On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:56:40 +0100, "Bob Hobden"
wrote:

Mayfields Premium Seed

That looks like a good one. Might try that.

"Steve" wrote ...
"Bob Hobden" wrote:

Mayfields Premium Seed

That looks like a good one. Might try that.

Make sure you get the Premium one not the Standard one. Our usual supplier
has stopped getting this in and won't even take an order for it and we have
yet to find another retailer locally.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

do you get any rats or mice in the garden after the seed??

i tried that and very popular in my garden

On 11 Aug, 21:40, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-08-11 19:34:03 +0100, "Dave Liquorice"
said:

On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:34:30 +0100, Sacha wrote:

I bought some from Seapets (yes, they do birdfood) and it's gone down
a
treat. It's about £13.50 for 12.5kg IIRC.

Ouch. Costco £5.79 (zero VAT) 12.5kg of "Natures Feast - Feeder
Supreme".
Though looking at the ingredients the first one is wheat but does
have around 9 others.

I think it's a question of what it contains, isn't it? *The OP did say
the best for a good price, or WTTE. *Our local seed merchant/farmer's
shop isn't much difference in price but they sometimes run out of the
largest sacks.
--
Sachawww.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

The best I have found is at "The Range" a very good mix from Sunflower
to millet/
I crumb a loaf of Tesco value brown bread, I slice dripping and and
place this on the breadcrumbs, top with around 1 to 1 1/2 mugs of
Tesco value Porrige oats, Heat in the microwave for 6 mins or so, mix
well and then 2 mugs of Bird seed, mix well and pack it into a couple
of 2 litre pop bottles cut off at the shoulder, ram down with the end
of a rolling pin and leave to set.
This is then put into wire netting holders the size of the bottles and
hung inside 2 wire baskets hung on end so 2 chains hold the baskets
together and the 3rd is used to hang the food from.
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...4u2/Feeder.jpg
we go through 6 to 8 of these "Blocks" a week feeding our hords, we
think about 200 come to feed, from sparrows to wood pecker.
David Hill

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-08-11 15:42:09 +0100, Steve said:

On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:32:38 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2009-08-11 14:15:52 +0100, Steve said:

I find mine seem to prefer the sunflower seed whole rather than
dehulled, they seem to enjoy removing the shell. That said it's pretty
quiet of late anyhow.

How do you find your seed mixes?

I'm also looking for decent bulk supplies say 20/25kg at a time. Any
recommendations? thnx

If you Google entering "wild bird seed bulk" you'll get a tremendous
range of choice.

Yes I do appreciate this. My thoughts were on recommendations from
those who buy a seed brand and it is all scoffed up. Normal wild bird
mix is fine for us here, but some contain a lot more of the cheap
wheat etc than others. Be nice to find a succesful good quality brand
at a good price.

We just seem to have blackbird/chaffinch/hedge
sparrow/dove/pigeon/woodpecker with occasional tit visitors so a
normal mix is fine as we cant really affored to specialise.

thnx to all.

I bought some from Seapets (yes, they do birdfood) and it's gone down a
treat. It's about £13.50 for 12.5kg IIRC. Your selection of birds sounds
very like ours but I think wood peckers tend to go more for peanut
feeders.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon


Woodpeckers *love* fat balls, esp. the huge ones. An incidental bonus is
that the ground feeders get the crumbs after the W'pecker has hammered them
to pieces.

Spider

On Aug 12, 12:52*pm, "Spider" wrote:
"Sacha" wrote in message

...



On 2009-08-11 15:42:09 +0100, Steve said:

On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:32:38 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2009-08-11 14:15:52 +0100, Steve said:

I find mine seem to prefer the sunflower seed whole rather than
dehulled, they seem to enjoy removing the shell. That said it's pretty
quiet of late anyhow.

How do you find your seed mixes?

I'm also looking for decent bulk supplies say 20/25kg at a time. Any
recommendations? thnx

If you Google entering "wild bird seed bulk" you'll get a tremendous
range of choice.

Yes I do appreciate this. My thoughts were on recommendations from
those who buy a seed brand and it is all scoffed up. Normal wild bird
mix is fine for us here, but some contain a lot more of the cheap
wheat etc than others. Be nice to find a succesful good quality brand
at a good price.

We just seem to have blackbird/chaffinch/hedge
sparrow/dove/pigeon/woodpecker with occasional tit visitors so a
normal mix is fine as we cant really affored to specialise.

thnx to all.

