Should we feed the birds all year round? We do but are we doing more
harm than good?

wrote in message
...
Should we feed the birds all year round? We do but are we doing more
harm than good?

I don't, I just feed in winter when food is thin on the ground.
In the rest of the year let them eat the bugs that destroy our crops.

Wally

On 19/1/08 14:15, in article , "Wally"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
Should we feed the birds all year round? We do but are we doing more
harm than good?

I don't, I just feed in winter when food is thin on the ground.
In the rest of the year let them eat the bugs that destroy our crops.

But that's the reason to go on putting out feed, though perhaps in smaller
quantities. They know there will still be food in your garden but they'll
eat the bugs too.

--
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.'

Sacha wrote:
On 19/1/08 14:15, in article , "Wally"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
Should we feed the birds all year round? We do but are we doing
more harm than good?

I don't, I just feed in winter when food is thin on the ground.
In the rest of the year let them eat the bugs that destroy our crops.

But that's the reason to go on putting out feed, though perhaps in
smaller quantities. They know there will still be food in your
garden but they'll eat the bugs too.

I find that the number of visitors falls, anyhow, when food is common
elsewhere - mind you, the grape vine is 'elsewhere' for the Starlings!

On 19/1/08 18:04, in article , "cupra"
wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 19/1/08 14:15, in article , "Wally"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
Should we feed the birds all year round? We do but are we doing
more harm than good?

I don't, I just feed in winter when food is thin on the ground.
In the rest of the year let them eat the bugs that destroy our crops.

But that's the reason to go on putting out feed, though perhaps in
smaller quantities. They know there will still be food in your
garden but they'll eat the bugs too.

I find that the number of visitors falls, anyhow, when food is common
elsewhere - mind you, the grape vine is 'elsewhere' for the Starlings!



Yes indeed. Our blackbirds disappeared for a month or two and worried us
silly. Now they're back and feeding voraciously. The rooks go off on a
holiday every year. This year, because they've lost 3 trees from their
rookery, perhaps, they appear to us to be marking out their territory
earlier in the remaining trees.
Birds will suit themselves but if we put out food for them, they will come
back to it over and over again. I notice that sometimes bird feeders are
emptied in a matter of 3 days or less but that at other times, the seed
remains there much longer. This must be to do with what else is available
to them, the weather and who else is putting out bird feeders etc. But we
do know that our birds always return and they nest in the garden and in the
greenhouses, year after year, eating not just food from us but the insects
etc. As we use biological controls here, they're all part of that
programme.
--
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.'

Sacha wrote:
On 19/1/08 18:04, in article ,
"cupra" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 19/1/08 14:15, in article , "Wally"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
Should we feed the birds all year round? We do but are we doing
more harm than good?

I don't, I just feed in winter when food is thin on the ground.
In the rest of the year let them eat the bugs that destroy our
crops.

But that's the reason to go on putting out feed, though perhaps in
smaller quantities. They know there will still be food in your
garden but they'll eat the bugs too.

I find that the number of visitors falls, anyhow, when food is common
elsewhere - mind you, the grape vine is 'elsewhere' for the
Starlings!



Yes indeed. Our blackbirds disappeared for a month or two and
worried us silly. Now they're back and feeding voraciously. The
rooks go off on a holiday every year. This year, because they've
lost 3 trees from their rookery, perhaps, they appear to us to be
marking out their territory earlier in the remaining trees.
Birds will suit themselves but if we put out food for them, they will
come back to it over and over again. I notice that sometimes bird
feeders are emptied in a matter of 3 days or less but that at other
times, the seed remains there much longer. This must be to do with
what else is available to them, the weather and who else is putting
out bird feeders etc.

Funnily enough we were just talking about that today - our sparrow flock
(30+) has returned after going AWOL for a couple of weeks!

But we do know that our birds always return
and they nest in the garden and in the greenhouses, year after year,
eating not just food from us but the insects etc. As we use
biological controls here, they're all part of that programme.

Fantastic to see - will have to come down some time to look around the
nursery (with my DSLR for the bird pics!)

