@muckyhandsmike thank you for your post! Sunflower hearts seems to be popular it seems! Will have a browse through all the suggestions,
Good point about the pigeons - I am afraid we do have a visiting rat 🤢 I have seen the crow and the rat have a go at each other; the rat fights back but usually backs off eventually…
I harp on about this a lot but farmland birds are suffering a lot more than garden birds at the moment and buying cheap bird food is likely to be causing more harm to bird populations than it helps by feeding garden birds.
Had a brief google - did not know much (anything!) on this topic - thank you.
@Escapetothegarden, any old bowl, basin, upturned dustbin lid will serve as a temporary birdbath, you don't need to buy a fancy one. Put a small stone or two so small birds can perch in the middle.
I buy 40k of chipped sunflower seeds online every three months or so from the GardenBird co. but they are not as cheap as whole ones. It's worth the extra cost to me as I find the goldfinches don't waste so much of it and it makes less of a mess on the paving.
Thank you @Lizzie27 I will try to find something suitable and try it out. I put a stainless dish large plate/bowl thing out once but it wasn’t used… maybe too shiny? 👀
lizzie27 .. that’s an interesting snippet. The finches weigh and size each seed so discard up to 80% I believe hence the pigeon goal hangers .. perhaps I’ll give the chopped sunflower seeds a try.
If you have on e of the cheapo shops near you - Home Bargains/B&M etc, they often have a very good deal on sunflower hearts. I use Garden Wildlife Direct, but you also have to factor in delivery charges. I used to have note of the outlet @Lyn uses, but I'd need to find it on the old laptop. I've not transferred it yet. I always buy no mess seed, but I've noticed they've not been quite as 'no mess ' as they used to be. Far too much wheat/barley in them which defeats the purpose. I might go back to what I used to do in the past and buy separate ingredients to mix myself.
Sunflower seeds are the biggest addition for bulking out which is why they're cheaper than the no mess products which only use the hearts. Huge amount of waste from the outer husks/shells in the standard seed. My hanging feeders are in purpose built cages, so very little ends up on the ground, but the ground feeding birds eat that up. I only feed on the ground during winter as there's plenty of food outside of the garden for most birds. It helps the smaller ones to have a reliable supply, as they're the ones that suffer most in bad weather here, just when they have chicks developing. Blue tits in particular.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Re your metal dish.. you have to consider how hot that might get if it's in sunshine. My metal bird bath doesn't get hot, you can buy them pretty cheaply too - and you can use them as feeders if necessary - to deter rats for instance, which aren't great to have hanging around anyone's food. You can also make your own concrete bath, (there's loads of ideas on youtube). I'm going to try making a big shallow one for the sparrows, although 6 starlings manage to bathe together in the standard one. 😄
I used a seed tray as a makeshift pond/birdbath when I was still creating this garden. A few rocks and bits of gravel, and it was used by all sorts - birds, insect etc. I also have a large pot which belonged to my Dad. It doesn't have holes [not a gardening container] and I got a tray which sat nicely in the top. I did the same thing with rocks/gravel etc, and it was a lovely feature. I have a pic but it's on the old laptop so it takes a while to get it.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
Good point about the pigeons - I am afraid we do have a visiting rat 🤢 I have seen the crow and the rat have a go at each other; the rat fights back but usually backs off eventually…
I buy 40k of chipped sunflower seeds online every three months or so from the GardenBird co. but they are not as cheap as whole ones. It's worth the extra cost to me as I find the goldfinches don't waste so much of it and it makes less of a mess on the paving.
I always buy no mess seed, but I've noticed they've not been quite as 'no mess ' as they used to be. Far too much wheat/barley in them which defeats the purpose. I might go back to what I used to do in the past and buy separate ingredients to mix myself.
Sunflower seeds are the biggest addition for bulking out which is why they're cheaper than the no mess products which only use the hearts. Huge amount of waste from the outer husks/shells in the standard seed.
My hanging feeders are in purpose built cages, so very little ends up on the ground, but the ground feeding birds eat that up. I only feed on the ground during winter as there's plenty of food outside of the garden for most birds. It helps the smaller ones to have a reliable supply, as they're the ones that suffer most in bad weather here, just when they have chicks developing. Blue tits in particular.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
You can also make your own concrete bath, (there's loads of ideas on youtube). I'm going to try making a big shallow one for the sparrows, although 6 starlings manage to bathe together in the standard one. 😄
I also have a large pot which belonged to my Dad. It doesn't have holes [not a gardening container] and I got a tray which sat nicely in the top. I did the same thing with rocks/gravel etc, and it was a lovely feature.
I have a pic but it's on the old laptop so it takes a while to get it.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”