Enticing birds into a garden

[bass_junkie83]

This year I have been trying to bring a few more birds into our garden but it is proving a real struggle.
Our garden backs on to nature reserve with a small stream running directly behind our low fence. In previous years we have had lots of visitors including kingfishers and herons and also had some nesting blue-tits, but since the council came along and dredged the stream and removed all vegetation from the banks it has been a bit quiet.

The vegetation started to grow back last year and this year it has gone a bit mental with grasses, brambles and bind weed covering the ditch in turn blocking out light and it going stagnant, so the fish haven't returned and so neither have the kingfishers.

But despite this the scrub land behind is full of life, I can often see blue-tits and finches darting about but they don't venture into our garden like they used to. I have put up a few feeders that only seem to attract the odd pigeon.
Recently I have put a feeding station up outside of our garden near the stream which is nice and close to the tall grasses and reads that line the ditch giving birds some close cover. Since then I have had a blackbird and robin visit daily and occasionally a dozen starlings and a couple of magpies. I have feeders for mixed seed, sunflower hearts, niger seeds, suet blocks, fat balls, peanuts and mealworm, the mealworm are the only things that get touched, none of the other foods seem to be attracting anything in. I have even tried scattering various seeds on the shed roof so that it is more visible, only seems to attract pigeons though.

The photos below was taken back in may, the vegetation behind the fence now is so thick you can barely see through it and the feeding station I put in is behind the fence roughly half way between the shed and the bbq.

I am wondering if there is just so much natural food available that they have no need to come any closer? Any ideas what else I can do to attract them in? As you can see the shed could quite easily be used as a makeshift hide.

 

[gramps]

I find it a bit of a quiet time at the moment, as the year progresses the number of small birds looking for food will increase.
From the photo I would say that your garden is a bit 'sterile' ... small birds like to have a hiding place available near to where they feed so the area outside of your garden will be more of a safe sanctuary for their feeding activity.
Try adding some branches, bushes etc near to where your feeders are and you may find them more willing to visit.
Also note that almost all birds will go for mealworms, if they are available they will likely ignore anything else.

 

[RedRobin]

As gramps suggests, your garden in your posted photo is far too open and high risk to entice the birds to feed there unless it's a harsh winter with wild food scarce elsewhere.

Adding water makes a big difference too. I don't think most wifeys would be too happy about the kind of modifications your garden would need to regularly attract wildlife.

The messier a wildlife garden is, the better!

I think your idea of making one end of your shed into a hide is an excellent idea. You just need an opening window and possibly a camouflage netting curtain with a hole for your fattest telephoto lens.

My shot below is taken from my kitchen window through a permanent (Centurian) tank camo net curtain (I am single!) and my whole garden is very wildlife friendly and very rough. It also has 3 small ponds, mature trees and bushes including brambles and nettles. It's not child-friendly but my daughter has now grown up and lives away. Her whole business is based on wildlife though, so I must have unconsciously influenced her!

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER by Robin Procter, on Flickr

 

[Jannyfox]

I don't think most wifeys would be too happy about the kind of modifications your garden would need to regularly attract wildlife

That's a bit sexist! An appreciation of wildlife isn't something confined to the male sex, funnily enough..................
That aside, Roger's dead right. Birds need to feel safe from predators when feeding, so cover they can dart in and out of is a must. Water too is benificial. You can get some really attractive bird baths/drinkers, but again nearby cover makes it more attractive. A lot of people don't feed in summer/early autumn as there is plenty of natural food around. I don't. My neighbours do but we get very few species in summer. If the feeders are there and the environment makes the birds feel safe, the birds will come whatever exotic, expensive feeds you use or don't use, but only when they want or need to. Get in some cover, fill the feeders and hope for a really cold winter. Even then you may find there are some places the birds just don't want to go, for example too close to your shed with those windows, or that big blue cover (is that the bbq?) may flap around and make them wary. You can't force them to come. You have to think like they do and adapt to what they want.

 

[RedRobin]

That's a bit sexist! An appreciation of wildlife isn't something confined to the male sex, funnily enough..................

