Oh What A Mess!

[May]

We have oodles of sparrows, dunnocks, chaffinches, greenfinches, a pair of blackbirds and one coal tit in our garden. The blue tits have disappeared, as have the robins but even so, look at the mess they make!



The birds on the feeders or the table (usually the sparrows and the blackbirds) fling the seed to the floor and the little ones sort through it all. I have a dish of food for the ground feeders like the dunnocks who regardless of this, seem to like using the table and there are two water dishes (now seed littered) .. the smaller one is there because the blackbirds get snarky when they're bathing and the sparrows try to drink!

The ornamental thistle which is waiting to be planted out, well the chaffinches seem to like sitting in the pot and all that green between the paving slabs .. discarded nijer seed. Lordy our garden is a mess! The birds seem to have claimed it as their own!

[Wild-Woman]

All the mess the other birds make is quickly hoovered up in our garden by the collared doves and woodpigeons.

[derekmc]

I couldn't help smiling when I saw your garden - it looks uncannily similar to ours! We have families of sparrows, Blue and Great Tits whose enthusiasm tends to outweigh their table manners, but the spilt sunflower hearts on the patio have had an unexpected benefit. A family of hedgehogs has just started coming into our garden, and although the larger one prefers the small saucers of dog food and water that we put out, one of the smaller hedgehogs ignores these completely and heads straight for the bird feeders to hoover up any spilt sunflower hearts that the dunnocks and collared doves have missed.

I've never heard of hedgehogs taking seeds before, but this one can't get enough of them! I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has come across the same thing.

All the best
Derek

[Wild-Woman]

If the birds knock the fat balls down,and when you've got about ten starlings having a punch-up over them all at once, our local Mr Fox takes full advantage of this gift from the sky! He also has a pint or two out of the bird bath. ww

[Diane E]

Blimey, May! That is some mess. Looks like it was a GREAT party.

I have one coal tit also! Does yours seem to sift through the seed throwing out ones he doesn't fancy until he finds one he likes? Then fly off to hide it and come back for another? Again and again and again......... He's always so interesting to watch. Kind of manic but on a mission?

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Diane E

Blimey, May! That is some mess. Looks like it was a GREAT party.

I have one coal tit also! Does yours seem to sift through the seed throwing out ones he doesn't fancy until he finds one he likes? Then fly off to hide it and come back for another? Again and again and again......... He's always so interesting to watch. Kind of manic but on a mission?

You've just described our lone Coal Tits behaviour! I thought ours was just a little odd, obviously it's not just him.

[nightshade]

I have removed the stones from under my feeders and now put down bark mulch, as even the sunflower hearts are germinating I had allsorts of exotic plants around the garden last year, the mulch is swept up and composted after a period in plastic bags to kill the seeds
There is a hedgehog that takes the fallen seed and we think there is a badger that visits occasionaly(it digs a hole about 4 inches deep and leaves a long long seed studded calling card)

[May]

Originally Posted by derekmc

I couldn't help smiling when I saw your garden - it looks uncannily similar to ours!

You can tell whose gardens are ruled by the feathered ones can't you!

[May]

Originally Posted by Diane E

Blimey, May! That is some mess. Looks like it was a GREAT party.

I have one coal tit also! Does yours seem to sift through the seed throwing out ones he doesn't fancy until he finds one he likes? Then fly off to hide it and come back for another? Again and again and again......... He's always so interesting to watch. Kind of manic but on a mission?

Goodness, now you point it out, this does happen! When he comes to the feeder he'll be back and forth quite frequently to sift!

[MalcolmX]

all our mess is picked up by a family of pheasents that have invaded the garden