Attracting Birds To My Garden

[katie240181]

I'm new today so Hello Everyone!

Warning Very Very Long Post! SORRY

I am looking for a little advice, but I think I actually know the answer to most of it

I want to attract birds to my extremely tiny urban garden, which arrpox. measures 18ft square (i know very small), I have some decking in the garden along with a small lawn (the only lawn on my block) and a very small pond, i have some flower beds in the garden but absolutely no cover for birds, i know this is not good so when we decided to start attracting wildlife to the garden, we thought abour redesigning it, and i now have some plants i've got some hawthorn, firethorns and 3 cotoneasters and 1 ivy to plant (my husband said he will plant them when the ground isn't so muddy and the weather is a tad warmer) so really i am trying to plant my garden to be wildlife friendly, anyway we put out a peanut feeder, seed feeder and i coconut shell with fat stuff in it about 4 weeks ago but nothing has been touched, and about 3 weeks ago we got a ground feeding tray and put some dried mealworms in it to attract the blackbirds (i know there are blackbirds because in the summer they come to use my birdbath and get worms from the lawn they are quite friendly too) i changed the meal worms often but again nothing has touched any of the food (apart from...... see below) how can i get the birds to come to my garden, the people nextdoor have 2 cats and 2 dogs but the garden has high fencing on that side.

any help would be great

back onto the ground feeder, well this morning i looked out of the window like i do every morning to see if the mealworms were still there which they normally are but this morning they were gone i was so excited, every single one was completely gone, i rang my husband straight away to see if he'd thrown them away he said no, so something had eaten them, now i can't remember if i saw any mealworms in the tray yesterday morning and it was dark when i got home from work so didn't check then either, so they were either eaten by a bird during the day yesterday or something ate them in the night, do you think it was a bird who ate them?

we don't have an hedgehogs, rats or anything in the area or io've never seen any we do have foxes on the front of the house but not the back the garden has 6ft fencing round and then there is a communal car park at the rear of house house it so i don't think they can get into the garden and the gate touches the floor do you think something ate them during the night?


any advice would be soooo grateful please x

[Cowgirl]

Hi Katie,

Welcome to the forum, you'll like it here.

I'm no expert and I'm sure somebody'll be along with more advice, but in the meantime my advice would be discourage the cats from visiting your garden. I know people who have had sucess with the anti cat sonic devices, I don't have cats (2 dogs) so I can't say for definate they work but maybe people here can verify/deny this. (or tiger wee???) If there are cats around, they will visit your garden & the birds will be very wary, but if you can prove to the birds (this may take some time) that it's a safe haven for them, patience, they will come. Dogs are a distraction for birds but as long as they're not in the garden you'll be fine. There are other threads regarding attracting birds into gardens. Certainly planting lots of cover for them is good. Someone on here told me the more plants the more insects so birds will come anyway.

Soon you'll be complaining that the little beggers are eating you out of house & home!

[solus]

Patience is the first thing you'll need as it can sometimes take several weeks for the birds to discover a new source of food.

Definitely discourage next door's cats - add trellis to the top of the fence, or in front of it perhaps, and grow stuff up it - clematis and honeysuckle can be attractive as well as providing cover for birds to perch and nest in.

As to the mealworms - it is possible a Robin or a Dunnock or a Blackbird has found them at first light before you looked out but it could also be something less welcome: the Wood Pigeons hoover mine up within seconds if we're not there to chase them off.

[Tringa]

Hello K. I think Solus has it. It does sometimes take a while for birds to find the food you put out, especially as you have a small garden. It could easily be overlooked or overflown.

The trees/bushes you have mentioned will provide good perching places for birds when they grow and as you have a pond that will help.

I agree an early bird could have got the mealworms, but do you have squirrels in the area, they will eat mealworms too.

A 6 feet fence is no obstacle to foxes. If they want to get in they may dig under it, but I have seen a fox get to the top of a 6 feet fence with ease.

[bobbarber]

Hello Katie and a warm welcome to WAB , I think your selection of plants is very good , all nice plants that can carry lots of berries when they are established. It is a small garden but that need not be a problem. Do you really need decking in a small garden such as yours as it is using up a lot of ground that could be used for planting for wildlife in mind.,they also make a safe habitat for rats which you may not see. It all takes a bit of time and patience but the birds will come. The lawn and small pond are fine, and don`t forget to plant around the pond as this will encourage insects for the birds during the breeding season. Good luck ...Bob

[galanthophile]

I agree with everyone when they say once the birds find you they will keep coming back. I have cats but keep them in as much as possible and they don't bother the birds much or maybe the birds have learned to be wary. It is a great pleasure seeing the birds coming every day. Keep trying and good luck

[SJANSELL]

Hi,

My parents-in-law have an absolutely tiny backyard too, about the same size, in the middle of a concrete jungle of a council estate, although there is a small rec with a few trees across the road. They have no lawn and got rid of the pond (mum is scared of frogs, which somehow always appeared, how I don't know). They tried to attract birds for literally years to no avail, but suddenly they have lots of them!

I was astonished the last time we went down as they had starlings, blackbirds, tits and thrushes - it was like Waterloo station on the feeders.

Apparently one or two birds found it and then maybe others saw them? Is there a bird grapevine?

I think they have done some useful things that helped. One is lots of hiding places behind pots. Also they have a lot of climbers on their walls and trellis and some big stands for hanging baskets, which birds stand on. And lastly they started feeding with good quality food, cleaning the feeders more regularly and providing water.

I think it's a question of patience really and sometimes it's a mystery. My mum lived in Winchester and all the gardens were big, with lots of trees and undergrowth, but mum complained that over the years the birds literally disappeared - you barely saw a thing, except a few pigeons flying overhead.

[katie240181]

Hi everyone

Thank you for all the good advice, we started planting the garden at the weekend, got the hawthorn and firethorns planted, we also brought some budellia's (not sure about spelling there) so hopefully they will hope too, we got a lovely birdtable too and put that at the end of the lawn near the bird bath with the ground feeder next to it at the bottom, we even brought some different food, we put normal seed mix, sunflower hearts and mealworms on the bird table for nothing as of yet, we put just meal worms on the ground feeder and yesterday morning when I got up they were there when i got come they had gone and there was bird poo all round the feeder so somethings been again thats twice now so hopefully things are looking up not sure what bird it was the poo was rather small i thought it might have been the blackbird but my husband doesn't think so, but i don't see many other birds around my area apart from blackbirds and magpies... but fingers crossed, we are doing some more planting this weekend, i just need to get some good shrubs/plants for round my pond area, hardly any sun at all and very boggy clay soil not sure what will do well there other than ferns, but i want something with a little height (not to high tho, about 1.5m max i'd say), for cover for the birds and i want to heavily dense it along with some flowers for colour, any good ideas what to plant there.

I am feeling a little more positive now and hope my plants settle in well and that the birds will warm to my garden more once the plants get established

[k4t3]

In reference to the mealworms....i thought that I was feeding the birds with the mealworms, until I caught next doors cat hoovering them up early one morning.....yes, cats like mealworms, love them actually! Not do them any harm, but expensive way of keeping Tiddles happy! Moved mealworms to bird table and no further problems!

[galanthophile]

For plants for your problem area you could consider azaleas or camellias - my birds often shelter there and these plants are next to my pond in a north facing area. You have been busy so keep up the good work.