The message
from "Kate" contains these words:

I am not going to bother any more. I spend a lot of money on
proprietary foods and also make my own, but all we get in the garden
are pigeons and starlings. Occasionally a robin and a couple of
blackbirds will deign to visit, and now and again a blue tit, but
that`s it. The peanuts shrivel, the sunflower hearts get damp from
condensation and go mouldy - and so on and so on. As I mentioned in
an earlier post, I think our garden is bird-friendly, but the birds
just aren`t friendly to us. When I remember the varieties we used to
get in the garden when we lived in the Fens, I get very downhearted.
Admittedly, our quarter-of-an-acre garden there was an oasis in the
middle of intensively-farmed arable fields, but we didn`t put much
food out and we had : robin, blackbird, blue tit, great tit, wren,
fieldfare, yellow wagtail, pied wagtail, turtle dove, cuckoo
(youngsters that gorged on the hairy caterpillars bivouaced in the
hawthorn hedge), pheasant, partridge (I had a `pet` partridge who
would sit on my shoulder like a parrot!), warbler, greenfinch, linnet,
house sparrow and even a black redstart passing through. We had
hares, shrews, and stoats in the garden and horseshoe bats in the
roof. As I suggested before, I think there are too many people
feeding too few birds where we live now, but I can`t think of anything
else we could do to entice them, so I`m admitting defeat.

Kate

I live on the Fens and that sounds much like my own list except that
warblers, though appearing occasionally, are quite rare visitors and
cuckoos have declined in the last five years. We have been getting both
green and lesser spotted woodpeckers quite regularly this year, using
the telegraph poles as trees, and I have seen goldcrests several times
in the last few weeks. We also get quite a lot of goldfinches (they were
feeding very noisily on alder cones this week), dunnocks and a good
population of tree sparrows.
We used to have yellowhammers six or seven years ago and the occasional
whitethroat in the hedge but neither has been in the garden for a while.
Others have mentioned siskins and coal tits which I have never seen
here. Would that be lack of mature trees perhaps?

What a pity to have to admit defeat after having been used to a good
range of bird and other life, but it does sound as if you've ried
everything.

Janet G

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Kate" wrote in message
...

I am not going to bother any more. I spend a lot of money on
proprietary foods and also make my own, but all we get in the
garden
are pigeons and starlings. snip
As I suggested before, I think there are too many people
feeding too few birds where we live now, but I can`t think of
anything
else we could do to entice them, so I`m admitting defeat.


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.

snip
--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London


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.
The 3 bird tables are dotted about, and all within a few wing beats of
cover. I leave the seed heads on plants like the echinacea and we
have shrubs which have berries, although most of these are gone now.
We leave some fallen fruit on the ground and don`t clear up leaf
litter which will harbour insects. No cats, dogs, or children either.
Last Spring we had lots of birds, and I wonder if it was because a lot
of people stop putting food out when the weather gets milder, whereas
we continued to feed so there was much less competition..

It is interesting that you say that the feeder on a pole in the middle
of your garden is more popular; my mother-in-law has recently bought
a Gardman Feeding Station which we erected almost in the middle of her
small garden, with space all around. The very next day after it was
set up, birds started using it and have done so ever since. She even
had a green woodpecker on it the other day. I suppose I could give it
a try...

Kate

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)

"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

"Kate" wrote in message
...

"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
Look here Kate-You have now moved into a civilised area with a different
class of birds.
These are your Harrods type not Netto.
Dig deeper in your pocket and buy decent grub.

In message , Kate
writes
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!

It's been very quiet here too: from two tubes of sunflower seeds a day
in Spring, with lots of greenfinches along with the usual crowd and even
a few starlings and sparrows, which we hadn't seen in years, we're down
to perhaps a half. There are still some tits, and the usual ring-necked
doves and woodpigeons, but not a sign for months now of the many
greenfinches, no sparrows or starlings, no wrens (lots last winter), or
my favourites, the long-tailed tits (again lots last winter); I haven't
seen the great spotted woodpecker (mother with baby last summer); only
the occasional sighting of the regular to the bird bath, the song thrush
(daily a summer ago, including mum making baby have a bath!).
I put it down to the daily dawn avian sacrifice of a virgin (or
otherwise) to the great god sparrowhawk...
--
Klara, Gatwick basin

"PhEaSaNt PLuCKeR" wrote in message
...
No visitors today :-(
I have cleaned and replenished the feeders, but no takers???
How's your garden for activity today?



