Hi all,
This will be my first time participating. My original base of observation was the open green out the front of my first floor flat where I have seen many green, gold and chaffinches among other bird species, unfortunately the green is up against a path and road, thus the constant people and vehicle activity would often disturb the birds.
My new base of operations is in my mother's much quieter and much larger garden, but here I encountred a minor hitch in encouraging birds to take to the feeder I hung on a Laburnum tree, it remained untouched and as full as the day I filled it for a couple of weeks before I decided there may be something that wasn't being done right. After doing a bit of research on this I decided that the problem may have been that the perches on the feeder are almost non-exsistent and it was hung fairly low on the tree away from any nearby branches. So over the weekend I placed the feeder in a nearby Pear tree with the feeding holes almost cheek-by-jowel with several branches. I have also bought another feeder with more prominent perches, placed that higher in the Laburnum and also placed suet balls in various locations on both trees. I hope to have greater success following these adjustments.
In the meantime does anyone have any more pointers for encouraging birds to newly hung feeders? Is there a paticular time of day when birds feed so I may choose the best time to watch?
Wish me luck, will post if the little blighters start taking to the feeders.
Paddy : )
Hi Paddsta
Welcome to the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch group.
It is good that you have now hung several feeders, and provided several different types of food, as these will help to attract different birds. You are doing the right thing in starting early so as the birds will get to know that there is free food in your location.
You could also try sprinkling some food (not too much to start with) on the ground, and that might include breadcrumbs, pieces of apple or grape, or a few seeds or small peanuts. That will attract ground feeding birds like blackbirds, robins and thrushes.
If it's cold and frosty then my best hour viewing is as soon as it gets light since the birds will be really hungry. Another peak time for me is lunchtime.
Maybe you might try experimenting for your best potential hour before the BGBW weekend, or you could do a trial run on the Saturday, then do your best viewing hour for real on the Sunday.
Good Luck
Best wishes Chris
Click Here to see my photos
You will find that feed the birds is a great past time and you will be surprise on how many different birds you will see.
I have found with feeding the birds is to put bird feeder in different places around the garden and not just hang the fat balls up throw a couple on the ground and even in the flower beds too. Try and put nest boxes around the garden too as that will help to bring birds into the garden as well.
Good luck and happy bird watching
Nick (sorry if my spelling or grammar isn't that great its because I have dyslexic)
My Flickr. Photos link HERE
Hey all,
Thanks for the tips! I put by this past Sunday to observe any possible activity that my feeders had hopefully attracted. I spent roughly 7 hours observing as to establish ideal watching time for the big day. I'm happy to report that I wasn't dissapointed.
Within minutes of sitting down at my observation point at around 08:15am (with a full kettle on standby!), there was a flurry of activity. Woodpecker your peak viewing times seem to match with mine (First light am and Lunch time). Over the course of the day I observed the comings and goings of Wood Pigeon, Starling, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Robin, Collard Dove, Wren, my first Blackcap and Chaffinch.
I also experimented with mounting a camera in a tree watching one of the suet balls and managed to get some lovely footage of 2 Blue Tits and a Great Tit feeding. Will post the link when the video is uploaded on YouTube.
Thanks again for the advice guys! I look forward to having some dummy runs the coming weekend and seeing what else may turn up!
Regards,
Paddy.
Hi Paddy,
I got 3 bird seed feeders, each had 2 perches on it.For a few days it was untouched. .After 2-3 days i started to see goldfinches on them, then i saw blue tits!
The only advice i can give you is to be paitent.
My garden birds often like sunflower hearts fillled in my seed feeder.
Best Wishes,
Superior Eagle
' Nature is beautiful, why should we destroy it?,We share our world with such beautiful animals, we should treat them as we would like to be treated.'
hi ,we live in north of the city in glasgow and are surrouned by houses. however the garden is fairly large with bushes and small trees at the edges. i have many different feeders around the garden filled with sunflower hearts (by far the best) nyger seeds , nuts , table mix and fat balls. i also put out bird cakes and some seed on the ground.
i can not count the birds on my own! just now there must have been over 30 goldfinches and a dozen greenfinches in the bushes and on the feeders. add in all the other garden birds and it will take me and the 2 kids to count them and even then we will miss lots! . we get these results every day and have done for many many months now.
just keep the feeders near or in among the branches of trees as they all like to hop in and out of the bushes.
From what I've read sunflower hearts seem universally popular in feeders. Certainly work for me. Both my sunflower feeders are high up in trees. The most successful one is about 25 feet up in a birch tree and very popular with finches.
Other than that for the siting of it birds need to feel safe from predators (sparrowhawks, cats etc) and generally like to perch nearby the feeder before a short jaunt on to it.
Paddsta said: "I placed suet balls in various locations on both trees."
I hope I'm wrong, but this sounds to me like you're hanging up individual suet balls in nets, which is a really bad idea. They should be placed in proper metal feeders and can also be placed on the ground or tables. You should never use nets in the garden, especially where birds might come into contact with them. Just avoid suet balls or peanuts that come in nets - reputable suppliers only sell them without.Nets can trap birds by the feet or bill and cause injury or death.
As regards time of day, at this time of year early morning is usually the busiest time. Remember, if you start feeding birds you must continue to do so because birds might have to use a lot of energy flying far from their roost or nest to your garden, and if you suddenly stop putting out food they will be wasting energy. It may take many weeks for them to add your garden to their list of food stops, so be patient.
Good luck :)