Feeding the birds.

I really worry about the birds when its this cold. I make sure they have several drinking stations round the garden and defrost and top them up every morning. I don't buy bird food anymore due to a rat problem , but I kept all my apples in sacks in the garage(we had zillions) and put a few out every day-blackbirds and thrushes fight over them. I have a bonfire site at the end of the garden which is enclosed with a border of sleepers-last year I threw all my old seed on there after my November 5th bonfire-the birds loved it and I got a few parsley and marigold plants into the bargain as well. Today I have been making fat balls to hang in the fruit trees-I melted down some suet and added some slightly out of date dried fruit and nuts as well as pumpkin seeds from todays pumpkin soup lunch. Plastic pots threaded with some string were good containers and tomorrow I will hang them out first thing-how do you look after the birds in your garden?

Tags: apples, balls, birds, fat

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Permalink Reply by Debbie on February 4, 2012 at 19:32

Hi Jan, long time no speakee (my fault). I put loads of food out for the ground feeding birds this morning in the frost and it's done nothing but rain all day so it's all out there going to mush. That's life. I'll try again tomorrow.

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Permalink Reply by Flighty on February 5, 2012 at 9:07

I live in a flat and don't have a garden but I scatter food on the ground and on top of a brick pillar out front -

out-front-where-the-birds-feed.jpg (769×608)

It's a mix of crushed peanuts, mixed seed, porridge oats and crumbled fat balls.

I was out clearing several inches of snow early this morning before doing it!

Most days I see feral & wood pigeons, magpies, blackbirds, starlings, sparrows, robins, lots of chaffinches, blue & great tits and the resident squirrel with a loo brush tail.

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Permalink Reply by Darren Blick on February 5, 2012 at 15:04

We are quite concerned about the birds in the cold weather and do our best to do what we can

The issue we have is that the food spilled from the feeders, attract the rats as they too are hungry during the cold weather, but I do not care much if they die of hunger

Need some sort of feeder which doesn't spill the seed on the ground and the rats can get to

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Permalink Reply by Debbie on February 5, 2012 at 16:49

I pay more for seed which doesn't cause the mess. Swings and roundabouts.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Shirley on February 5, 2012 at 17:51

Watch this space very closely ! Have bee working on a formulation for a two packet packet of seeds - one to broadcast around your bird table and leave to grow up and the birds will feed directly from it and enjoy picking about in the growth as it dies back, and the other to grow your own seed to harvest for storage and later use.