Does anyone else feed wild birds over the winter.

[Shantara]

Annie - would be really interested to know who the 'swan lady' is as it is illegal to move mute swans without written permission from the Queen's swan marker David Barber.. which isn't easy to obtain.

Also, if the cygnets were last year's brood you will still be able to tell them apart from older birds as they will not be fully white yet, they are 2 before this happens. Even as a two year old they won't have the vivid beak colour of an adult

If a similar thing happens again, please, please contact a recognised welfare agency - wildfowl and wetlands trust/swanline as there are a huge number of legal implications when it comes to swans

Woops, forgot to read the rest!
There's hundreds of swans on the lake...literally! Once their tell tale markings went, they were impossible to spot.
We had a similar thing this year too, the parents ditched their 5 babies again and we lost 4. The Swan lady came back and took the last one and gave it a home until it was big enough to go to the big lake with the others.
Don't worry ^^ she's a registered organisation

 

[rhino]

Woops, forgot to read the rest!
There's hundreds of swans on the lake...literally! Once their tell tale markings went, they were impossible to spot.
We had a similar thing this year too, the parents ditched their 5 babies again and we lost 4. The Swan lady came back and took the last one and gave it a home until it was big enough to go to the big lake with the others.
Don't worry ^^ she's a registered organisation

Thanks Annie, I used to work with mute swans and am quite 'attached' to them (even with all the scars I now have )

 

[posie_honey]

i feed peanuts, fat balls and wild bird mix - all from Haiths.com - def best quality (no wheat etc) and cheap if you buy in bulk. i also put out water every day for them - and save any meat fat etc and pop that out too - we get loads of birds - i love it - work from home so get to enjoy them every day
also have a cat but luckily he prefers the rabbits from the field behind the house!

 

[posie_honey]

oh - and they are eating a feeder full of the wild bird mix a day at the mo

 

[Shantara]

Thanks Annie, I used to work with mute swans and am quite 'attached' to them (even with all the scars I now have )

Hehe so are me and my mum Instead of just shrugging them off as normal birds, we always say "Swannies!!" When we see them
Swans and Buzzards are 'our' birds now hehe!

 

[Goldenstar]

yes I buy it at the feed merchants with the horse food and put in feeders lots come and I got quite into watching them in the bad weather last year HELP I am turning into my mother .. Staggers off for a glass of wine.

 

[babymare]

well i cant at mo where i live but wooo hooooo fat balls seed and various co****s , monkey nuts bought and ready to provide as of 24th december when me and fella move in together in our new home - fields at back so hoping to see loads of characters visiting woooooo hoooooo looking at box marked bird food now in room lol so cant ait lol xxx

 

[Luci07]

I do..every day and now have a robin and blue tits which were a new addition this year! Only bird that doesn't come down are the green escaped parakeets that appear each summer!

 

[Fransurrey]

Yes, I feed the wild birds. I normally have at least one pheasant that cottons on and meets me every day, going crackers with excitement until I chuck some seed down!

I was putting it on the top of fence posts last year, but fat cow has realised this now, so I'll have to stick to the top of ye olde gate post and a feeder this year. Poor birds have lost out until I can drive up there, though. Got a huge bag of feed and hungry birdies!

 

[Fransurrey]

I do..every day and now have a robin and blue tits which were a new addition this year! Only bird that doesn't come down are the green escaped parakeets that appear each summer!

The parakeets roost in our trees (Brockham), but don't bother with the birdtable at home. My old boss lives in Epsom and they raid her feeders all the time!

 

[Snowysadude]

I dont but a lady on our yard does, she also orders with the horse food and we have plenty of Robins and blue tits etc that are on the yard at the moment in seperate areas

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Yes, all year round although I did have a bit of a break this year.

I started feeding niger seed last year, to attract finches, and was really excited to come home one day to find six goldfinches on the one feeder, then when, a sparrowhawk came in and nailed one - so then I feel like a murderer, if I hadn't put the seed out, the bird would still be alive!?!?

If you can bear the cost, wheat and husk free is a great seed (we sell loads of Johnson & Jeffs variety) and you won't get much waste.

Off on a tangent - what have you found growing in your garden from the seed? I pulled up two carrots and a radish a few weeks ago!

