| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? 12:12 - May 31 with 87606 views | Trundle10 |
Got a lot of different species here at the moment. Nuthatch, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robins, bullfinch, Gold finch.
What visitors do you get on yours? |  | | |  |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 18:35 - Jun 9 with 1351 views | perplex |
Been thoroughly entertained and still am by a family of Starlings, from the parents feeding the chicks which seem to be much bigger lol to the chicks now being able to feed themselves and squabbling over the food, the noises they make is a bonus as well. |  | | |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 19:50 - Jun 9 with 1324 views | airedale |
Been like the January sales here this afternoon. My fault I think, being mealworm rich I used far more mixed in with the sunflower hearts than normal.
Sparrows went ballistic, at one stage I thought they were binging on cocaine. They emptied a full feeder in about 4 hours. They had help from the starlings mind. |  | | |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 21:35 - Jun 9 with 1308 views | majorraglan |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 07:43 - Jun 9 by karnataka |
Are you 100% sure about the lesser spotted woodpeckers, major? They are quite rare in UK now and have a red conservation status. Greater spotted very common everywhere though. |
Was positive they were the lesser spotted as I checked the pictures out on line, but having dome some more digging I am not so sure. They had the plumage of the lesser, but reading up the lesser seem to be very small and these were about 5inches long, so could be the greater. Beautiful birds, I will try and get a picture. | | | |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 21:52 - Jun 9 with 1300 views | Flashberryjack |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 19:50 - Jun 9 by airedale |
Been like the January sales here this afternoon. My fault I think, being mealworm rich I used far more mixed in with the sunflower hearts than normal.
Sparrows went ballistic, at one stage I thought they were binging on cocaine. They emptied a full feeder in about 4 hours. They had help from the starlings mind. |
Haven't seen a Starling around here since 4 visited last year, when I was growing up there were thousands about, wonder why their numbers have fallen dramatically. |  |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 22:30 - Jun 9 with 1285 views | karnataka |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 21:35 - Jun 9 by majorraglan |
Was positive they were the lesser spotted as I checked the pictures out on line, but having dome some more digging I am not so sure. They had the plumage of the lesser, but reading up the lesser seem to be very small and these were about 5inches long, so could be the greater. Beautiful birds, I will try and get a picture. |
Wel 5-6 inches would be about right for a lesser so a lucky find if it was. I haven't seen one in this country for a few decades but a 2 or 3 in Spain a couple of years ago. Yes, a picture would be great.  |  | | |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 20:21 - Jun 14 with 1215 views | Swanjaxs |
*update*
So had the rat catcher up on Tuesday.
Lovely bloke in his 50's from Port Talbot.
He told me he's been in pest control all his life.
He said since lockdown his firm has been working 24/7 and is struggling to keep up.
Restaurants and takeaways closing have left the rats starving and they are taking scruffy gardens over.
They were seeing my bird table as an all you can eat buffet.
So poison and traps down and no more bird feeding until next door sorts it's garden out.
Haven't seen the furry buggers for 3 days now so fingers crossed ðŸ‘🻠|  |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 20:47 - Jun 14 with 1191 views | Flashberryjack |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 20:21 - Jun 14 by Swanjaxs |
*update*
So had the rat catcher up on Tuesday.
Lovely bloke in his 50's from Port Talbot.
He told me he's been in pest control all his life.
He said since lockdown his firm has been working 24/7 and is struggling to keep up.
Restaurants and takeaways closing have left the rats starving and they are taking scruffy gardens over.
They were seeing my bird table as an all you can eat buffet.
So poison and traps down and no more bird feeding until next door sorts it's garden out.
Haven't seen the furry buggers for 3 days now so fingers crossed ðŸ‘🻠|
Called up to see my daughter this afternoon (in the garden) her husband has been feeding 2 Red Kites for a few months, he put a chicken thigh on the roof of his garden shed and within 4 or 5 minutes the kite was down and away with it.
He put another piece of chicken out, and again another Kite turned up, but this time he just perched in the tree, my son in law said that he won't come down for it as he prefers to wait until a seagull picks up the chicken, then he swoops down on the gull and robs him of his dinner.
This is exactly what happened, gull came down flew off with the chicken, then like a flash the kite was out of the tree at the gull, and took the chicken off him and was gone, amazing to watch. | |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 21:49 - Jun 14 with 1159 views | karnataka |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 20:47 - Jun 14 by Flashberryjack |
Called up to see my daughter this afternoon (in the garden) her husband has been feeding 2 Red Kites for a few months, he put a chicken thigh on the roof of his garden shed and within 4 or 5 minutes the kite was down and away with it.
He put another piece of chicken out, and again another Kite turned up, but this time he just perched in the tree, my son in law said that he won't come down for it as he prefers to wait until a seagull picks up the chicken, then he swoops down on the gull and robs him of his dinner.