On 19/1/08 18:18, in article , "cupra"
wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 19/1/08 18:04, in article ,
"cupra" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 19/1/08 14:15, in article , "Wally"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
Should we feed the birds all year round? We do but are we doing
more harm than good?

I don't, I just feed in winter when food is thin on the ground.
In the rest of the year let them eat the bugs that destroy our
crops.

But that's the reason to go on putting out feed, though perhaps in
smaller quantities. They know there will still be food in your
garden but they'll eat the bugs too.

I find that the number of visitors falls, anyhow, when food is common
elsewhere - mind you, the grape vine is 'elsewhere' for the
Starlings!



Yes indeed. Our blackbirds disappeared for a month or two and
worried us silly. Now they're back and feeding voraciously. The
rooks go off on a holiday every year. This year, because they've
lost 3 trees from their rookery, perhaps, they appear to us to be
marking out their territory earlier in the remaining trees.
Birds will suit themselves but if we put out food for them, they will
come back to it over and over again. I notice that sometimes bird
feeders are emptied in a matter of 3 days or less but that at other
times, the seed remains there much longer. This must be to do with
what else is available to them, the weather and who else is putting
out bird feeders etc.

Funnily enough we were just talking about that today - our sparrow flock
(30+) has returned after going AWOL for a couple of weeks!

But we do know that our birds always return
and they nest in the garden and in the greenhouses, year after year,
eating not just food from us but the insects etc. As we use
biological controls here, they're all part of that programme.

Fantastic to see - will have to come down some time to look around the
nursery (with my DSLR for the bird pics!)


Please do. They're amazing to see and they're so confident, so at home. On
the one feeder outside my study window, I've had greenfinches, blue tits,
coal tits, sparrows and that obsessive blackbird. We have feeders inside
the main greenhouse and there's always a shallow cardboard box full of
crumbs and other bits and pieces for birds that prefer to eat that way. The
pheasants are back on the lawn in the very early morning just before the
dogs go out, too.

--
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.'

Sacha wrote:
On 19/1/08 18:18, in article ,
"cupra" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 19/1/08 18:04, in article ,
"cupra" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
On 19/1/08 14:15, in article ,
"Wally" wrote:


wrote in message
...
Should we feed the birds all year round? We do but are we doing
more harm than good?

I don't, I just feed in winter when food is thin on the ground.
In the rest of the year let them eat the bugs that destroy our
crops.

But that's the reason to go on putting out feed, though perhaps in
smaller quantities. They know there will still be food in your
garden but they'll eat the bugs too.

I find that the number of visitors falls, anyhow, when food is
common elsewhere - mind you, the grape vine is 'elsewhere' for the
Starlings!



Yes indeed. Our blackbirds disappeared for a month or two and
worried us silly. Now they're back and feeding voraciously. The
rooks go off on a holiday every year. This year, because they've
lost 3 trees from their rookery, perhaps, they appear to us to be
marking out their territory earlier in the remaining trees.
Birds will suit themselves but if we put out food for them, they
will come back to it over and over again. I notice that sometimes
bird feeders are emptied in a matter of 3 days or less but that at
other times, the seed remains there much longer. This must be to
do with what else is available to them, the weather and who else is
putting out bird feeders etc.

Funnily enough we were just talking about that today - our sparrow
flock (30+) has returned after going AWOL for a couple of weeks!

But we do know that our birds always return
and they nest in the garden and in the greenhouses, year after year,
eating not just food from us but the insects etc. As we use
biological controls here, they're all part of that programme.

Fantastic to see - will have to come down some time to look around
the nursery (with my DSLR for the bird pics!)


Please do. They're amazing to see and they're so confident, so at
home. On the one feeder outside my study window, I've had
greenfinches, blue tits, coal tits, sparrows and that obsessive
blackbird. We have feeders inside the main greenhouse and there's
always a shallow cardboard box full of crumbs and other bits and
pieces for birds that prefer to eat that way. The pheasants are back
on the lawn in the very early morning just before the dogs go out,
too.

Excellent - We will make a trip sometime!

On 20/1/08 10:20, in article , "cupra"
wrote:

Sacha wrote:
snip

Fantastic to see - will have to come down some time to look around
the nursery (with my DSLR for the bird pics!)