....It's not 'sexist' at all and I am in no way even faintly suggesting that women don't have or can't an appreciation of wildlife < Such a suggestion is ridiculous. What I am saying is that most wives wouldn't consider military tank camouflage netting as interior decor to their taste and I'm having a joke about it. Aren't either men or women allowed to make a joke about their opposite gender in this day and age? [I wonder what the opposite gender of a 'trans' is].

That aside, Roger's dead right. Birds need to feel safe from predators when feeding, so cover they can dart in and out of is a must. Water too is benificial. You can get some really attractive bird baths/drinkers, but again nearby cover makes it more attractive. A lot of people don't feed in summer/early autumn as there is plenty of natural food around. I don't. My neighbours do but we get very few species in summer. If the feeders are there and the environment makes the birds feel safe, the birds will come whatever exotic, expensive feeds you use or don't use, but only when they want or need to. Get in some cover, fill the feeders and hope for a really cold winter. Even then you may find there are some places the birds just don't want to go, for example too close to your shed with those windows, or that big blue cover (is that the bbq?) may flap around and make them wary. You can't force them to come. You have to think like they do and adapt to what they want.

....You are totally wrong if you don't feed birds ALL YEAR - Why? - Because in the Summer they have extra mouths to feed!

 

[gramps]

....You are totally wrong if you don't feed birds ALL YEAR - Why? - Because in the Summer they have extra mouths to feed!

I have to agree with Jan, Robin, there is an abundance of insect life available during the breeding period (birds actually timing their breeding to fit the arrival of caterpillers etc) and this form of food is actually better for the young birds. It is the reason that you will notice most reserves that use bird feeders will take them down over the Summer months and replace then over the Winter months.

 

[RedRobin]

I have to agree with Jan, Robin, there is an abundance of insect life available during the breeding period (birds actually timing their breeding to fit the arrival of caterpillers etc) and this form of food is actually better for the young birds. It is the reason that you will notice most reserves that use bird feeders will take them down over the Summer months and replace then over the Winter months.

....I find that many bird species visit my garden feeders to collect food, especially fat balls/slabs, in Summer months while they have young in the nest. I have nest boxes and have observed and photographed this (Great Tits and Blue Tits).

Offering these foods in the garden supplement whatever they can find elsewhere.

 

[bass_junkie83]

Thanks for all the input guys.
With a two year old, child friendly has to be top priority. I dont think i can expect to turn the whole garden into a avian paradise, but we bought the house mainly because of the land it backs on to so of i can draw them intinthe fence line i will be happy.

Below are some photos i took this afternoon, it is getting a bit more wild behind so hopefully itbwill start working out. A tight fitting bbq cover is on the list and i will have a think about what i can do to deal with the shed window reflections.

 

[JackBarley]

I found putting a birdbath in mine helped a lot. Has taken me a while but finally have goldfinches coming regularly. I use 2 sets of feeders one for the pigeons and another with cage feeders to discourage the larger birds from robbing food. Cheap food for the pigeons and better quality in the cages.

 

[Stuart Philpott]

David I'm of the same ilk as the others. The lack of cover is my instant concern.... I like the word sterile used somewhere above.

David, let my try and make you think like a little bird(ha ha buddy like I know what they think !!)

What reason would there be for a bird,especially a smaller bird to come into your garden? What risk might it put itself in....David do you think a smaller bird would feel as safe in your garden as it would yards away t ' other side of fence??????.

David I have a very wild garden We are pretty much organic, a tricky word to use but it's close to that and has been for 20plus years. . So it's heaving with life and cover. By heaving with life I'm not talking birds persay but food for them

David we feed through the summer,never used to ,but it seems the birds use us as a top up and little more. They don't seem to stop hunting all the bugs they normally do. In the last week or two we are seeing numbers build a massive influx of goldie kids(,I counted around 20 while typing) being part of that. Noted the posts from Janny and Roger above and Robin . I can only tell you what i'm seeing David my blue and great tits are all over the bug life ,but still using the feeders all summer. In the past there were concerns that our bird food wasn't the best for the kids as already mentioned. All I know is both sets have produced alot of kids this year and they seem fine. Beyond that over to the boffins

