New from Cheshire

[Horseguards]

Being concerned about wildlife my initial object would be to help and encourage that in my immediate area, ie my garden, at the end of which is an enormous park with plenty of tree cover (foxes are common, possibly badger, woodpecker).

Re birdseed. I spread this around the edges of the garden – under bushes, trees, along the path. This attracts tits, finches, sparrows, wood pigeons, etc. Could I do more, here?

Should I also I also use feeders (what type)?

I paid £5 for a 2.7kg of RSPB birdseed. Is this a good source/price?

What about nesting boxes – how many, what type/size.

How can I encourage other species – hedgehogs, frogs, toads, for example?

The garden is about 15m x 15m, sheltered on one side by a high fence (2m) and open on two sides, save for low hedges/bushes.

Thank you for any help.

Grant (Cheshire).

[carlj]

Others will have suggestions of their own, here's my tuppence worth. BTW, welcome to WAB Grant!

Hedgehogs like cat meat. Try to leave a little bit of garden untamed, ie, nettles for peacock butterflies. i believe greenfinches love black sunflower seeds too. Feathers will attract long tailed tits at this time of year as they're nest building.

Anyone want to add to the list?
Carl

[nightshade]

Hello Horseguards,There are different feeds and suppliers quality varies (some use fillers, cheap grain) be circumspect with the food you scatter too much could attract vermin if not eaten by the birds.
Feeders will generally bring in a different group of birds Tits, finches,that prefer to feed off the ground,the feeders should cleaned regularly
One or two feeders a mesh with peanuts/sunflower hearts aclear tube with
niger would be nice but try one first,birds will take a few days to find them.
Water in a garden for birds and animals is a great attraction,a shallow dish
a small pond a bird bath there are a lot of options
Nest boxes are worth while,they should be away from feeding areas and at least 6feet up off the ground 10 is better be aware of any likely access to your feeders or boxes for predators cats rats magpies etc.
after all your hard work sit back and feel smug that you have a potential wildlife reserve!
good luck any queries you know where we are

[henrya]

Welcome Horseguards

Quote
I paid £5 for a 2.7kg of RSPB birdseed. Is this a good source/price?
Endquote

The source may be good but the price is rubbish. My local RSPB sells 2.5kg of birdseed for £2, and it's pretty good stuff - the birds don't leave much, which is a good enough test for me.

henrya

[Horseguards]

Dear Carl, Nightshade and Henrya, thank you for the welcome and info.

Re birdseed: I discovered my local market charges 50p per 2 kg. So while the RSPB may be worthy, I think the greater food source will be more beneficial for the birds.

Re feeders: Nightshade suggested plastic and transparent. But wouldn’t mesh allow more birds to feed simultaneously against two (one per feeding hole at the bottom of the tube)?

If I’m correct, which type - plastic mesh or steel mesh tube?

As an aside, are there any birds who are wary of feeding off the ground and would prefer a bird table?

Thank you for any info.

Grant.

[nightshade]

The plastic tube allows the feeding of fine seed which would otherwise pour out through the mesh!
The mesh is for nuts ,so you can attract more Types of bird to the different
foods
Re birdseed cheap is not better it usually contains lots of cheap pigeon food
wheat, maize etc.that smaller birds cannot eat so it is left, as this makes up to a half of the mix (in some cases) it is not such good value
Quite a lot of birds feel safer on the birdtable
Mesh metal or plastic? metal lasts longer, up to your pocket, both need to be kept clean
Still not sure?ask away

[henrya]

Quote
Re birdseed: I discovered my local market charges 50p per 2 kg.
Endquote

That's very cheap, and as nightshade says, may have too much grain in it - but do the bird test. If they eat it all, fine. If they leave loads, find something a bit more palatable.

henrya

[Pat]

Originally Posted by henrya

Quote
Re birdseed: I discovered my local market charges 50p per 2 kg.
Endquote

That's very cheap, and as nightshade says, may have too much grain in it - but do the bird test. If they eat it all, fine. If they leave loads, find something a bit more palatable.

henrya

As I've mentioned in a previous post I get all my bird food from www.haiths.co.uk they sell a very good bird seed for £21 for 25 kilos ( which btw is recomended by Bill Odie ) there doesn't seem to be any waste every bit is eaten. They also sell all types of feeders and food for hedgehogs badgers etc. It's usuall delivered within 2 to 3 working days. Take a look at the site, I've been using them for 18 months now and highly reccomend them. Pat.

[Horseguards]

Nightshade, Henrya and Pat, thanks for the suggestions.

I’ll use standard seed (what I’ve bought) scattered around the garden. For diversity I’ll also buy one or two metal mesh feeders for peanuts.

I store the birdseed in the garden shed in its original bag. Scraps of paper, etc appear overnight;looks like bedding/nesting material. Nothing is actually present. What could this be?

I don’t want to discourage it so how can it be encouraged outside the bag of birdseed? I presume it is attracted by the food source.

Pat, www.haiths.co.uk seems to offer everything, and not just for birds. I’ve bookmarked this for future reference.

I’ll post another question re blue tits in another forum as this seems to be mainly the welcome forum.

Thank you once again.

Grant.

[henrya]

Quote
I store the birdseed in the garden shed in its original bag. Scraps of paper, etc appear overnight;looks like bedding/nesting material. Nothing is actually present. What could this be?
Endquote

Mice of some kind, I should think. They'll be eating the seed as well, no doubt

henrya

[nightshade]

Hello horseguards I seem to remember you asking about a bare patch of lawn
and a pond before the site went tits-up have you done anything about it yet or are you still open to suggestions?
The reason it is bare could be due to builders rubble just under the surface,proximity to trees,or female dogs!
However you could make a shallow pool/bog garden which could bring in more wildlife,ponds are nicer, if you look around you could find a bird-bath with a hollow stem and stand it in a shallow tray(just deep enough for an electric pond pump,there are some solar powered ones about)run the pipe up the centre and just let it overflow back to the tray or even one of the ceramic ball water features you can buy off the shelf again in a shallow tray for the birds to bathe in

[Horseguards]

Nightshade, thanks for the suggestions. Dog may be the problem.

Still undecided re solution. What is a bog garden - any pointers re sites on this?

Grant.

[Horseguards]

For some reason,this has also appeared on General Wildlife and Environment Forum. For simplicity could I suggest posting suggestions there?

Grant.