Bird feeding station & miniature pond

[Daysleeper40]

Hi All,

Not sure this is in the right section but apart from making our garden (more of a yard really) a bit more nature friendly I have set up a bird feeding station and made a mini container pond in the hope of creating some photo-op's with the local wildlife so in that respect it is photography equipment!

I have never tried this before and so far none of our feathered friends seem remotely interested so I thought I'd ask for some tips other than to be patient. Set up is shown below:

Couple of questions -

Will hanging the feeders from twine like I have put them off - should I get one of those poles with hooks on instead?

Is our yard just too small and put the birds off?

Any tips on luring them in in general?

Part two of my nature quest is the mini container pond:

I would like to attract bugs and maybe a frog or two to this. I know I need to create some steps / a ramp in and out but same questions again really - any tips on adding plants to attract butterflies / dragon flies etc or generally making a success of my little pond?

Any help gratefully received - I'm not known for my gardening!

 

[Twizzel]

I think you need more foliage around both in order to make it a safer habitat for birds. From experience they will use a bird bath if there are plants surrounding it so they can edge closer to the bird bath which is safer. It also gives a little more protection, somewhere to hide if a predator comes along.

Same goes for the bird feeders really, they need to be surrounded with plenty of places that they can dart off to if something nasty came along.

We landscaped our garden last year, added a bird table and the bird bath that we bought with us from our old house. For the last 3 years the bird bath had been in the middle of the front garden with no protection and it was never used. The back garden was landscaped last June and it's taken a good year for birds to come into the garden. We now have a resident pair of blackbirds and several blue tits, finches, swallows which all visit on a daily basis.

R.E the pond, best to make it as wet as possible, in my experience we always find frogs in shallow, wet and warm sheltered places (like in plant trays full of water, under bushes) and rarely in deeper areas of water.

This was the garden before- no shelter and plants = no birds!!

And this is it now, taken about 10 minutes ago

Hope that helps a little?

 

[Daysleeper40]

Thanks Twizzel - thats a lovely job you have done with your garden

That all makes sense - I will be back to the garden centre next weekend. With the pond I intend to get a couple of progressively smaller containers to make more mini ponds and then surround these with some nice plants / rocks and what-not to make some good hidey holes for frogs.

I was concerned about putting the bird bath nearer the fence in case of cat-strike. I wish we had more room - it would make it a lot easier!

 

[Twizzel]

Putting it near the fence is ok, if you can see ours is near the back fence. The birds line up on it, and then choose whether to go down for a bath or over for some food Just make sure there's lots of plants they can use for cover, I think mum mentioned a Burberis plant is good for attracting birds for some reason, they loved it in our last garden and it was right next to the birdbath. There's one in this garden too, it's purple and to the right of the birdbath.

We always used to find frogs in plant trays, they seem to like wet mossy areas!! Unfortunately they have a habit of running out onto the lawn when the mower goes past which is horrible We've had a couple get run over by the lawn mower as they jump out of the bushes with no warning at all

 

[Daysleeper40]

That sounds horrible

I think we will be ok though as there is a distinct lack of grass in our back garden

I will have to go for a container garden I think as we rent and I don't much like the idea of lovingly growing a load of plantlife just to leave it all behind when we move on.

 

[Twizzel]

Container gardens are great, I would have more pots but mum and dad won't let me, despite me watering every pot each night!!

The pics show 3 pots stacked up on eachother, filled with busy lizzies, that looks stunning when the plants fill out a bit. Another nice plant for pots is lupins as they add lots of height, and look very pretty so long as the slugs don't get them!! Also hanging baskets are fab, those ones in the pics are newly planted but once filled out grow to about a metre wide and the same height, they are absolutely huge!! Get some plants with height around your bird table/bath and you'll have birds there in no time

Ooooh and one more thing, they seem to like those fat balls, I bought some last week, put 3 in a holder and there's only 1 left now!

 

[razor777]

Also, dont forget - a liberal sprinkling of bird seed on the grass can also attract all sorts. I did this on Saturday and in full view while lying on the grass this little inquisitive (and hungry) visitor popped down in front of me. The first few times it just scattered off at the slightest movement but once it realised I was no harm it was quite happy to graze straight off the grass even though there was a feeder hanging from above.

 

[RJL2005]

Couple of questions -

Will hanging the feeders from twine like I have put them off - should I get one of those poles with hooks on instead?

Is our yard just too small and put the birds off?

Any tips on luring them in in general?

Part two of my nature quest is the mini container pond:

I would like to attract bugs and maybe a frog or two to this. I know I need to create some steps / a ramp in and out but same questions again really - any tips on adding plants to attract butterflies / dragon flies etc or generally making a success of my little pond?

Any help gratefully received - I'm not known for my gardening!

Hi

Feeders: Hang them from what ever you like, but you can remove the perches and replace them with twigs - will make for more natural shots. As said you could do with more cover to attract birds though, maybe potted stunted trees or large shrubs (brambles are good)

To attract frogs, dragonflies etc. you really need to live close to suitable natural habitat, if that's you I envy you If not I wouldn't introduce frogs as they will probably cop it when they leave to find new territories. Toads as less water dependant and may well just turn up

If you place a half submerged stone on your mini pond you should get birds using it to bathe - they don't seem to like the manmade birdbaths for some reason though.

You will be surprised by what you can find lurking out there in any garden, In the middle of a city I dont get many birds (to many local cats :thumbsdown but get some great bugs, moths etc. and the occasional toad.

Going macro could be an option too!

 

[Daysleeper40]

Also, dont forget - a liberal sprinkling of bird seed on the grass can also attract all sorts. I did this on Saturday and in full view while lying on the grass this little inquisitive (and hungry) visitor popped down in front of me. The first few times it just scattered off at the slightest movement but once it realised I was no harm it was quite happy to graze straight off the grass even though there was a feeder hanging from above.

Cool - I will have to do that in the front garden though as I don't think gravel is particularly attractive as a dining table for birds.

Hi

Feeders: Hang them from what ever you like, but you can remove the perches and replace them with twigs - will make for more natural shots. As said you could do with more cover to attract birds though, maybe potted stunted trees or large shrubs (brambles are good)

To attract frogs, dragonflies etc. you really need to live close to suitable natural habitat, if that's you I envy you If not I wouldn't introduce frogs as they will probably cop it when they leave to find new territories. Toads as less water dependant and may well just turn up

If you place a half submerged stone on your mini pond you should get birds using it to bathe - they don't seem to like the manmade birdbaths for some reason though.

You will be surprised by what you can find lurking out there in any garden, In the middle of a city I dont get many birds (to many local cats :thumbsdown but get some great bugs, moths etc. and the occasional toad.

Going macro could be an option too!

Thanks - we do live close-ish to a few small lakes and I know the neighbours have ponds so there is potential for frogs etc. I don't intend to introduce any if they don't come on their own though. I like macro photography so I am hoping for some bugs!