Mate blue flappy tarp in hand. Barbi night light burny torch thing, right by feeders ......it might just affect them Dave smell possibly I'd remove that. Id also move BBQ towards house nearest left side of slabbed area. 3 blue pots move in to where BBQ was............ something instant and temporary that might just help a tiny bit

I'd plant a couple of trees. !! David I grow,I don't like much of the veg with all it's chemical infestations we buy in shops,so I've long grown stuff. Food from trees is the best,plant once, look after it a couple of years and then pretty much do nowt. I'd wack a Hazel next to you rose, a good un a cultivar,kentish cob maybe gunzlehurst (spelling??) is also cool ,and some form of cheery desert or cooker maybe ( morello) more towards center of garden as a center piece.

Hazel easily pruned,holds a host of aphid,small beatles catapillars a native species that fits with the birds you want and our ecosystem plus because man has got at it you'll have a huge crop and what you don't get someone else...woodmice for example will. relish

Cherry again we have native wild cherry, so it fits to our ecosystem. Bird love cherries so you'll get chances of blackbirds etc, again a crop of cats and tiny beasties for your birds and if you move fast enough some for you. David I have no idea what you know about plants,but just for the sake of it...............

fruit trees can come on a variety of root stocks. Basically a cultivar(man made variety) is grafted onto a root stock. Differing root stocks are used to confine the growth of a tree . So essentially you can have exactly the same tree which on different root stocks will give a final mature tree of differing sizes. What i'm basically saying is you can choose the eventual size of your tree for your garden. worth labouring not every one understands this. Food for you food for you little friends safe for a small person cover for your little mates.

You've made alovely garden for you and your family David,not much for a little blue tit looking over his shoulder all the time for that hungry musket trying to feed his kids If I was that little blue tit i'd be the other side of that fence.

Once I'd got those trees in the ground and away I'd pull the feeders into the garden betwixt the two trees and then start to get my head around bkg's because you'l be making images across the garden and that rather smoky fence is going to be your back drop.

Rome wasn't built in a day bro there are some little fixes that might help,but you need to make them feel safe. You simply need to change things, make a place for them and you rather than just you.

Sure as winter comes things get harder and birds come more readily for food but the big picture is there is no other reason to come to you bar that food and if that food puts oneself at risk,what would you do??

all the luck

stu

 

[The W]

I know it's not a bird, but you'll never get hedgehogs in the garden with that fortress of concrete gravel boards....

 

[bass_junkie83]

I found putting a birdbath in mine helped a lot. Has taken me a while but finally have goldfinches coming regularly. I use 2 sets of feeders one for the pigeons and another with cage feeders to discourage the larger birds from robbing food. Cheap food for the pigeons and better quality in the cages.

The birds used to bath in the stream behind the fence, but it has gotten so overgrown I don't think they can access it now. I have put off clearing it as I wanted to avoid taking away what little cover is there, but maybe if I careful remove just what has covered the stream and leave everything else then that might help.

David I'm of the same ilk as the others. The lack of cover is my instant concern.... I like the word sterile used somewhere above.

David, let my try and make you think like a little bird(ha ha buddy like I know what they think !!)

What reason would there be for a bird,especially a smaller bird to come into your garden? What risk might it put itself in....David do you think a smaller bird would feel as safe in your garden as it would yards away t ' other side of fence??????.

David I have a very wild garden We are pretty much organic, a tricky word to use but it's close to that and has been for 20plus years. . So it's heaving with life and cover. By heaving with life I'm not talking birds persay but food for them

David we feed through the summer,never used to ,but it seems the birds use us as a top up and little more. They don't seem to stop hunting all the bugs they normally do. In the last week or two we are seeing numbers build a massive influx of goldie kids(,I counted around 20 while typing) being part of that. Noted the posts from Janny and Roger above and Robin . I can only tell you what i'm seeing David my blue and great tits are all over the bug life ,but still using the feeders all summer. In the past there were concerns that our bird food wasn't the best for the kids as already mentioned. All I know is both sets have produced alot of kids this year and they seem fine. Beyond that over to the boffins

