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i also have problems attracting small birds ...i visit a place called www.naturalsurroundings.org.uk ....they have masses of lovely birds more than you can count! ...i was told try sunflower hearts ...also putting the feeders high in some cover would probably help ...i do hope you have more luck than me i also had a blank canvas garden and it takes forever for stuff to grow :(
i will add i have seen 12 blackbirds in my tiny patch ...collared doves wood pigeons starlings ..1 bluetit 1 robin and thats about it in 5years if any1 has any tried and tested methods please share
Hello Gray74 a 'belated' warm welcome from North Somerset also!
Just picked this thread up and has turned into an interesting read!
The advice given so far has been very good and varied but I couldn't help noticing that no one has suggested water yet!
When feeding birds I'm sure that you're already aware that you must put out water also but to really start attracting birds a small water feature would help. You say that it is a small garden but if you can squeeze in a small pond somewhere then this would be very beneficial. I have a large Koi pond in my garden not designed for wildlife and wanted to add a small wildlife pond so actually used an old reclaimed bath sunk into the ground! The only consideration is that it needs shallow areas for wildlife to enter and exit or bathe in so you might need to add rocks/bricks to create this or as I did use a pond liner allowing shallow areas to be added around the side of the sunken tub! This is a very cost effective way of creating a little wildlife pond in a confined space? If you can let it get a little overgrown round the edges to make wildlife feel a little less conspicuous then this will also add to it's attractiveness for wildlife. If you want to read a step by step guide about how I built the pond, it's on my blog (link below)
Here is a picture of my bath tub pond...
I've included this picture not because it's a good picture of the pond but it demonstrates the plant cover around it well.
As most have suggested good cover is essential for the birds and I think Doggie is absolutely right with the arch idea although I would grow something like Honeysuckle or Clematis (C. Montana if you want fast and big but with good flowers) over it myself.
Birds love to perch somewhere safe, which the arch will help with, but you can't beat trees so try an incorporate a couple of trees if you can? Even if you can only fit in small trees this will give you long term gain?
Where you put all this in your garden could be crucial also, you say that one neighbour feeds and attracts birds? I would plant my trees/climbers on the fence etc on this side and you might just find that as they grow and mix in with your neighbours planting/trees you create a natural stepping stone for them? Not sure what's the other side of all your fences but is there scope for some greenery on the other side of your fences to draw them in from elsewhere?
Perennials such as Verbena, Rudbeckia & some sunflowers will add summer colour and a good source of nectar for bees and other pollinators but so long as you don't cut them down before Spring, they will also provide winter food for finches and in particular Goldfinches. My perennial border has been visited by finches for the last two winters now as the picture below shows...
(Sorry rubbish picture!!)
So to conclude, my thoughts are: Water to drink, water to bathe in, good cover (don't be too tidy) height/arch/climbers/trees, Perennials for winter seed, don't be too tidy and create natural 'corridors/stepping stones from other areas or neighbouring gardens....
Hope that helps a little?
Best
Higgy
Hi Higgy think the last bit severe understatement I am sure it helps a lot.
LOL You know me don't know when to shut up!! Get a bit passionate about my wildlife gardening!!! :-)
Birds like somewhere safe to sit while they think about whether to risk coming into the open on a feeder - many of mine arrive and perch in a bush, take a good look around, and once they are sure they can't see any cats/hawks/whatever, then they will move to the more exposed area to feed. So - plant a nice quick-growing shrub or climber within easy distance of your feeders. If it has berries or attracts native insects, that will help too.
Hi, like you our garden was grass and concrete only when we moved in a year back, we were lucky in the fact we had a bit of a forest and open grassland directly behind our house.
When we first moved in and put up our garden feeder we only seemed to attract jackdaws, of which there was lots (15 or so at one point, and our garden isn't that big), so we bought some squirrel cages to stop the jackdaws wolfing all the food down and scaring off all the other birds.
www.petsathome.com/.../wild-bird-squirrel-blocking-cage-by-chapelwood-36715
This appeared to do the trick, and now we have a range of birds coming inc, bullfinches, chaffinches, sparrows, robins, tits, starlings, and even recently a female gs woodpecker, and still get jackdaws eating off the food we put on the ground. I think the variety of food we put out helps, inc, fruit on the floor, seeds, fat balls, nuts, we even tried pastry filled with the listed above, but it caused squabbles galore with the jackdaws and starlings so we took that down.
We had a bit of a worry when our neighbour decided to cut down his tree which tended to be the source of all the birds swooping in, but thankfully the majority of the birds seem still to be coming in. We did plant a cherry blossom tree in the corner of the garden to compensate, but its not mature enough for the birds to go in yet.
At the moment we are lacking any other wildlife though, so we have planted wisteria and clematis climbers, foxgloves, pyracantha, golden delicious apple tree, tobacco plants to go alongside the few plants that were already here. Not much joy with the other wildlife yet, but I guess the plants will take there time to establish.
We would love to get smaller mammals into our garden but unfortunately as we live half way up a mountain we have big retaining boundary walls which would stop most but the springyest mammals. Would love hedgehogs to come though.
Anyways, I guess when your gardens more established with cover for the birds, more will come to the feeder. Hopefully some if the things that helped us will help you.