I bought some from Seapets (yes, they do birdfood) and it's gone down a
treat. It's about £13.50 for 12.5kg IIRC. *Your selection of birds sounds
very like ours but I think wood peckers tend to go more for peanut
feeders.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Woodpeckers *love* fat balls, esp. the huge ones. *An incidental bonus is
that the ground feeders get the crumbs after the W'pecker has hammered them
to pieces.

Spider

Spider, oh exalted knowledge of all stuff, yes, I am being sincere, I
have learned a lot of stuff from your postings, tell me, a bird,
pecking a hole in a bird box to get to the chicks inside, would that
be a woodpecker? As you can tell, I don't know one bird from another,
I even got a gull and a pigeon mixed up the other day.

Judith

On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:58:16 -0700 (PDT), Judith in France
wrote:

As you can tell, I don't know one bird from another,
I even got a gull and a pigeon mixed up the other day.

Judith

I've heard that you're good at identifying cocks though.

"Judith in France" wrote in message
...
On Aug 12, 12:52 pm, "Spider" wrote:
"Sacha" wrote in message

...



On 2009-08-11 15:42:09 +0100, Steve said:

On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:32:38 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2009-08-11 14:15:52 +0100, Steve said:

I find mine seem to prefer the sunflower seed whole rather than
dehulled, they seem to enjoy removing the shell. That said it's
pretty
quiet of late anyhow.

How do you find your seed mixes?

I'm also looking for decent bulk supplies say 20/25kg at a time. Any
recommendations? thnx

If you Google entering "wild bird seed bulk" you'll get a tremendous
range of choice.

Yes I do appreciate this. My thoughts were on recommendations from
those who buy a seed brand and it is all scoffed up. Normal wild bird
mix is fine for us here, but some contain a lot more of the cheap
wheat etc than others. Be nice to find a succesful good quality brand
at a good price.

We just seem to have blackbird/chaffinch/hedge
sparrow/dove/pigeon/woodpecker with occasional tit visitors so a
normal mix is fine as we cant really affored to specialise.

thnx to all.

I bought some from Seapets (yes, they do birdfood) and it's gone down a
treat. It's about £13.50 for 12.5kg IIRC. Your selection of birds sounds
very like ours but I think wood peckers tend to go more for peanut
feeders.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Woodpeckers *love* fat balls, esp. the huge ones. An incidental bonus is
that the ground feeders get the crumbs after the W'pecker has hammered
them
to pieces.

Spider

Spider, oh exalted knowledge of all stuff, yes, I am being sincere, I
have learned a lot of stuff from your postings,

:~) Blush! Ooooh, I've gone all over unnecessary!

tell me, a bird, pecking a hole in a bird box to get to the chicks inside,
would that
be a woodpecker?

Yes, it's certainly possible. I've seen the Greater Spotted Woodpecker at a
nest box in my garden. I asked the Warden of the local wood about it and he
wasn't in the least surprised. I didn't know whether to be glad I'd seen
'Woody', or to feel sorry for the chicks. (Typical wild life
non-intervention dilema).

As you can tell, I don't know one bird from another,
I even got a gull and a pigeon mixed up the other day.

:~)! Well, the silly things will all have beaks, won't they?! ... and they
all look the same after a glass of red wine. It's time you dropped a hint
about a good bird book for Christmas.

Spider




Judith

On Aug 12, 1:23*pm, "Spider" wrote:
"Judith in France" wrote in ...
On Aug 12, 12:52 pm, "Spider" wrote:



"Sacha" wrote in message

...

On 2009-08-11 15:42:09 +0100, Steve said:

On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:32:38 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2009-08-11 14:15:52 +0100, Steve said:

I find mine seem to prefer the sunflower seed whole rather than
dehulled, they seem to enjoy removing the shell. That said it's
pretty
quiet of late anyhow.

How do you find your seed mixes?

I'm also looking for decent bulk supplies say 20/25kg at a time. Any
recommendations? thnx

If you Google entering "wild bird seed bulk" you'll get a tremendous
range of choice.

Yes I do appreciate this. My thoughts were on recommendations from
those who buy a seed brand and it is all scoffed up. Normal wild bird
mix is fine for us here, but some contain a lot more of the cheap
wheat etc than others. Be nice to find a succesful good quality brand
at a good price.

We just seem to have blackbird/chaffinch/hedge
sparrow/dove/pigeon/woodpecker with occasional tit visitors so a
normal mix is fine as we cant really affored to specialise.

thnx to all.

I bought some from Seapets (yes, they do birdfood) and it's gone down a
treat. It's about £13.50 for 12.5kg IIRC. Your selection of birds sounds
very like ours but I think wood peckers tend to go more for peanut
feeders.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Woodpeckers *love* fat balls, esp. the huge ones. An incidental bonus is
that the ground feeders get the crumbs after the W'pecker has hammered
them
to pieces.

