Try Dr Andy Stevens at Plymouth City Council

Trevor

East Yorkshire


"Serendipity" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Nov 2002 22:06:00 -0000, "trevor.appleton"
wrote:

Back in September my bird feeders were covered in greenfinches, colat
tits,
blue and great tits, the odd tree sparrow too.

Snip the rest ...
.................................................. ...........
Several years ago I had exactly the same problem. Unfortunately,
in my case it cannot be solved.

At the time of which I speak, gulls arrived in my district of Plymouth
(UK) Being in a city by the sea one can expect these beautiful birds
turned PEST !!!!! However, this was the first time that they nested.
The problem was added to by unthinking people actually feeding
them.

I said that the problem is unsolvable because I tried all the
legal methods, i.e. the City Council (You must be joking) and
the RSPB. There must be tens of thousands of them in and
around the ciity, fouling as they go; unhindered,as they
are protected.

From the mail (e-type and snail) I have received in reply
to an anguished comment a couple of months ago in another
newsgroup,, many people consider them to be VERMIN.

Yes, they are a beauty to hold, graceful and loved by many
but they definitely have an adverse effect upon other
birds. Even magpies - those magnificent bullies - have
been scared away, let alone the blue tits. I have been
even been deserted by two families of feuding robins.

Nothing I've tried has tempted small birds to overcome
the fear - perhaps of competition - posed by damned gulls.

I might just as well cover my lovely garden with decking :-(((

.................................................. ...........................
..................


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Your on the wrong site mate!


wrote in message
...
I cant feed the birds where I live the bears eat bird seed and just
adore peanuts. Ed



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Strangely I have never seen a chaffinch in my garden, commonest are
greenfinches, blure tits, coal tits,great tits, plenty of blackbirds, Song
Thrush getting rare now, Linnets, Tree Sparrow, Greater spotted woodpecker
about 3 times per year, goldfinches, occasional sparrowhawk



"Norman Tulloch" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Nov 2002 22:06:00 -0000, "trevor.appleton"
wrote:

Back in September my bird feeders were covered in greenfinches, colat
tits,
blue and great tits, the odd tree sparrow too.

In October they suddenly stopped coming so I threw the peanuts away and
put
up fresh - they returned.

A few weeks ago I spent 20 quid on a large sack of peanuts, and guess
what,
yes they've deserted me. It it likely to be the peanuts (they are also
ignoring the black sunflower seeds).

I've noticed the peanuts are all slightly pecked along the full length of
the feeders.

Have I blown £20?

Trevor


I think the birds will probably come back to you when the weather gets
colder and times get harder. There's still a lot of natural food
around and probably the birds don't feel the need to make much use of
your feeders.

In my garden there are visiting flocks of chaffinches (and some
brambling too -- rather to my surprise). There are mature beech trees
on the edge of my garden and the finches come and feed on the
beechnuts lying on the lawn. I've only got one nut feeder which the
chaffinches and bramblings ignore at the moment. However, I reckon a
few icy December days (and the end of the beech mast) will make them
more enthusiastic. I do get quite a few greenfinch on the feeder, and
last year great tit, blue tit, coaltit, goldfinch, and also the
occasional sparrowhawk.

Norman Tulloch


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trevor.appleton wrote:
This was the first pint from a £20 quid sack!

Do they prefer the tiny peanuts to the large red?


Well unless the sack was very old they should have been all right. My
flock seem to scoff everything thats put out - unless the peanuts look
very sad, and then I think they are justified in turning their beaks
up at them.

--
ned

In article , K
writes

We have 7 feeders in our small suburban garden in SW London, 3 of which have
peanuts, the others mixed seed. The seed is definitely popular, but the
peanuts go too (the squirrels probably get the majority). I bought a small
cage type thing with fat 'cake' which came in various varieties. I chose
the one with insects, as I though it would be less attractive to the
squirrels. It lasted just over a week and was popular with the starlings.
I have had fat balls in the past but the squirrels just take the whole ball!
We've had up to 13 house sparrows in the garden recently.

Only 13! ;-)

I know they've declined in recent years, but it seems to be more in the
south than the N. We don't have a huge variety of birds, but the
sparrows and the tits arrive in flocks.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/

trevor.appleton wrote:
Strangely I have never seen a chaffinch in my garden, commonest are
greenfinches, blure tits, coal tits,great tits, plenty of
blackbirds, Song Thrush getting rare now, Linnets, Tree Sparrow,
Greater spotted woodpecker about 3 times per year, goldfinches,
occasional sparrowhawk


lol - blure tits - is that some new tv tribute band?

Don't you just love text?

--
William Tasso - The road to hell is littered with fallen webmasters.
http://www.tbdata.com/

trevor.appleton wrote in message
news:fGUz9.14$Dj6.39103@newsfep2-gui...
: Strangely I have never seen a chaffinch in my garden, commonest are
: greenfinches, blure tits, coal tits,great tits, plenty of blackbirds,
Song
: Thrush getting rare now, Linnets, Tree Sparrow, Greater spotted woodpecker
: about 3 times per year, goldfinches, occasional sparrowhawk

Indeed, very strange. What sort of habitat is it that gets all these other
things, but not Chaffinch?
--
Jason
To e-mail me, add j before my surname

"William Tasso" wrote in message
...

lol - blure tits - is that some new tv tribute band?

Damon Albarn meets Atomic Kitten perhaps

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
: In article , K
: writes
:
: We have 7 feeders in our small suburban garden in SW London, 3 of which
have
: peanuts, the others mixed seed. The seed is definitely popular, but the
: peanuts go too (the squirrels probably get the majority). I bought a
small
: cage type thing with fat 'cake' which came in various varieties. I
chose
: the one with insects, as I though it would be less attractive to the
: squirrels. It lasted just over a week and was popular with the
starlings.
: I have had fat balls in the past but the squirrels just take the whole
ball!
: We've had up to 13 house sparrows in the garden recently.
:
: Only 13! ;-)
:
: I know they've declined in recent years, but it seems to be more in the
: south than the N. We don't have a huge variety of birds, but the
: sparrows and the tits arrive in flocks.
: --
: Kay Easton
:
: Edward's earthworm page:
: http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/

We're proud of our 13 :O)) For the past 5 yrs or so we were practically
without them but before that we had lots. We were also without greenfinches
for a number of yrs but they have returned now. We also get rose ringed
parakeets on our feeders - bet you don't get those!

K

"trevor.appleton" wrote in message
news:fGUz9.14$Dj6.39103@newsfep2-gui...
: Strangely I have never seen a chaffinch in my garden, commonest are
: greenfinches, blure tits, coal tits,great tits, plenty of blackbirds,
Song
: Thrush getting rare now, Linnets, Tree Sparrow, Greater spotted woodpecker
: about 3 times per year, goldfinches, occasional sparrowhawk
:
We don't get song thrushes now either. It may be that there is a large
flock of mistle thrushes on the school playing field at the end of the road.
We also get the occasional flock of long tailed tits and we have a regular
pair of dunnock and, of course, robins. We also get rose ringed parakeets
on our feeders most days. They roost in cedar trees nearby.

K

In article ,
(K) wrote:

We don't get song thrushes now either.

Yes, the Noise Abatement Society had a campaign

:-)

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

In article , K
writes

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
: In article , K
: writes
:
: I have had fat balls in the past but the squirrels just take the whole
ball!
: We've had up to 13 house sparrows in the garden recently.
:
: Only 13! ;-)
:
: I know they've declined in recent years, but it seems to be more in the
: south than the N. We don't have a huge variety of birds, but the
: sparrows and the tits arrive in flocks.
: --

We're proud of our 13 :O)) For the past 5 yrs or so we were practically
without them but before that we had lots. We were also without greenfinches
for a number of yrs but they have returned now. We also get rose ringed
parakeets on our feeders - bet you don't get those!

No indeed. Best we can offer is occasional flocks of long tailed tits -
lovely pink balls of fluff - and even more occasional goldcrest. I'm
trying to learn to like starlings, magpies and crows ;-)
--
Kay

It had never occurred to me before nut it does seem strange. We're a small
ahmnle tof around 20 houses and a small wood surrounded by predominantly
thousands of acres of cereals on the Yorkshire Wolds..



"Jason Smart" wrote in message
...
trevor.appleton wrote in message
news:fGUz9.14$Dj6.39103@newsfep2-gui...
: Strangely I have never seen a chaffinch in my garden, commonest are
: greenfinches, blure tits, coal tits,great tits, plenty of blackbirds,
Song
: Thrush getting rare now, Linnets, Tree Sparrow, Greater spotted
woodpecker
: about 3 times per year, goldfinches, occasional sparrowhawk

Indeed, very strange. What sort of habitat is it that gets all these other
things, but not Chaffinch?
--
Jason
To e-mail me, add j before my surname








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ned wrote:
trevor.appleton wrote:
Back in September my bird feeders were covered in greenfinches,
colat
tits, blue and great tits, the odd tree sparrow too.

In October they suddenly stopped coming so I threw the peanuts away
and put up fresh - they returned.

A few weeks ago I spent 20 quid on a large sack of peanuts, and
guess
what, yes they've deserted me. It it likely to be the peanuts (they
are also ignoring the black sunflower seeds).

I've noticed the peanuts are all slightly pecked along the full
length of the feeders.

Have I blown £20?



'Just had another thought.
Is there any chance that vermin have had access to your sack? I don't
know why they should, but rats and mice have a habit of urinating and
defecating while they feast and the birds do not appreciate this lack
of basic hygene.

--
ned

"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
: In article , K
: writes
:
: "Kay Easton" wrote in message
: ...
: : In article , K
: : writes
: :
: : I have had fat balls in the past but the squirrels just take the whole
: ball!
: : We've had up to 13 house sparrows in the garden recently.
: :
: : Only 13! ;-)
: :
: : I know they've declined in recent years, but it seems to be more in the
: : south than the N. We don't have a huge variety of birds, but the
: : sparrows and the tits arrive in flocks.
: : --
:
: We're proud of our 13 :O)) For the past 5 yrs or so we were practically
: without them but before that we had lots. We were also without
greenfinches
: for a number of yrs but they have returned now. We also get rose ringed
: parakeets on our feeders - bet you don't get those!
:
: No indeed. Best we can offer is occasional flocks of long tailed tits -
: lovely pink balls of fluff - and even more occasional goldcrest. I'm
: trying to learn to like starlings, magpies and crows ;-)
: --
: Kay

We get the odd flock of long tailed tits and very occasionally a goldcrest.
I like the starlings as they are great comedians. We get a couple of
magpies most days but I'm not too struck on them nor the crows.

K