Re: Birds today

 





We suffer that vermin cats as well, but the neighbours feed them so well
they stay indoors with weather like this

 :-))))))))))))

--
Mike

The Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association
www.rneba.org.uk
Luxury Self Catering on the Isle of Wight?
www.shanklinmanormews.co.uk

 



I had a flock of at least 20 fieldfares on my small front garden this
morning.  I've never knowingly seen fieldfares before.  They had just
stripped a pyracantha of all its berries, and knocked off a load of
leaves at the same time.
Quite a sight as I don't see many birds.

Pam in Bristol

 

On 2010-01-11 00:41:34 +0000, Rusty Hinge


I've got a pack in the larder I haven't used, so I'll put some of that
out, too.  There's definitely been a bit of a thaw here but some areas
are still very white and it's overcast.  We're supposed to get rain
today so we'll see.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

 


I make our bird feed by crumbing brown bread melting dripping or suet
into it in the microwaveand mixing it with porridge oats and wild bird
seed, the resultant mix is packed whilst still hot into 2 litre pop
bottles cut off at the shoulder tamped down with the end of a rolling
pin or similar.
When set the bottle is cut off and the feed is put out for the birds.
I use 1 loaf value brown bread, 1 pack dripping, 2 mugs or so of oats,
2 mugs of Bird seed, this makes 2 packs of feed aprox 1 1/2 litre
each.
crumbed bread put into a bowl, half the dripping /suet choped and put
ontop, then covered with half the oats, 6 mins in the microwave, take
out and mix, then add the rest of the dripping, cover with the rest of
the oats, another 6 mins then mix again add 1 mig of seed mix then 2
nd mug of seeed mix again then pack into cut off bottles.
I have made wire netting holders to take the feed and they are inside
2 hanging baskets hung vertically and fastened at the top with 2 of
the chains , the 3rd is used to hang the feed on.
Before we went to China the birds were going through 6 or so of these
a week, since we came backand my neighbour had run out of food for
them, (we left 16 for him to put out) 10 days before we came back,
Now they are going through around 4 a week but more and more birds are
comming back..
David Hill

 

Dave Hill wrote:


A variant of that is to place a bottlebrush into the bottle, then shake
your breadcrumbs, seed, oats, etc  into the it until it's well packed
round the bristles.

Pour in your hot fat - not so hot as to melt the bottle, but hot enough
not to solidify immediately it hits the meal.

Or use a tin instead. Remove the bottom with a tin-opener and push the
food-parcel out.

Then you have a nice metal ring to hang the foodball on, and unlike just
hanging it on a string, the birds can't peck it so that half of it falls
off to feed the rats.

--
Rusty