Is everyone putting food out for the birds?

[mysarahlee]

It's so cold, the ground birds can't dig.

Chuck some leftover Christmas nuts out, or some seeds. I put 10 fat balls out and filled the seeds at 5pm yesterday and it's empty this morning.

Feed your local bird pals if you can, it's so cold.

Pigeons and magpies are dickheads, I know they've got to eat but they do take everything and scare off the little birds.

I do tend to put out the cheap fat balls for them and then when they've fucked off I put out the nicer nuts and seeds for the little ones, but the greedy sods come back.

I probably spend a fortune on the pigeons just to keep the nicer birds coming.

You can buy fat balls and big tubs of seeds in bulk but before you know if you're spending £40 a month on bird food, it's worth it though.

I have a blackbird pair and some bluetits who are quite tame now, they'll come if they see me in the garden.

They are twats, I don't like them.

No

We had to cat-proof our small garden to keep next door's aggressive Bengal-cross cats out. They were attacking and killing everything in my garden. Attacked my cats, killed a number of frogs, attacked the birds. They attacked other neighbours' small dogs, killed a pet duck, and are now after someone's chickens.

Now the bloody things can't get into my garden, we have a bird table with a water area, and we have happy birds again.

We feed them every third day, because they do have to learn to find other sources of food & water and not depend solely on us. (I read that somewhere!) It also prevents flocks of pigeons taking up residence!

🤨

Yes! I'm out every morning topping up - seeds, suet pellets, mealworms, peanuts and fresh water!

We do have a squirrel, but tbh I don't begrudge it food in this sort of weather anymore than the birds. We've got a lovely collection of birds and they sit and wait for me to go and top the food up 😂

Bugger off from my nice heartwarming post then.

We have fat balls in two different squirrel proof feeders but good idea regarding putting water out for them too. How do you keep it unfrozen in this weather? Do you just keep topping it up with warm water each morning? I'll also throw out some oats and sunflower seeds for them too.

There's going to be fight for dominance in my garden this year. I'm in the process of having a Norway Spruce taken out. At the moment, the pigeons and crows seem to use that while the magpies nest in the Serbian Spruce. It'll be interesting to see whether the magpies or crows get nesting rights this year.

Since the magpies arrived, small bird activity in the back garden has plummeted.

That's nice! It's cool when you see birds waiting for you. Our local doves sit on the back roof waiting for food.

Thanks for replying everyone, it's nice to see people caring for the birds!

Is there a cat in the neighburhood?

Yeah I just go out with a jug of hot water every day and pour it on to melt it, that's all you can do I think.

You don't need to replace it all, just pour a bit of hot on the frozen water.

I also have a pretty sophisticated setup and have invested in “squirrel” (aka Rat)-proof feeders which are well worth it. The magpies do work out how to get into pretty much everything given time although I enjoy shifting stuff around to make it hard for them. Off to top up with fat balls today as it happens.

I make bird feed mix by melting lard and mixing it with scraps,dried fruit,nuts seeds,chopped apple etc. I pack it into coconut halves and reuse them each time. Saves a lot of money. The main problem at the moment is water. It freezes over again so quickly.
Porridge oats scattered on the ground are loved by Robins and other ground feeders.

We have had our fair share of surprises in the garden this winter. Before the cold spell, much of the food wasn't eaten, but when we had that rainy weather before Christmas the birds started coming, particularly later in the afternoon for a fill up before turning in for the night. There are some feral cats live in our garden and I think these generally made the birds wary.

We keep our fat balls in a stone barn, but there is a way in through an open doorway that used to be a loading bay when it was in farm use centuries ago. It was during the recent cold spell that we noticed some small birds going into the barn and rolling the fat balls along an outer ledge. Then, when the cats were in sight, they would roll the balls down a lower level roof, almost aiming them at the cats. It was like watching Cat Pin Bowling. It was hilarious. I am not sure why the birds do this - DH says it is to move the balls into the open so they can eat them without fear of a rat ambush, but I think the birds were actually well fed and just a bit bored.

How do you keep it unfrozen in this weather? Do you just keep topping it up with warm water each morning?

Yes, the water was frozen when I walked past it on the way to the car. dp is home and will keep it topped up throughout the day.

@WearyAuldWumman

Maybe try some of these that the big guys can't reach into?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=small+bird+feeders+for+small+birds+only&crid=37QKPM60XE96C&sprefix=small+bird%2Caps%2C137&ref=nbsbbssts-doa-pp1_10

Far better to create a natural environment where birds can thrive as they have done for millennia before the destructive force of humans affected their numbers. Grow natural sources of food and stop destroying their habitat in your paved over grey insta-houses instead of making them dependent on being fed your unnatural pig fat and nuts carted home from B&M in your SUVs! It's a good intention but the wrong way of going about things.

Are there bushes and shrubs around for them to hide in? Is it the sort of place they will be passing by anyway?

MIL had a lovely little apple tree in her garden which was a haven for birds. Being a “tidy gardener” she had it taken out and now the birds don’t come at all.

Yeah it becomes quite a feat doesn't it 😂

I have 2 feeders that the pigeons and squirrels seem to have not figured out. It can become quite an expensive thing buying different bird gear.

Yes and the feeders and bird table are emptied every day. I laugh at the wood pigeons trying to get at stuff (they manage!) because they are so fat and can't quite hang off a feeder.

No squirrels here because I'm in a town and we only have red squirrels. They tend to be in the rural areas. I did find a rat sat in my window feeder on the first floor one time, so I stopped using that.

We have a small hanging bird feeder that the big birds can't get into so we get tits and finches. The robins and the pigeons mop up underneath. The problem with anything bigger is the parakeets. My mum has a standing feeder with squirrel baffle and uses nuts seeds and fat balls but it is just covered in parakeets!! They just cling on and eat and eat until it's all gone. They look lovely- the bright green is gorgeous and they leave the odd beautiful feather behind, but they are so bloody noisy!! Shouty squawky birds.

I feed the birds, they are like having pets they cost me so much but when those blackbirds do their little sprint across the garden it warms my heart.

The ground feeder tray is actually under one of those cages to prevent the pigeons just sitting on it and blocking all the other birds getting food. I also have a fat ball feeder.

The water bowl is topped up too. We still have snow so I smash all the ice out of the dish and refill with warm water to warm the ground underneath. It was steaming like a spa the other day. This is also under a cage, the blackbirds can get it easily.

I get blackbirds, robins, collared doves, blue/coal tits and sparrows who come in a group and argue over who is bathing with who. Magpies know to avoid my garden as they have taken eggs and a baby chick before and I will not stand for it so when they arrive I chase them off. A squirrel does come and take food but I don't begrudge him.

Better still, plant native hedging, leave real grass in place, leave piles of leaves until spring, plant things that have seed heads that stay until spring and create areas where bugs can over winter like log piles.

Plus keep a bowl of water refreshed and make sure there are holes in your fences for hedgehogs and places they can hibernate safely like under sheds, under hedges etc.

Well yes, but humans have already fucked the planet and the birds are hungry now.

I do have a berry bush and apple tree but not sure what else I can do to personally create a better environment for them than keep my trees and bushes and put extra food out when it's freezing and birds are hungry, I can't reverse hundreds of years of damage to the planet.