The birds seem to have good appetites of late.

[Steve_In_Cheshire]

I feed the birds in the garden twice a day, i put food out just before first light and then they get a top up at around 2-30 in the afternoon to see them through the night. I have 2 ground feeders which are those black, fine mesh square trays which are great as they allow any rain to go through leaving the food fresh, i also have a couple of peanut, fat ball and seed feeders hung up. I fill the trays with ground peanuts which are very fine, i then add some sultanas and chopped up fatballs with another layer of the fine peanuts and then add some sunflower hearts and meal worms and some grated cheese when i have some spare that they can have.

Normally the birds especially the starlings and blackbirds pick out the sultanas, chopped up fat balls and meal worms and leave the seed so i have quite a bit left over on a daily basis even after the blue tits and sparrows have had a good feed.

The last 2 days both trays have been totally emptied by dinner time which is great to be honest which means they are having a good feed, i know its been cold and frosty of late but they have left food before when its been cold and frosty but not the last 2 days. Two mince pies didn`t last long either

Anyone else noticed similar ?

[Wild-Woman]

Wow! Your garden birds get a banquet every day! They must be in super condition for the winter months and breeding. If they've cleaned you out, perhaps they've invited others. It's also been so cold these last couple of nights, they need that extra food to keep warm.

[Ollie]

Normally if I fill all my feeders up first thing in a morning they will last all day. Since midweek last week I or the wife if I haven't been around have had to top them up again just after midday. The house Sparrows in particular seem to be coming in greater numbers.

Wonder if there is some severe weather on the way and they are feeding up in preparation.
Roger

[Geoff F]

A lot of the berries and other natural foods have been eaten by now. Also, in some areas, migrants are swelling the numbers of resident birds.

I give them a good handful of mixed seed twice a day plus one half full peanut feeder and a fatball feeder and when it's gone that is that until tomorrow. You have to draw the line somewhere and encourage them to forage as well.

[Steve_In_Cheshire]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

Wow! Your garden birds get a banquet every day!

Yeh lol, its not so much that. We have a large starling roost in 2 big trees at the end of the garden and you don`t want to see any of the little fellas miss out on some food, as you know they bully each other out of the way when its feeding time so i put quite a bit out to try and stop some going without. Also we have our resident blackbirds and we have about 5-6 of them, i have a seperate area for the resident blue tits, sparrows and ringed dove who are easy to look after with a good seed mix. We also have 2 resident magpies and they just help themselves when they are hungry, its hard to know where you draw the line as you don`t want to see any of them go without some food especially in winter and with so many daily visitors we have a quite a few beaks to feed...... Its a pleasure though, they are so entertaining.

[Phoebe]

The birds in my garden seem to be very hungry too! Although there is a Sparrowhawk around at the moment. I find my front feeding station is not being cleared so quickly because it is more in the open, but the feeders at the side are running out in a few hours - they are in the trees and more difficult for the Spawk to get to. I bought more seed today, a 20 kg sack for £9.99 not bad I thought, as the last sack was £18.99 for 20 kg of Superior mix. I made lots of fat balls yesterday and they love them

[sunnydale]

Originally Posted by Ollie

Wonder if there is some severe weather on the way and they are feeding up in preparation.

They probably watched the forecast at lunch-time! We're in for a very cold week ahead (apparently) with temps dipping a few (or more) degrees below freezing every night!