Garden visitors.
 

Now that I have the bird feeders up I'm starting to get a steady stream of visitors, especially the Robin's.

We had our feeders on an old apple tree. It was at the point of falling down, rotten, so replaced it with a stand. Recently added a seed feeder with sunflower hearts in it, birds are going mental over it. Removing the old apple tree was straightforward, just shoved it over!

I have used the Black Sun Flower seeds and as you say, they go absolutely mental.
I have the suet bars in the feeders but other than the Robins the other birds ignore them.

We had this fine bird on Tuesday morning.

https://i.imgur.com/izLspjM.jpg

Got two feeders with suet balls which were popular before I put the sunflower hearts out. All the feeder have to be squirrel proof here!
At our old house I went to the kitchen window one day, huge bird of prey standing in the middle of the grass. Quick visit online revealed it to be a Peregrine Falcon.

Fabulous photos :bowdown: :}.

I use a slightly modified RSPB mix for the birds:

250g Lard (can also be used for other things - like cooking eggs :D)

300g Peanuts

150g Mixed fruit (the cheapest you can find)

150g Oats (the cheapest you can find)

100g Black sunflower seeds

100g Sunflower hearts


Melt the lard.

While it's melting whizz up the peanuts, mixed fruit & oats in a food processor.

Add the mix and the sunflower hearts/seeds to the lard and give it a good stir around.

Wait for it to cool a little and put it out in whatever you like. We use small logs (2-3" diameter and 12" long) with holes bored into them hung up on a feeder pole..

Attracts all sorts including woodpeckers, nuthatches, all sorts of the family containing blue, great, coal, long tail etc., starlings, blackbirds, thrushes.......


https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1885/...2839cd_z_d.jpg


Andy.

They are emptying the sunflower hearts in a day, suet balls aren't being touched. So popular the pigeons and doves are trying to get at them as well!

Revise that, just had to refill the feeder! Getting a great variety of birds that obviously weren't interested in the suet balls. Had been buying 1 kilo bags of sunflower hearts in the local Tesco but just order a 20 kilo bag online, works out at almost half the price. Need to try to get some pics, various t1ts, goldfinches, chaffies, siskins not to mention optimistic doves and pigeons. The dogs don't like the pigeons and doves, if they hear the wings flapping they're out to investigate.

Mentioning woodpeckers, next door has a feeder with suet balls which a woodpecker frequently visits. Why get a headache banging your head off a tree when there's easier food around.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7623/...14c06cf73f.jpg

I think I've read somewhere that suet balls have wheat in them ('cus it's cheap).....and most birds don't eat wheat. I think it's just pigeons that do?

Sunflower hearts are a mega food for birds which is why they're feasting on yours.

Great to see though.

Enjoy.

Andy.

Great pics, but surely not necessary to bolt the bird to the tree with a 10mm bolt and a wing nut, would it not stay still?

Bulk bag of sunflower hearts arrived . . . . hadn't really considered how big a 20 kilo bag would be!

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1849/...ec0510fb_c.jpg

Just about had enough old bird food containers to accommodate it all.