"Spider" wrote in message
...

Righteo then the cafe shall remain for the moment Apart from a whole
chicken and Bonnie's dinner, what else would you put out?


It's worth trying any scraps you would normally put out for the birds,
avoiding anything salty. It may be worth trying raw mince meat if you can
get it cheap (cheep?) enough, but that's a guess.

g Actually I always mince all my own meats so no problems there. You
say to put it out raw? Just beef?


Ah! So there is nothing more we can offer them now?


You could try offering the dried mealworms often on sale for wild birds.

Heck, from where would I obtain the aforementioned err mealworms???


If they don't want them, you'll soon find that robins and tits do! They
won't be wasted. I know! ... try offering them those suet blocks with
peanut and insect.

Insects? where do I find insects?


It's a sort of middle step between what you're
offering them now and their preferred insect diet. They ought to love
that. I buy them fairly cheaply (£1 a block) in Poundstretchers, but
Wilkinsons and the like should have good prices, too.

I have a Poundshop nearby. Not the others, but I will look.

They'll always appreciate fresh water for drinking and batheing, but
you've already said that there are local ponds they could use.

Oh yes, very large and deep ponds too!


Apparently they will take dog food, but your dog may not appreciate
that!
They're clearly happy with what you're offering them.
However, I found this website earlier, which you may find interesting:

http://www.starlingtalk.com/diet.htm

Plenty there to look at, thanks I am not sure I will be offering a
whole
cooked chicken although I don't think Bonnie will mind too much if they
have
some of her dog food. She won't go hungry

If I offer dog/people food, will it be ok to offer it in the sdff?

Only if you keep it thoroughly clean, otherwise it will rapidly become
unhealthy. A shallow tray with some drainage holes (in case of rain)
would fit the bill (no pun intended), or even two, so you can wash one
while using one.

I hadn't thought of washing the sdff (tm) ! Does it need to use some bleach
type cleaner? The guttering is sloped so it does drain naturally and the
quantity of rain we have at the moment does wash it out.


In the meantime, I don't suppose hubby will mind too much if he has an
excuse to stay in the warm;~). So long as he gets his gutttering up
in time to catch the April showers:~).

Awwww he was enjoying them as much as I was so he is content to wait


Yes, I can imagine you both glued to the window:~)

We were)


I wouldn't count on that particular cafe being up and running next
winter though)


Unless hubby pops out and buys some more guttering ... (scuttles back
under stone) :~))

lolol I wouldn't put it past him))) I just asked and he say he is
sure he will find something))


I bet he will! Once you start this bird feeding obsession, you'll both be
only too pleased to forfeit some artefact or project to keep the birds
happy. Sounds good to me:~).

lol With your encouragement how else could it be????


btw I've never had all these starlings in the garden until the sdff))


The sdff(tm), if you don't mind!;~)).

Nodnodnod quite so. How could I forget g


It's amazing how many birds (and other critters) you can attract into your
garden once you start feeding them and giving thought to their
environment.

Well I am learning from you as I go, so thank you


I was frozen when I finally dragged myself in from the garden this
afternoon and beginning to droop a bit, but your post really cheered me
up.

Thank you) You always cheer me up too and I look forward to your posts)

Lovely to hear tales from your garden again, and learn that the
starlings were doing well:~). Thanks for that. Night, Sweetie.

Aww night night to you too Sweetie and big hugs too!!!


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