My bird feeders give me a lot of pleasure. I have two set up, each with nut nets and seed feeders. They are ALWAYS busy. Even before this colder weather (which still isn't that cold really) I had lots of visitors. The House Sparrows tend to use the front feeders. They are accompanied by Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Nuthatches (at least two coming and going) and Woody the Woodpecker (Greater Spotted variety). Robins will hoover up any fallen seed. This morning I was delighted to see Goldfinches had joined them, but they haven't been back since I topped up the feeders. On my birding friend Fiona's advice, I have stopped using the cheaper mixed feed and changed to sunflower hearts. There is NO waste with the sunflower hearts, whereas with the mixed seed the Tits were very fussy and would chuck out the rounder seed to get at the Sunflower seeds.
These are all old photos of the front feeders in action. As you can see from the photo above, there are LOTS of birds using it - I can count 11 in shot and there are normally swarms of others waiting in the wings, so to speak.
When the weather worsens (this is 2010 when we had significant snow), everybody wants to get in on the act. As we live beside a farm, there are plenty of farm Jackdaws looking for food. I know they have to eat, just as the smaller birds do, but they are bullies and ruffians, and not averse to hanging on the feeders, tipping them enough so that big amounts of seed falls to the ground for them.
2010 was a VERY cold winter. Birds were soon desperate. We had Visitor Blackbirds, Thrushes and the like "passing through" our valley, and they would be waiting in the bushes for first light and feed. I regularly counted 26 Blackbirds waiting, along with Thrushes, visiting Fieldfares and Redstarts, and the occasional Starling (they tend to be town birds in these parts, and we don't have many visiting here.)
The other feeding station is in the Damson tree in front of my kitchen window, where I do the washing up. The wee birds there have been doing themselves VERY well and look like they have been blown up with a bicycle pump, so fat are they! Mum would have said they had a big "corporation" (e.g. girth). I think they'll die of heart attacks at this rate. They comprise the occasional Sparrow, a mob of Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Nuthatches, Woody Woodpecker (or his friend) and this morning Goldfinches again.
As for the "frugal" part of my post. Over on Facebook I have started following a Frugal chat thread and cannot believe that someone can claim to be even minutely frugal would own up to owning SIXTY TWO (yup, you did read that correctly, 62) pairs of jeans. Some of the other threads have me sitting on my hands. A photo of crisps and sugary cereal at bargain prices, and nothing nutritional in sight! OK, I eat crisps, but daren't have a multipack even of 6 in the house, as temptation and a body's natural love of salt would be too tempting. Funny old world isn't it?
Never read truer words than that last paragraph BB. And I think of the genuine refugees struggling to escape war and not knowing where their next meal is coming from. And now, sadly, because folk have finally woken up to the fact that all of those claiming to be refugees are not, and the cold in Central Europe worsens by the day. All those jeans sounds obscene to me.
ReplyDelete62 Pairs of Jeans- good grief how many can they wear at once?
ReplyDeleteI have problems enough looking at so called "simple frugal living" blogs where they seem to think that just because it has a yellow RTC sticker it MUST be bought! so I'll not be joining you on a Facebook forum!
What a lot of birds you feed Jennie, we go to the agricultural merchant for food for hens and dog, and they of course also do great sacks of bird food. We have to hang our bird feeder on the garage door, the only place the squirrels can't get it.
ReplyDeleteFrugal, it is a funny old word, none of us can live without buying food for us or the animals we keep, the British understanding of the word needs redefining. 62 pairs of jeans is conspicuous spend!
Lovely to see the birds, I put food out all the time and then throwing it away and then putting out more, I am not having much luck since we moved to the town, before we moved the feeders had to be filled up every few days, I really hope they come soon, I miss them.
ReplyDeleteHooray the Robin decided to go on the table today, hope he brings some friends next time x
DeleteLol I had a Robin too today!
