General Chat

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

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

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 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..............

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

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

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

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

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............

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

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

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 :-)

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

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

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

Hi Jude Thanks for the suggestions :-) I've got some mixed fruit in the cupboard which looked nicer than it tastes, I'll see if the birds like it :-) My parents keep asking me how the birds are liking their new table and its getting abit depressing telling them that so far the birds arent impressed :-( Karen

Karen - l can only suggest you remove the old one completely,put biscuit crumbs, grated cheese,suet.seed,bread crumbs, dried fruit etc on the new one plus (if you can find it) the insect food l found in my local pet shop, its more expensive than seed etc but the birds love it - its mainly for the song birds, so the shop owner said. l have it mixed with the other ingredients but you could put it out seperately. Birds sometimes take awhile to get used to something new. Good luck:o)) Jude sarf wales

It will be fine to use them.............another healthy option for wild birds especially in the winter is left over bacon fat

I keep meaning to ask for advice on my bird table so glad this thread has appeared :-) I had a home made bird table that the starlings, sparrows, blue tits and robins loved and they would fight over the fat balls I put out and they would get through one a day. My parents for Xmas brought me a new bird table with a pitched roof and the nut storage area is in the bits of wood that hold up the roof, and I have a hanging bit for the fat balls in a basket. The only prob is that the birds dont like it - apart from the starlings who hang over the edge to get to the fat balls. I've tried everything to get the birds back - old table by the side of it for them to land on, old table removed, at the mo I've resorted to putting the old table next to the new and covering it in nuts to get the birds to land on the old table and jump over to the new one. They land on the old table eat all the nuts and dont attempt the new one :-( can anyone give me any suggestions, its a lovely table and I want the birds to enjoy it. Karen

The field mice won't do any harm if you keep them out of the house,they will bog off in the spring anyway.I have a family of them under the garden shed which gives Liz a lot of amusement watching their antics.Fred.ptfg.