No Birds In My Garden At All.....Help!

[chennmel]

Hi there,

I am new here and new to bird feeding. I live in Hackney in London. I moved 2 months ago to a house with a garden (first time having a garden). I totally love it to bits and have planted vegetables and loads of plants and it is looking wonderful.

The only problem I am having is that for some reason there are just no birds in my garden. I have an asortment of feeders for them (not any low level feeds though cause a couple of rat's found those and I dont want to incourage them!).

About a month ago 2 blue tits used to visit, eating the peanuts I put out... but about 1 month ago they just vanished. Since then 2 blackbirds came for about a week but for the passed 3 weeks I havent seen a "dickie bird". I have peanuts in a dish, peanuts in a feeder.... 2 seed feeders... seed feeder with sunflower seeds, fat ball, suet in a half coconut (which I made myself) and monkey nuts on a string....plus fresh water.

I just cant work out what I am doing wrong.... these all hang from a tree which I think provides cover.....what else can I do ..... I am desperate for your advice.

Many thanks

woodby wildlife enthusiast.

Here a pic of my setup.
However

[Rob_D]

Hi and welcome to WAB.

Sounds like you are doing the right things. I would also suggest mealworms which seem very popular with the birds, either dried or live if you are not too squeemish. Other than that, making sure the cats keep out, if you can! Could be the lack of low level feeders is not so good for blackbirds and some others though.

The main thing is to persevere, you never know what might drop in especially as the seasons change.

Good luck!

[nightshade]

What do you have in the garden? Trees, Shrubs birds need cover as well as food.
Have a look on google Earth, see what is around you and how your garden relates to any other possible wildlife habitat you may need a very tall tree look out for BATS

[Pete Collins]

Sounds like you are doing the right things, but it can take a long time before the birds discover the food you put out. I guess especially so if there is nowhere else nearby where they feed regularly.

As nightshade says, cover is very important for the birds, and it needs to be quite close to the food/water you put out. The birds need a bush/tree nearby that they can flee to when they spot a predator. The number of birds visiting one of our feeders dropped considerably after the nearest shrub was severely cut back!

Welcome to WAB by the way! I hope you enjoy the site.

[Tursiops2]

Hi chennmel and welcome to WAB.
I agree with what's been said so far, but there's also the time of year to consider. Your local birds will be busy feeding their young on natural food so will be less likely to come to feeders. Over the next few weeks you'll probably find adults and young birds making visits to your garden and feeders as they disperse from their home territories, but the main influx will come in the winter.
HTH
T2

[djackso]

I agree - the birds in my garden seem to be off doing their own thing at the moment. I'm careful about ingredients - aflatoxin and such, so I don't think I poisoned them.

Be patient and I'm sure they'll arrive.

[djackso]

PS - I don't think your picture is visible.

[Bub-les]

Found your photo

Looks good to me
My birds seem to have gone off to do their own thing at the moment!
Even a female blackbird that was demanding food every time I went into the garden, I haven't seen her for days! No doubt they will find you eventually especially when winter comes.
Barbara

[Tracey.A]

Hi,

welcome to WAB, it's a great site! Don't worry about lack of birds, it can be quite normal to begin with. Once they realize that there is food on a regular basis they will soon start appearing in greater numbers, it just requires a bit of patience. In the mean time arm yourself with a bird book, so you can identify all the birds that will soon start to appear. It's great fun

Tracey

[djackso]

Wow, what a fabulous feast. The birds don't know what they are missing.
I'd be surprised if you don't get some wildlife soon - even if it's just the local squirrel.