B***** Birds

Suvv

Suvv

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Kev
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I keep filling up my feeders but these birds come and eat all the seed!
It makes me want to give up but I do like to see a nice full feeder.
 
Haha, know what you mean.

Starlings are the worst culprits, but I've managed to come up with a starling deterrent system.
 
We get a lot of pigeons eating the seed we put out ..... fortunately the local sparrow hawk female does a good line in pigeon disassembly judging by the heaps of feathers we keep finding.
 
broc said:
We get a lot of pigeons eating the seed we put out ..... fortunately the local sparrow hawk female does a good line in pigeon disassembly judging by the heaps of feathers we keep finding.
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I feed our local bird population at 8.00am and they gather again on nearby roofs late afternoon so I put out some more along with crunched up fat balls. The fat balls are very hard in cold weather so 40/50 seconds in the microwave allows me to crunch them up. I don’t use feeders anymore but place the food on the edge of the lawn next to a very thorny Berberis which, as I’ve seen a few times, sparrow hawks can’t get into. It’s a large bush now..5’W x 8’ H approx. Those birds inside know this and stay there. Sometimes I hear a cacophony of sparrow chirping and quickly go to the Berberis and sometimes see a SH trying to get in but it spreads it’s wings and can’t. On one occasion one a female SH (larger than the male, I believe) was sitting on the fence panels directly behind the bush and stayed on the fence as I shouted at it..I’ve had to go over the veg patch to within a couple of paces of it before it takes off. Very bold. On one occasion I was by the garden boundary hedge (now replaced with a fence) on a three -step ladder by our neighbour’s greenhouse and a SH flew so close to me, at my head level, I felt the wind created by its flight and it sat on the door of that greenhouse..just 2m from me and glared at me. Sparrows would gather in that hedge. I expect it took exception to me being so close to its regular ‘take-away’..lol

I made a comment to my wife not long ago moaning about how many pigeons came and her response was. ‘ they have a life to live too”. I thought, yes, you’re right, so,I’m not bothered about them anymore. There’s about six that come. However, re your comments on the SH and pigeons I do see piles of pigeon feathers or the remains of one I saw a SH ripping away at one on the 15m wide grass verge opposite our house just last week. A few weeks ago I saw one that a SH had opened it up and it’s stomach was filled with bird seed so I assumed it was one of our visitors As it was just metres from our house.

The other visitors are a robin,which sits on the plant pot next to where I spread the seed..very bold..blue tit’s, great tits, blackbirds ..they eat the fat balls..crows...Ugh..lol.. collared doves..8 of them,which is great..they pair for life and live for seven years . A grey squirrel comes twice a day too. It eats the seed,I thought it would have gone for the fat balls. Passing traffic does for our local squirrels even though we’re not on a main road. I’ve bagged up three in the last couple of months. That’s because they live in the trees across the road from the houses.
 
I guess it's that time again huh? I haven't started filling my feeders just yet. I prefer to leave seeds and suet balls out on the garden table or near perches I set up so I can get photos of them when I want - but when you have a cat this is dodgy. I do hang feeders from a big ash tree out back, but the likes of the robin that venture in and the blackbirds don't do feeders. I need to find a safe spot to leave something out for those and keep watch for our moggy on the prowl
 
As an aside, it's fantastic to see increased numbers of Sparrowhawks, in this area at least.
 
simon ess said:
As an aside, it's fantastic to see increased numbers of Sparrowhawks, in this area at least.
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Never had one in our garden, think it's too enclosed for them to get back out of quickly - since we have that cat. I'd love to get some pics of one though, lovely bird. It can have the pigeons and Magpies so long as it left the Robins and finches alone
 
ancient_mariner said:
We had to buy squirrel-resistant feeders, and even then they manager to gnaw through some of the wire & pry the top off the seed feeder.
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Know what you mean. Our sunflower hearts feeder is in a cage and I've had to wire the top down to stop the furry characters opening it and getting the seeds. A few days ago I saw this -

sqinfeedercage.jpg

-the only consolation was the ports aren't big enough for the squirrel to get its mouth in.


