Some time ago I replaced all our bird feeders with some much better, modular, ones which are less susceptible to getting a crust of rotten food stuck at the bottom.
They work really well, and they keep out all the large birds. I'd love to feed the blackbirds and thrushes, but having feeders they can get to means that we become inundated with Starlings and, worse, pigeons.
We already have big fat pigeons in our garden. They are so huge that they wobble when they sit on the fences. They are so greedy, and they prevent anyone else from getting feed.
Anyway. When I replaced the old feeders, I bought 1 for peanuts, 1 for nijer seeds, and 1 for mixed seed. They started off on a pole in the middle of the garden, where it would be harder for the cats to sneak up on them. We closed off that bed agfter the sudden death of Jasmine, my Welsummer hen, and moved the pole to right outiside the kitchen window.
I didn't think that the birds would come, with it being so close to the house. However, it's also close to he cherry tree and, as it turns out, this means the feeders are really popular. The birds tend to watch from the cherry tree and , when they are sure it's safe, they flit over to the feeder, eat, then fly off again.
There is a big step down to outside from the kitchen, which means that , from inside the house, the feeders end up being at window height. This is great, and I love to see all the birds.
The peanuts and mixed seeds are eaten quickly, but we didn't get any takers for the nijer seeds for a long time.
Recently though we've had a couple of these little chaps having a nibble...
We also have a couple of robins visiting. They are very territorial, so only one is at the feeder at once. The other one waits in the cherry tree:
They work really well, and they keep out all the large birds. I'd love to feed the blackbirds and thrushes, but having feeders they can get to means that we become inundated with Starlings and, worse, pigeons.
We already have big fat pigeons in our garden. They are so huge that they wobble when they sit on the fences. They are so greedy, and they prevent anyone else from getting feed.
Anyway. When I replaced the old feeders, I bought 1 for peanuts, 1 for nijer seeds, and 1 for mixed seed. They started off on a pole in the middle of the garden, where it would be harder for the cats to sneak up on them. We closed off that bed agfter the sudden death of Jasmine, my Welsummer hen, and moved the pole to right outiside the kitchen window.
I didn't think that the birds would come, with it being so close to the house. However, it's also close to he cherry tree and, as it turns out, this means the feeders are really popular. The birds tend to watch from the cherry tree and , when they are sure it's safe, they flit over to the feeder, eat, then fly off again.
There is a big step down to outside from the kitchen, which means that , from inside the house, the feeders end up being at window height. This is great, and I love to see all the birds.
The peanuts and mixed seeds are eaten quickly, but we didn't get any takers for the nijer seeds for a long time.
Recently though we've had a couple of these little chaps having a nibble...
We also have a couple of robins visiting. They are very territorial, so only one is at the feeder at once. The other one waits in the cherry tree:
