Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking about buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local garden centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share your thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should avoid. Can the birds really tell a difference?

Thanks very much!

In reply to Char Kenny ) who wrote
this in , I, Marvo, say :

Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really
disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking
about buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local
garden centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and
Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share
your thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should
avoid. Can the birds really tell a difference?

I buy the sacks from the RSPB because

o they should know what they're doing
o they make some money for themselves selling it
o it is delivered in an enormous bag
o the birds eat a feederful in a day

Careful of storing it. Rats love it.

In message , Uncle Marvo
writes
In reply to Char Kenny ) who wrote
this in , I, Marvo, say :

Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really
disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking
about buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local
garden centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and
Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share
your thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should
avoid. Can the birds really tell a difference?

I buy the sacks from the RSPB because

o they should know what they're doing
o they make some money for themselves selling it
o it is delivered in an enormous bag
o the birds eat a feederful in a day

Careful of storing it. Rats love it.


I wouldn't even think about bird feeders that aren't squirrel-proof,
with a good sturdy cage - not only do they eat all the food, they
destroy the bird feeders as well!
We also had one of those long ones where a cover comes down over the
tube when the squirrel tries to get on it. Worked perfectly until the
fox managed somehow to detach the bit with the peanuts in it - we
haven't seen it since. :-((
--
Klara, Gatwick basin

"Char Kenny" wrote in message
...

Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really
disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking about
buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local garden
centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and
Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share your
thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should avoid.
Can the birds really tell a difference?

Thanks very much!




--
Char Kenny

I use C J Wildbird food and/or Haiths both of whom provide me with good
service. As to what to buy when we lived in the Thames Valley squirrels
were a nuisance. You can adopt three methods of dealing with them (1)
ignore and just accept they will steal food (2) use "squirrel proof" feeders
but nothing is squirrel proof (3) feed the squirrels. I found a mixture of
2/3 effective for peanuts and found that if I used unprotected tube seed
feeders the losses were minimal. It was almost as if the squirrels
appreciated the sport of defeating the squirrel proof peanut feeders along
with a free supply of peanuts and left the seed alone.

As to which feed to use I have found that the most expensive does seem to
actually be good value. When you feed the cheaper feeds you watch the
birds discarding some seed and eating the rest. What they discard then
tries to germinate and what doesn't germinate turns into a mess. Somehow,
the expensive feeds get all eaten and the little they miss doesn't
germinate.

Trays beneath your feeder are a 2 edged sword. They increase the range of
birds visiting but they can become messy very quickly.

Here in Somerset we use simple tube feeders with no squirrel protection.e.g.
http://www.haiths.com/product-Birdlo...FJACOSEEDPLAS/

I've had a bird house (for feeding) but I've never been happy with them and
they get messy. If you mean a nesting box I use Schwegler with some
success.

Klara writes


I wouldn't even think about bird feeders that aren't squirrel-proof,
with a good sturdy cage - not only do they eat all the food, they
destroy the bird feeders as well!
We also had one of those long ones where a cover comes down over the
tube when the squirrel tries to get on it. Worked perfectly until the
fox managed somehow to detach the bit with the peanuts in it - we
haven't seen it since. :-((

I'd wait to see if squirrels are a problem before buying a squirrel
proof feeder.

I use CJ Birdfoods - recommended by BTO. Theory is that cheaper foods
are bulked out with cheaper ingredients which a) are less energy rich
(and small birds in winter need all they can get) and b) aren't liked by
the birds as much so they just drop them so they heap up beneath the
feeder.

In winter and spring I also use a fat feeder - I use the big cylindrical
blocks that CJ Birdfoods do - my birds don't seem to like the round
balls, or the little square ones that sit in cages. You can get the big
blocks with different additions, eg berries, insects, which is fun for
me but I don't know whether the birds care.

It takes several weeks for birds to get used to a feeder and start
visiting it. And BTO are saying that the biggest influence on your bird
visitors is what's around you rather than what you have in your garden.
So if you're in an urban desert you have to learn to love starlings and
sparrows.


--
Kay

If you just use hanging feeders you don't attract the ground feeders
(robins, blackbirds, dunnocks), but if you scatter food on the ground,
move it around a lot so you don't accumulate mess and the possibility of
disease.

--
Kay

"Char Kenny" wrote...

Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really
disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking about
buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local garden
centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and
Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share your
thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should avoid.
Can the birds really tell a difference?


After a lot of trial and error we have found "Mayfield Premium" seed to be
the best. A lot of places stock the Mayfield Standard seed but like most of
the others it contains too much corn so ask them to order in some Premium
for you. Check the price though. :-)
We had the same problem when we moved here but now we get lots of birds,
from Sparrows to Parakeets.
You may find that there are not many trees and large shrubs around your
area, it was the problem we had originally. Now trees have grown the bird
situation has improved.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:58:38 +0100, K wrote:

Klara writes


So if you're in an urban desert you have to learn to love starlings and
sparrows.

Or goldfinches and parakeets in Ardwick, Manchester.
--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

My feeders a standard metal mesh ones for peanuts, perspex ones with 6 feeders stations for grain and an open mesh one for fat balls. Mine hang from the lower branches of a blackthorn tree which gives them plenty of cover to queue up and wait while the bigger birds are on the feeders.

If you suffer from large birds using them then the ones with extra wires set away from the mesh would be better.

"Graham Harrison" wrote in
message ...

"Char Kenny" wrote in message
...

Hello fellow bird-lovers!

I have just moved from country Ireland to city England and am really
disappointed by the lack of birds in my new garden. I am thinking about
buying a bird house/feeder and some food. I visited the local garden
centre and was overwhelmed by the amount of brands available.

To me, it seems like a choice between buying Tesco cornflakes and
Kelloggs cornflakes but I'm a newbie to this. Can any of you share your
thoughts on which brand is best to get and which brand I should avoid.
Can the birds really tell a difference?

Thanks very much!




--
Char Kenny

I use C J Wildbird food and/or Haiths both of whom provide me with good
service. As to what to buy when we lived in the Thames Valley squirrels
were a nuisance. You can adopt three methods of dealing with them (1)
ignore and just accept they will steal food (2) use "squirrel proof"
feeders but nothing is squirrel proof (3) feed the squirrels.

(4) catch and kill the treee rats!

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:24:13 +0100, Char Kenny
wrote:


Can the birds really tell a difference?

I have now tried several kinds of bird-feed, including fat balls,
peanits and various seeds, all hung in net bags outside my bedroom
window, so I can see what's eating what.

The only birds that ever come for a snack are great tits! (Black head,
yellow breast.) They only eat the peanuts and some large seeds that
look something like pumpkin seeds.

I wish I knew what would appeal to some of the other birds in the
garden.

JD

On 11/10/07 22:22, in article ,
"JakeD" wrote:

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:24:13 +0100, Char Kenny
wrote:


Can the birds really tell a difference?

I have now tried several kinds of bird-feed, including fat balls,
peanits and various seeds, all hung in net bags outside my bedroom
window, so I can see what's eating what.

The only birds that ever come for a snack are great tits! (Black head,
yellow breast.) They only eat the peanuts and some large seeds that
look something like pumpkin seeds.

I wish I knew what would appeal to some of the other birds in the
garden.

JD

Just get a good mixture, as in varied. I add sunflower hearts to ours and
sometimes niger seed in a separate feeder. The latter goes almost overnight
but we suspect squirrels there! I'm going to experiment with it outside a
window on the second storey of the house where squirrels can't get to it.
In the garden and all the greenhouses we put fat balls, mixed seed and
peanuts, crumbs and some niger seed. Bird numbers are down, most
definitely but we get blackbirds, some thrushes, chaffinches, blue tits and
on the second storey seed feeder, I see coal tits and green finches, too.
During the fledging season this year, we put meal worms here and there and
they were like a 4* restaurant to 'our' birds.
It takes some time for birds to find the food source and to trust it as not
hiding some lurking predator. While we were away for two weeks, the second
storey seed feeder outside my study emptied. After we got back I re-filled
it but it took the birds a good 3 days to come back to it, even though they
were used to it and had used it frequently before we went away. It is now
nearly empty and will need re-filling tomorrow! The Tawny Owls are flying
again and I heard them at 6am today in the garden. Just a few nights ago we
went to our local for supper and could hear a parent in a nearby tree
calling the young. I think that's all part of the training them to feed and
to maintain a territory. Whatever it is, it's wonderful! Having lost two
trees in the neighbouring churchyard in which they both roosted and nested,
the rooks are now noisily sorting out new territory for themselves in our
garden. The main hub of their activity has always been the Atlantic cedar
at the end of our main lawn but we think they're now going to colonise a
copper beech even more heavily - thus inevitably hastening its demise - and
are taking over another conifer that they have, so far, ignored.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:28:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

On 11/10/07 22:22, in article ,
"JakeD" wrote:

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:24:13 +0100, Char Kenny
wrote:


Can the birds really tell a difference?