Spider

Spider, oh exalted knowledge of all stuff, yes, I am being sincere, I
have learned a lot of stuff from your postings,

:~) *Blush! * Ooooh, I've gone all over unnecessary!

tell me, a bird, pecking a hole in a bird box to get to the chicks inside,
would that
be a woodpecker?

Yes, it's certainly possible. *I've seen the Greater Spotted Woodpecker at a
nest box in my garden. *I asked the Warden of the local wood about it and he
wasn't in the least surprised. *I didn't know whether to be glad I'd seen
'Woody', or to feel sorry for the chicks. *(Typical wild life
non-intervention dilema).

As you can tell, I don't know one bird from another,
I even got a gull and a pigeon mixed up the other day.

:~)! *Well, the silly things will all have beaks, won't they?! *... and they
all look the same after a glass of red wine. *It's time you dropped a hint
about a good bird book for Christmas.

Spider

Judith

Yes, they all have beaks and two legs, how on earth am I supposed to
know!!! No more books please, I have a tome that I bought to help
identify mushrooms, unfortunately the colours in the book don't always
match the mushroom.

Judith

"Judith in France" wrote in message
...
On Aug 12, 1:23 pm, "Spider" wrote:
"Judith in France" wrote in
...
On Aug 12, 12:52 pm, "Spider" wrote:
(Snip)
Woodpeckers *love* fat balls, esp. the huge ones. An incidental bonus is
that the ground feeders get the crumbs after the W'pecker has hammered
them
to pieces.

Spider

Spider, oh exalted knowledge of all stuff, yes, I am being sincere, I
have learned a lot of stuff from your postings,

:~) Blush! Ooooh, I've gone all over unnecessary!

tell me, a bird, pecking a hole in a bird box to get to the chicks inside,
would that
be a woodpecker?

Yes, it's certainly possible. I've seen the Greater Spotted Woodpecker at
a
nest box in my garden. I asked the Warden of the local wood about it and
he
wasn't in the least surprised. I didn't know whether to be glad I'd seen
'Woody', or to feel sorry for the chicks. (Typical wild life
non-intervention dilema).

As you can tell, I don't know one bird from another,
I even got a gull and a pigeon mixed up the other day.

:~)! Well, the silly things will all have beaks, won't they?! ... and they
all look the same after a glass of red wine. It's time you dropped a hint
about a good bird book for Christmas.

Spider

Judith

Yes, they all have beaks and two legs, how on earth am I supposed to
know!!! No more books please, I have a tome that I bought to help
identify mushrooms, unfortunately the colours in the book don't always
match the mushroom.

Judith

Quite. I have that problem with mushroom ident books, but I have one or two
decent bird books which I find quite helpful. Even so, I occasionally get
muddled.
Well, I'm off to do some gardening now.
All the best,
Spider

On Aug 12, 1:58*pm, "Spider" wrote:
"Judith in France" wrote in ...
On Aug 12, 1:23 pm, "Spider" wrote:



"Judith in France" wrote in
...
On Aug 12, 12:52 pm, "Spider" wrote:
(Snip)
Woodpeckers *love* fat balls, esp. the huge ones. An incidental bonus is
that the ground feeders get the crumbs after the W'pecker has hammered
them
to pieces.

Spider

Spider, oh exalted knowledge of all stuff, yes, I am being sincere, I
have learned a lot of stuff from your postings,

:~) Blush! Ooooh, I've gone all over unnecessary!

tell me, a bird, pecking a hole in a bird box to get to the chicks inside,
would that
be a woodpecker?

Yes, it's certainly possible. I've seen the Greater Spotted Woodpecker at
a
nest box in my garden. I asked the Warden of the local wood about it and
he
wasn't in the least surprised. I didn't know whether to be glad I'd seen
'Woody', or to feel sorry for the chicks. (Typical wild life
non-intervention dilema).

As you can tell, I don't know one bird from another,
I even got a gull and a pigeon mixed up the other day.

:~)! Well, the silly things will all have beaks, won't they?! ... and they
all look the same after a glass of red wine. It's time you dropped a hint
about a good bird book for Christmas.

Spider
Judith

Yes, they all have beaks and two legs, how on earth am I supposed to
know!!! *No more books please, I have a tome that I bought to help
identify mushrooms, unfortunately the colours in the book don't always
match the mushroom.