Mate blue flappy tarp in hand. Barbi night light burny torch thing, right by feeders ......it might just affect them Dave smell possibly I'd remove that. Id also move BBQ towards house nearest left side of slabbed area. 3 blue pots move in to where BBQ was............ something instant and temporary that might just help a tiny bit

I'd plant a couple of trees. !! David I grow,I don't like much of the veg with all it's chemical infestations we buy in shops,so I've long grown stuff. Food from trees is the best,plant once, look after it a couple of years and then pretty much do nowt. I'd wack a Hazel next to you rose, a good un a cultivar,kentish cob maybe gunzlehurst (spelling??) is also cool ,and some form of cheery desert or cooker maybe ( morello) more towards center of garden as a center piece.

Hazel easily pruned,holds a host of aphid,small beatles catapillars a native species that fits with the birds you want and our ecosystem plus because man has got at it you'll have a huge crop and what you don't get someone else...woodmice for example will. relish

Cherry again we have native wild cherry, so it fits to our ecosystem. Bird love cherries so you'll get chances of blackbirds etc, again a crop of cats and tiny beasties for your birds and if you move fast enough some for you. David I have no idea what you know about plants,but just for the sake of it...............

fruit trees can come on a variety of root stocks. Basically a cultivar(man made variety) is grafted onto a root stock. Differing root stocks are used to confine the growth of a tree . So essentially you can have exactly the same tree which on different root stocks will give a final mature tree of differing sizes. What i'm basically saying is you can choose the eventual size of your tree for your garden. worth labouring not every one understands this. Food for you food for you little friends safe for a small person cover for your little mates.

You've made alovely garden for you and your family David,not much for a little blue tit looking over his shoulder all the time for that hungry musket trying to feed his kids If I was that little blue tit i'd be the other side of that fence.

Once I'd got those trees in the ground and away I'd pull the feeders into the garden betwixt the two trees and then start to get my head around bkg's because you'l be making images across the garden and that rather smoky fence is going to be your back drop.

Rome wasn't built in a day bro there are some little fixes that might help,but you need to make them feel safe. You simply need to change things, make a place for them and you rather than just you.

Sure as winter comes things get harder and birds come more readily for food but the big picture is there is no other reason to come to you bar that food and if that food puts oneself at risk,what would you do??

all the luck

stu

Thank you, lots there to consider!
here are a couple of trees that have started sprouting up rather quickly just behind and adjacent to the shed, not sure what they are but hopefully as they continue to grow they will add cover.
The climbing rose is also being trained along the fence and also over the shed so that should help soften up the whole area.
Good call on the oil lamps, they are filled with citronella oil to help keep the midges at bay when we sit out of an evening, but hadn't condsidered the smell might be off putting to birds too!

I know it's not a bird, but you'll never get hedgehogs in the garden with that fortress of concrete gravel boards....

We had 2.5 years here with no back fence at all and never had any visiting hedgehogs unfortunately. There is a stream just 2 feet behind the fence which they cannot cross, besides, we have rabbits that need to be kept in. We do still get a lot of visiting mice and shrews and also one rat that comes occasionally, but if the wife asks it is a water vole!

 

[Tringa]

Agree with the above. A few shrubs and/or small trees will provide the cover the birds need. One I'd recommend is an apple tree. Stu mentioned rootstocks and an apple on a dwarfing rootstock will give you a tree that does not take over the garden and is easy to manage. A good garden nursery will have plenty of choice..

Apples are good because in the spring they have attractive flowers which are used by bees, the small birds investigate the branches and twigs for bugs, they provide cover, you get fruit in the autumn and any fallen or otherwise unpicked fruit provides food for birds and insects.

Dave

 

[GreenNinja67]

We were feeding the birds this summer and all it did was entice rats.

It got so bad we had to buy a humane rat trap and relocate them.

 

[Jannyfox]

Agree with the above. A few shrubs and/or small trees will provide the cover the birds need. One I'd recommend is an apple tree. Stu mentioned rootstocks and an apple on a dwarfing rootstock will give you a tree that does not take over the garden and is easy to manage. A good garden nursery will have plenty of choice..

