General Chat

Karen - you could also look on the RSPB site, l just asked g o o g l e. The fact that you have changed things regarding the table a few times could probably mean it will take longer for them to except it - so perhaps check with the site first then try my suggestion. Good luck:o) Jude sarf wales

We Feed all sorts of birds and providing the bird table is not close to the house the field mice will only keep the boarders or lawn clear of fallen seed sprouting. Field mice if they gain access to the house like chocolate in particular. We used to keep aplastic basinwith choccy buttons (dog variety)in . Over aperiod of a week about a1/4 lb of these disappeared. we could'nt beleive the dog had had them uless he opened the cupboard door and lifted the lid off the basin possible we had left the lid loose but---. I went into the garage one evening and afield mouse shot off the work bench spider shot up to the ceiling and the mystery was solved. I had no alternative but to put 4 traps down and within 3 days caught afamily of 7 Lovely blue eyed field mice. Mother must have got in andgiven birth they did'nt like cheese so i had to bait with chocolate buttons so beware! Rupert

Oh Rupert, bless em. Do you know what, when l was a child l was left in charge of my sisters mice, she had a pair of females, they were kept in the kennels (me mum bred dogs) in a beautiful massive cage thingy - well somehow a male got in and when my sister returned there were dozens of em!!! lol Karen - l have just left a message with the RSPB, thought it would be interesting to see what they said anyway:o)) Jude sarf wales

Hi Jude Many thanks for that :-) I hope I dont get field mice - the other year my cat brought one in - took me a month to find it by which stage it had found its way up to my bedroom! When I did eventually find it I screamed the place down and ordered my Dad to come round & get rid of it otherwise I was moving back home :-) - he was round to mine within 10 mins and found me standing on my doorstep clutching alchol and refusing to go back in until he got rid of it :-) Karen Ps just looked at the RSPB site. Interesting that they say to take the fat balls out the bag as I've left mine in the bags - I did wonder if to take them out but my neighbour leaves hers in the bag so I just copied her :-) I will remove the bags tommorrow plus my old bird table and put some mixed fruit out for them :-)

hi there bird lovers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!i use to work at a place at upton magna shrewsbury shropshire its called cj wildbird foods i dont know phone number but they deal in rspb feeders and bird food they are very good and do mail order why not get in contact they may have a website? also the waxwings have been to shropshire they have been spotted in shrewsbury and oswestry i love feeding the birds we have the woodpeckers visit us too by the way dont use the peanuts only proper bird peanuts my gran use to use porrige oats and she got loads to visit also ive put the odd cooking apple on the lawn then watch the blackbirds come

Wow never had such a response to a thread of mine before! Thanks everyone. Linda x

As it happens, Nicholas Watts, who runs Vine House farm, is in our local evening paper today, regarding Barn Owl towers that he has erected to boost the number of roosting pairs, in the Deeping Fen area............

Had a red kite come in to look at my bird table a few days ago. It swooped in low over the garden fence, had a quick look then off again without attempting to land. It was when I saw it in relation to the fence panel I was able to tell its sex. It spanned a 6ft panel therefore was female. Males are smaller. Len

We had a comical wee bird in the garden today. It was black with a white chest, sat at the edge of the burn that runs through the garden, bobbed up and down all the time, then went right into the water, under the surface for a few seconds then out again. I suppose it was getting some bugs or something from the water which is flowing fast after all the rain recently. It was just a bit smaller than a blackbird, I think. I'm no good at identifying birds, so does anyone know what it was? Very entertaining wee bird to watch anyway! Jane

Hi Caz, Sounds more like the partial albino black bird, tho I didn't notice the blackbirds usual yellow beak. It deffinatly didn't have white feathers. Whatever it was it was great to watch. Jane

Immediate reaction - from the bobbing action - sounds like a wagtail. Ann

we had a flock of birds the other year, well not a flock really, but a lot of them all in succession........came in, got fed, and disappeared.................found out much later that they were oozlem birds..............

Marly. We get some long tailed tits too, I try to count them but by the time I've counted the ones on the feeder and start on the ones on the bird table, they've changed places, lol. I think there are about a dozen at the moment. Heather

We sometimes get Long tailed tits, usually between 4 and 6 at a time, really dinky little things! we also get a lesser spotted woodpecker,but he's not been around for some time now, a black cat that sits directly under the peanut holder and behind the fence so can't be seen, if he's not careful he might get a surprise - l'm thinking of putting something on the fence to balance,waiting for him to jump - very lightweight l promise!!! lol - also had a nuthatch,dunnock,2 robins,the usual starlings,wagtails,collared doves,wood pigeons,magpies and all the other tits oh and a SQUIRREL, the little pesky,he digs my plants up and bury's his food,shoving soil and plants in all directions:o(((( Not heard about the bird table yet,probably won't till after the weekend. Thanks Karen for starting this thread,its interesting:o) Jude sarf wales

Do any of you see bullfinches? We used to see them regularly but haven't seen any for a few years . I've purposely left some seedheads on the antirrhinums as they used to come for those. Heather

Linda, we used to see bullfinches not chaffinches and now we get chaffinches and no bullfinches. We have a wood near our house too. Heather

Carol I have two tit-boxes in my garden and both are used every year including as a roost in the winter. One box faces South and the other West. I believe that what is more important is the internal dimensions of the box and the height above ground (mine are about 8ft.). Also, the proximity of bushes for security reasons and for giving shade from the sun. The hole has to be 1" diameter or other species may use it. I made mine using a plan I found in Gardening Which? Len

About ten bull finches move in about FebMarch and eat all the young shoots off the top of my almond tree - result I only have blossom on the lower branches. I point out the birdtable, the feeders etc but they do not listen. Our garden backs on to woodland. Ann

We some times get Chaffinch and Greenfinch in the garden but not Bullfinch and occasionally we get a Wren - which are very prolific apparently,but rarely seen - especially in comparison to Robins and Tits. The squirrell is getting cheeky and still digging up my garden, the dog always tells me he's been - sniffing allround the garden getting very excited. Talking about the dog l'd better get showered he'll soon need his next walk:o)) jude sarf wales

Someone mentioned C.J. Wildbird Foods in Shropshire. Very good quality food at reasonable prices with prompt delivery. Website at www(.)birdfood(.)co(.)uk/ Remove brackets Like so many of you I feed the birds each day. At the moment I have a very angry Robin who defends the bird table against all the smaller birds. The Starlings and Collared Doves frighten him away though. When I went to fill up the birdfeeder last Thursday afternoon I discovered a mouse in the tall plastic (18"high) tub. I keep the food in the Greenhouse and I think he must have fallen in from the staging above. I tipped the almost empty container over and let him escape. Rosemary(Essex)