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

Have I blown £20?

Trevor


Wish I had your problem .... I fill the feeders every day and I have 4 ...
even the Jay comes for a few Monkeynuts ...

Back in September 4 feeders would empty in two days, thats why its so
strange that they remain untouched now. Have emptied them all and refilled
today, so we will see.



Trevor



"Bogmyrtle" wrote in message
...
I've noticed the peanuts are all slightly pecked along the full length of
the feeders.

Have I blown £20?

Trevor


Wish I had your problem .... I fill the feeders every day and I have 4
....
even the Jay comes for a few Monkeynuts ...



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No chance of that, the bag has been in the house from moment I brought it
back



"ned" wrote in message
...
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




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"trevor.appleton" wrote in
message ...
No chance of that, the bag has been in the house from moment I
brought it
back

Well, she'll probably be done with the cooking, cleaning, washing and
ironing soon !!

8^)

On Fri, 15 Nov 2002 21:19:04 -0000, "trevor.appleton"
wrote:

No chance of that, the bag has been in the house from moment I brought it
back



"ned" wrote in message
...
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.


Why not crush them up and scatter about and on bird table. They will
all be back then!

We used to live in Cheshire where birds-tits greenfinches used to scoff bags
of nuts very quickly.
In Devon their response is less enthusuastic and they go off the nuts after
they have hung around for a while-attacking a new bag when it is tied up.
May be the nuts are not so fresh in Devon, maybe the bag is not so securely
located.
The nuts are visited by robins, greenfinches tits juvenile goldfinches.
I have found that blackbirds like a secure perch when consuming berries, and
find it difficult to eat raspberries if they are not too rigidly supported.

in article , at
wrote on 10/12/02 6:45 pm:

We used to live in Cheshire where birds-tits greenfinches used to scoff bags
of nuts very quickly.
In Devon their response is less enthusuastic and they go off the nuts after
they have hung around for a while-attacking a new bag when it is tied up.
May be the nuts are not so fresh in Devon, maybe the bag is not so securely
located.
The nuts are visited by robins, greenfinches tits juvenile goldfinches.
I have found that blackbirds like a secure perch when consuming berries, and
find it difficult to eat raspberries if they are not too rigidly supported.

I think the reason they take nuts more slowly down here is possibly because
summer and autumn last longer and there are still plenty of seeds for them
to take from gardens and fields. That's just my guess, though.
We put up nut feeders and the sparrows in particular go made for them, as do
the chaffinches. But they seem to be most active on these during January and
February, I'd say.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk

wrote in message ...
We used to live in Cheshire where birds-tits greenfinches used to scoff
bags
of nuts very quickly.
In Devon their response is less enthusuastic and they go off the nuts
after
they have hung around for a while-attacking a new bag when it is tied up.
snip
I have found in the past, that as soon as peanuts go a little damp, they
soon desert you in favour of the neighbours food. This year, I unscrewed the
supporting bracket and moved the feeder under a lean-too porch. I also found
that they preferred the type of holder, which allows them to remove whole
nuts. I only put about 24 hrs supply in the feeder, at any one time.
Regards ............. Paul

"Paul England" wrote in message
...

I have found in the past, that as soon as peanuts go a little damp, they
soon desert you in favour of the neighbours food. This year, I unscrewed
the
supporting bracket and moved the feeder under a lean-too porch.

I put a cowling over my cylindrical wire mesh feeder, made of a 2l drink
bottle. I hope it keeps the rain off except for the bottom couple of inches
left for the birds to get to.

Mike.
--
If reply address = connectfee, add an r because it is free not fee.

"Mike Coon" wrote in message
...
"Paul England" wrote in message
...

I have found in the past, that as soon as peanuts go a little damp, they
soon desert you in favour of the neighbours food. This year, I unscrewed
the
supporting bracket and moved the feeder under a lean-too porch.

I put a cowling over my cylindrical wire mesh feeder, made of a 2l drink
bottle. I hope it keeps the rain off except for the bottom couple of
inches
left for the birds to get to.

Mike.
--
If reply address = connectfee, add an r because it is free not fee.

Yes, in previous years, I used a mesh feeder which held approx 500 grams,
with a blocked funnel on top. But in winter, I found that after 3 or 4 days,
the damp seeped throughout the feeder.
Using a new feeder which provides whole nuts, is a big hit with them.
However, I must remember to stop when the young are in the nest in spring.
Does anyone know when they start nesting ?
Regards ........ Paul

Following on from Paul England's posting :
I have three mesh nut feeders and "my" birds contrive to consume about 12ft
x
2 inch per week on average most of the year. No chance of dampness
problems!!
Am I correct in assuming that no harm to fledglings etc. will be done
provided the nuts are not dispensed whole, or
should we stop all nut availabilty during nesting?
--
Peter Stockdale
Nanneys Bridge Nursery - Cheshire

"Peter Stockdale" wrote in message
...
: Following on from Paul England's posting :
: I have three mesh nut feeders and "my" birds contrive to consume about
12ft
: x
: 2 inch per week on average most of the year. No chance of dampness
: problems!!
: Am I correct in assuming that no harm to fledglings etc. will be done
: provided the nuts are not dispensed whole, or
: should we stop all nut availabilty during nesting?
: --
: Peter Stockdale
: Nanneys Bridge Nursery - Cheshire
:
I understand that modern thinking is that if the nuts are in mesh feeders,
the parents cannot take a whole nut and therefore the bits they feed to the
fledglings are OK.

A squirrel has just managed to chew through the wire mesh of one of our
brand new indestructible-squirrel-proof feeders :O((

K

"K" wrote in message
...

snip

A squirrel has just managed to chew through the wire mesh of one of our
brand new indestructible-squirrel-proof feeders :O((


The ingenuity, determination and learning abilities of grey squirrels are
quite staggering. I'm not sure there's really any such thing as a 100%
squirrel proof bird feeder, I think the little beggars' motto is 'Where
there's a will, there's a way' :-)

This may be a bit mercenary, but wouldn't Darwinism support an argument for
just not worrying about whole peanuts in the knowledge that nature would
quickly select in favour of birds which don't stick them whole down their
chicks throats?

I find that the peanuts go bad very quickly in feeders which don't dispense
whole nuts so I use them for seeds instead. Surely supplying chicks with
small but contaminated nut pieces is more likely to kill them than the
occasional whole but clean nut?

Martin

"Martin Sykes" wrote in message
...
: This may be a bit mercenary, but wouldn't Darwinism support an argument
for
: just not worrying about whole peanuts in the knowledge that nature would
: quickly select in favour of birds which don't stick them whole down their
: chicks throats?
:
: I find that the peanuts go bad very quickly in feeders which don't
dispense
: whole nuts so I use them for seeds instead. Surely supplying chicks with
: small but contaminated nut pieces is more likely to kill them than the
: occasional whole but clean nut?
:
: Martin
:
Sure, but ours never stay around long enough to get contaminated - the
aforementioned grey squirrels make certain of that.

K