Hi all, I am been reading the forum this morning and decided you seemed the best people to ask.
A couple of years ago we moved to the country and I could not have been happier with all the birds that visited my feeders. The feeders (of varying sorts) were all arranged around our very large apple tree and the birds found this very useful because they could fly to the tree first and then when safe could quickly fly to the feeders to get food and then they would be off to scoff it.
Unfortunately this summer the apple tree had to come down, it was infested with canker and was a danger and since then the birds have vanished. I orginally put the feeds back where the tree was but nothing visited. I thought they would just take time to adjust but after five or six months not a single nut has been touched. During moulting time I moved the feeders again to the other side of the garden, next to a hedge. This I thought was the answer because they would have the shelter of the hedge and could do as before but still nothing.
I have always put a good selection of food out, peanuts, fat balls, woodland/country mix, raisins etc etc. However this is getting expensive putting food out for non existent birds and then throwing it away when it goes off.
Shortly after the tree came down we got a puppy but I am really not convinced that this is the problem. I have cats but they have never been a problem in all my years of bird feeding.
Please help, what am I doing wrong, how on earth can I get the birds back? I felt really guilty when the tree came down but the lack of birds is making me feel even more guilty.
I did wonder if the yearly moult was going on longer than usual but I remember this time last year, we had birds everywhere because they were competing with the Pheasants who visited.
All ideas/suggestion welcome...........T
Without seeing the area and knowing your garden its difficult.
If you have local house sparrows they usually lead the way. most finches are quite nervous and prefer high and open perches to assess the dangers! tightly cut hedges can have hidden dangers and most birds are wary of them except Robin and Dunnock who seem quite brave! If you have loose bushes preferably with height hang feeders close to them. They will need time to get used to the dog and cats but once you find the right spot they will come!
especially when it gets very cold, this has been quite a warm Autumn so far. That won't help.
Good luck and welcome to the forum.
John
For viewing or photography right place right time is everything. I'd rather be in the right place with poor kit than have the best kit and be in the wrong place.
Welcome to the forum TSKS!
I agree with John! Once it turns colder, they'll soon came looking for a regular supply of food & water! Have you planted another tree in the old ones place? Or have you tried placing a feeding station in that location?
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
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Hi TSKS and welcome from me also. I do agree with John and MarJus that the autumn has been particularly mild and that a boisterous puppy might have been a bit of a deterrent. I am not sure about planting a tree in the same place as the previous, as the diseased tree may have contaminated the ground but have you tried putting a bird table (with roof) there. If they are used to feeling safe due to close cover, they may be happier about coming to that than hanging feeders.
Do you have any buddleias in your garden? My assorted blue, great and long-tailed tits, dunnocks, blackbirds and chaffinches are spending a lot of time in mine of late. I haven't yet worked out whether they are eating the seeds or insects which are on the spent flowers but if you have such a bush, sighting a feeder near that might help.
The necessity of bird-watching is a really good reason for avoiding all forms of housework.
The dust will still be there tomorrow - the birds may not be!
Squirrel B said: I am not sure about planting a tree in the same place as the previous, as the diseased tree may have contaminated the ground
I am not sure about planting a tree in the same place as the previous, as the diseased tree may have contaminated the ground
You are absolutely right Squirrel to point that out! I didn't mean literally in the same place but in that area... oops! :-)
It has been a funny old autumn this year. Birds did their annual disappearance trick earlier on, after which we started to get numbers building up on the feeders outside our office window - then they disappeared again!!! The same thing has happened with the blackbirds in my garden.
I suspect that the unseasonally mild weather and the ripening of another wave of natural foods has caused this, and even if the feeders look abandoned at the moment, I am sure they will be fully appreciated within a month or so.