Advice from twitchers needed

Alanp

“ cheapo fat balls”. damned auto correct 

Medz

Alanp said:

I use Richard Jackson’s bird food available from qvc, it’s expensive but no rubbish in it, I only got it cos it was on offer, you can go into a pets at home and mix your own, some of the Cheops fat balls contain sawdust so not very good, I’ve found that the birds love suet pellets, there’s a real scrap when I put them out

I purchased the fat balls from QVC.  My visiting squirrel, Apollo, loves them lol

sgun

Medz said: 

This is a lot of brilliant advice! Thank you so much! 

Wilko has 5 star reviews for its peanuts; and also its sunflower hearts.  I don’t know if Wilko is expensive in comparison to the others but I shall look them up and check. 

Do nyger seeds attract birds that do not eat sunflower hearts?  Or do you provide both to give the birds choice?  

I didn’t realise robins eat from the ground only.  I’ll make a note to scatter feed on the ground as well as fill the feeders. Thanks for that tip. 

I haven't done a recent comparison but Wilkos is usually good value. Their premium wild food seed mix is a good one, wheat free and some suet bits too. If I was nearer a Wilkos I would probably use their seed mix instead of Mole as I get through a lot of seed. Nyger seed is for goldfinches but you need a different type of feeder - goldfinches love sunflower hearts anyway.

sgun

If you are feeding birds on the ground make sure you do it away from any bushes or plants that cats can hide behind - or cars that they can hide underneath. I have my feeder area fenced off as best I can but I'm next to a farm so there are a lot of cats around. Robins will eat from feeders if they can land on a flat part so you might get robins on your one. Blackbirds and thrushes only eat on the ground or on a bird table so they will appreciate some on the ground if you use a mixed seed. They do like sunflower hearts as well.

theonlywayisup

B&M if you have one do sunflower hearts at 12.5kg for under £15.  They aren't split hearts and are reasonable quality.  The sparrows, goldfinches and greenfinches will eat from the feeder, the doves and blackbirds from underneath.

We have woodpeckers and nuthatches that won't eat peanuts, they do love Flutter Butter and oh my goodness, don't they consume it.  

Put water out on the ground if you don't have a pond and the birds will drink and bathe.  Make sure you keep it up during winter and break any ice.

Medz

theonlywayisup said:

B&M if you have one do sunflower hearts at 12.5kg for under £15.  They aren't split hearts and are reasonable quality.  The sparrows, goldfinches and greenfinches will eat from the feeder, the doves and blackbirds from underneath.

We have woodpeckers and nuthatches that won't eat peanuts, they do love Flutter Butter and oh my goodness, don't they consume it.  

Put water out on the ground if you don't have a pond and the birds will drink and bathe.  Make sure you keep it up during winter and break any ice.

I have been experimenting with making my own bird bath. Here is a picture of Woody the pigeon trying out my first attempt.  The plastic was a bit too flexible. 

Now going to Google ‘Flutter Butter’ and ‘Nuthatches’. 

Ectophile

Some fatballs are better than others.  The cheap ones are often wheatballs with a bit of fat to glue the wheat flour together.  Don't be surprised if many birds ignore those.  Others (often the more expensive ones) have more fat and seeds and less wheat.

You may find that what the birds eat depends on the time of year.  Nothing in my garden eats fatballs except in the spring.  And I have never had any success with peanuts.  It really depends on what birds you manage to attract.

Medz

I was thinking of positioning a hanging bird feeder outside of my first floor bedroom window to the front of the house.  I thought that way I might sometimes see birds feed from my bed. 

Since I would have to climb a ladder to fit a hanging bracket I wanted to get your opinions first. What do you guys think? Any issues with that positioning? 

kdotdotdotdot

Medz said:

I didn’t realise robins eat from the ground only.  I’ll make a note to scatter feed on the ground as well as fill the feeders. Thanks for that tip. 

Before you scatter food on the ground, bear in mind that you're more likely feeding neighbourhood pests - this is easy pickings for rats and mice.

madlyn

In mine I put fat balls, peanuts and sunflower hearts.