A place to learn, share and inspire others to create a haven for you and for wildlife.
Sign In or Register to join the conversation
hi all, we are a family from kent and we like to try and help the birds here. the birds we get are mainly those little brown house sparrows and some pigeons. theres a dove couple that comes here too sometimes.
unfortunately our garden is a bit of a dump. we have no grass. a big ugly garage. and my dad owns next door of which he is renovating, resulting in rubbish and rubble left in the garden. in addition, the other neighbour's gardens are equally as bad - one looks like a landfill.
given these limitations, we have setup bird feeder points containing both seeds and balls, a garden bath we got from our neighbour befospare they sold their house to us, and we have put up two bird houses in the hope the birds will have a place to stay. the bird houses were bought from our local wilko shop.
we notice the birds tend to go to the feeder at the end, not the middle one. i think this is because the middle one is new, the other one we've had for awhile. we tried switching them over but the sparrows still go for this one. the seeds tend to go quickly - mind you, lots of it end up on the floor. the sparrows love the balls though.
we are surprised no birds has gone for the water though - either the bird bath stand or the plastic tray we left on the floor topped with water? what can we do about that?
finally, how can we attract the birds to the bird houses? they have been up for a few weeks now. the one you see on the left, the dark red one, was made by my dad. but he drilled something in front of the hole as my mum thinks the birds will like it. we like feedback and ideas too on this if possible.
unfortunately i dont think the bricks and rubbish you see arent going away anytime soon! we live in a grotty neighbourhood, but we do hear birds even at night, i guess because they're in the trees.
also, sometimes we have the neighbours cat come in our garden and we're concerned it might attack the birds? it certainly is pooping alot here!
we would be grateful for feedback in what can we do to improve the setup - houses, water, and food, for the birds.
thanks.
pics:
As the others have said, the birds require greenery, to give predator protection./
I'm guessing with the rubble in the garden there is some ongoing work, and if its possible to include some small trees or bushes, then that will help to draw the birds nearer.
As for the water, we have water in our garden, which has lots of trees and shrubs close by, but the occasions that the water is used is quite infrequent, so that may not be anything to worry about. However, when they do want water, they're there....
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler