Our Feeding Stations :):)

That was brilliant WS I loved the little one at the end looking right at you, mind you his little face was a little like, Who said you could film me

I reckon you are the best bird restaurant in town

littlewid-x-

Dont know about the best LW, it's certainly the most expensive to run We've had some more new babys. All winter we have only seen three Starlings, there must have been four. The photo I put on was of one fledgeling Starling we had seen for a couple of days then all of a sudden on Friday evening fourteen came down in one go just after I'd filled the feeders up . Wilma, and Fred the Woodpeckers have had some Bam Bams we saw one this morning for the first time





One of the Nutters, the baby Nuthatches was on as well. Not sure if its the one that landed on my arm, but it was to busy having breakfast to smile for the Camera




WS

Brilliant that Wilma and Fred have had some Bam Bams WS and a gorgous picture. Loving the little Nuthatch, so made me laugh that he was just getting on with the job of feeding......some lovely back shots.....he's obviously a feeder and not a poser......must also be a male.......his belly comes first

littlewid-x-

Thats not funny LW Mine does as well, then the rest of me follows a few minutes after
WS

As long as you don't need extensions on your knife and Fork WS to get the food from the table to your mouth.......thats when you need to worry .......sorry i'm really giggling here......not sure if your talking about sitting at the table or hanging off a bird feeder

littlewid-x-

Not funny again I dont hang off the Bird Feeder, and I only sit near the Table Well as near as possible
WS

Sorry WS.......just ing.......
littlewid-x-

you two were on sparkling form last night love the pics WS and wonderful news that Fred and Wilma have some Bam Bams and fantastic to see the baby Nuthatch - don't you just love this time of year?

All our little Coal Tits who must have just fledged were in the apple tree and the feeders on Saturday, they are so tiny compared to the Great tits and make such a sweet sound. One of them only just flew away before I started to fill up the feeder. We've not seen the Nuthatch for ages WS so it's great to know yours are doing well.

Any one seen a Bullfinch this year? Last year we had a male and a female who regularly visited the feeders but this year we've not seen them which is sad.

Lai

I havent seen a Bullfinch either Lai,did SM have one on her thread of her feeder????

It's great that your coal tits are still around and they are obviously not scared if they are staying about until you fill up the feeder. Mind you as I have said before, the birds do seem to be getting less frightened of people, they all seem to keep going about their business rather than flying off when a little noise is made and again today, so many birds just wandering in the road and not at all bothered by the cars. I love watching them going about their daily business but they do stop my heart.......plus my car many times today on the way to work.

littlewid-x-

No we have'nt seen a Bullfinch, mind you we have'nt seen one since we've been here. The only ones we seem to have lost since winter are the Longtail Tits. We had seven coming to the feeders all winter long, but they vanished in early spring. Which is a bit sad as we were really looking forward to seeing little ones. Another pic of a nutter. According to LW's theory of the tummy, this one must be female, as she's in the proper Nuthatch position for feeding



WS

Same here with the Long Tailed Tits WS - they were all over the feeders earlier in the year and now have gone back to the woods, which is a shame as I really enjoyed seeing them.

Great to see your Nuthatch - mostly we've now got Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Coal tit, Blue tit, Great tit and Great Spotted Woodpecker but probably when I'm not here everyone else calls in. Oh not to mention the Sparrowhawk who is not really welcome at this time of year!

Lai

I've decided to cut down on the feed I'm putting in the feeders. We've been filling them up twice a day, Morning, and Tea Time. I'm just going to fill up at Tea Time. I'm worried that the new fledglings will become dependat on the food, and not learn where to find their natural food if the parents are just comint to the feeders all day long. So I'm just filling up at Tea Time them they have food for night before they roost, and first thing in the morning to give them a start to the day. At least untill later in the year.
WS

I do the same too WS - we were getting through so much food but since I've replaced all the feeders except the niger one with squirrel proof feeders the big birds can't get at the food and that certainly helps. It was getting ridiculous how much food was being eaten I am sure you are right once a day is plenty in the summer.

Lai

My mum sent me these as she was struggling to see how that got there!!!



I told mum to remove it and put a new one up as I think there are some sort of parasites that can get into the gut of birds and do harm.

SM

Ooooo those slugs and snails get everywhere and they are dangerous to dogs so I am sure they will not be good for birds either SM, so hopefully your mum followed your advice and removed the fat ball. I must say though, I have never seen a slug hanging off a feeding station fatball before.
littlewid-x-

Slugs can really get anywhere. Although some Birds do eat them, I dont think them being on the Fatballs is good. As the Fatball is in a net that proberbly helps the Slugs to crawl over it. A small Fatball feeder would be better, and no net is safer for the little Birds as well.

WS

Found this using Easy search Re Slugs
Birds are the most important of the larger predators. The long list of species known to eat slugs includes blackbirds and thrushes, robins, starlings, rooks and crows, jays, ducks, seagulls and even owls! Song thrushes are well known for snail eating. If you find a stone or paving slab with a scattering of broken snail shells around it, you know that either a song thrush or a redwing has been at work. The stone is used as an anvil to break the shell. These birds frequently eat slugs in even greater quantity, but there are no tell-tale remains to prove it.

Encouraging predators
Encouraging predators is an enormous subject and involves adopting many of the techniques advocated for creating a wildlife garden. You do not, however, have to go the whole hog, but can select elements that fit in with your personal gardening philosophy and encourage the best slug predators at the same time.

For example, if you use pesticides, such as slug pellets, you can minimise the dangers to insects and birds by avoiding insecticidal chemicals such as methiocarb, protecting the treated site with netting, and clearing always the poisons afterwards, as suggested earlier. Controlled refuges will then provide sites in which beetles can exits in the tidiest of beds.

WS

A few shots of our feeder this morning
A young Nuthatch

A young Great Tit

Our Friends the Sparrows

and finaly Bam Bam the juvanile Woodpecker


Ooooops Taken up a lot of room there
WS

Great photos WS - I particularly love seeing your Sparrows and it's inspired me to get my camera out this weekend as we've got so many young birds around at the moment.

Bam Bam is so handsome - it must be a good year for Woodpeckers, we seem to have several which is lovely to see.

Lai

BEAUTIFUL pics WS. Bam Bam is just so adorable, you can see he is a youngster, he has a real chick like face. Looking at your pics I can't wait for my holiday when I can sit out and watch the birds at the feeder.......and practice more with my camera.....all these pics are so inspiring.

littlewid-x-

BAM BAM is wonderful and you can see the red underneath has not completely developed yet. Keep you camera handy WS!

SM

my feeder has gotten a bit quiet as late because of the abundance of natural food around. I still get a visit from Rodney the Robin and some lovely collared doves