Apples are good because in the spring they have attractive flowers which are used by bees, the small birds investigate the branches and twigs for bugs, they provide cover, you get fruit in the autumn and any fallen or otherwise unpicked fruit provides food for birds and insects.

Dave

But be careful of windfall apples in a small garden (especially if there are children around) as they attract wasps. One of my neighbours has a lovely old apple tree which overhangs their fence next to where I park my car. They don't like apples (apparently!) so they neither prune the tree nor pick up the ones that fall on the pavement. This time of year I kick them all into the bottom of their fence every time I go near the car or I'm running the gauntlet of wasps. The upside is the red admirals love them.

 

[Tringa]

But be careful of windfall apples in a small garden (especially if there are children around) as they attract wasps.

True, and children need to be made aware of wasps, but they are useful insects. Perhaps I have been lucky (stung only once in more than 60 years - and that was me putting on a gardening glove with a wasp inside), but I have never had any problems with wasps.

My experience, and it might be untypical, is if left alone they are no problem.

Dave

 

[Jannyfox]

True, and children need to be made aware of wasps, but they are useful insects. Perhaps I have been lucky (stung only once in more than 60 years - and that was me putting on a gardening glove with a wasp inside), but I have never had any problems with wasps.

My experience, and it might be untypical, is if left alone they are no problem.

Dave

Not untypical - exactly my experience too, and they are useful. It's that time of year when every time I open the door there's one in the house, but I usher them gently back outside rather than swat them. It was just a word of caution with the kids in mind. I think I've only ever had one wasp sting, as a kid, but boy did it hurt. Being stung by a bee tangled in my hair was bad enough - the wasp was much worse. I pass quietly by them now.

 

[footman]

We were feeding the birds this summer and all it did was entice rats.

It got so bad we had to buy a humane rat trap and relocate them.

Rats? I'll lend you our mini schnauzer, one look at him charging at them they'll never come back.
Mind you he'll never catch one.
We live in a North Surrey heathland area with a very acid soil, it's very hard to attract birds as the type of plants that grow attract few insects.
My expert gardening wife recently planted many flowering shrubs in tubs and the increase in the birdlife is remarkable as there are more insects to eat.
I find that the fatballs can disappear almost overnight now.
I've also found that bird seed bought in supermarkets is inferior to the stuff bought from specialist outlets.

 

[sphexx]

Since you seem to have access to the wild land the answer must be to make hole in the fence and shoot through that. Looks like you shed is close enough to have a hide and view through the fence.
Some of the prejudice against feeding birds through the summer is that some believe the parents will feed unsuitable food to the chicks but I think that just does not happen — unless there is no live food and then you could feed mealworms etc. I can see blue tits in my nest box feeding from seed and then flying off and back with spiders etc. Even my banties will only feed live food to their chicks.

 

[sphexx]

We were feeding the birds this summer and all it did was entice rats.

It got so bad we had to buy a humane rat trap and relocate them.

I don’t think it is humane to relocate rats — is it even legal?

 

[gramps]

I don’t think it is humane to relocate rats — is it even legal?

https://www.ufaw.org.uk/downloads/w...e-on-humane-control-of-rodents-feb2509v19.pdf

Page 6

 

[sphexx]

https://www.ufaw.org.uk/downloads/w...e-on-humane-control-of-rodents-feb2509v19.pdf

Page 6

Haha! Seen that before.
Full disclosure (well nearly) 1. I like rats. 2. I used to have a colony about 50,000 Wistars plus a few others. 3. I’ve probably killed more rats than most people here have had hot dinners . 4. I like and admire rats and I don’t think it’s humane and in most cases illegal to release them once trapped.

 

[Jannyfox]

But I bet you would definitely not say thanks if you received someone else's unwanted rats without asking or being asked?

 

[sphexx]

But I bet you would definitely not say thanks if you received someone else's unwanted rats without asking or being asked?

If you’re replying to me, that’s more or less the point I was making

 

[bass_junkie83]

Well the starlings certainly aren't shy. Thats two big handfulls of mealworm gone in under a minute devoured by about a dozen of them.

Something is slowly nibbling away at the sunflower hearts too but I have not seen what yet.

