The cold and the birds.

[Jonzjob]

As we may have all noticed it is a tad cold!!! So can I ask all to make sure that the garden birds have some water to drink. It is vital for them.

This morning I had to empty the two cast iron dishes of solid ice and refill them. This afternoon I had to break the ice in them again and within a couple of minutes there was a bluetit having a drink.

so please make sure they have water to drink when it's freezing like this.

 

[doctor Bob]

A genuine question. Why can't they just drink from rivers, ponds, lakes, ditches etc like birds would have done in the past?
I know it's cold but these haven't frozen over.

 

[Sideways]

It takes energy to go fly to the rivers to drink and that increases the need to eat which isn't so easy in this weather.

It's a good reminder. Our local canals were freezing up the other day and it's set to get worse. The bird feeders were doing a pretty brisk trade when I last looked

 

[Jonzjob]

Bob, there aren't flowing rivers close to us and as said it takes energy to find them. Any standing/still water will and does freeze solid.

What happened in the old days? They died if they couldn't find water.

 

[rafezetter]

A good reminder - we don't have feeders but birds are around as any bread I throw onto the deck always goes.

 

[Jonzjob]

More solid ice this morning and when I had to pour some warm water onto an upturned dish a Mrs blackbird was drinking from the puddle formed on the wall while I was just a few feet away filling the other one.

If you got one or two feeders you would have one of the most fascinating wild life shows just outside your window Raze? :mrgreen: We spend a fair amount of time just watching their antics.

 

[Geoff_S]

A good reminder - we don't have feeders but birds are around as any bread I throw onto the deck always goes.

And squirrels where we are!

 

[nev]

I built them a house! Had two viewings so far and one came back with the missus for a second look around but nobody's moved in yet.

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I was given Raspberry Pi for my birthday, added a camera and made a bird box from some scraps lying about the garage. Plonked the camera and Pi in the roof of the box and run the 12V power supply into the garage. MotionEyesOS loaded on the Pi sends me an email with pics when it detects movement and I can view the feed live directly from my browser

 

[whiskywill]

Something strange has been happening in my garden this winter, or rather, not happening. I have had a bird table with hanging peanut feeders for many years and usually get a lot of blue ****, coal ****, great ****, greenfinches and chaffinches gorging themselves. This winter I filled the feeders with nuts in early December and they are still full. We regularly get robins and blackbirds in the garden but they are ground feeders so don't touch the peanuts.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A good reminder - we don't have feeders but birds are around as any bread I throw onto the deck always goes.

And squirrels where we are!

And the rats where we are.

 

[cgarry]

The squirrels here do love a peanut feeder.

They actually stole that feeder and I replaced it with big heavy squirrel-proof one.

 

[doctor Bob]

I know I sound argumentative, but honestly I'm just curious.
Surely there were more birds in the olden days, fact numbers have decreased massively recently.
Birds have to fly to get food, water, migrate etc they are quite good at it. Numbers have only decreased in the last 20 years.
Are we not over mollycoddling these birds, bit like with the snowflake generation of kids. Encouraging bird equivalent of lardarses. Wayne and Waynetta Wagtail..............

 

[doctor Bob]

Here is a classic example of what I'm talking about, these birds must have flown into my neighbours garden at some point. He puts food out for them, water for them and you've guessed it they now just walk everywhere and never even go for a quick spin in the sky anymore

or what about these Blackbirds in my garden, twice the size of when I was a kid.......

 

[Jonzjob]

Bob, are you chicken or are you just crowing about looking after something :mrgreen:

 

[rafezetter]

More solid ice this morning and when I had to pour some warm water onto an upturned dish a Mrs blackbird was drinking from the puddle formed on the wall while I was just a few feet away filling the other one.

If you got one or two feeders you would have one of the most fascinating wild life shows just outside your window Raze? :mrgreen: We spend a fair amount of time just watching their antics.

I have thought about making a feeder stand for some time now especially as my cat has now gone who was definitely a hunter. My parents house has three just closeby the glass covered gazebo and seeing all the birds is great ,and the efforts the squirrels will go to, to try to get at them. Only place I've ever seen a Jay, and because they live in surry there's some of those escaped parakeet greenies around.

 

[banjerbill]

Something strange has been happening in my garden this winter, or rather, not happening. I have had a bird table with hanging peanut feeders for many years and usually get a lot of blue ****, coal ****, great ****, greenfinches and chaffinches gorging themselves. This winter I filled the feeders with nuts in early December and they are still full. We regularly get robins and blackbirds in the garden but they are ground feeders so don't touch the peanuts.

The **** and finches must have moved up the M4, we get dozens in our Wiltshire garden every day. We do feed them year round as birds are creatures of habit and will come back to where they know the food is. We also have a resident spotted woodpecker on the nut feeder.

 

[Jonzjob]

For feeding the birds this is a good guide for your scraps Rafe.

I just ordered another load from the RSPB that should keep us going for a while. There's a greater spotted woodpecker that loves the fat/suet cakes we put out.

One of the good things about where we live now is that I won't be holding so many little birds. I used to nurse them when they hit our windows in our French home. It was lovely to see them fly off when they had recovered, but terrible when they didn't make it. For such small lightweight creatures they are as tough as old boots! This little siskin didn't want to fly away and stayed on my fleece for ages!

 

[whiskywill]

This is a good source of wild bird food. https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j ... 1iZORHOa5C
They often have special offers.