 

[newbie_nix]

Love seeing this thread as I am a bird enthusiast! We have cats and also feed the birds. It is possible.
We keep our cats in at night – research has shown that doing this not only cuts down their chance of being in a road accident by 90% (I think that was the figure, need to find the article...) but it also drastically cuts down the amount of wildlife they catch they also have safety collars (the kind that break if they get caught up) and have bells. They do get the occasional sparrow but less than 10 a year which for 2 4yr olds who love hunting isn't too bad. We hang the bird food up high in the open – less chance of cats making a stealth attack. Because cats tend to range when they are out and about, even if you don't feed them, a neighbour might so my view is if more birds survive due to being fed then this will compensate somewhat for those that get killed by cats etc. Apparently habitat destruction and lack of food has far more of an impact on bird populations than predation by cats.

I applaud those of you that feed them but, I hate to say it, feeding bread scraps and fat from roasting trays etc is not a good idea. Bread , being processed, isn’t a good food source and fat from roasting trays etc - well if it contains any salt will be very bad for them. Also it is likely to go off quickly and this can be lethal for birds. I read this in an article in Birds magazine (The RSPB one) all about this which I will try to find and post....

I used to make my own ‘fat balls’ too but when I heard this I quickly stopped and went for the commercial grade ones instead as these are apparently safer. The other thing we did was to make the garden as wildlife friendly as poss- encouraged hedging and let some plants go to seed (and left them) which the goldfinches in particular really enjoyed.

Since moving to NZ I am loving the bird life here (especially the Tuis and fantails) but I miss the wrens and robins. Apparently a dollop of (unsalted!!) peanut butter on top of a tall fence post (ideally rodent proof!) is great for the wrens in particular as they don't feed in the same way as the finches etc and they really suffer in the cold weather due to their tiny size.

I agree it can be really expensive but even just a few £ spent on a few fat balls or some seed /nuts and the birdies will love you for it.

 

[Tnavas]

As kids we would make bird balls a mix of various bird seeds, oats, peanuts and all mixed up in a large amount of lard.

Melt the lard, suspend a piece of string with a knot in it over a pudding basin, mix the seeds in the melted lard and pour into the bowl.

Put in the fridge and when hardened dip briefly in some hot water to loosen the mix and hey presto bird Xmas pud. I used to love hanging the bags of peanuts up for the blue tits and seeing the squirrels try to get to the food.

Half a coconut is great too - feeds heaps of blue tits. Water was also very important too and we would melt the water in the bird bath every morning.

I really miss the Robins, Blue tits and Squirrels as we don't have them here in NZ

 

[Enfys]

I really miss the Robins, Blue tits and Squirrels as we don't have them here in NZ

You have some beautiful birds though, no squirrels? Do you have chipmunks (probably not) or anything like that? Do you get hummingbirds?

We don't get robins either (well, we do, but North American robins are more like large thrushes) no blue tits here either, we have chickadees instead which are more like coaltits I suppose.

In the UK I kept lovebirds and parakeets in aviaries, here, I don't need to, the birdlife is varied and very colourful, and I have become a closet twitcher I have to admit.

 

[ISHmad]

We feed the birds year round and also use lard with seed, dried mealworms or dried fruit to make high calorie feed in winter.

 

[Holidays_are_coming]

I have a little garden but would love to feed the birds, going to get a bird table next yr, but what can I do now I've hung a few suet balls up but dont seem to of had any takers, (apart from the bottom of the net being nibbled so I'm hoping it's not rats)

 

[Cuffey]

Yes
Several feeders hanging in shrubbery--lots of places to perch and cotoneaster berries
Ordinary seed bought in large bag enriched with black oil of sunflower seeds--also bought in large bag. Last winter cost a fortune but hopefully I saved a few lives
Peanuts
Fat balls
Blue tits, robins, chaffinch, nuthatch, woodpecker, various sparrows, blackbird sometimes more exotic birds
Occasional red squirrel

And I have cats!

 

[Yosemite]

I feed the birds year round but it is working out so expensive I am thinking of applying for a grant from the RSPB!

 

[Dobiegirl]

I feed the birds all year round, I feed fatballs with the mesh off,niger seed,sunflower hearts,peanuts & wild bird seed. I also put out apples cut up the blackbirds and thrushes love it.

The peanut harvest failed this year and the price has shot through the roof even though I buy it by the sack.

Of all the birds that come to feed, the long tailed tits are my favourites, the one I like the least is the Sparrow Hawk.

For the first time ever we still have berries on our Holly tree, normally it is stripped by the Redwings & Fieldfares in early November. They are migrants so whether they havnt left their summer haunts yet or something has caused their numbers to decline.