Judith

Quite. *I have that problem with mushroom ident books, but I have one or two
decent bird books which I find quite helpful. *Even so, I occasionally get
muddled.
Well, I'm off to do some gardening now.
All the best,
Spider

Too hot here to go into the garden although I do needs potatoes for
tonight's supper, how is it my husband always disappears when I need
him? :-)

Judith

On Aug 12, 1:54*pm, Martin wrote:
On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:46:03 -0700 (PDT), Judith in France



wrote:
On Aug 12, 1:23*pm, "Spider" wrote:
"Judith in France" wrote in ...
On Aug 12, 12:52 pm, "Spider" wrote:

"Sacha" wrote in message

...

On 2009-08-11 15:42:09 +0100, Steve said:

On Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:32:38 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2009-08-11 14:15:52 +0100, Steve said:

I find mine seem to prefer the sunflower seed whole rather than
dehulled, they seem to enjoy removing the shell. That said it's
pretty
quiet of late anyhow.

How do you find your seed mixes?

I'm also looking for decent bulk supplies say 20/25kg at a time.. Any
recommendations? thnx

If you Google entering "wild bird seed bulk" you'll get a tremendous
range of choice.

Yes I do appreciate this. My thoughts were on recommendations from
those who buy a seed brand and it is all scoffed up. Normal wild bird
mix is fine for us here, but some contain a lot more of the cheap
wheat etc than others. Be nice to find a succesful good quality brand
at a good price.

We just seem to have blackbird/chaffinch/hedge
sparrow/dove/pigeon/woodpecker with occasional tit visitors so a
normal mix is fine as we cant really affored to specialise.

thnx to all.

I bought some from Seapets (yes, they do birdfood) and it's gone down a
treat. It's about £13.50 for 12.5kg IIRC. Your selection of birds sounds
very like ours but I think wood peckers tend to go more for peanut
feeders.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Woodpeckers *love* fat balls, esp. the huge ones. An incidental bonus is
that the ground feeders get the crumbs after the W'pecker has hammered
them
to pieces.

Spider

Spider, oh exalted knowledge of all stuff, yes, I am being sincere, I
have learned a lot of stuff from your postings,

:~) *Blush! * Ooooh, I've gone all over unnecessary!

tell me, a bird, pecking a hole in a bird box to get to the chicks inside,
would that
be a woodpecker?

Yes, it's certainly possible. *I've seen the Greater Spotted Woodpecker at a
nest box in my garden. *I asked the Warden of the local wood about it and he
wasn't in the least surprised. *I didn't know whether to be glad I'd seen
'Woody', or to feel sorry for the chicks. *(Typical wild life
non-intervention dilema).

As you can tell, I don't know one bird from another,
I even got a gull and a pigeon mixed up the other day.

:~)! *Well, the silly things will all have beaks, won't they?! *.... and they
all look the same after a glass of red wine. *It's time you dropped a hint
about a good bird book for Christmas.

Spider

Judith

Yes, they all have beaks and two legs, how on earth am I supposed to
know!!! *

The ones that lay giant eggs and can run faster than you are more probably
ostriches than dodos. The Norwegian Blues are extinct..

No more books please, I have a tome that I bought to help
identify mushrooms, unfortunately the colours in the book don't always
match the mushroom.

Better than the expert in Country File who put the poisonous ones in the basket
with the good ones and, if we naively believe what was shown, took them to a
local hotel to have them cooked.
--

Martin

I didn't see that! All the pharmacies here do a good job on
identifying them, I can easily identify 2 but not the others.

Judith

On Aug 12, 2:14*pm, Martin wrote:
On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:11:37 -0700 (PDT), Judith in France

wrote:
Too hot here to go into the garden although I do needs potatoes for
tonight's supper, how is it my husband always disappears when I need
him? *:-)

You cast a spell on him?
--

Martin

Hopefully :-)

Judith

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from Steve contains these words:

I find mine seem to prefer the sunflower seed whole rather than
dehulled, they seem to enjoy removing the shell. That said it's pretty
quiet of late anyhow.

How do you find your seed mixes?

I'm also looking for decent bulk supplies say 20/25kg at a time. Any
recommendations? thnx

I buy all ours by the 20/25kg sackful . My local agricultural
stock-feed suppliers offer a wide range, high quality at a fraction of
prices
in petshops or gardencentres. They have a fast enough turnover of
stock that it doesn't go stale; and deliver free.

Try yellow pages for ag.suppliers local to you.


The problem I found was if I bought 20 kg of "wild bird food" it would have
a lot of wheat in. Ideal if I wanted pigeons.

I stand by my canary seed/sunflower heart mix.

Tina