Hi Sue and a warm welcome from me in West Lothian. I too spend a small fortune every week on feeding the birds in my garden. Doggie has a great recipe for pastry which you can find here. Almost all the birds love this and you can add whatever you like to it. It has the great ability to be stuck anywhere you please so the smaller birds have a definite advantage over the ground feeding pigeons.
Paul
My bird photos HERE
Hi Paul, and thank you, I will definitely consider sticking raw pastry to my tree! [cant believe I just said that] I must say, this is a very friendly community and one were I dont feel that people are backing away from me slowly. lol
Just been watching that grounded greenfinch and Ive got a feeling its got that disease Ive been reading about. It seems puffed up, cant fly, eating seeds off the floor and having trouble swallowing. Not sure what to do now : (
Ive just been reading about it and I think I will reduce the amount of feeders for a while as congregational feeding spreads the disease. I do get hoards of birds, mostly greenfinches and goldfinches. Typical though just at the time of year when they need their food! I need to get out there and scour the area too, but dont want to frighten the poor thing.
Hi Sue. I agree with Alan on this. There are always going to be casualties out there regardless of what anyone does though it doesn't make things any easier for us to bear when we encounter them. I think you are doing everything that you can and no-one can ask any better than that. It always makes me happy to see someone care so much about the birds like you so obviously do.
Diseased Greenfinch update. Well the greenfinch did indeed pass away probably due to the Trichomonasis parasite. I parceled him up and posted him to the London Zoo as requested for a post mortem [my son grinned and asked if it was to ascertain whether I had done it so they could arrest me!]. Haven't heard anything yet, but they said they will report back to me. They instructed me to remove the feeders, and Im now wondering how long for? Its awful, deathly quiet in the garden, and each time I go out I often hear the Goldfinches shouting to each other. Very sad.
Do you reckon? That would be fab!! [hang on though, frequent cleaning, up and down the ladder, loads of money on seed, hmmm maybe I'll leave it a few years! lol] [joke]
Sue
They are such messy eaters too! They waste half of the sunflower seeds which drop to the ground and you cant sweep them up and place them in the feeders as there are undesirable additions if you know what I mean lol!!!