Off Topic: bird feeders. Wot you got?

[TheBrownDog]

I've just been watching a group of blue tits competing with a few starlings for the suet block hanging from one of my apple trees. I never bothered with feeders until this year but working from home saw me paying way for attention to my garden than I ever had before. So a few squids down and I'm hooked on it. I've even bought me a wee book for back garden British bird twitchers.

Question: if it's ok to feed the cute ones with meal worms, suet and sunflower hearts, can I leave a few dead grey squirrels on the grass to get some of the red kits down here?

[redefined_cycles]

I havw a cheap poundshop jobby with mealworms inside. Really need to upgrade it though.

Bought cos we needed to try and get the birds from the nieghbours garden interested on our side of the fence. Starlings... zebra/grey finches etc

Good thread and I look forward to seeing what others have so I can make a substantial upgrade...

[RIP]

Sunflower hearts. All the tits and goldfinches go mental for them. Have had over 20 gf's on our feeders. Cost you a fortune though, we buy huge sacks of the things. Oh and you'll need some form of squirrel repellant (think you and me did some posts about the little blighters a while ago?).

[Rasta]

I did some research this year to try to get robins to eat from my hand. Though I didn't complete the task.

Maybe someone can confirm -

Mealworms are vegetarians.
Maggots are carnivores.

Cheap budget mealworms are maggots in disguise.

Badly raised maggots introduce nasty diseases to the birds. Covid style. Mad cow style.

[johnnystorm]

I get calciworms from Maltby stores online. Calciworms are fine for the birds and also OK for hedgehogs (whereas normal mealwaorms are a bad idea) make sure you work out the cost per kilo to find the sweet spot price wise. I've also ordered mixed bird seed from them to save a trip to the shops.

I usually get seed/peanuts/suet pellets from B&M.

As above shelled sunflower seeds disappear rapidly compared to other seed, but when I've run out the birds don't mind the other stuff, they just ignore it when sunflower seeds are about!

I have one of posts with hooks. With a suet block cage, peanut feeder, 2x seed feeders, a nyjer seed feeder and a peanut feeder with suet pellets in.

I scatter calciworms on the lawn for the wagtails and have a ground feeder with a bit of all the above in.

I used to put out all the above and not see the results but now I'm working from home its great to look out the window and see all the birds. The sparrowhawk is great but the blue tits don't seem keen!

[Bearbonesnorm]

Nuts and fat balls here Reg (who knew). The squirrels will have a go at one nut feeder but that's one with an outer sleeve that slides down if the manage to get onto it. Generally, there's so much for them to eat here that they're not too bothered.

Aye, kites will happily remove a few dead greys from your lawn

[Dave Barter]

We have my neighbour Ken who never finishes his dinner so leaves it in his garden for the seagulls. The cats normally get there first consequently I have to dissuade the little birds from coming anywhere near.

[thenorthwind]

I have one left by the previous owner of our house, which I've always tried to keep topped up, but have to admit I've been more keen this year since I can see it from my "office" window. I've really enjoyed seeing the variety of birds we've had on it - mainly sparrows, blue tits, great tits, robins, but we've had a few more exotic (for suburban Wallsend) visitors - a goldfinch, and some others I can't remember.

I got disproportionately excited when a woodpecker paid us a visit in the summer - nothing to do with the feeder since they won't use it, but still. Saw it once, and then it returned at the beginning of December, and haven't seen it again since.

I don't have a squirrel problem, but there are a lot of magpies, and pigeons (the houses behind ours mostly have solar panels, and there's one without pigeon netting along the edges and they all seem to congregate there). In the summer I bought two cheap hemispherical wire hanging baskets, and hung them so they enclose the feeder completely. The little birds can get in, but the pigeons don't stand a chance. Then they moved to loitering on the ground hoovering up all the seed the little birds drop, so I bought a stainless steel colander and put it underneath the feeder, inside the hanging baskets, to catch the spillage. This seems to have worked, and makes the seed last a bit longer - sometimes I'm refilling it every day.

I've got a big bucket of fat balls but need to get another feeder since they don't seem interested in the glass one I have.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Woodpeckers will use the nut feeders here Dave (both lesser and greater spotted). I always feel sorry for anyone else having a feed when one of them arrives with a thud

[thenorthwind]

Woodpeckers will use the nut feeders here Dave (both lesser and greater spotted). I always feel sorry for anyone else having a feed when one of them arrives with a thud

Ah interesting, I thought they only fed on the tree (insects presumably). Might have to get a feeder with some nuts in it to see if I can tempt it back.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Ah interesting, I thought they only fed on the tree (insects presumably). Might have to get a feeder with some nuts in it to see if I can tempt it back.

