I am hoping to see Waxwings, Blackcaps and Bramblings, and
possibly Bullfinch, again before the end of the winter; I've
seen them in past winters but not so far this year.

Bramblings have appeared, yesterday and today. Even one clinging
like to tit to a peanut feeder.

Anne

Waxwings today.
Feel so happy!

On 17 Jan 2013 15:19:54 GMT, "David.WE.Roberts"
wrote:

With the weather turning nasty, I am thinking about the birds which don't
feed from the tray with the wheat based seed mix.

We have tried fat balls and peanuts in the past but they seem to be
ignored.

Also, the seed mix in the vertical tubes with the aperture near the bottom
with a small perch also seem to be ignored.

So what is the best way to encourage a wider range of birds to feed?

At the moment we get mainly wood pigeons, collared doves, blackbirds and
robins.

Blue tits are around but don't seem to come to the feeders.


We have been feeding birds at this property for more than 15 years
and, by trial and error, have narrowed down the provision of feed and
feeders to the following which seem to be very successful at
attracting birds to our garden. Fifteen species visit us on a regular
basis every week plus several seasonal visitors.

A good quality mixed wild bird seed but including sunflower seeds with
added (by me) more sunflower seed and fat pellets (the pink 'berry
flavoured' sort which is far more popular than the plain or insect
varieties). Where barley is included in a mix is This goes in two
seed feeders, one with 4 feeding ports and one with a small fitted
dish.

A simple mesh tube feeder with peanuts for the Greater Spotted
Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and tits.

IMHO the Droll Yankee ranges of feeder are the best design for basic
feeders - they last for many years and the new 'ring-pull' design are
very easy to clean.

A Sanctuary cage feeder which contains a fat cake (again the pink
berry flavoured variety). This is very popular with the woodpeckers,
tits (today there were 10 long tailed tits all trying to get into it
at the same time) and the current resident Blackcap. The adjustable
aperture cage design keeps magpies out.

We have tried a nyger feeder several times over the years but we do
not appear to have much of a local population of Goldfinches.

The location of the feeders is important, we moved ours three times
until we found the right place, next to a shrub border with a tree
growing in it and a hedge which allows the birds to perch in the
foliage deciding whether it is safe to venture on to the feeders (we
are frequently visited by a Sparrow hawk and some of the smaller birds
are not too keen on the woodpeckers or, at the moment, the rather
belligerent Blackcap).
--
rbel

On Thu, 17 Jan 2013 19:15:59 +0000, rbel wrote:


We have been feeding birds at this property for more than 15 years
and, by trial and error, have narrowed down the provision of feed and
feeders ... snipped

Here there are hanging peanut and sunflower heart feeders. The bird
table (which has a roof as we found that makes a difference) is
covered in sunflower hearts.

We get green-, chaf-, bull- and gold-finches, blue-, coal- and
great-tits, a couple of collared doves, house- and tree- sparrows,
robins (a surprising number seem to co-exist here), wrens, blackbirds,
nuthatches, thrushes, woodpeckers and starlings. Magpies are
occasional visitors but we see much less of them since the
neighbouring farmer started a shooting campaign when numbers really
got out of hand.

We have tried a nyger feeder several times over the years but we do
not appear to have much of a local population of Goldfinches.

Started getting goldfinches when we ditched nyger and put out
sunflower hearts (NOT sunflowers in shells).

The location of the feeders is important, snipped

Location is a factor. Essentially the needs are for somewhere to queue
and somewhere safe to eat. Hence fences to queue on, the roof on the
table and adjacent trees/bushes which provide shelter from the local
sparrow hawks and any cat which happens to visit while resident cat
(who is an avid bird watcher but doesn't go for them) is indoors.

And don't forget water. A bird bath or other source of fresh water is
essential.

And it's quite normal for the visiting bird population to dwindle
almost to zero on the RSPB's bird watch weekends.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay where sometimes
it's raining and sometimes it's not.

On Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:07:30 +0000, The Original Jake
wrote:


And don't forget water. A bird bath or other source of fresh water is
essential.

Agreed


And it's quite normal for the visiting bird population to dwindle
almost to zero on the RSPB's bird watch weekends.

There is a way to fool them - do the weekly BTO Garden BirdWatch
counts which is a considerably more valuable resource.
http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw
--
rbel

Wholeheartedly agree with that. GBW keeps all your counts, which means you can log in and see summaries of your counts for as long as you've been taking them, and look at the long term trends

It's really added to my enjoyment. On the trivial level, instead of looking out of the window and yawning "just greenfinches", the fact that the counts are taken weekly means I now look and say "Ah! that's our first greenfinch for the week!"

On a less trivial level, I was able to watch the decline of greenfinches due to that disease, and now their return and increase; and the return of a pair of house sparrows after our healthy population moved away in the face of major renovations next door.

It's also encouraged me to look more closely at the birds, and their characteristic behaviours.

And they send you an interesting magazine.

"kay" wrote in message
...

David Hill;976852 Wrote:
--
We get jackdaws feeding from our feeders by hovering like humming
birds
-

We have a small group of robins who attack any other wildlife that
comes
near the feeder, including squirrels and blackbirds. Vicious little
things-


Just be glad they are not the size of crows.

