I'm finally putting up some pictures of our garden of bird feeders! We can only use the front garden, as the dogs get the back, not the biggest, but the birds don't seem to mind!
Do excuse our fence, but it's only to keep the cats out! And it's doing a brilliant job, no cats since that awful event with the Wood Pigeon!
All our feeders.
First pole feeder (New one) Containing: Peanuts in mesh feeder, Sunflower hearts in plastic feeder, Nyjer seeds in the other plastic feeder, Suet cake (Insect and berry flavour, yummy!) Water, and Raisins and sultanas along with other berries, soaked in warm water.
Second pole feeder contains: Blue tit mix in terracotta feeder, Sunflower seeds in green feeder (No mess mix) And Half a coconut. In the trays below are Mealworms soaked in warm water, and another bowl of water.
On the bird table is Table Mix.
(Next door neighbours bird feeder in the distance too!)
And last but not least our ground mix, most of the time just for the Robin that visits, but lately also for the Dunnock we've seen!
And that's all our feeders, I've seen most of yours and thought it was time you saw ours!
We've only recently started getting our birds back, we don't know why they left, but we get: Starlings, Blackbirds, House Sparrows, a Robin, a Dunnock, Blue tits, Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons. We did used to get a Jay and Pied Wagtails, we hope they'll return soon!
Hopefully I haven't bored you all with our garden.
Becca.
Well, your birds are certainly really well fed, how lovely. You certainly cater for all different types!
I am also interested in the fence to deter cats. What size and type of poles and wire did you use? I hope you don't mind me asking but as it is successfully keeping the cats out, it may be something I can put up in my garden.
Thank you.
J.E.F.
Kind regards Jane.
Thanks for the lovely tour of your garden. It is always great to see the slight differences offered. Hopefully your Jay and wagtails will return soon.
Regards
Sarah
I've learned that I still have a lot to learn...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramble67/
Thank you :)
Jef, that's fine to ask, we just went to B&Q and picked up some wire fencing and some fencing stakes, we purposely kept it flimsy so the cats can't get over it (And also we just unfold it to get in to the garden!), and it's worked perfectly, they used to sit under the big conifer tree too but we put some chicken wire round it and they haven't returned.
I'll give you the links to the things that we used.
Fence:
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9426502&fh_view_size=10&fh_start_index=10&fh_eds=%3f&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3C{9372012}%2fcategories%3C{9372019}%2fcategories%3C{9372069}%2fcategories%3C{9572015}%2fspecificationsProductType%3dwire_fencing&fh_refview=lister&ts=1272908203371&isSearch=false
Poles:
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9426500&fh_view_size=10&fh_start_index=0&fh_eds=%3f&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3C{9372012}%2fcategories%3C{9372019}%2fcategories%3C{9372069}%2fcategories%3C{9572015}%2fspecificationsProductType%3dwire_fencing&fh_refview=lister&ts=1272908501247&isSearch=false
Anymore questions, feel free to ask!
Hello Becca
How kind of you, thanks very much, that is really useful.
We have two cats (sorry!) but their time outside is strictly controlled to an hour or so every evening and they wear bells, loud ones! They are both rescue cats and being female, do not wander into anyone else's garden. Luckily, we only have one neighbour and we have a big garden so they stay in it. However, I am thinking of fencing off a smallish area, just for them, so the rest of the garden is completely safe for wildlife. They don't catch birds, they are not allowed out until the birds have gone to bed, but recently one of them brought in a shrew and I don't want them catching anything. I am also concerned that they may wander further afield if they hear any nesting birds or baby birds in the hedgerows etc as I can't watch them every minute. Fencing off their own area should solve the problem.
Anyway, thanks very much again, I really appreciate your help.
Hi Becca,
You certainly have a great variety of food stuffs on offer, and well done for deterring the local cat population. Thanks for the tour of your garden.
I have 2 large boxer dogs, one of which is young and very naughty. They have the run of the back garden and the back patio doors are open all day, weather permitting. The birds don't bother about them at all. It only took a day or three for them to get used to them, and now the birds just carry on feeding, playing and generally using the garden despite the dogs being there. In fact one day 2 blackbirds were chasing each other across the garden and one of them landed on the back of my sleeping dog. The dogs look at the birds and occasionally chase a low flying blackbird, but otherwise ignore them. The young dog used to steal the food. Seed, mealworms, suet, you name it, but has now decided she prefers biscuits to being sick on the kitchen floor!!!!!!!
I bought an extra tall feeding station pole so the hangers are just about out of her reach, my bird table is also a very tall one, and I don't put any tempting food on the ground. I do put a lot of mealworms on the ground, but the dogs don't like these. I scatter raisins on the front lawn and have my ground feeder on the front lawn, but otherwise all my bird food is at the back. It took a while to reach this state, but now all is well. Dogs and birds sharing the same garden. Bliss!!
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
Hi Jef,
No need to apologise for having cats. I love them, and many of the members of the forum have them. You are obviously a responsible cat owner and are doing what you can to prevent problems. Enjoy them!
Hello Sparrow
Thank you, you are kind. I feel guilty sometimes but do my best to protect the wildlife. I do enjoy my cats, they both had quite sad early years but have really settled down well now.
I envy you your dogs. I would love a dog (or two) but I would feel guilty as we are both out all day. Years ago I had a Labrador, she was lovely and I still miss her.
I have posted a query about photographing badgers on the "Advice about gear" board so fingers crossed.
It's nice to see someone who actually cares about wildlife, even with cats! I wish our next door neighbour would be the same!
I have a Labrador, a black one called Jake, he's 13 months old, so still very boisterous! But hasn't got a bad bone in his body, won't even chase cats, he prefers to lick everything in sight!
I'd like to know how you'll be photographing the badgers, I'd love to see one up close, they're very cute! We get a fox in the garden at night which eats our ground food, and decides to poo everywhere! And yes, it jumps our fence!
Good news that the Birds are back visiting your garden.You seem to have them well catered for with all your nice feeders.Glad to read the wire fence Is doing a good job too.
Littleowl