great tit with a white tail , ive tried a dozen times to get a picture but it never stay still long enough ..

Finally managed to get a pic of the great tit with the white tail 

[Kerny92 1,246]

Not long since we moved into our new house, we have a big garden but it's very barren with no trees whatsoever. During the last cold snap i thought i would help the local residents out and bought a bird table. Placed it about 1.5 metre away from the fence and sat down in anticipation and excitement. Half a day later and not even a bite, not even a bird sat on the fence. I thought maybe they don't like the table being so close to the fence as they might feel vulnerbale to Cats. So i stuck it into the middle of tbe garden and still nothing, i cleared the snow around the table and scattered seed everywhere. Hell i even put a slice of bread out smeared in Peanut Butter, nothing! I thought in times of need they'd be on it in a flash, ungrateful little shits! Anyway a couple of days later, first thing in the morning i noticed a Blackbird on the floor eating the seed. Gradually one or two came in to feed. Fast forward a few week and it's like the Birds! It's white over now and can't see anything at all but as i speak there's 4 Wood Pigeon, shifting the snow and eating the seed under the table. Birds find food by sight but they must have a good memory as well as you can't see anything on the floor.

Edited March 18, 2018 by Kerny92

[sussex 5,777]

2 hours ago, Kerny92 said:

Not long since we moved into our new house, we have a big garden but it's very barren with no trees whatsoever. During the last cold snap i thought i would help the local residents out and bought a bird table. Placed it about 1.5 metre away from the fence and sat down in anticipation and excitement. Half a day later and not even a bite, not even a bird sat on the fence. I thought maybe they don't like the table being so close to the fence as they might feel vulnerbale to Cats. So i stuck it into the middle of tbe garden and still nothing, i cleared the snow around the table and scattered seed everywhere. Hell i even put a slice of bread out smeared in Peanut Butter, nothing! I thought in times of need they'd be on it in a flash, ungrateful little shits! Anyway a couple of days later, first thing in the morning i noticed a Blackbird on the floor eating the seed. Gradually one or two came in to feed. Fast forward a few week and it's like the Birds! It's white over now and can't see anything at all but as i speak there's 4 Wood Pigeon, shifting the snow and eating the seed under the table. Birds find food by sight but they must have a good memory as well as you can't see anything on the floor.

 Like you I found them a little bit slow to come in on the feeder especially when it was out in the middle of the grass , when I moved it closer to a hedge it really took off, I think they like the hedge for the safety from the spar’s which picked them of fairly easily. A couple of tallish shrubs close by might help .. 

These were feeding on the floor on what the ones on the feeders (8) were dropping ..

[Greyman 28,948]

Drinkable water is a massive draw for them at the moment as all the ditch,s are full of run off salt water from the over  enthusiastic gritters and anything fresh is frozen, can be a pain in the ass but each time you have a cuppa put a bit of warm water out for the birds  

[Kerny92 1,246]

43 minutes ago, sussex said:

 Like you I found them a little bit slow to come in on the feeder especially when it was out in the middle of the grass , when I moved it closer to a hedge it really took off, I think they like the hedge for the safety from the spar’s which picked them of fairly easily. A couple of tallish shrubs close by might help .. 

These were feeding on the floor on what the ones on the feeders (8) were dropping ..

I suppose me having no trees or shrubs doesn't help matters. The feeder is now in the middle of the garden as i thought being close to the edge might make them wary being vulnerable to Cats. 

 

I'm envious of you, i haven't seen a Finch or Tit in sight. All I've had is Blackies, Starlings, Doves and Woodies.

Edited March 18, 2018 by Kerny92

[Rabid 1,936]

59 minutes ago, sussex said:

 Like you I found them a little bit slow to come in on the feeder especially when it was out in the middle of the grass , when I moved it closer to a hedge it really took off, I think they like the hedge for the safety from the spar’s which picked them of fairly easily. A couple of tallish shrubs close by might help .. 