I have now tried several kinds of bird-feed, including fat balls,
peanits and various seeds, all hung in net bags outside my bedroom
window, so I can see what's eating what.

The only birds that ever come for a snack are great tits! (Black head,
yellow breast.) They only eat the peanuts and some large seeds that
look something like pumpkin seeds.

I wish I knew what would appeal to some of the other birds in the
garden.

JD

Just get a good mixture, as in varied. I add sunflower hearts to ours and
sometimes niger seed in a separate feeder. The latter goes almost overnight
but we suspect squirrels there! I'm going to experiment with it outside a
window on the second storey of the house where squirrels can't get to it.
In the garden and all the greenhouses we put fat balls, mixed seed and
peanuts, crumbs and some niger seed. Bird numbers are down, most
definitely but we get blackbirds, some thrushes, chaffinches, blue tits and
on the second storey seed feeder, I see coal tits and green finches, too.
During the fledging season this year, we put meal worms here and there and
they were like a 4* restaurant to 'our' birds.
It takes some time for birds to find the food source and to trust it as not
hiding some lurking predator. While we were away for two weeks, the second
storey seed feeder outside my study emptied. After we got back I re-filled
it but it took the birds a good 3 days to come back to it, even though they
were used to it and had used it frequently before we went away. It is now
nearly empty and will need re-filling tomorrow! The Tawny Owls are flying
again and I heard them at 6am today in the garden. Just a few nights ago we
went to our local for supper and could hear a parent in a nearby tree
calling the young. I think that's all part of the training them to feed and
to maintain a territory. Whatever it is, it's wonderful! Having lost two
trees in the neighbouring churchyard in which they both roosted and nested,
the rooks are now noisily sorting out new territory for themselves in our
garden. The main hub of their activity has always been the Atlantic cedar
at the end of our main lawn but we think they're now going to colonise a
copper beech even more heavily - thus inevitably hastening its demise - and
are taking over another conifer that they have, so far, ignored.

Thank you for the response and advice. Yes, tawny owls are wonderful
to hear, aren't they? Each one seems to have a different call. Last
Summer I went off hiking and camping on my own in the wilds. Soon
after I was bedded down, the silence was broken by a tawny owl up in a
tree, directly overhead. Gorgeous sound. So much more musical than the
call of the crow which you also mentioned... They sound almost
ominous to me. Where I live, they seem to throng in the big trees
surrounding a big spooky old dilapidated country house near here, the
spooky inhabitant of which no-one ever quite sees...

JD

"Granity" wrote
My feeders a standard metal mesh ones for peanuts, perspex ones with
6 feeders stations for grain and an open mesh one for fat balls. Mine
hang from the lower branches of a blackthorn tree which gives them
plenty of cover to queue up and wait while the bigger birds are on the
feeders.

If you suffer from large birds using them then the ones with extra
wires set away from the mesh would be better.
Granity

I have to anchor my 'fat balls' with extra strong wire to tree branches etc
because otherwise the magpies fly away with the whole ball !

Jenny

"JakeD" wrote
I have now tried several kinds of bird-feed, including fat balls,
peanits and various seeds, all hung in net bags outside my bedroom
window, so I can see what's eating what.

The only birds that ever come for a snack are great tits! (Black head,
yellow breast.) They only eat the peanuts and some large seeds that
look something like pumpkin seeds.

I wish I knew what would appeal to some of the other birds in the
garden.
JD


Just in time for the RSPB "Feed the Birds Day" - 27-10-07 :~))))
http://www.rspb.org.uk/feedthebirds/index.asp
Also has 'what to feed'
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpin...ding/index.asp


Somewhat irrelevant American site - but it has wonderful pictures of
hummingbirds :~)
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Abo.../BirdFoods.htm

jenny