Feeding the Birds

Ken68

Got a reed bunting visiting and a wren, and the usual starlings blackbirds and pigeons. Gonna try mixing Tesco lard with porridge unless anyone knows different.
Also have turned out the compost heap, and dig over a bit of land near the feeding station. Plenting of roosting sites nearby and they get fed about 9am.

sallypurple

We're snowed in so i havent been able to buy bird food. I had a huge bag of out of date oats though, so i stirred them up with oil and sultantas and some crushed up dog biscuits that she wouldnt eat and have put that out. The dds popped some corn and we've sprinkled that around too. Now we're eagerly curtain twitching as we wait to see what is first to find it

in_spired2

Some years ago I did an experiment while I was studying with the OU. It involved making pastry balls for the birds (and seeing which colour and which shape they preferred) Once the birds got over their initial suspicion, they loved them

IIRC a basic shortcrust recipe - 1/2 lard to flour, and about 1tablespoon of water for each ounce of lard. Mix to make pastry and add some red food colouring. (can make them without the colouring of course) Roll between fingers into berry-size balls or roll into long sausages and cut them or pull bits off. to produce small lumps. The pastry and balls can be stored in the fridge for some time. With cheap flour and lard, this isn't too expensive. If you have willing small children to roll the balls - all the better

Did the experiment in the summer, but presumably it's a suitable food for them in this weather too?

scotrae

M-i-l always has hm pastry dough out for her birds and is in an enviable location. Visitors sit on a sofa facing her large window, with flocks of birds about 3 feet the other side of it. It's a bit like watching a tank of exotic fish!

Nobody answered the compost worms question so I went to see if I could dig some out. Unfortunately the whole contents of the compost bin are rather solid with the frost so there were no signs of life. I did manage to prise a few small snails off the lid though, which the mistle thrush seemed to appreciate.

We had one little bird that I didn't recognise yesterday and a whole flock of them came back this afternoon, all perching on the dead foliage pecking for little flies and spiders. DS (junior RSPB enthusiast) thought they were coal tits but I didn't think their caps were black enough. Just as I started to type this two reappeared and I think they are long tailed tits.

Today has been wonderful - far more than ever before. But I think they are all going to roost again now. We've had a partial thaw rather than more snow as was expected so things should be better for them this week, hopefully.

*zippy*

Its thawing here today too, most of our grass is now visable. The birds have distracted me all day as its been so lovely to watch them, one of the fieldfares stayed all day and ate the whole apple, he has just left now its getting dark.

Very envious of your MIL scotrae :T

CCP

I've discovered today that what my redwings seem to like best are my ornamental grasses - the red one in particular now looks like it's been attacked with a pair of blunt scissors. The apple I put out this morning has been completely ignored, though - very odd!

geri1965 - puting food in the park seems like the best idea to me - there's probably some food for birds there anyway so they'll be used to the idea of looking there for food. Depending on what's in your garden, though, you might be able to put some food out there if you wanted to - it just needs to be far enough away from any dense bushes that the cats can't sneak up on feeding birds. My neighbours on both sides have got cats that hunt but none of them have caught a single bird yet, so you might well be OK. (Luckily my own cat treats birds as entertainment rather than food, and all my regular feathered visitors know he's safe - he'll sit out in the garden with sparrows and blackbirds feeding round him!)

BilberryCharlotte

valk_scot wrote: »

JUst feed them what you feel comfortable with then, lol. I'm sure the birds would appreciate most vegan foods too!

I get a lot of pleasure watching the birds out the window. And so do my cats! My cats are house cats (we're on a very busy main road) and usually spend an hour or so each morning on my bedroom window ledge watching the birds feeding. Our last cats were not house cats...which is why they're both dead now, given that road.....and both keen hunters and we didn't have any birds coming to the garden in these days, amazingly. So it's nice to see them now.

Oh I feel so sorry about the loss of your cats. I know a few people who live near busy main roads, they have all lost cats and are so upset each time. It is so distressing isn`t it?

Where I live now people are very often posting appeals for their missing cats, in fact it happens so often people were wondering if something untoward was going on.

It is really nice that you and your housecats enjoy watching the birds, one of lifes simple pleasures :-)

urchin

is anyone bringing the leftover food back indoors overnight to go out again the next day?
I put some apple and nuts out today but there is still some left. It is starting to snow again now and I have brought it back indoors as if I leave it out it will probably get frozen overnight and be no good for the birds. I will put it back out again tomorrow

conradmum

urchin wrote: »

is anyone bringing the leftover food back indoors overnight to go out again the next day?
I put some apple and nuts out today but there is still some left. It is starting to snow again now and I have brought it back indoors as if I leave it out it will probably get frozen overnight and be no good for the birds. I will put it back out again tomorrow

I'm checking whether it's all gone at the end of the day. It has been so far. If there was anything left I would probably bring it back in again because there have been rats in our area in the past.

ixwood

BilberryCharlotte wrote: »

..

Where I live now people are very often posting appeals for their missing cats, in fact it happens so often people were wondering if something untoward was going on.
..

Apparently foxes have taken a liking to cats. It's probably safer not to let them out at night.

Whilst i obviously feel sorry for the cats/owners, I do find the fox thing interesting. (most) cats are a menace to wildlife and some urban areas have 1000's of them, which really impacts the local wildlife. Looks like mother nature has solved the problem.