Down the garden at dawn: Wren, robin, magpies. A brief look at the feeder
for 5 mins an hour later before work (through bins) showed blue tits, great
tits, house sparrows and greenfinches.

Tina

La puce wrote:
Anne Burgess wrote:

Alive with Blackbirds, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Goldfinches,
Siskins, House Sparrows, Dunnocks, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Blue Tits
and a Robin.

Blackbird, magpies, blue tits, squirrels and a crow, a noisy one at
that.

Rose-ringed parakeet.

And ..... (I'm afraid I can't resist it)

..... a partridge in a pear tree.

PhEaSaNt PLuCKeR wrote:
"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...

Our dog forgot to re-bury her current bone yesterday and left it on
the back lawn. So the first thing we saw this morning was a very large
crow pecking out the marrow. For the second day running, the red
squirrel risked death by darting out just behind said dog, and for the
second day running, fortunately she didn't notice. The nutfeeders were
hosts to bluetits, great tits, greenfinches and chaffinches. As I worked
in the garden I saw blackbirds, thrushes, a wren, and robins all
scuffling around in the mulches. John saw a sparrowhawk divebomb into
the big hedge where the sparrows hang out, without catching one.

Big bonfire, dug out old strawberry bed, rain stopped play mid afternoon.

Janet.


Very Impressed Janet!
Let's see what tomorrow brings here in Stoke-on-Trent

Fingers Crossed!


Here on the fringes of Stoke-on Trent I am having problem with
pheasants, as soon as I put the ground food out up to 6 at a time come
and scoff the lot, I really do not want to plump them up for the local
Lord to shoot. Maybe I should do that myself and stuff the turkey with
a pheasant, but my wife won't countenance it.

--
Please do not reply to this Email address
All Emails are deleted upon receipt.

"Broadback" wrote in message
...
PhEaSaNt PLuCKeR wrote:
"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...

Our dog forgot to re-bury her current bone yesterday and left it on
the back lawn. So the first thing we saw this morning was a very large
crow pecking out the marrow. For the second day running, the red
squirrel risked death by darting out just behind said dog, and for the
second day running, fortunately she didn't notice. The nutfeeders were
hosts to bluetits, great tits, greenfinches and chaffinches. As I worked
in the garden I saw blackbirds, thrushes, a wren, and robins all
scuffling around in the mulches. John saw a sparrowhawk divebomb into
the big hedge where the sparrows hang out, without catching one.

Big bonfire, dug out old strawberry bed, rain stopped play mid afternoon.

Janet.


Very Impressed Janet!
Let's see what tomorrow brings here in Stoke-on-Trent

Fingers Crossed!


Here on the fringes of Stoke-on Trent I am having problem with pheasants,
as soon as I put the ground food out up to 6 at a time come and scoff the
lot, I really do not want to plump them up for the local Lord to shoot.
Maybe I should do that myself and stuff the turkey with a pheasant, but my
wife won't countenance it.

--
Please do not reply to this Email address
All Emails are deleted upon receipt.

hehe Broadback, I'm your man LOL
We don't get Pheasant's in our garden here as yet....
Just had our Robin chase off a sparrow that's all today so far
No sign of our Blackbird, and we don't get magpies here this year, although
they are around
they don't come into the garden and take over as yet!
Don't shoot the Pheasant's just spray em with water!!!! ;-)

Pheasant Pie mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Merry Christmas


--
Regards
James (ukjay)
http://www.ukjay.co.uk

Garden WebCam Guestbook/Message Portal
http://ukjay.kicks-ass.net/cgi-bin/guestbook.pl

PhEaSaNt PLuCKeR wrote:
Don't shoot the Pheasant's just spray em with water!!!! ;-)

Really?! What does this do?

Pheasant Pie mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

There was this pheasant last summer when we were staying in the new
forest who took a liking for our car, a 4x4 frontera (since sold).
Everytime we started the motor, it kind of danced by my side door,
making rooster noises, looking a bit in love really. I always wondered
if the bright colour red of our car aroused it or the noise revealed a
decibel that tickled it )

"PhEaSaNt PLuCKeR" wrote in message
...

