Beautiful garden and lovely bird table x

I think your garden looks lovely,and don't the bird feeders bring a lot of satisfaction,wouldn't be without mine,me and hubby get very excited when something different visits.We are like big kids about it.

What a beautiful garden very creative and colourful, every bird will want putting up for B&B xx

Looking fantastic My Acer is just starting to show rolled up leaves at the moment - so it wont be long

Just a timid reminder (not trying to teach my granny to suck eggs mind) That any food that arrives in that red or green netting stuff should be removed from it before putting out. Our feathered friends have been known to die attempting to remove caught feet or beaks

Also, it is about this time of year that it is suggested that fat balls are not best left for birds as they get fed to the chicks / fledglings - it's like giving your babies pure fat instead of a balanced diet. Not the best start in life

And last but not least - remember hygene

(((crawls back under little rock )))

Teach away...I like eggs.....should I remove the fat balls?.... and what do I feed them at the moment thats the best for them then? and no one told me about the netting but now I think about it its obvious... how do I hang the fat ball though????? Such much to learn and I thought you just chucked food out.

Hi Kazz, Thanks for taking my post in the spirit it was typed I can get a little 'anal' when it comes to feeding wildlife (just ask Helena )

If you have a few fat balls that have been started, don't take them down and throw them away, you can buy a fat ball feeder for as litlle as £2 in a market etc. You take them out of that awful packaging and chuck 'em in the feeder, then hang it out like any other feeder (then save any 'new' ones for the autumn).

Peanuts need to be put out in the same manner, without the netting and in a special peanut feeder that only allows very small pieces to be pecked out at a time (it stops the parents feeding big chunks to the chicks and choking them)

I keep the menu at Cafe Ash quite simple to be honest and we have a great variety of patrons visiting most days.
Tesco value sutanas (41p for 500g) soaked overnight for the fruit eaters (Blackbirds, Thrushes etc.)
Hi Life dog food morsels! (meal worms are best, but are expensive and gross!)for the meat eaters (Starlings, Robins etc.) Both these are put on the ground feeders and the tables along with a side order of seed (I use Hi Energy No Mess from CJ Wildbird) All the tube feeders are filled with the same seed mix - used to use Niger seed for the Finches but they happliy eat what's available now

That's it really, apart from any over ripe fruit that gets thrown on the lawn or a little grated cheese and left over potato etc.

As for the fat balls (colder months only), I make my own now using the fat off the meat (and extra lard if needed)and some dried insects and then some seed mix - dead easy and cheap and with none of those chemicals and additives that they use in commercial fat balls (see, told you I got anal )

The idea behind the feeding during the spring and summer months is that we are feeding the parents, they then have more time and energy to look for the grubs, bugs and beasties to feed to the young. In the good old days when they had more natural habitat it wasn't needed, but as we have removed alot of this for new housing etc. etc. and what little is left has been either block paved, flagged or gravelled, they can't even rely on the gardens so much

I could go on (incase you hadn't guessed ) but apart from keeping the feeders and surrounding areas disinfected every now and again (pets at home sell special stuff) what you put out depends on what you have visiting and what they will eat.

Don't forget the water, that's VERY important too. I have just bought 2 of those round brown plastic pot trays at £1 each, they are shallow enough for the little guys to have a drink and a bath too (Charlie washes them out and changes the water every day)

All that's left then is to sit and watch them for hours and hours...................

Ashlady I could not take offence at being taught something how else would I learn.

Excellent advice thank you but a question you see where I have the bird house it seems to work, they are coming already but don't know what but birds Sparrows for certain, however where do I put the ground feeding birds tray - in the open? I need to be able to get at it easily.

Karen

Hiya, I have 2 (and 1 is just that - an old plastic tray with a couple of rows of little holes drilled along one short edge, then a small block of wood at the other end so as to 'tip' the tray towards the holes for rain drain off)
This one is in the open, about 6 feet from cover (shrubs) so that the birds can dart for cover is necessary. The other is an old plastic plate which is under a wooden cover to stop the bigger birds eating the goodies. The cover is dead simple - imagine a really small table (four legs and a top about 16" square) two of the legs are shorter than the others, again for rain drain off and that's it job done. This one is on the other side of the garden right against a laurel bush so that Jenny Wren will attend (they are really shy tiny birds)

Finding out which birds you have is one of the best bits. I'll have a look when I get home to see if I have a poster with them all on. That's how I started and you'll soon be addicted Kazz I promise you

PS - If you have house sparrows then that's a great start and you should be happy, their numbers have declined greatly over the last decade or so, so if you're helping them I'm sure they are really grateful. Starlings are one of my favourites I have to say - they are about 4-5 times the size of a sparra, with a metalic sheen to they're plumage and lots of whitish spots. They are quite noisey but fantastic characters. We have a brood nesting right outside our bedroom window for the second year and they don't half make a racket in the mornings

Many folk don't like these 'hooligans' but they are on the red list for the RSPB so they need all the help they can get too.

Thank you so much all help appreciated. I am dense regarding birds although more than willing to learn.

I have as I say not been able to feed/attract the birds because of the cats Oscar being an active hunter. But now off I go Ithink Cleo (equally elderly cat) enjoys watching them too she is too old to chase them and wouldn't stand a chance of catching one even if it landed on her head.

Cleo bird watching with her eyes closed this was last year she was almost 23 then