Dave
 
We no longer get starlings or house sparrows but lots of great tits, blue tits, coal tits. goldfinch as well as pigeons and ring necked parakeets. I used to keep the seed in plastic containers in shed but a squirrel ate away the top corner of the door and the side of the plastic container to get to the seed. I temporarily repaired the door with some wood but it was eaten away again in 1 night. It is now edged with metal and the seed is in metal containers.
 
We keep our seed in a galvanized rubbish bin with the lid bungeed down. Seems to keep critters and weather out.
 
Nod said:
We keep our seed in a galvanized rubbish bin with the lid bungeed down. Seems to keep critters and weather out.
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We had the same problem . We kept the plastic seed bags..12.75kgs..in the garage and they attracted mice..Ugh. They chewed through the plastic.So, we now use the same plastic green bins that the council give us for recycling and they have secure lids..so far so good.

Is there much difference re quality ? I get ours from Range..£14 for 12.75 kgs..it’s..a general mix. Today my wife went to Aldi and found Dawn Chorus seed on offer at £3. 99 for 12.75kgs. And 50 fat balls for £3.99 too. Famously, Aldi have a couple of central isles in their stores and fill them with bargains like this. Seems that in our local Aldi it’s Thursdays and Sundays for replacement and they fill the shelving with all sorts,including electrical items. . Anyway, I digress. The seed had quite a lot of Niger seed in it which I think is good but my wife told me that a lady in the till queue said to her that they don’t buy..quote ’That cheap seed..our birds wouldn’t eat that’..lol. A bit rude. Had that been me. A. I wouldn’t have said that or B. Something like, “Have you tried the feed from...wherever it was she said..it has mealworm in it ?”

It goes fairly quickly after I put it out so I assume it’s ok. Maybe I should buy mealworm separately and add it. Does it have to soaked ? I Googled it and I wondered why some companies sell it in tubs as litres and others as kgs. Supermarkets do this with some items.. I’m sure it’s so we can’t compare value.
 
JohnC6 said:
We had the same problem . We kept the plastic seed bags..12.75kgs..in the garage and they attracted mice..Ugh. They chewed through the plastic.So, we now use the same plastic green bins that the council give us for recycling and they have secure lids..so far so good.

Is there much difference re quality ? I get ours from Range..£14 for 12.75 kgs..it’s..a general mix. Today my wife went to Aldi and found Dawn Chorus seed on offer at £3. 99 for 12.75kgs. And 50 fat balls for £3.99 too. Famously, Aldi have a couple of central isles in their stores and fill them with bargains like this. Seems that in our local Aldi it’s Thursdays and Sundays for replacement and they fill the shelving with all sorts,including electrical items. . Anyway, I digress. The seed had quite a lot of Niger seed in it which I think is good but my wife told me that a lady in the till queue said to her that they don’t buy..quote ’That cheap seed..our birds wouldn’t eat that’..lol. A bit rude. Had that been me. A. I wouldn’t have said that or B. Something like, “Have you tried the feed from...wherever it was she said..it has mealworm in it ?”

It goes fairly quickly after I put it out so I assume it’s ok. Maybe I should buy mealworm separately and add it. Does it have to soaked ? I Googled it and I wondered why some companies sell it in tubs as litres and others as kgs. Supermarkets do this with some items.. I’m sure it’s so we can’t compare value.
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I tend to buy sunflower seed 'hearts' as I would have all sorts germinating around the feeders, a 20kg bag is £23 delivered and lasts me 4-6 months.
 
Cartus said:
I tend to buy sunflower seed 'hearts'
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When I put them out, its not long before the damned squirrel is hanging upside down from the "arm" and stuffing his face from the tray :rolleyes:
 
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