 

[GreenNinja67]

I don’t think it is humane to relocate rats — is it even legal?

My partner's a vegetarian and she forbade me to get my air rifle out.

I'd have happily shot them.

Although I am getting a little fluffier in my old age.

 

[sphexx]

My partner's a vegetarian and she forbade me to get my air rifle out.

I'd have happily shot them.

Although I am getting a little fluffier in my old age.

Was she afraid you’d make her eat ‘em? Rats in a live trap love to bite the barrel of an air rifle if offered

 

[Dale.]

Patience, and food.

My own recent experience with attracting birds to the garden has been similar to yours I think. My garden is relatively low cover but has cover all around,nearby trees and undergrowth as well as a wood, which is huge. I converted an old summerhouse into a hide and I have tried to keep the feeders as full as possible with various foods, mainly a wild bird mix, sunflower hearts, fatballs, peanuts mealworms and niger seeds. I've worked a little on the cover but that's in its early stages and is evolving, it will be a few years before I have the cover I want.

I used to get sparrows, starlings and jackdaws, but this last few week, I've had blue tits, great tits, long tail tits nearby, chaffinches, very recently goldfinches and young and my crowning glory so far, a juvenile GSW. I've had a sparrowhawk a few weeks ago, she's always around somewhere but she was actually at my hide on 2 occasions a couple of weeks ago, just a shame I wasn't in the hide at the time. :banghead:

Just hang in there, they'll come.

 

[adrianday]

My wife swears by milkshake to entice birds to the yard. She calls them her 'boys'.

 

[bass_junkie83]

Patience, and food.

My own recent experience with attracting birds to the garden has been similar to yours I think. My garden is relatively low cover but has cover all around,nearby trees and undergrowth as well as a wood, which is huge. I converted an old summerhouse into a hide and I have tried to keep the feeders as full as possible with various foods, mainly a wild bird mix, sunflower hearts, fatballs, peanuts mealworms and niger seeds. I've worked a little on the cover but that's in its early stages and is evolving, it will be a few years before I have the cover I want.

I used to get sparrows, starlings and jackdaws, but this last few week, I've had blue tits, great tits, long tail tits nearby, chaffinches, very recently goldfinches and young and my crowning glory so far, a juvenile GSW. I've had a sparrowhawk a few weeks ago, she's always around somewhere but she was actually at my hide on 2 occasions a couple of weeks ago, just a shame I wasn't in the hide at the time. :banghead:

Just hang in there, they'll come.

I must admit, I saw your thread and that was my inspiration to put a bit more effort in!

Just a little update, I have addressed some of the main issues raised previously. The flappy blue tarp over the bbq has been replaced with a heavier fitted more naturally coloured cover and I have planted an apple tree. Too late now for any fruit off of it this year I expect,fingers crossed for next year but it has brought some cover into the garden forward of the feeders.

Also found who has been getting through the sunflower hearts. After three years of having never seen a squirrel anywhere close to our garden, this weekend I had four at once fighting over the feeder!

Hopefully going into autumn/winter once natural food sources become more scarce it will come into it's own. My little girl is already loving the starlings and blackbirds and gets upset if she goes too long without seeing any!

 

[Tringa]

Looks a good start. In time the tree will provide shelter etc for the birds and you can get a feeder in the garden, if you want.

As you now have visits from squirrels, I'm sorry to tell you, you might have to re-think your feeders. Squirrels can (actually 'will' is probably closer to the mark) destroy many feeders.

Good luck

Dave

 

[Bollygum]

Birds love trees, so your planting is the way you need to go. I come from a very different place (Australia) with different birds, but I would think that the rules are similar. Native trees are best as that's what the birds have evolved with and that's what they will like the best. Small birds like prickly trees to nest in as it provides protection from larger birds. I don't think you get quite the number of exclusively nectar eating birds in the UK, but most birds like nectar for an energy boost, so trees with nectar bearing flowers will attract birds (and butterflys). Good luck with the bird attracting. It takes a few years but it is definitely worth it. I never feed any birds, but I get woken up every morning by birdsong.

 

[bass_junkie83]

TITS!
TITS EVERYWHERE!

