Food & Drink How do I get birds to eat out of my bird feeder?

I have a wall mounted feeder the squirrels haven't sussed out yet, also got a bath which smaller birds seem to use more, its just a dish with some gravel in the bottom and a large stone in the middle that sits above the water level. Seems to work.

Did get some ducks land the other week but I think they were more forced down by some crows or a hawk.

 

I've also bought a load of new bird seed. The plan is to leave two piles of seed out; one old and one new. If the new one disappears pretty quickly, I suppose that's an indicator of the old seed not being fit for purpose.

 

THAT... used to drive me nuckin' futz...

 

A local farm has annoying squawkers, aka peacocks, just far enough away that we can't hear them at home.

 

Damn you! I was going to make a snarky comment about marketing too

 

I'd originally typed "put ads in local newspaper" but was about to hit submit and literally had to swing my finger away from the mouse button at the last second when I realised the joke could also be a pun!

 

Interest in my bird feeder and bath is starting to pick up. It's nice to take a minute or two each day to watch the little buggers flit around.

 

Just go out in the garden waving a fist full of fifty pound notes. You'll have the birds eating out of your hand.

/badumtish.

 

[thread hijack]
Anyone got a wildflower patch or border? They're great for wildlife and are becoming a priority strategy for conservationists, I'm told, because of the decline of pollinators. We're in the process of converting one side of our lawn. It's difficult because of the existing grass, so I'm just peeling off the existing grass to give the wildflower plants a chance.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=436

[/thread hijack]

Edit - that's a whole other level of dad joke.

 

The birds have well and truly taken to my garden now:

• Replacing the old seed in the bird feeder with new seemed to make it more popular.
• A bird bath definitely helps (and I find it funny seeing the smaller birds do their 'body shake' to get clean).
• Scattering the old seed over the lawn also attracts birds - so at least it won't go to waste.

I like to watch them out of my kitchen window while I do the washing up or pour myself a drink.

I'm not sure if it counts, but I let my borders just do whatever they want. I can't be bothered to do all the extra gardening work to keep it under control. Kind of works - looks nice enough in my opinion.

 

It does count! There's no such thing as a weed, and many of them are the most valuable natives for wildlife.

 

Okay, it's getting a bit ridiculous now. By 10AM, the little gits have gone through half the seed in the feeder .

I wouldn't mind so much, but there's a real chance that for the next three weeks, I'll have to be away for three days a week*, so won't be able to top it up. I don't want a repeat of coming back to find a pecked open feeder, as it'll make me feel extremely guilty.

*Don't worry, actually indirectly related to fighting CoronAIDS.

 

Same here, one day and the 6 different feeders are empty.

 

New drinking game. Big bag of mealworm. Case of beers.

Fill the feeder and open a beer.

Each time the feeder is empty, you have to refill it and get yourself a new beer.

Repeat

???

Liver failure.

 

Just popped out to the kitchen and counted bang on 20 of them. Starting to feel outnumbered.

Does make me laugh when for some reason, they all fly off into the nearest hedge, only to emerge a minute or so later.

 

The Birds is coming...

 

The wildflower garden is taking shape! Pulled out all the grass stems with seeds to reduce its prevalence and taking the top layer of turf off where possible. Note: the less fertile the soil, the better for wildflowers. If It's too fertile, grass will outcompete them.

Also ANTS. So many ants. I've decided to leave them where they are because if you disturb them and don't kill them all, the survivors will relocate, often closer to the property.

 

I have a bird feeder not to far from the upstairs window just under the under roof part, I get small bits coming frequently and the cats live watching them

 

Forgot to mention that I bought a huge bag 20kg bag off Amazon for a few quid. It's the same make I used all those years ago (Peckish Complete Seed and Nut No Mess Wild Bird Food Mix). Hopefully that'll get me through the summer.

I've taken to putting a scoop out on the table of the 'open plan' birdhouse in addition to topping up the bird feeder, as well as scattering 2-3 scoops over the lawn. When I went away for the weekend, I also left 4 decent piles of feed on the patio, which seemed to work.