Silence here, apart from the odd helicopter (No they didn't land in my
garden)

:-)

--
Regards
James (ukjay)
http://www.ukjay.co.uk

Garden WebCam Guestbook/Message Portal
http://ukjay.kicks-ass.net/cgi-bin/guestbook.pl


Not even when you went out and threw crumbs at them???

;-)

Duncan

On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 22:41:45 +0000, Kate wrote
(in article ):



I *do* buy the best foods, Rupert! And my own recipe is made using
top-quality ingredients, too. Maybe these are burger-and-fries birds
and not silver-service ones, although the magpie always dresses for
dinner ;-)

Kate



We've been in our house for five years now. When we first moving in, not a
bird, not one. After five years of planting out the garden with shrubs to
make it more bird-friendly and regular feeding we attract sparrows,
blackbirds, tits, chaffinch, gold-finch and a winter visitor of one very
regular meadow pipit. We had a small flock of LT Tits in the other day,
quite magical. So it takes time, and dedication. You can't rush it, just
let the birds know that you are there, and they'll find you.

Message from Kate on Thu, 15 Dec 2005 15:03:58 No
Visitors:

I am not going to bother any more. I spend a lot of money on
proprietary foods and also make my own, but all we get in the garden
are pigeons and starlings. Occasionally a robin and a couple of
blackbirds will deign to visit, and now and again a blue tit, but
that`s it. The peanuts shrivel, the sunflower hearts get damp from
condensation and go mouldy - and so on and so on. As I mentioned in
an earlier post, I think our garden is bird-friendly, but the birds
just aren`t friendly to us. When I remember the varieties we used to
get in the garden when we lived in the Fens, I get very downhearted.
Admittedly, our quarter-of-an-acre garden there was an oasis in the
middle of intensively-farmed arable fields, but we didn`t put much
food out and we had : robin, blackbird, blue tit, great tit, wren,
fieldfare, yellow wagtail, pied wagtail, turtle dove, cuckoo
(youngsters that gorged on the hairy caterpillars bivouaced in the
hawthorn hedge), pheasant, partridge (I had a `pet` partridge who
would sit on my shoulder like a parrot!), warbler, greenfinch, linnet,
house sparrow and even a black redstart passing through. We had
hares, shrews, and stoats in the garden and horseshoe bats in the
roof. As I suggested before, I think there are too many people
feeding too few birds where we live now, but I can`t think of anything
else we could do to entice them, so I`m admitting defeat.

Kate

I suggest you scatter some bread on the lawn or other open space. This
attracts sparrows and starlings and in turn they will attract other
species.
--

"Josie" wrote in message
...
Message from Kate on Thu, 15 Dec 2005 15:03:58
No Visitors:

I am not going to bother any more. I spend a lot of money on
proprietary foods and also make my own, but all we get in the garden
are pigeons and starlings. Occasionally a robin and a couple of
blackbirds will deign to visit, and now and again a blue tit, but
that`s it.
snip
Kate

I suggest you scatter some bread on the lawn or other open space.
This attracts sparrows and starlings and in turn they will attract
other species.
--

Good news! I bought a feeding station on Friday and yesterday we
placed it in an open position but still with perching spots not too
far away. Today we have had blue, great, and long-tailed tits and one
coal tit. A solitary male blackcap stayed around for quite a while,
and a small group of chaffinches dropped by. A pied wagtail was a
regular and a grey wagtail appeared very briefly on the roof of the
bungalow but didn`t investigate further. We saw a bullfinch in the
oak tree behind our garden, but, alas, it didn`t come down into the
garden. Maybe tomorrow? All these in addition to the usual
starlings, robin, blackbirds, pigeon and magpie. I do hope this trend
continues.

Now I should own up to what is, probably, a character flaw : it is not
enough that the birds visit the garden. I *must* get photos of them.
We have had a hide in the garden for nearly a year, and today managed
to move it so that I can focus my long lens on the new feeding
station. Tomorrow, if the weather is bright, I shall be out there
waiting...

Thanks for all the advice.

Happy Christmas!
Kate