Please Feed The Birds

[zico's mum]

They will struggle to find food in this awful weather.Please put food out for them - if you still have mince pies,Christmas cake or pudding left over these are excellent foods as are old fashioned oats as well as all the wild bird feeds widely available now.They will also need water as bird baths freeeze over.

[celeste]

I used to feed the birds religiously, until I realised I was also feeding the local rat population , there is a pair of Blackbirds that I put out a small container with layers pellets for, it's right by the back door so not much chance of it attracting rats but I still bring it in at night, just in case, the two of them are waiting for me every morning when I go out to feed the hens

[cycas]

I gave up feeding the birds a few years back - with 6 cats it's just too risky to be luring them to one spot.

 

Might take some scraps out on a walk and put them somewhere well away from paws and claws instead.

[owl]

I always do but have doubled their rations. Luckily I bought a big sack of seed mix just before Christmas and also a tub of fatballs.

[JulesB]

I've got loads of fatballs out but the birds round here don't seem to like them. I didn't think about putting mince pies etc out though, have just been and chucked out all the Christmas leftovers for them - good for my waistline, good for the birds.

[Helly]

I have bird feeders with seed, peanuts and fat balls out front, and a fat population of sparrows and 1 robin who wait at my back door till i go out for a ciggie and throw suet pellets for them. When I unlock the kennels in the morning, I have a robin who follows me round and waits for his suet pellets by the staff/utility room, which does him till the staff let him into the kennel to check on left over dog food I feed my lot throughout the year as i get such pleasure watching them, and with no cats or similar predators about I get a really good diverse range of birds coming daily

[lil_angel]

Now have the song from Mary Poppins in my head.

 

My Dad is in charge of feeding the birds. We have several feeders dotted around the garden. We do get the odd rat and squirrel at times but do try to put them on the thinner branches.

[Yantan]

I feed the birds all year round but have run out of seed for the table and ground. The feeders are being kept topped up however both with seed and peanuts which I crush first. I haven't bothered trying to defrost our birdbath as my neighbour is taking a dish of warm water out each morning and afternoon so they just hop over to her side for their water.

 

I gave up putting fat balls out as they never really bothered with them. I am going to see if our local birds bistro can bring me a delivery of seed so I can keep the ground feeders happy. We have a big ole pigeon hanging around who I feel sorry for.

 

We have blackbirds, blue tits, sparrows and a robin who all seem to live in our big old bay tree, which gives them a lot of shelter I am sure. I have roosting pouches hanging in it which they all seem to make good use of too.

[griff]

our local birds are fussy too..... don't go near the fat balls we have a small bowl for the pigeons and a hanging birg table for the collared doves sparrows and robins one of the pigeons has a bad leg at the moment so we are putting out plenty of food to help it get better.... same thing happened early in 2009 when we had some snow...perhaps they land funny on ice and hurt themselves

[Brenda]

I feed the birds all year round in the front and back garden. I also pour boiling water over the bird bath each morning to defrost the ice.

[ailsas mum]

oh is another one that feeds the birds all year, we have a Robin, blue tits,coaltit, greenfinch, chaffinch, starlings,collared doves,blackbirds, wood pigeons and pterodactyls feral pigeons. I bought a whole load of Bill Oddie's bird food in a pound shop for oh's Christmas, there are more birds this year than there has been for a long time.

 

Terri

[zico's mum]

That Bill Oddie food is very good,it's often on special offer at Wilkinsons as well.I have lots of bramblings around at the moment and also masses of goldfinches and greenfinches,the niger seed feeder sees to that.I do have a rat visiting but the feeders are all in the trees on the stream edge,there are rats living along the banks anyway.I did have pair of bullfinches visiting but sadly haven't seen them for a while,we have a pair on the feeders at work though,lovely birds.

[ailsas mum]

oh has informed me that the mixed Bill Oddie food is being left but the birds are finishing the Asda's bog standard stuff.

 

Terri

[Angel155]

Birds in my garden have just been given the left over christmas cake................better for their waistlines than mine!!

[Ingrid]

Smash the fat balls up and scatter them, I think the problem is they are too hard for the birds to break in this cold weather.

My garden is like a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock movie, we have loads of birds foraging all the time moment, I scatter seed and tesco value sultanas/raisins which they love.