@floralies fat blocks are rare and pricy here. I have 3 square fat block holders and nothing to put in them. Then I found cylindrical blocks and had to buy special holders to fit and can't alway get those blocks either. Vivara prices are about the same or cheaper than France Rurale.
Never seen sunfower hearts here so I buy bags of whole seeds and mix half and half with a wild bird mix of seeds. Gets a bit messy tho. May as well order some while I'm on and bring the postage down.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Very rarely go to Super U @papi Jo and the only peanuts I've seen in Leclerc rcently were in the fruit and nuts section, roasted and from China. I just want plain, loose peanuts for the birds and not Chinese. No peanuts in the birds and critters section and none at France Rurale in Moutiers either.
Hadn't realized those peanuts came all the way from China. Too bad! But the tits do not seem to mind.
Anyway, in order to make those garlands you do need the peanuts in their shell, not loose, of course.
@Papi Jo I don't think peanuts are an EU crop - yet - so they have food kilometres regardless. I just don't want to support the Chinese regime so never knowingly buy anything from there. Depressing to see how much cheap tat comes from there and also, in Leclerc, how much of their crockery. No faience française any more?
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
@Obelixx - can you make your own fat blocks? I have a holder for cylindrical blocks and one for rectangular ones. In England I bought beef dripping (which has a high melting point, unlike lard, so tends not to drip in warm weather), melted it and added things to it - sometimes just ground-up peanuts, sometimes extras like mealworms or seeds - then set it in foil-lined cardboard tubes, salvaged from the garden centre where I used to work (they were waste from their label-printing machine). For the rectangular blocks I used old plastic containers - marg pots etc. Considerably cheaper than buying the commercial blocks, though a faff to make. Here in Ireland, beef dripping seems hard to obtain, though I haven't tried the butcher yet...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
There is a disorderly queue out there at the monent. A pair of bullfinches are trying to hog the sunflower hearts but the nuthatch saw them off. There are bramblings hoovering up the spills quicker than the pigeons can get to them.
@Liriodendron - saw duck fat on sale today as it's the season to be slaugtering ducks for foie gras and making confit de canard. Never seen beef dripping. I'd still need sunflower hearts, mealworms, peanuts.........
No matter. The offerings from Vivara will do fine.
Lots of young tits and sparrows round the feeders today. The collared doves tend to come early and late for some reason but we get the tits and sparrows all day. No robins or chaffinches but I expect they're hiding. Horrible south east winds today and lots of rain.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I have just discovered a large box of Cheerios that unfortunately got stale. Do you think I can feed them to the birds? Or spread it for field mice to feed on? Don’t get alarmed, I normally feed the birds normal fresh peanuts, it’s a one off box of stale cereals I am wondering about. 😊
Might be quite a bit of salt in them @Big Blue Sky. That would be my main concern, but it would be difficult to judge. I expect if you break them up [or whizz them in a blender for a bit, if you have one ] and only put out a little at a time, it might be ok. Cheese has a similar problem, but in small quantities it seems to be fine.
I've had no complaints from the birds about Cheerios (or the supermarket own brand equivalent that we get) although they get 3rd dibs on the ones scattered all over the floor at breakfast time. Toddler chucks them on the floor, the dog picks up a few, toddler then checks to make sure he didn't fancy them after all and then once he's been dragged away and told that we don't eat things off the floor the rest get gathered up for the bird table. Don't put them out on a rainy day or they turn into glue and make a terrible mess. Jackdaws seem especially fond of them.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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Never seen sunfower hearts here so I buy bags of whole seeds and mix half and half with a wild bird mix of seeds. Gets a bit messy tho. May as well order some while I'm on and bring the postage down.
No matter. The offerings from Vivara will do fine.
Lots of young tits and sparrows round the feeders today. The collared doves tend to come early and late for some reason but we get the tits and sparrows all day. No robins or chaffinches but I expect they're hiding. Horrible south east winds today and lots of rain.
Don’t get alarmed, I normally feed the birds normal fresh peanuts, it’s a one off box of stale cereals I am wondering about. 😊
I expect if you break them up [or whizz them in a blender for a bit, if you have one ] and only put out a little at a time, it might be ok.
Cheese has a similar problem, but in small quantities it seems to be fine.
@wild edgesmight know better if he looks in
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...