my new bird feeding station

[naturelover]

hi i got on here at last,well i hope? I put my bird feeding station up on satureday, filled it with different goodies but havnt had one visitor,its about 8 to 10 feet from the house,do you think this is too close,i wanted it quite close so that i can photoegraph them while their eating,but there is no point having it there if they are not going to use it.

[wildone]

I notice that you have quite a few fat feeders. What about seed? Sunflower hearts are very popular with most birds. Also some mixed feeder seed will be acceptable.

wildone

[Kerry]

They usually take a while to get used to a new feeder. I replaced my old rickety feeders last week, leaving them in exactly the same place, but they still weren't keen on coming to eat from them despite the fact that they have been using that place for food for the past twelve months or so. My feeder is about 10 feet away from the house and everything from blue tits, crows, jackdaws, wrens, magpies, chaffinches, sparrows, coal tits, etc use it.

[Blackbrook Eye]

Hi Naturelover, its early days yet, being so close to the house it will take time to build up the confidence of the birds and there is so much food out in their natural habitat at the moment that they will be less inclined to take chances, I made a new bird table a couple of weeks back and that is placed about twelve feet from my kitchen window, there has been little interest as yet, apart from a pair of Dunnocks and a Magpie who visit fairly regularly. The weather being so mild at the moment doesn't help, but is good news for the birds, once it starts to get colder they will come I am sure. As the mornings get frosty, as they are doing, water will be as good an attraction as food, provided it isn't frozen solid.

[Ollie]

I wouldn't think it is too close to the house as long as there is some cover which going by the photo looks as though there is. It may take a few weeks for the birds to find and start using it regularly though.

Just a little tip that you may or may not want to try. I have one of these metal feeding stations, looks very similar to yours. I got some small to medium size branches and fastened them as perches to the metal frame with electrical tie wraps. (you can buy the tie wraps from garden centres) to make it more natural when taking photographs. I fastened them above the feeder arms so the birds land on them before coming down to feed. A bird always looks better on a nice branch than a metal bar.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing any photos.
Roger

[glsammy]

Wildone is right, a bit more variety would certainly help. Our bird prefer sunflower seeds over any others, I don't buy the hearts as they eat far too many!
They manage the full seeds perfectly well. The only problem with them is the outer skins have to be swept up regularly to keep the area clean. We've got one hanger with mixed seed, three with sunflower seeds, plus a tray with fat,not forgetting our apples for the blackbirds!
I don't think yours is too close, our feeders are even closer to our Kitchen window, only about 6ft away. Any movement inside and the birds fly into trees but come back again as soon as we stop moving.

This is our set up:




Our Kitchen window is just to the left of this shot.

[naturelover]

Originally Posted by wildone

I notice that you have quite a few fat feeders. What about seed? Sunflower hearts are very popular with most birds. Also some mixed feeder seed will be acceptable.

wildone

hi wildone i have got sunflower hearts in a dish on the feeder,also chipped peanuts,and nijer seed as well as the fat balls,the reason i have so many fat balls is because they all came in one long net,so i just put them all out at once.

[Naz]

naturelover, in addition to all the excellent advice so far, I'll add my thoughts.

I wouldn't worry about it being too close to the house ... mine's about 7ft from the kitchen window, and the wooden post bends under the weight of all the birds on occasions.

Variety of feed is definitely the way forward I think. I use fat-balls, a wild-bird seed mix, sunflower hearts, Niger seed, peanuts ... and have had amazing results, even as far as Nuthatches and a Woodpecker. I also have 2 quite big ponds with a man-made stream between them which the birds love, even had Common Snipes around there, so I would recommend a good water source, meaning the birds never really have to stray far from the garden. You seem to have some substantial shrubs around too, so that's a big plus as they don't have to travel far from the food for a 'safe' place, should it be necessary

The bird-table stands in the middle of an 8ft square Geranium bed, so there's excellent cover (and interest) for the birds that like to rummage about underneath, including a Pheasant

They don't usually take long to discover a new source of food, so I'd vary the diet for them, and just hang in there for a little while, they'll show up.

Naz x

[juliejam]

Your new station looks great and Im sure like others have mentioned it wont be long before the birds start paying you a visit..Earlier this yr when i also put up a new station it did take a little while for the birds to build up the confidence with having bushes very close by they did spend a lot of time at first quickly hopping from one to another..but as time has gone by especially the sparrows they are around alday ..When they feel safe you will have visitor's that will depend on your handouts for the winter ahead..

Julie

[SweetRocket]

Your feeding station looks great. I have found that birds take a little while to get used to a new feeding area but also notice that they will visit fat balls a little less than they would a seed feeder. As suggested above put up a seed feeder with sunflower hearts and you wont have to wait long for the birds to arrive.