"Sacha" wrote in message
.uk...
On 15/12/05 17:37, in article
, "Kate"
wrote:


"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

snip
But is your garden full of mature shrubs and trees for them to
feel
safe when perched on?
We find that the feeder on the pole in the middle of the garden
(good view all round?) does better trade than the one on the bird
table next to the fence, it's also within easy hop of our Camellia
bushes (to 14ft tall) and we notice the birds tend to land on
there
first and have a good look around before coming to the feeder.



Yes, indeed, both evergreen and deciduous. Mature trees the other
side of the bottom fence, too - oak, birch, holly and pine. Our
feeders are suspended under a wooden arch, so are fairly open, but
not
so much that the birds are in danger of being taken by a
sparrowhawk.
snip

I wonder if part of the reason is that you might now have more cats
around
and about? You say that you lived in the middle of farmland before,
so
perhaps there were fewer cats just hopping over from neighbouring
gardens!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

The neighbours here don`t have cats, but there were ferals about when
we lived in the Fens although they seldom came into our garden - no
point when they had acres of fields to hunt in. I do see small flocks
of birds flying over our garden, but that`s all they do : fly over.
Maybe they can`t see the feeders as they are under the arch, though
they should be able to see the bird tables. They seem to be heading
for a garden down the road, but as we live in a bungalow, I am unable
to rubberneck from a upstairs window to see what is so attractive
about it! I`m going to try to get one of the feeding stations I
mention before, put it out in the open and hope that will make a
difference.

Kate