If anyone gets the chance to go to a Starling roost do go, it is one of the seven wonders of the natural world and will take your breath away.

 

[stencilface]

Year round, with fat balls, nuts, niger seed, and whichever seed mix I get. Sometimes buy mealworms too. I use a lot less now that I have less squirrel friendly feeders I don't leave water out as has a stream, and after this winter - a pond too!

I save the fat from the OHs meat and that goes out whenever its full. I put bread and any old food out too (crackers etc) which the crows and magpies always get first (they must watch me all the time!). I also left 4kg of choc on the grass after clearing up after my choc fountain at my birthday, took a while but it all went (although probably some rats ate that too )

I get robins, great, coal and blue tits, green bull gold and chaffinches, gs woodpecker, wrens, dunnocks, pheasants, wood pigeons, moor hens, and the odd heron

I don't mind the sparrowhawks, birds gotta eat I probably spend about £20 every month

 

[lhotse]

I feed the birds at my yard, peanut feeder plus 3 large fatball feeders. I make my own fatballs from wild bird seed, sunflower hearts and sultanas mixed with a beef dripping block. They go crazy for them, and I am rewarded with many different species of birds, including woodpeckers, long tailed tits and goldfinches. I have a window feeder on my bedroom window filled with a mixture of peanuts and sunflower hearts which is proving popular with the bluetits, plus the cats have no hope of reaching them. The robins and blackbirds have plenty of worms to feed on at the moment, but will put food out on the floor for them when the ground freezes.

 

[Nollaig Shona]

I throw out any food scraps all year 'round, and buy fat balls for the winter time. I throw them into the middle of the garden so the birds will get fair warning of any cats trying to sneak up on them!

 

[indie999]

Yes if you can find a feed merchant a bag of layers pellets for chickens costs about £8 per 20kg. birds will love this.

My chickens lose most of theirs to the mallards and anything else(Robins fit through the mesh etc)

I just bought some bird feeders and feed for xmas presents!

 

[MissTyc]

I try to!

Have lovely bird feeders with delicious feed of various types ... and no birds!
The fat balls go mouldy, the seeds SPROUT so now I have plants growing out of the bird feeders!

.... Can't wait for my garden to mature a bit so it becomes more attractive and safer for the birds!

 

[ChesnutsRoasting]

Year round. Love the birds. Now the neighbour next door has moved and taken her cats with her, the local wild bird population has thrived! (I do like cats, but my previous neighbours cat was the ultimate hunter and decimated the Wren population) I had the Blue Tits knocking indignantly on my window yesterday because the fatballs and sunflower seeds had run out!

 

[Tnavas]

You have some beautiful birds though, no squirrels? Do you have chipmunks (probably not) or anything like that? Do you get hummingbirds?

We don't get robins either (well, we do, but North American robins are more like large thrushes) no blue tits here either, we have chickadees instead which are more like coaltits I suppose.

In the UK I kept lovebirds and parakeets in aviaries, here, I don't need to, the birdlife is varied and very colourful, and I have become a closet twitcher I have to admit.

We do have some lovely birds but they don't visit like the UK birds.
My favourite is the Pukeko - in my avatar

The Tui - he visits the Bottle brush Tree in my neighbours garden and my Kowhai tree

The Fantail - is really cute and flies close to you catching insects that you disturb, don't often see them in my garden though.

This little bird - a Wax Eye visits late winter when the berries on one of my trees are ripe

NZ has no native four legged animals - no foxes, squirrels, chipmunks, hamsters or gerbils. AND NO SNAKES! Many of the native birds don't fly either. The Kiwi being the most famous.

 

[hudsonw]

Yes but i only ever get one bird which is the same robin (i've called him Steve?!!?) every day.

Someone told me that they are very territorial so maybe thats why i only get the one?

I buy him a square suet block once a week that has squished bugs, worms and seed in it and he loves it. He comes and sits on my hay while i muck out and sings to me.
I've hung it on the corner of the building (advantage of having an end stable!!) high up so the cats can't get to him.

I feel i'm getting a bit too attached to the little blighter but he is cute.

 

[stencilface]

The robin at the stables likes to steal food from the horses buckets when we're not looking

And the dunnocks love eating the bugs and bits off the muck heap, I like turning it for them so their feet get nice and warm

 

[LOZHUG]

All year round - well my dad does. Our garden is like a 5* bird hotel they get fat balls, peanuts, wild bird seed they love it and I love to hear them in the hedge bickering over who gets to stand at which point and the little ones being fed by their parents.