This is exactly what happened, gull came down flew off with the chicken, then like a flash the kite was out of the tree at the gull, and took the chicken off him and was gone, amazing to watch. |
Sounds great. Wish there were Red Kites in my daughter's garden but there aren't many/any in Bridgwater as far as I know! Fantastic birds to watch. | | | |
Login to get fewer ads
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 09:16 - Jun 15 with 1116 views | BrynCartwright |
Saw my first swallow flying around the Bont on Saturday.
There are so few swallows, swifts and house-martins around these days. Sad times mun!
I've got the council rat-man coming out as well a week Thursday, as I've seen one several times now in broad daylight eating scraps by the feeder. Rat visits are free of charge fair play! |  |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 12:12 - Jun 15 with 1088 views | karnataka |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 09:16 - Jun 15 by BrynCartwright |
Saw my first swallow flying around the Bont on Saturday.
There are so few swallows, swifts and house-martins around these days. Sad times mun!
I've got the council rat-man coming out as well a week Thursday, as I've seen one several times now in broad daylight eating scraps by the feeder. Rat visits are free of charge fair play! |
I wonder if it's a local thing Bryn, as we've got loads of swallows, martins & swifts around here as we usually do. Saw first 2 swallows on 20th April this year. I wouldn't normally know that but I happened to mention it on our family whatsapp group to let them all know that summer had started.
Not a big fan of poisoning rats and mice tbh as owls can catch them before they die and once they've eaten them, the owls then die too which is precisely the sort of collateral damage you wouldn't want if your aim is to protect your bird feeders from the rats for the benefit of birds. | | | |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 12:26 - Jun 15 with 1079 views | Swanjaxs |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 09:16 - Jun 15 by BrynCartwright |
Saw my first swallow flying around the Bont on Saturday.
There are so few swallows, swifts and house-martins around these days. Sad times mun!
I've got the council rat-man coming out as well a week Thursday, as I've seen one several times now in broad daylight eating scraps by the feeder. Rat visits are free of charge fair play! |
2 dead rats today.
The rat catcher said that if they are out during the day you have a problem.
He also said since lockdown he's never had so much work. | |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 12:48 - Jun 15 with 1056 views | Darran |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 12:26 - Jun 15 by Swanjaxs |
2 dead rats today.
The rat catcher said that if they are out during the day you have a problem.
He also said since lockdown he's never had so much work. |
Rose Finch over Jersey Marine yesterday.
|  |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 12:51 - Jun 15 with 1051 views | Swanjaxs |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 12:48 - Jun 15 by Darran |
Rose Finch over Jersey Marine yesterday.
|
Wow! What a handsome little bugger 😠| |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 13:05 - Jun 15 with 1033 views | BrynCartwright |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 12:12 - Jun 15 by karnataka |
I wonder if it's a local thing Bryn, as we've got loads of swallows, martins & swifts around here as we usually do. Saw first 2 swallows on 20th April this year. I wouldn't normally know that but I happened to mention it on our family whatsapp group to let them all know that summer had started.
Not a big fan of poisoning rats and mice tbh as owls can catch them before they die and once they've eaten them, the owls then die too which is precisely the sort of collateral damage you wouldn't want if your aim is to protect your bird feeders from the rats for the benefit of birds. |
Yep, that's not great!
Think I may have to get myself an air rifle then. Haven't shot one since I was a kid. Does anyone know what sort of ammunition I'd need to despatch a rat so that it suffers the absolute minimum?
I remember the pellets I shot when I was a kid were terribly lightweight little things. | |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 14:07 - Jun 15 with 1015 views | airedale |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 13:05 - Jun 15 by BrynCartwright |
Yep, that's not great!
Think I may have to get myself an air rifle then. Haven't shot one since I was a kid. Does anyone know what sort of ammunition I'd need to despatch a rat so that it suffers the absolute minimum?
I remember the pellets I shot when I was a kid were terribly lightweight little things. |
Sounds like that was a .177 Bryn and you could consider the next up which is .22.
IMO though it could be academic because rats are haemophiliacs, and someone told me that if you booted one it would die.
When I started feeding the birds I put the feeder in the best possible place to attract and keep safe the rats. It was like Rat City.
Now I have a rig (Wyevale bought) in the open on flagstones. Rats no likey being in the open. At close of business each day I sweep up the seeds that have ended up on the floor, and then I put these in the food waste recycling box. No seeds = no rats. [Post edited 15 Jun 2020 16:37]
| | | |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 18:56 - Jun 15 with 971 views | majorraglan |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 09:16 - Jun 15 by BrynCartwright |
Saw my first swallow flying around the Bont on Saturday.
There are so few swallows, swifts and house-martins around these days. Sad times mun!