It is all starting to pay off now. On the feeding station I have mixed seed, peanuts, Niger seeds, sunflower hearts, a suet block and a mealworm tray.
For the first couple of months nothing was getting touched, apart from the mealworm, I have been putting out a generous handful every morning and within an hours a dozen starlings would descend, devour the lot and sod off, they weren't interesting in any of the other offerings at all and other than this morning flurry of activity the feeders were dead for the rest of the day.

Occasional I would get a robin and a blackbird come in, again only for the meal worm if they were lucky enough to get in before the starlings spotted it.

Then recently I stated noticing that there were a couple of blue tits hanging around on the periphery of the garden while the starlings devoured the mealworm, and once they cleared of would come in for a quick visit to the sunflower heart feeder before heading off again. It seemed that the commotion of the feeding starlings was starting to to cause the blue tits that I knew were in the wider area to come and investigate.

And now they seem to have built their confidence and started inviting their friends. Working from home today and watching the feeders over the last hour I have had starlings, sparrows, a robin, blue tits, great tits, possibly a coal tit? and half a dozen goldfinches. In this time I have even had a sparrowhawk swoop down, sit on my fence for a few minutes before flying off empty handed (taloned?) Within 5 minutes the feeders were busy again so they seem to quite happy with the amount of cover.

I currently don't have the time or the equipment to make the most of it photographically, but I am quite happy to keep topping up the feeders and hopefully let it develop before I start interfering.

This all could just be the affect of the colder conditions but I prefer my more romantic interpretation of events.

 

[Tringa]

Glad it has started to work, Dave.

The colder conditions could easily bring in more birds but once the birds get used to the food being available, your feeders will be on their radar. I note you have seen the same effect as in our garden with starlings. They seem to have a built in meal worm detector

A berry bearing bush could be useful for next autumn/winter.

Dave

 

[footman]

Something slightly weird that I've noticed recently about bird feeders. We have to have squirrel proof feeders and they seem to work well in keeping the blighters away. Until last year I had always bought Gardman feeders which are dark grey in colour. They weren't available for a while locally so I bought another make which are green.
I've noticed a marked preference for the birds to go to the dark grey feeders rather than the lighter green ones. The darker ones always get emptied much quicker than the others, this applies both to seed and to fat ball feeders.
I also tried a small bird dried mealworm feeder recently which was green and hardly a single bird would go near it.

 

[Nod]

Might be that the birds are used to the dark grey but are suspicious of the green. We had a dark green topped feeder that was reflective - got few customers.
You could try simply painting the green feeders grey or use some sticky-backed plastic to cover the tops.

 

[sphexx]

Have you tried swapping the feeders over? Position, cover etc are usually important.

 

[Jannyfox]

Birds can take a surprisingly long time to get used to anything new. I used to have birds flocking to my feeders. Back in the spring my garden had a complete makeover (it needed it - it really did!) with the result that the shrubs the birds used have gone and the new ones have some growing to do, and the feeding stations have moved. Added to that, my neighbours had to take down a shrub that backed up to my boundary (it died) and a tree the other side of a hedge beyond my back fence, which the birds used as a sitty tree, has also been taken down. So as well as the feeders changing position, the flight lines have also been changed. The feeders have been up for months, but the birds are only just starting to come back. My neighbours, the ones who had to cut the shrub down, used to get fewer birds than me but now get more, because they've changed nothing else. Have patience and they should start using the new feeders. It's fascinating to study their behaviour, and don't forget nothing survives in the wild by trusting.

 

[footman]

Thanks for the replies, I'm putting up another feeding station today with 1 seed and 1 fat ball feeder both in the grey colour. I'll continue to monitor the situation.
Looking around the web it seems that birds do prefer what they call "camouflage" colours like grey and green to other colours depending on the time of year, maybe my birds simply prefer the dark grey feeders over the green as green seems to be down the list slightly.

https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-w...des/ask-an-expert/previous/feeder_colour.aspx

 

[broc]

Mountain Ash (Rowan) trees are compact and provide good cover for attracting birds too and they have berries in the Autumn. Don't forget it's the RSPB Big Garden birdwatch starting 26th January