These were feeding on the floor on what the ones on the feeders (8) were dropping ..

I bet you've been sat at that window since the 3rd of march when you posted haven't you, nice pics though rich, it's addictive whiling away the hours watching them

 

[Rabid 1,936]

On 03/03/2018 at 15:45, W. Katchum said:

I ain’t got no trees or nowt in my garden, dogs are confined to back garden an yard as kids play in others, we have had nowt but trouble with cats shittin an daughters plants so even removed them, my garden actually looks like a nursery play ground lol sorry an that but my 4 kids come before the birds when planning me garden, like I said I could prob hang em inside kennels as that be only safe place an they half bars so birds can get in an out but old terrier got a thing for young fledglings she always snapping them out hedges so I’d have to stop before they appear? but genuinely cats are a fcuker here an few folks have kicked up fcuk but nowt ever been done some houses have mulitople cats an boxed in gardens for em to sleep in so they pretty much feral, should see stink kicked up tho if one gets run over or summat, place is mental mate?

If you feel bad just put a couple of hanging basket brackets up on the walls. Could even string a rope up and hang them off that, once birds know of a food supply they are not too fussy how you've done it.

[peterhunter86 8,627]

9 hours ago, Kerny92 said:

Not long since we moved into our new house, we have a big garden but it's very barren with no trees whatsoever. During the last cold snap i thought i would help the local residents out and bought a bird table. Placed it about 1.5 metre away from the fence and sat down in anticipation and excitement. Half a day later and not even a bite, not even a bird sat on the fence. I thought maybe they don't like the table being so close to the fence as they might feel vulnerbale to Cats. So i stuck it into the middle of tbe garden and still nothing, i cleared the snow around the table and scattered seed everywhere. Hell i even put a slice of bread out smeared in Peanut Butter, nothing! I thought in times of need they'd be on it in a flash, ungrateful little shits! Anyway a couple of days later, first thing in the morning i noticed a Blackbird on the floor eating the seed. Gradually one or two came in to feed. Fast forward a few week and it's like the Birds! It's white over now and can't see anything at all but as i speak there's 4 Wood Pigeon, shifting the snow and eating the seed under the table. Birds find food by sight but they must have a good memory as well as you can't see anything on the floor.

What seeds have you put out.

[Kerny92 1,246]

13 minutes ago, peterhunter86 said:

What seeds have you put out.

Just a mixed bag from the Range, i watched Winterwatch not long back and the seed of choice for most birds was Sunflower seeds. 

[peterhunter86 8,627]

38 minutes ago, Kerny92 said:

Just a mixed bag from the Range, i watched Winterwatch not long back and the seed of choice for most birds was Sunflower seeds. 

What your using is prob mostly wheat which realy only attracts pigeons and dove's, I use nyger seed and sunflower heart's, the energy mix out of lidl peanut's and fatballs and I get all sorts off birds.

[Kerny92 1,246]

16 minutes ago, peterhunter86 said:

What your using is prob mostly wheat which realy only attracts pigeons and dove's, I use nyger seed and sunflower heart's, the energy mix out of lidl peanut's and fatballs and I get all sorts off birds.

I've got some suet balls on a hanger and haven't seen much on them apart from Sparrow, Blackbird and Starling.

[Meece 1,958]

I think that a lot of it is down to the shrubs and cover that are near the feeder more than the food. I now use standard mixed cornn which is mainly wheat with sunflower, millet,  and other small seeds. We have a single feder and get loads of birds but next door has several feeders with seds and fat balls and the birds don't seem to use them much at all. We get different types of birds to a bloke down the road. We dont get any finches or only the odd ones, he gets loads. we get house sparrows, hedge sparrows, blackbirds, robins, wrens and the odd thrush pigeons and doves clear up, but he doesn't yet we are feeding the same seed types. Still most people have feeders out with different food so they can get something. The birds all seem to come in waves and then all go again.

[Rabid 1,936]

I noticed the niger seed brought lots of different varieties in that weneverusedto get before.