Please feed the birds!!

Maximus

Gold Member
Hello everyone

As a keen birdwatcher particularly, but a nature lover especially, it is becoming very difficult for some of our garden birds to forage in frozen temperatures.

Please put aside any scraps you may have for them. Normally white breat would not be beneficial for birds, but today I made a feast fit for a king - well, maybe a blackbird lol. by frying some bread, chopping some peanuts (please rinse of excess salt), currents, the bacon rind off my breakfast, and chooped an apple into tiny bits and coarse chunks - something for everyone.

This will hopefully be rewarded with a splash of colour on a freezing dull day. If possible, please put out some tepid water - and replace/replenish regularly as it will freeze!

I might keep a list of critters seen visiting as like a lot of people, we are currently stranded!

Ironically the fat that we are avoiding will give the birds reserves and get them through the winter!

Steve
 
Steve, I used to love feeding the birds and when we had rabbits & guinea pigs they used to come down & eat their food it's lovely just sitting there watching them. But now I've got two cats so feeding them is not a good idea:rolleyes: I'll pass the message on to my non cat friends.
 
We filled up our bird feeders yesterday and within a couple of hours all the peanuts were gone!

The birds have all been eating non-stop since they've gone up!

We have our usual array of sparrows, blue tits, a jay, collar-neck dove and another pretty bird i'm yet to identify.

We've got a killer cat, but we've just hung the feeders higher than he can jump, and strangely the bird fatalities found in our hallway in the mornings have stopped since the feeders have been up - I guess it's because they don't have to feed on the floor anymore. (the same cannot be said for the poor weasels, rabbits, voles and field-mice!).
 
ooh do describe the "pretty" bird. Approx size (compare to other birds, main colour(s) what it was feeding on and how it behaved etc. Was it a tit, finch (Goldfinches are pretty) pray do tell lol.

I had a fly-over by a Waxwing - heard its call. Never stopped in the garden though as they only eat berries. They are the prettiest Scandinavian visitors. Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Blackbirds, Dunnock, Starling, no sign of the usual Robin and Blue Tits, Great Tits and Greenfinches yet, but to be fair it is quite noisy out there with people digging and the birds are a bit skittish;)
 
Our blackbirds have discovered if they dive bomb the feeders then the seed falls on the ground for them :p I make a seed cake for them by melting lard and mixing the seeds in, then put it in an old christmas pudding pot.
 
Our blackbirds have discovered if they dive bomb the feeders then the seed falls on the ground for them :p I make a seed cake for them by melting lard and mixing the seeds in, then put it in an old christmas pudding pot.

You can do the same and add other bits like suet etc. and fill a half coconut shell and hang it by string. Blue Tits etc. will entertain you as they perform acrobatics while feeding:)

It was a finch!
Lol - Goldfinch, (Red face, white, yellow black patterns) Greenfinch (erm Green) Bullfinch - Primarily large red breast - even bigger and brighter than a Robin's breast)

Any other finch would be a bit rarer and very good Siskin are much smaller than Greenfinch but also green lol.

Sorry, I'm getting carried away - I need to get out and see some birds of my own!!:eek:
 
Just thought I'd provide a little update. I have hung fat balls up on the hedge where I work; I just sit & watch them whilst I'm on the phone, it's lovely watching them coming down to feed:D

When the snow was really bad we did feed the birds at home, we kept the cats in (obviously) but they went mad running round trying to find ways to get them:rolleyes:
 
We've been getting through sackfuls of peanuts for the birds. The three feeders we've got are in constant demand!

We've also been throwing the fat from the sunday roast onto the footpath in the garden for the birds, but sometimes the foxes get there first - either way the wildlife in our neighbourhood is very well fed.
 
After this post I got a lovely bird feeder for Christmas and have got loads of stuff in it, fat balls, bird seed & nuts. Everything. Plus put luke warm water in it all the time.

Nothing =(
 
I think it takes them time to find new places to dine out, but once they do they'll tell their feathered friends!
 
i'm not really into birds, but there's been some amazing starling 'dancing' going on in the skies around bournemouth over the past few weeks. just above my house this evening a group of a few hundred quickly turned into at least a thousand. AMAZING!
 
I love feeding the birds in our garden, We dont get more than blackbirds, robins, tits and a few over sized pigeons (its funny seeing a huge pigeon trying to fit on a small hanging bird shelf) We also feed them some live mealworms as well which go straight away. The first bird to find them fills himself up with them all!
 
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