Garden Wildlife UK

Placido wrote:Exactly, Jacksparrow. The space is half full now with cardboard and paper courtesy of Happy Beaks.

The pellets are good though: unanimous feathery verdict. All raised their wings to vote in favour .

That's OK then. Next time order sufficient goodies to fill the box and cut down on packaging required.

Your strategy is faultless, Jacksparrow . Fill the enormous box ......

Aaaanyway, the birds like them and that's what reeeelly reeeelly matters (and the prices are good).

Thats a good site for birdy food Placido, thank you
I bought suet pellets from this site, the cheapest I found around:
https://www.lovegardenbirds.co.uk/garde ... et-pellets
They are a bit thicker than the usual ones I buy from B&M but they got eaten so I guess they are ok

I put out some soaked mealworms a few days ago, left them in the water. All gone this morning. Though yesterday I did see a starling on the feeder. Today I have done another batch with added calci worms, just to see what happens. If it works then I can do a mix of both.

As usual, I put out the food yesterday afternoon and at that time the feeders get really busy as all the birds have their dinner before going to sleep. Yesterday however, all the birds disappeared, all the food was left uneaten . I have no proof but I think some predator, possibly that sparrowhawk that attacked the dove fledgling not long ago, is patrolling the area. Today, starlings came for a quick bite, like 5 minutes, and than disappeared again. Caught a glimpse of a robin and one dove but thats all. Its still soooooo quiet and all the food just sits there

Could well be the hawk again butterfly. They are getting more common in gardens now. Is a bit easier pickings for them. Not seen one in my garden here this year, but have had a visit now and again in the past.

The hawk is not in my garden exactly Willpar, but in the area, which is full of trees all around
Anyway, crisis over, whatever it was its gone, they are all back now stuffing their faces
And I saw a blackbird in one of the trees in front of my house eating berries, first time I see a blackie around, so lovely .

Not had a blackbird yet. The hedgehog camera usually picks them up as it is still quite dark when they come in first thing.

When I ordered some bird food back along I added one of those 3/4 coconut shells with the fat stuff in it. Never lasted long with the starlings. But I kept the shell as I hit on an idea. I buy those more expensive suet balls that are white or yellow. Range in price from £9:99 to around £11:99 for fifty balls. I rough cut them up and then a rough chop. Put it in the coconut and press it down with my fingers. Takes two to three suet balls. At the moment the sparrows are on it. Seems they have changed from seed to fat. There are seeds in these suet balls but only small seeds. Don't get so much waste with it this way. Hardly any falls to the ground. For me is better than hanging the suet balls whole in a feeder and see the ground covered in it.

Thats a good idea Willpar, I'm gonna try that