When I was young, there was a robin-shaped collection box outside a shop
- about 3ft high. Scary!

Cor! I remember a dog one but not a robin!!

--
--
http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

In article , rbel wrote:

....
And it's quite normal for the visiting bird population to dwindle
almost to zero on the RSPB's bird watch weekends.

There is a way to fool them - do the weekly BTO Garden BirdWatch
counts which is a considerably more valuable resource.
http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw

Huh! You didn't mention that you need to join BTO (?17) in order to do
this survey!

John

Sorry - that's not for joining BTO, just for joining Garden Birdwatch!

But you do get a mag, and all your counts stored for you, and info on their research projects.

On 17 Jan 2013 15:19:54 GMT, "David.WE.Roberts"
wrote:

With the weather turning nasty, I am thinking about the birds which don't
feed from the tray with the wheat based seed mix.

We have tried fat balls and peanuts in the past but they seem to be
ignored.

Also, the seed mix in the vertical tubes with the aperture near the bottom
with a small perch also seem to be ignored.

So what is the best way to encourage a wider range of birds to feed?

At the moment we get mainly wood pigeons, collared doves, blackbirds and
robins.

Blue tits are around but don't seem to come to the feeders.


Cheers

Dave R

Having been feeding the birds more this winter I have attracted a RAT.
Any advice please?

Pam in Bristol

On Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:01:15 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:


Having been feeding the birds more this winter I have attracted a RAT.
Any advice please?

Pam in Bristol

Same happened here except there were a number of rats (farm next
door). We stopped ground feeding to begin with. Then put down bait
boxes when rats learned how to get to hanging feeders and onto bird
table. Cat took care of a fair few rats. Bait boxes took care of
another fair few.

Took about 3 months to get rid of them all. But we would not stop
feeding the birds altogether which, if you don't want to use poison or
killer traps, is really your only option.

Some people advocate using traps that catch the rats live and then
releasing them somewhere out of the way - this is illegal and the rat
is likely to die anyway (more slowly) if released outside it's home
territory.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay where sometimes
it's raining and sometimes it's not.

On Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:01:15 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:



Having been feeding the birds more this winter I have attracted a RAT.
Any advice please?

Pam in Bristol

It's quite a long subject as there are various ways and not all people
are comfortable with killing something,and that sometimes means they
do a half hearted job which actually causes more suffering.
I am guessing it's removal of the Rat you want advice about and don't
want adopt it as a Pet. This is quite a good summary of the options.
http://www.ufaw.org.uk/rodents.php

You are unlikely to have just the one ,it's unfortunate that if you
are going to feed birds then you will attract Rodents as well.
Good housekeeping around the feeders is important, catch trays to stop
spillage helps but you may want to be feeding some ground feeding
birds anyway. Little and often so the birds eat it all up rather than
leave a pile for a Rat to come an eat later.
I am of the opinion though that you can never stop all Rats all of the
time and it is just something to put up with while keeping the numbers
to a minimum. In a small garden with neighbours in a city that might
not be an option as the Rats may well be living in filth.
Here they come in from the adjoining field in Autumn and move under
sheds ,but with no human waste to feed amongst they will be relatively
clean so I don't worry too much about the odd one that appears between
purges.

G.Harman

On Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:01:15 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:


Having been feeding the birds more this winter I have attracted a RAT.
Any advice please?


As a preventative measure I suggest that you do not put any seed on
the ground intentionally but use a tube feeder with saucer at the
bottom to catch the majority of the spillage. It wont stop it all and
blackbirds will undoubtedly get in the saucer and fling stuff over the
edge but it will reduce the amount that ends up on the ground which
the pigeons and any ground feeders should mop up.
--
rbel

On Fri, 18 Jan 2013 19:22:31 +0000, rbel wrote:

On Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:01:15 +0000, Pam Moore
wrote:


Having been feeding the birds more this winter I have attracted a RAT.
Any advice please?


As a preventative measure I suggest that you do not put any seed on
the ground intentionally but use a tube feeder with saucer at the
bottom to catch the majority of the spillage. It wont stop it all and
blackbirds will undoubtedly get in the saucer and fling stuff over the
edge but it will reduce the amount that ends up on the ground which
the pigeons and any ground feeders should mop up.

Thanks
I've been looking online for hanging bird-tables on which I can put
food for my blackbirds and robin which don't use the hanging feeders.
I realise I need to stop putting their food on saucers on the ground.
I also want one with a roof as I'm sick of the saucers filling with
rain.
I found a traditional wooden one and a metal one with a shiny roof.
Will birds be deterred by the shiny roof?


Pam in Bristol

It's expensive, but CJbirdfoods do a big wooden one with a mesh tray so the rain goes straight through. It works well, and you can see the birds easily. If you can attract the robin with that, you may find he'll also use the hanging feeder - mine do

It's also worth using specialist "robin food" or food for soft baked birds. Blackbirds will pick out sultanas first (I use ones sold for birds - I'm not sure whether the anti-sticklubricant covering on human ones is good for birds). And meal worms and suet pellets are a good addition

An alternative to the CJ tray - at pets'r'us (or whatever it's called) you can get little mesh trays for a few £ - they don't come with chains so you'd have to work out a method of mounting them higher up.

You could always paint the shiny metal roof with some matte black or green paint if you found it to be a problem.