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Peanuts don't seem to go down...

Paul
17/01/2021 10:52

Hi all,

We moved to a house back in September after thirteen years in a flat overlooking a harbour - yes, effectively our back garden was water and all we saw were loads of cormorants and razorbills and guillemots, along with an assortment of gulls.

So, in October we bought a feeding station and put Peanuts, Sunflower hearts, and Suet balls up. Within a week they had been found and ever since are frequented by Starlings and Goldfinches mainly. We get the odd blue tits and house sparrows too, but other than starlings occasionally, nothing touches the peanuts!

We used to have trays on the feeders but had to remove them due to Pigeons taking all the Sunflower hearts. What can we do to encourage more peanuts to be used? Or, should we replace the peanuts entirely with an alternative feeder?

We'd like more variety and frequency of birds visiting, but due to renting and our restrictions in what we can do in the garden, we don't have much scope for planting shrubs and trees etc. to attract more.

Ideas on the peanuts in particular would be greatly appreciated as we end up throwing most of it away as it gets wet and mouldy.

Thanks!

Paul

  • 0 08/02/2021 19:29

    Have a look here Paul. Will have a look and see if there are any more links I can find for you. Have found 3 sites, lots of lovely choices there I think.

    I would have said the Rowan and Silver Birch were not the best to put in planters, they will grow tall and need to spread.

    www.gardenersworld.com/.../

    www.dummies.com/.../

    https://www.thompson-morgan.com/flowers-plants-shrubs/plants/shrubs/shrubs-suitable-for-containers

    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

  • 0 08/02/2021 22:07
    I'm actually quite new to feeding birds (have put out occasional scraps for ages, in a hanging birdhouse rigged to favour wee birds, but mostly accepted by larger birds i.e. magpies, cooshie doos [woodpigeon], jackdaws and last year, carrion crows). I'm learning as I go.

    So this year, for the Big Garden Birdwatch, I ordered a bunch of feeders and food. Turned out with Covid, & ordering delays it was too late, though we did attract a few long-tailed floofies.

    Yet, a week later, we have flocks of 40+ goldfinches, plus chaffinch and greenfinch hangers on. Fascinting to observe the ecosystem surrounding them. Starlings too have discovered that we have fatballs. (On a cycle ride a few weeks back, I happened upon a murmuration in Craigmillar Castle Park.)

    I too am a bit worried that the tits are being crowded out. They are still here in the numbers they were, still feed on the nuts. Just a bit eclipsed. I'm looking at ways I can provide a tit-friendly feeding site in the garden. I note the BGBW live sites that attracted most tits (by far) offered whole nuts for nut-hoarding tit species. Maybe we should (safely) consider the same?
  • 0 08/02/2021 22:34
    I'm actually quite new to feeding birds (have put out occasional scraps for ages, in a hanging birdhouse rigged to favour wee birds, but mostly accepted by larger birds i.e. magpies, cooshie doos [woodpigeon], jackdaws and last year, carrion crows). I'm learning as I go.

    So this year, for the Big Garden Birdwatch, I ordered a bunch of feeders and food. Turned out with Covid, & ordering delays it was too late, though we did attract a few long-tailed floofies.

    Yet, a week later, we have flocks of 40+ goldfinches, plus chaffinch and greenfinch hangers on. Fascinting to observe the ecosystem surrounding them. Starlings too have discovered that we have fatballs. (On a cycle ride a few weeks back, I happened upon a murmuration in Craigmillar Castle Park.)

    I too am a bit worried that the tits are being crowded out. They are still here in the numbers they were, still feed on the nuts. Just a bit eclipsed. I'm looking at ways I can provide a tit-friendly feeding site in the garden. I note the BGBW live sites that attracted most tits (by far) offered whole nuts for nut-hoarding tit species. Maybe we should (safely) consider the same?
  • 0 13/02/2021 22:08
    I have a hanging feeder with whole peanuts that doesn't get consumed that quickly, but it does get used. The hungers with the sunflower hearts get emptied daily.
    I scatter peanuts with the other food on the ground and in the ground feeders and it is all eaten every day. I don't scatter whole peanuts though, I blitz them in the food processer first to break them up.
  • 0 16/02/2021 17:26
    Our peanuts are very slow going down, so slow in fact that we have to be careful they do not go mouldy. We tend to empty that feeder out into the tray feeder before that happens and they vanish quickly then. I suspect our Jackdaws are responsible for that. Even in very bad weather the feeders are seldom busy even though we have plenty of birds in the garden. Maybe neighbours food is more attractive or, more likely, there is plenty of natural food still around

    Pete

    Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can