I only have a small garden and nothing which produces berries at this time of year. There are some flower seed heads which birds tend to eat but to attract birds I usually feed them.
This year I started off with good intentions to feed all year round but with one thing or another stopped towards the end of the spring. Birds coming to the garden began to taper off over the summer, but, after starting to feed again a couple of weeks ago, expecting it to be a while before the birds came back again, was surprised to find quite a lot at the weekend feeding at the two stations in the garden. I'm trying different feeds, and not very good at identifying what the birds are but the birds which have come back aren't the usual brown with speckled chests and a bit dull in colour. They are eating seeds rather than fat balls and love fruity muesli with nothing added. Giving it a whirl in the liquiser breaks it up into smaller pieces and makes it easier for them to eat. I've also got a couple of bird baths.
I'm pleased to see a greater number of blackbirds visiting our garden and oddly enough they are feeding from the bird table not the cotoneaster which is laden with berries. Maybe they are saving them for harsher times. There has been a little robin singing it's heart out this morning . Lovely sound to wake up to.
MMP - I put some oats on the bird table and some on the ground as our blackbirds don't usually go on the table. I bought some pears last week and threw the cores out and the blackbirds went crazy for them. Knew they liked apples but this seemed a real treat
Brenda - love that word "fossick" - never heard it before.
Thanks Caroline, our pair of blackbirds are quite feisty and often visit the bird table, I will try both the table and the bit of waste ground that passes for 'lawn'. Hoping to attract more birds into the garden (at the moment it's just the sparrows who descend like the hoardes of Ghengis Khan on the feeders), I've heard if you're like me and a bit squeamish about putting out mealworms, you can use grated suet (cheaper if you get it from the local butchers too). I try to put this under the hedge, in case a robin ventures into the garden, as I've heard they are only ground feeders. I suppose I need to increase the range of food in my garden if I want lots of different species to look at.
DovefromAbove, sorry to get you mixed up, you are normally such a fount of knowledge (and pass it on without sounding as though you're lecturing), I just assumed it was in the original post.
Now all I need is to raid the back of the sofa for some money, then I'm off to poundstretcher/wilkos/aldi.
I'm seeing the same sort of thing Gary, it's really concerning, don't you think?
Apart from the fact that when the hard weather comes there'll be nothing for them, they must be really hungry already as they don't usually start on the berries until we've had some hard frosts.
As the orchards have had so little fruit there will have been fewer windfalls etc for them
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Posts
I only have a small garden and nothing which produces berries at this time of year. There are some flower seed heads which birds tend to eat but to attract birds I usually feed them.
This year I started off with good intentions to feed all year round but with one thing or another stopped towards the end of the spring. Birds coming to the garden began to taper off over the summer, but, after starting to feed again a couple of weeks ago, expecting it to be a while before the birds came back again, was surprised to find quite a lot at the weekend feeding at the two stations in the garden. I'm trying different feeds, and not very good at identifying what the birds are but the birds which have come back aren't the usual brown with speckled chests and a bit dull in colour. They are eating seeds rather than fat balls and love fruity muesli with nothing added. Giving it a whirl in the liquiser breaks it up into smaller pieces and makes it easier for them to eat. I've also got a couple of bird baths.
MMP, it wasn't me who puts oats out, it was Caroline Smith
Zoomer, great, it's really important to keep the birdbaths filled
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'm pleased to see a greater number of blackbirds visiting our garden and oddly enough they are feeding from the bird table not the cotoneaster which is laden with berries. Maybe they are saving them for harsher times. There has been a little robin singing it's heart out this morning . Lovely sound to wake up to.
MMP - I put some oats on the bird table and some on the ground as our blackbirds don't usually go on the table. I bought some pears last week and threw the cores out and the blackbirds went crazy for them. Knew they liked apples but this seemed a real treat
Brenda - love that word "fossick" - never heard it before.
Zoomer - there is a free booklet you can get from the RSPB - "Birds in your Garden" which might help identify the different birds
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/wildlifegarden/
Thanks Caroline, our pair of blackbirds are quite feisty and often visit the bird table, I will try both the table and the bit of waste ground that passes for 'lawn'. Hoping to attract more birds into the garden (at the moment it's just the sparrows who descend like the hoardes of Ghengis Khan on the feeders), I've heard if you're like me and a bit squeamish about putting out mealworms, you can use grated suet (cheaper if you get it from the local butchers too). I try to put this under the hedge, in case a robin ventures into the garden, as I've heard they are only ground feeders. I suppose I need to increase the range of food in my garden if I want lots of different species to look at.
DovefromAbove, sorry to get you mixed up, you are normally such a fount of knowledge (and pass it on without sounding as though you're lecturing), I just assumed it was in the original post.
Now all I need is to raid the back of the sofa for some money, then I'm off to poundstretcher/wilkos/aldi.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I have several pyracanthas in my garden. I took this snap (and posted it on another thread) just a week ago. It has been loaded with berries...
I took this snap yesterday morning. About half the berries have already gone...
I took this snap yesterday afternoon, and it shows where the berries have been going...
Within a couple more weeks, all of those berries will have gone. The cupboard will be bare before Winter has even begun.
I'm seeing the same sort of thing Gary, it's really concerning, don't you think?
Apart from the fact that when the hard weather comes there'll be nothing for them, they must be really hungry already as they don't usually start on the berries until we've had some hard frosts.
As the orchards have had so little fruit there will have been fewer windfalls etc for them
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.