I've got the council rat-man coming out as well a week Thursday, as I've seen one several times now in broad daylight eating scraps by the feeder. Rat visits are free of charge fair play! |
I have got 5 nests up in the eaves of the house. The birds don’t bother me, but the Mrs goes nuts on account of the mess they make, our front path is covered in poo and the tweeting/singing wakes her up in the morning. | | | |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 21:38 - Jun 15 with 941 views | Flashberryjack |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 14:07 - Jun 15 by airedale |
Sounds like that was a .177 Bryn and you could consider the next up which is .22.
IMO though it could be academic because rats are haemophiliacs, and someone told me that if you booted one it would die.
When I started feeding the birds I put the feeder in the best possible place to attract and keep safe the rats. It was like Rat City.
Now I have a rig (Wyevale bought) in the open on flagstones. Rats no likey being in the open. At close of business each day I sweep up the seeds that have ended up on the floor, and then I put these in the food waste recycling box. No seeds = no rats. [Post edited 15 Jun 2020 16:37]
|
That's fair enough, but around me people are chucking bread out for the birds, a sure way to draw rats. | |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 00:48 - Jun 16 with 921 views | airedale |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 21:38 - Jun 15 by Flashberryjack |
That's fair enough, but around me people are chucking bread out for the birds, a sure way to draw rats. |
‘Campaign For Real Bread’ done by a newspaper in the late 1970s or early 1980s, stated that the only reason why we eat bread in a first world country is for the dietary fibre. The best quality wholemeal bread is 10% fibre content. Why the fook is it legal for the stupids to feed wild birds with their pointless white crap. | | | |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 10:11 - Jun 16 with 878 views | 34dfgdf54 |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 21:38 - Jun 15 by Flashberryjack |
That's fair enough, but around me people are chucking bread out for the birds, a sure way to draw rats. |
Excactly what my Mrs was doing in our garden. We get plenty of squirrels, birds etc which is lovely but couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the size of the rat that was cleaning up the bread! Went bizzurk on her.
I'm similar to Doc, I'm soft as sh*t with animals, I don't want to poison anything. We have taken away the food source and touch wood we haven't seen it since. I would like to get bird feeders again though if possible. |  | | |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 10:25 - Jun 16 with 865 views | NotLoyal |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 10:11 - Jun 16 by 34dfgdf54 |
Excactly what my Mrs was doing in our garden. We get plenty of squirrels, birds etc which is lovely but couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the size of the rat that was cleaning up the bread! Went bizzurk on her.
I'm similar to Doc, I'm soft as sh*t with animals, I don't want to poison anything. We have taken away the food source and touch wood we haven't seen it since. I would like to get bird feeders again though if possible. |
Surprised living where you do the local populous weren’t nicking the bread. |  |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 10:26 - Jun 16 with 858 views | 34dfgdf54 |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 10:25 - Jun 16 by NotLoyal |
Surprised living where you do the local populous weren’t nicking the bread. |
We're classy folk in Risca. Just down the road in Newport things change dramatically. | | | |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 10:38 - Jun 16 with 853 views | Dr_Winston |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 10:11 - Jun 16 by 34dfgdf54 |
Excactly what my Mrs was doing in our garden. We get plenty of squirrels, birds etc which is lovely but couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the size of the rat that was cleaning up the bread! Went bizzurk on her.
I'm similar to Doc, I'm soft as sh*t with animals, I don't want to poison anything. We have taken away the food source and touch wood we haven't seen it since. I would like to get bird feeders again though if possible. |
Don't get me wrong, if I need to I'll do the dirty deed (had a rat in my kitchen UB40 style once and poisoned it), but I don't see much point in killing something minding it's own business in the garden and doing me a favour by tidying up spilled bird seed. |  |
| Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or f*cking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back. |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 10:56 - Jun 16 with 844 views | Catullus |
We've had plenty of swifta around here and a Red Kite hanging around too. We haven't put food out for te birds because we're doing a lot of work in the garden but we plan on an array of bird tables and a raised water feature so they have water too.
Not seen any rats but we have several cats that like to lurk in our garden. | |
| |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 12:49 - Jun 16 with 827 views | karnataka |
| Does Anyone Here Feed Birds in the Garden? on 10:56 - Jun 16 by Catullus |
We've had plenty of swifta around here and a Red Kite hanging around too. We haven't put food out for te birds because we're doing a lot of work in the garden but we plan on an array of bird tables and a raised water feature so they have water too.
Not seen any rats but we have several cats that like to lurk in our garden. |
We have our own cat but she'd probably run a mile if confronted by a rat, but the farm nearest to us has a couple of domestic cats and 2 or 3 ferals which live in the barns and are there specifically to keep the rats down. They all venture into our garden from time to time but here's another reason why rats probably steer clear of our feeders and feeder debris is regularly cleared away, taken about 10pm last Saturday:
 | | | |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