Please do. They're amazing to see and they're so confident, so at
home. On the one feeder outside my study window, I've had
greenfinches, blue tits, coal tits, sparrows and that obsessive
blackbird. We have feeders inside the main greenhouse and there's
always a shallow cardboard box full of crumbs and other bits and
pieces for birds that prefer to eat that way. The pheasants are back
on the lawn in the very early morning just before the dogs go out,
too.

Excellent - We will make a trip sometime!



Directions are on the web site but email we (removing the weeds) if you need
further info.
--
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.'

wrote in message
...
Should we feed the birds all year round? We do but are we doing more
harm than good?

I personally only feed in winter, but the RSPB says all year is OK :
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpin...whentofeed.asp

We get a fairly wide variety of birds in our town (Rotterdam) garden :
http://www.ljconline.nl/garden/Plant...onth/Birds.htm

The other day there was a large parakeet !! I didn't manage to get a photo
but here's one on Flikr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marinusmauritius/9214508/

Jenny

JennyC wrote:

I personally only feed in winter, but the RSPB says all year is OK :
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpin...whentofeed.asp

My Christmas present bird feeder has been deployed for nearly a
month, filled with a seed mix, but so far it doesn't seem to have
been visited. Perhaps my neighbours have already cornered the
market :-(

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

"Chris J Dixon" wrote in message
...
JennyC wrote:

I personally only feed in winter, but the RSPB says all year is OK :
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpin...whentofeed.asp

My Christmas present bird feeder has been deployed for nearly a
month, filled with a seed mix, but so far it doesn't seem to have
been visited. Perhaps my neighbours have already cornered the
market :-(

Chris

Leave it there, they will come, unless it is in a 'too busy' place such as
just outside a door which you are going in and out of all day. we have
feeders all over the place, one not six foot from our main Patio door and
the birds are quite happy to visit it. Should we go out, they fly off and
soon return.

Crossposted this to birdwatching as I have a puzzle.

We have a resident Bluetit which comes into the Tit box in the Veranda every
night. Just been visited by another one with a very long beak. I thought I
saw it yesterday and assumed it was 'ours' with something in its beak,
nesting material???? but on seeing it this morning it is very defiantly a
long beak. Twice as long and very narrow, slightly curving down

Any comments anyone?

Mike

Mike


--
www.rneba.org.uk. The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association.
'THE' Association to find your ex-Greenie mess mates.
www.iowtours.com for all ex-Service Reunions. More being added regularly

On 21/1/08 09:14, in article ,
"Chris J Dixon" wrote:

JennyC wrote:

I personally only feed in winter, but the RSPB says all year is OK :
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpin...whentofeed.asp

My Christmas present bird feeder has been deployed for nearly a
month, filled with a seed mix, but so far it doesn't seem to have
been visited. Perhaps my neighbours have already cornered the
market :-(

Just leave it and they'll find it. Sometimes they take a while to become
accustomed to a new feeding station and are, perhaps, a bit nervous of it.
And they regulate their own diets, too, as far as I can see. For a week
they'll go mad over seeds and then it's peanuts and then it's on to the
balls of fat with seeds in it!

--
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 21/1/08 11:16, in article
, "Sacha"
wrote:

On 21/1/08 09:14, in article ,
"Chris J Dixon" wrote:

JennyC wrote:

I personally only feed in winter, but the RSPB says all year is OK :
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpin...whentofeed.asp

My Christmas present bird feeder has been deployed for nearly a
month, filled with a seed mix, but so far it doesn't seem to have
been visited. Perhaps my neighbours have already cornered the
market :-(

Just leave it and they'll find it. Sometimes they take a while to become
accustomed to a new feeding station and are, perhaps, a bit nervous of it.
And they regulate their own diets, too, as far as I can see. For a week
they'll go mad over seeds and then it's peanuts and then it's on to the
balls of fat with seeds in it!

Sorry to reply to myself but I've just seen a pair of pied wagtails on the
seed feeder outside my study window. Those are definitely first time
visitors and they were going for the fat ball attached to the top of it.

--
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.'