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#1
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Birds
Should we feed the birds all year round? We do but are we doing more
harm than good? |
#2
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Birds
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 |
#3
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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.' |
#4
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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! |
#6
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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!) |
#7
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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 |
#8
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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. |
#9
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"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 |
#10
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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.' |
#11
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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.' |
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