It started a year ago when I hung up the first 'tube' it was attached by starling and blackbirds who ate two tubes one after the other. The third one was only half used!
This year when the RSPB offered energy tubes at special rates I quickly ordered quite a few ready for the winter ~ but non of my birds likes them at all. They just ignore them, well the odd bird has a half heated nibble but nothing more.
I also ordered some of the buggy nibbles and they have shared the same fate, not interested!
While this has all been going on the last of the individually sealed round suet cake from last year has all also been shunned.
My birds won't eat suet, which is crazy.
Is last years cake now stale and the birds know it? But what about the new RSPB suet products what can be the reason that cold and starving birds won't give it a look!
David
Hi folks,
I can report a great success with the berry suet pellets today - starlings, dunnocks, sparrows, blackbirds, jackdaws, robins, a new song thrush, the dog ..... She hoovered up quite a few and was then sick in the kitchen!
My mix as mentioned above went down very well with all my birds. The pellets, sultanas and mealworms went first, of course!
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
I forgot to add that my jackdaws like the whole peanuts. I certainly wouldn't put them down during the breeding season though.
i was running low on mixed seed due to snow and being of sick from work was unable to go and get any more bird feed was gonna make hubby nice bread pudding so had bread in soak i then decided to misx the last of my bird seed plus a handfull of atora suet and pearly barley the birds loved it
Hi Bev,
I hope your hubby enjoyed also!
yeah you heard they say your dinner in the dog mine is your treat is in the birds lol
Hi everyone,
I have just stocked up on some more suet pellets & dried mealworms as these are going quickly at the moment. I think I over fed a little this morning as it hasn't all gone. Have been at work so I haven't been able to see if any birds were missing. I'm just hoping they are all ok.
David I agree, I think the fat gets too hard to eat.
Welcome David!
It's quite funny reading all about the quirky habits of our birds!! I've put out chopped apples before and they've been ignored... this morning I had in excess of 30 blackbirds (I usually have 7 or 8 regulars) waiting to be fed and they were all very keen on the chopped pears and apples I put out!! (I popped to Tesco's and got some bags of that they were selling off!)
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr
I found out this afternoon that my "gang" like grapes - but they much prefer the red to the green... here we go again ☺☺☺ LOL
The necessity of bird-watching is a really good reason for avoiding all forms of housework.
The dust will still be there tomorrow - the birds may not be!
Hi David
Suet Blocks can vary a lot in price from shop to website
Yes, they can be hard to break indeed.
I find that my birds do not like the flavoured suet and like the plain ones instead.
Same applies to the fat balls, The plain ones go down better.
Unless someone knows different.
Regards
Kathy and Dave
davidmelville said: I went down the local pet shop and picked up a couple of berry suet pellets [not the cheapest way to do it] and decided I would try and sort out the suet problem. So I changed a couple of feeder contents and within minuets they were being used. So why the change? I then took down some of the suet cylinders as I had decided I was going to crush them and add them to the ground feeders. Could I break them? No way! It took a hammer to do ~ so is part of the problem that the suet is too hard and with the cold weather just impossible for the birds to get into!
I went down the local pet shop and picked up a couple of berry suet pellets [not the cheapest way to do it] and decided I would try and sort out the suet problem. So I changed a couple of feeder contents and within minuets they were being used. So why the change?
I then took down some of the suet cylinders as I had decided I was going to crush them and add them to the ground feeders. Could I break them? No way! It took a hammer to do ~ so is part of the problem that the suet is too hard and with the cold weather just impossible for the birds to get into!
Lol at Bev," treat in the birds"
You know Squirrel I am convinced we are the cause of our fussy birds, spoiling them rotten. The birds at school have whats in the feeders, because that's all there is. (They have figured out we are not always there to keep them topped up aswell). They don't have stroppy sulks. They know it's a luxury to get some kids' burnt cakes thrown out on the playground, they don't grumble. They are grateful for what they get, in complete contrast to my spoilt garden birds.
We are the cause I'm convinced!
In years to come we may be part of a survey / study to prove that spoiling birds in your garden ends in disaster.