Yeah, just the standard round wire cage Dave.

[redefined_cycles]

Ah interesting, I thought they only fed on the tree (insects presumably). Might have to get a feeder with some nuts in it to see if I can tempt it back.

Yeah, just the standard round wire cage Dave.

So a round wire cage (the one I got from the pound shop, sorry, is rubbish) with fat balls inside will tempt more birds into my side of the garden...

[thenorthwind]

Ah interesting, I thought they only fed on the tree (insects presumably). Might have to get a feeder with some nuts in it to see if I can tempt it back.

Yeah, just the standard round wire cage Dave.

I know the sort you mean - current one is a plastic tube with a hole + perch, which is maybe not creeper-compatible. I can see how the mesh nut ones would be.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I can see how the mesh nut ones would be.

Yep, Nuthatches like them too. I keep trying to tempt the Tree Creepers on but they're having none of it.

[tobasco]

Standard feeders here - wire mesh type and plastic tube with holes and perches, also plastic tube with tiny holes for Niger seeds which ate tracts gold finches. Nuts in mesh feeder and seeds in tubes. We get greater spotted - loves the peanuts., but no lesser (envious of you for that Stu), we get Marsh tits which are rare, gaggles of long tail tits.

I have been in a ten year war with the grey squirrels, with me making ever more convoluted stands in attempts to keep them off the feeders.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Related - last year we had loads of Long Tailed tits but I don't recall seeing any this year. We usually get plenty of Siskin but again, only a few this year. We've never had Sparrows before but this year they've turned up. Can't explain it, just an observation.

[redefined_cycles]

So can anyone suggest some decent feeders so I don't need to put up with my cheap wire mesh thingy anymore. As soon as I pop the meal worms in there (which are gone the next day even though I add some mixed bird seeds) about a quart spills out...

Got a link (food as well as feeders) please...

[tobasco]

I heard something recently there is evidence some birds are altering their migration patterns in response to changing climate. No siskins here, but do get bull finches. When I was a nipper, gold finches were rare, they seem to be everywhere these days.

[tobasco]

Shaf, try the rspb on line shop for feeders.

[redefined_cycles]

Shaf, try the rspb on line shop for feeders.

Thanks... never actually thought of that. I have a mag here somewhere so will check out the ads. Missus thinks we need a tree in the backgarden in case the neighbour ever sells up and we get them 'concrete' neighbours... You know the ones (that pull out any greenery/trees and replace with fake grass and slabs)...

[smartay]

We've got a mix of feeders here, wire, plastic tube and fat ball feeders. I find that the mixed seed goes really quick with this ,three times emptied in two days. Peanuts seem slower this year. Stopped the fat balls due to crows and magpies.
Tend to buy from Wilko or Home Bargains

[TheBrownDog]

Good intel up there ^^^ about sourcing mealworms. I had no idea and have just been buying big tubs off Amazon. Any thoughts on these below?

https://www.chubbymealworms.co.uk/colle ... fly-larvae

And I might give a peanut feeder a go as well and see what it brings in.

[Rasta]

I've just finished reading The Running Hare by John Lewis-Stempel. It's not about birds but has a lot of bird stuff in it. He explains why we are losing birds in the UK. A good read if you like nature.

You can buy mealworms on Amazon, meant for pub snacks. They are dehydrated though. Popular with people getting into bushcraft and want to try eating bugs.
Also fishing shops sell them. But as they are meant for fish, they may be of dubious quality. BUT these are live and are apparently the ones to get if you want to get Mr Robin to eat out of your hand.

[Cheeky Monkey]

I find I need to change the peanuts at semi-regular intervals otherwise they go pretty grim. Probably because a lot of the nut / husk stays in the feeder as birds just take pecks through the mesh and the contents don't "circulate" as well / at all like seeds do in a tube feeder.

I never knew there was so much to mealworms I will have to go and check the supplies the missus has acquired and see if they're up to snuff.

[Robster]

Here's a link for one bulk supplier:

https://www.vinehousefarm.co.uk/bird-fo ... gKpaPD_BwE

& if you want a slow read with 90% about the birds around a Welsh cottage:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Country-Y ... 0141049324

Maybe better to buy a cheap used copy though as it's a bit Marmite.

Cheers & Seasons Greetings, Rob