Are your birds stocking up?

[honeybee]

The midlands have been forecast snow for the weekend following more gales and floods Wednesday night and Thursday. I've noticed a lot more hungry looking birds in the garden, notably the starlings, gobling up suet over the past week. I expect they forecast weather better than weather-men, like seaweed, and may know there's a cold snap on it's way. Just wondered if anyone else had noticed the birds or other creatures stocking up?
I'm worried half my plants are going to get killed off before spring too!

[Tormentil]

Are your birds stocking up?

Or down, like Nora Battys'

[Susie]

I can't say I have noticed any stocking up but there were certainly a lot of birds on the feeders here today.

[Ollie]

The Starlings have been wolfing down our fat balls today. They have only visited on the odd occasion in ones and two's just lately but were out in force today. However the Sparrows, Dunnocks and Tits etc don't seem to have been any more active than normal
Roger

[Fourwings]

Oh great, more lovely Winter weather

There are certainly loads of birds at the feeders at the moment, odd really as you would think that with the current mild wet weather natural food would not be too hard to come by.

I'm looking forward to seeing the sun again and hearing the buzz of insects, it just seems a long way off at the moment!

[badgerwatcher]

They're all very busy here, thought I was doing something right!

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by Fourwings

Oh great, more lovely Winter weather

There are certainly loads of birds at the feeders at the moment, odd really as you would think that with the current mild wet weather natural food would not be too hard to come by.

I'm looking forward to seeing the sun again and hearing the buzz of insects, it just seems a long way off at the moment!

Havn't had much proper winter weather, not been especially cold just wet and windy! i remember more snow as a child.

As for the food, we all love a lazy takeaway, no washing up!

Can't wait for summer too, so long as there's no heatwave.

..Roger, maybe the starlings know something the rest of us don't.

[colsworld]

Originally Posted by honeybee

Havn't had much proper winter weather, not been especially cold just wet and windy! i remember more snow as a child.

As for the food, we all love a lazy takeaway, no washing up!

Can't wait for summer too, so long as there's no heatwave.

..Roger, maybe the starlings know something the rest of us don't.

It is certainly not right being January without a few frosty nights, what is happening, feels lik early autumn!

As far as food, my seed feeder is regulary being emptied but the nut feeder is lasting well. Don't know about numbers of birds, its dark when I leave and come home at night at the moment.

At least the nights will be getting shorter soon

Col

[aeshna5]

We've not had a frost yet this year (alright only just over 2 weeks into it ), so we must be due some cold snap.

My seed feeders empty most days- only goes quiet when Sparrowhawk decides to spend lengthy periods sitting in garden!

[Tormentil]

Originally Posted by aeshna5

.....My seed feeders empty most days....

Quite the opposite here. Over the past few weeks I've only had to re-fill my feeders every other day, sometimes they'll go 3 days !!

Can I expect a heat wave ??

[nightshade]

I have lost all my birds,switched to a general wild bird food.
Gained Pigeons,Crows,Magpies,Jackdaws,Sparrows
Lost GoldFinches,Greenfinches etc.
Perhaps I will mix my own

[smartie]

I've had to put out an extra feeder to cope with the number of finches - mostly green, but a number of chaffinches now arriving each day - usually two or three major raids during the course of the day. I was fearful for bloodshed The pretty stable resident population of dunnocks, blue and great tits and robins just keep eating all day, on and off, but they have been doing that for the last few months! A magpie on the bird table yesterday put them all into a bit of a spin. The magpies usually stay at the other end of the garden.

[mrs fish]

It is very wet to-day here which brings more birds in, lots of tits and the two robins as usual and a lonely chaffinch, the blackbirds aren't visiting so often but they like the wet weather for worms.
I am not getting as many birds as usual since the rspb stopped doing their high energy food last year
I am now giving them Bill Oddies "Really Wild Bird Food" but they don't seem so keen on it, maybe if it gets colder they will eat more of it.

[smartie]

I'd forgotten the blackbirds - we have a pair who "own" our back garden and another pair who own the front. There is sometimes some strife. A couple of this year's offspring of the back garden pair are still around the place. I'm waiting to see if they get driven off come nesting time.

For seed feed, I'm feeding almost exclusively sunflower hearts now, except for one nyger feeder. All the birds seem to like that. If I put a mixed seed out lots of the other stuff just gets thrown out as they rummage about for the sunflower.

[honeybee]

I put a cheaper general mixed seed out that the doves, pigeons and sparrows like. I've got the niger up for any passing goldfinches. There's whole peanuts and crushed peanuts. I scatter some sunflower hearts and put them on the bird table. The great tits love the black sunflower seeds in another feeder. There's fat balls too. I also have mixed insect and fruit suet pellets on a ground feeder and the bird table, also mealworms and chopped apple and cheese for a treat and occassionally a bit of bread. Also some of that bogena mix with fruit in that blackbirds like. God knows how much I / we must spend on them.

[buzfuz8149]

We have had the starlings most of the day in a feeding frenzy, but I put it down to the fact I have emptied one of my compost bins on the garden, all the regular feeders have been here as usual.
The wind has picked up and the sky was clear up to an hour ago but is now overcast, perhaps we are going to get some colder weather.

Carol.