Do you feed the birds?

viv1969 said:
I wold fed them all if they came to my gardn
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We dont get many in our back yard just house sparrows, hedge sparrows, blue/great/coal tits, blackbirds, wren, collared doves, magpies occasional jay and twice weve had sparrowhawk some days we dont get any, but I have the 3 feeding stations to stock
 
I take all our left overs and any fat from cooking and mix with porridge oats, form into balls and freeze...... then i make a hole trough the ball and put string through it..... then go for a really great walk and tie up in trees for my feathered friends....also i dont really care if they **** on my car...... it gives me a chance to wash and polish...
 
Sparrows used to be so plentiful but I rarely see them now. I think they're in decline.
I've got home made fat balls, niger, sunflower, mixed, finch seed and peanuts out now. Just started a couple of weeks ago when the cold weather came. I've had 1 robin (very territorial) a small flock of starlings, a couple of blackbirds, a few pigeons, and 4 goldfinches in the last week. In the summer I had a few green finches visit. I'd like to see some tits or bullfinches but that may take some time. All in all I can't complain.:)
 
Doog said:
Sparrows used to be so plentiful but I rarely see them now.
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In areas with older houses their quite common as they have access in houses for nesting, in areas with newer housing theres no where for them to get in so cant nest, so go where they can, but yes they are in decline
 
Just Dave said:
In areas with older houses their quite common as they have access in houses for nesting, in areas with newer housing theres no where for them to get in so cant nest, so go where they can, but yes they are in decline
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Would the decline in sparrows be in direct correlation to the rise in numbers of magpies per chance? I'm not keen on those things even if the are striking in colour.
 
Doog said:
Would the decline in sparrows be in direct correlation to the rise in numbers of magpies per chance? I'm not keen on those things even if the are striking in colour.
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The decline in sparrows over the last 15 years has been almost 70%. The RSPB say that the reason is unknown. Robins, blue tits have increased in the same period and goldfinches have trebled in number.
 
We have no shortage of sparrows here. There are often dozens of them leaping in and out of the bamboo. We used to have a house for the Bluetits, but a couple of years ago the babies fledged too early and couldn't fly, and my dog ate one of them :gag: Broke my heart.
 
lol, sorry it just popped in my head and I couldn't help myself!
 
My missus feeds the birds every day. Peanuts & Fat Balls also water.

She came home last Saturday with a large bag of Peanuts, a bargain she says, only £44 !!!
 
gus607 said:
My missus feeds the birds every day. Peanuts & Fat Balls also water.

She came home last Saturday with a large bag of Peanuts, a bargain she says, only £44 !!!
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WOW.... I have just made five fat balls, crumbled the stale bread and got the milk ready for the hedgehog....... forty four quid is she mad... no offence!
 
I have one of those high up feeders with a couple of seed feeders


I've found sunflower kernels are the most popular , expensive though
 
We feed them all year. The numbers visiting drop off a bit in mid late summer, but there are some around and at present the garden is full of great tits and goldfinches.

The best seed based food we've found is sunflower hearts, all the visitors eat them.

The square fat cakes are liked by the tits, woodpeckers and particularly starlings. Not had a great deal of success with fat balls.

The best food of all we've found are live meal worms. Everything, including unfortunately the squirrels, eats them. Unfortunately they are not cheap and once a magpie spots them (which seems to take about 5 minutes) they will be gone in minutes.

Dave
 
archangel said:
WOW.... I have just made five fat balls, crumbled the stale bread and got the milk ready for the hedgehog....... forty four quid is she mad... no offence!
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Sometimes I think so !

Peanuts were for a 25 kilo bag, will last quite a while (I hope) fat balls seem to be lasting ages these days for some reason.

As my missus says "feeding the birds is my hobby, you have your hobbies" !
 
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gus607 said:
Sometimes I think so !

Peanuts were for a 25 kilo bag, will last quite a while (I hope) fat balls seem to be lasting ages these days for some reason.

As my missus says "feeding the birds is my hobby, you have your hobbies" !
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12.5 kg bag @ Costco = £18
You do need a membership card though.
 
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