I have always fed the birds that visit my garden because my Mum always used to make a point of doing so, especially during the colder months. I remember going round to my parent's house once and she made my boyfriend and I sit down and watch some video footage she'd taken of the birds at her bird table. It was so cute of her! Her favourite birds were Robins and they are my favourite too
Little birds need to eat 30-40% of their bodyweight per day in food during the Winter and I like to help them along by ensuring they have plenty to eat when they visit us.
During the warmer months I only feed a seed mix but when it starts to get colder I add peanuts and fat balls to the table. That's right, fat balls. Someone, somewhere had a good giggle when they came up with that name I'll bet! Anyway, fat balls and peanuts both contain fats which help our little feathered pals to keep warm. Make sure you remove the netting from the balls though as teeny bird feet can easily get tangled in them
We have regular birdy visitors, including a female blackbird with one white feather in her tail, I call her Magda, and a collared dove who patrols the bottom of the bird table and won't let any other doves near it.
We get several blackbirds, a few blue tits and a beautiful pair of greeny gold birds that I've yet to identify. The chickens like to hang around under the bird table too and pick up any seeds that drop out of the feeder
Buying wild bird seed can get expensive if you buy small bags from the supermarket, as I used to. I've found the cheapest way of doing it is to buy in bulk. I buy 20kg bags of own brand seed from our local country store and store it in plastic dustbins with my chicken feed. They also sell fat balls, peanuts and feeders so it's nice and easy to get everything I need. I also put out any left over bread and sometimes apples too
Do you feed the birds during the winter?
What a lovely thing to do. I will definitely be doing this when we have our own garden next month! xx
ReplyDeleteYay! xx
DeleteReally tempting to go buy one and hang it up at my uni halls! Will definitely be going this when i have my own house :) x
ReplyDeleteThey will love you for it :-) xx
DeleteWe've always fed the birds in Winter. Last year I made very good friends with a Robin, and eventually he would come and sit right next to me when I was outside. We also have a blackbird with white feathers in our garden, I love recognising 'local' birds!
ReplyDeleteI'm so hoping my robin friend comes back this year, he was such a jolly, friendly chap. And I hope to see the blackbird regularly, she had a next in our garden and it was amazing to keep an ear and eye on it over the Spring/Summer.
Magda made a nest on our bird table last year, I'd completely forgotten! She abandoned it and we put it in the crook of a tree, I ought to add a photo to this post if it's still there xx
DeleteI sure do! I have 3 feeders hanging in various locations in the garden - 2 with nuts and 1 with seed. I also have a little table which I put seed and other scrapes onto and then in the depths of winter Mr B.P. makes his own fat balls :) I love seeing the different species we get and as we back onto fields we get allsorts stopping by.
ReplyDeleteHurray for homemade fat balls! xx
DeleteWhat beautiful birds!
ReplyDeleteAren't they cute? The robin is my favourite, he stayed and posed for ages xx
DeleteYou are adorable, I hope you know that. I want to have a bird feeder SO BAD but unfortunately my cats are a bit of a killer tag team if a bird lands in our garden at the wrong time and so I don't want to risk it. Plus I don't know if my poor heart could take the trauma of having to chase the cats away from a bird they're chasing - and then stand there shielding it until it's calmed down enough to get away - any more times this year.
ReplyDeleteMy grandad loves feeding birds though, I think there is something very endearing about a person that goes out of their way to feed wild animals. I love going to the local nature reserve to feed the ducks/have a ginger cat that follows me home most days for a meal x
Aw thanks blog friend! Mouse was a bit of a terror with the birds, I stopped feeding them when we had her as it seemed like we were almost inviting her next meal into the garden!
DeleteI LOVE feeding ducks! They're so cute, I love their quacky noises xx
This is so sweet, I did this when I was younger but you make me want to again! X
ReplyDeleteDo it! Re-live your youth! :-) xx
DeleteYes! I'm a bit obsessed with my birdies actually. We've recently had green & greater spotted woodpeckers move into the garden, loads of green finches, blue/great/long-tailed tits and more recently a robin has joined the party. They all eat a heck of a lot so I'm investing in an outside bin to store the food.
ReplyDeleteWow how exciting! xx
DeleteThis is so cute, when I have my own place I'd love to have bird feeders and birds all over my garden :)
ReplyDeleteDaniella x
http://daniella-r.blogspot.co.uk
There'll always be something to look at when you gaze out of the window :-) xx
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