Feeding station too succesful!

[posie]

advice please on what bird food to put out to attract birds. I've got fat balls, fat off pork joint someone gave me, peanuts. is it a good idea to put fruit out, and what do you put mixed wild bird seed in. also what about the floor feeding birds, do you throw some on the ground for them, (sparrows etc), Ideas please. Posie. also could someone put photos of home made stations, for guidance. We've got plenty of room, our only problem is 2 dogs who will eat anything, and they mop up all except seed, and fatballs which they cannot reach cos they are hanging on a metal pole feeder.(bought one I wondered if I might have to put a fence round the station area to keep dogs off. we haven't got any squirrels, I wish we had, but little mice come at night to see if birds have left anything.(thats when the dogs are shut in with us, we can see mice through patio doors with the light on. What could I put out after dark especially for the nightlife. thanks... Posie..

[Tobyh]

Hi Posie,

I'll give you an idea of my feeding arrangements (no photos as am at work) - it'll depend on what's in your area already and if you have mature trees and cover near you but here goes -

Mixed seed - 2 tube feeders (one 2 perch, one 4 perch) - used by Sparrows mainly but also tits, chaffinch and greenfinch. Also throw some on the ground for chaffinch, dunnock, sparrows and blackbirds.

Sunflower Hearts - One tube squirrelproof feeder - used mainly by goldfinch, greenfinch, chaffinch and tits. Also a squirrelproof nut feeder (mesh inside) which I put hearts in - works well as lots of birds can get in to it and they also spill onto the floor for those that prefer to ground feed.

Niger - One 4 perch feeder. Sometimes full of goldfinch, sometimes just one or two. Also siskin in winter.

Fat balls - in a metal hanger around the seed feeder - hammered every day by the sparrows and joined by starling and tits, occasionaly Great Spotted Woodpecker on this one too.

Home made fat squares - hung on my "peanut tree" - i'll try and find pictures of this but I drilled holes in side and push peanuts into it. The woodpeckers love it (GSW) and are on the fat every day without fail. Lots of other birds enjoy this too. The only place I have pictures of this is at this place - The forum address has changed! Click the link on the right,<br> or go to Forum News for more info... :: Make a peanut tree! - if i'm not allowed to post a link then please delete mods.

Peanuts - on floor for badgers / foxes and squirrels. I put these out mainly after dark - foxes and badgers love em.

I'm on the edge of town with some mature trees running alongside the garden so this really helps. I should also mention that I maintain my garden with birds in mind so have plenty of cover, a birdbath and a pond etc.

Hope this helps


TobyH

[posie]

Thankyou very much for a very easy to follow reply, TobyH,I'm off out to buy what I need. I have a pond (see my thread 'How do I manage a natural pond) the pond is further away from the windows than the feeding station area, so not so easy for ID, but would it be an idea to put some food in pond area, for certain birds, or not. the pond has 3 trees. Also we have good cover areas near feeding area that's close to house, trees, brambles, and all sorts of bushes etc. I hadn't thought of foxes and badgers, though we do have them both quite close,but we have a 6ft fence around the garden for the dogs, so of course this restricts things. It might be an idea to feed them some treats outside the fence, say, across the field. I don't expect a reply as you're at work. Posie....

[Tobyh]

Posie,

You are welcome, glad to help.

I tend not to put food too near the pond as I'd rather it didn't get in the water. They do still drop some bits in when flying over it though. The reason I don't tend to is that I like to keep the two activities seperate and don't want anything "fatty" in the pond. In my opinion, as the birds are very vulnerable when bathing, I like to keep activity round the pond to just washing so there's less chance of the local moggies getting a free run at them - for example if all the pigeons come down, the line of sight is quite restricted. That said, I did have a Chiffchaff in the summer actively hunting around the pond but as it's looking for insects anyway it wouldn't be interested in anything I had put out.

I forgot to say - I also put out fruit for the blackbirds, mainly apples but also anything else that can be eaten by the squirrels etc - much better than wasting it if it's gone a little past it's best.

[posie]

Thankyou very much for that advice, it all seems acceptable to me.I see what you mean about the pond. but I had thought of putting grain down for the little mice that live in the pond area, and in the lawn outside the pond.I'll put it down some holes outside the pond fence.I've never seen a squirrel here in 16 years, even though we have very large old oak trees, and other trees as well. There must be a reason, maybe foxes or more likely badgers.I lived in house next door for 15 years, and only got the pond when I moved into this house (not far) last year.Thankyou again for all your help and ideas..posie..