Deletewe stopped buying cheap bird food too, so much of it landed on the ground, hubby makes his own fat balls as well. so our garden gets mobbed.
ReplyDeleteI refilled our bird feeders the other day, I must get some fat filed coconut shells done they have run out.
ReplyDeleteI never claim to be frugal at anything I see it on the internet people claiming to be frugal then shop in M&S for yellow stickers, stocking up on bargain sites of loads proccessd food then complain when they have digestion problems, its the same with those who claim to live a self sufficient lifestyle when all they can grow is a few lettuces, if nothing else it makes for amusing reading. It gives me a daily giggle :-)
The cost of 62 pairs of jeans at a conservative £30 a time is nearly £2,000 - the stupid girl could have had a wonderful holiday with that if she HAD to spend it. I have to say it made me very angry and I didn't dare post.
ReplyDeleteI swear I wrote my post this morning before I read your post! I have bird envy bug style! I don't know where mine have gone! I think they are on your feeders!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to all those birds at your feeders, I am very sad that this new garden is not attracting birds to the feeders. I've tried different feeder types, the best food and they still don't come. I guess it's just not going to happen, so I will content myself with looking at yours.
ReplyDeleteI don't even have space for 62 pairs of jeans...they must be hoarders!
Rachel and Suzie - so sorry you don't have birds in your garden. I think sometimes it is down to habitat - even if you have shrubs and trees, other gardens may not, so the birds avoid being out in the open too much? We are surrounded by woodland and farmland and there is a huge movement of birds around my garden from the surrounding land. Or perhaps they are just on their hols!
ReplyDeleteWell, I have trees in my garden and there's fields at the back. I see the birds everywhere, however not in my garden of late BUT this morning.... And I've always blamed it on NDFC ( Next Door's F!)£&89g Cat ) but there this morning, frightening away the handfuls of tits was my big fat Mr Robin Redbreast!!!
DeleteI know they ate territorial with each other but not with other birds! It was a magnificent display!
Lovely to see all the birds on your feeders - ours are slowly returning now its gone colder. I find sunflower hearts are by far the most popular food here followed by fat balls.
ReplyDelete62 pairs of jeans - good grief :(
Like Sue and Dawn, I have read blogs of so called simple living and frugal living, these people seem to spend an awful lot of time in supermarkets buying an awful lot of rubbish as cheaply as possible, and clearing the shelves in one swoop. They seem to think that it is something to boast about.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I don't keep certain things in the house (crisps, chocolate) cos I would gobble them in no time.
Wonderful pics of the birds, we have several feeders dotted around the garden and seem to have quite a few feeding all year.
Enjoy your blog very much.
I enjoyed looking at all your birds. We also have 8 bird feeders in our back yard. My husband could spend hours watching them (I bought more bird feeders for this reason since his illness.) This morning was pretty cool and today is our coldest day so far, only going to 51 F (10.5C) although it will be back to 65 soon (18) so there were many birds this morning. We have many cardinals, nuthatch, titmouse, Dickcissels, black hat chickadees, mourning doves and I just saw a pair of Bluebirds with pretty peach stomach. I don’t know the names of many of these birds. We have a problem with squirrels and raccoon raiding the feeders though.
ReplyDeleteMy feeder is attracting a few birds but there is still a great deal of wild food hanging on the trees and shrubs. My idea of frugal is to waste nothing, time nor money. If I am in a supermarket I will check out the bargains but only buy what I will use quickly, unless it will freeze. Even then I would not buy processed junk or ready meals, or anything that I would not normally eat. As to those jeans, where the hell does she keep them all, I suppose that she has a corresponding number of tops to pair with them. I have 4 pairs and could do with losing 2 pairs, but they fit well and will last for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI am careful as to how much chocolate I have and only like crisps when I like them and then only ready salted so buy them sporadically and 1 bag at a time.
Vagabonde - American birds - well, I know about Cardinals (once yearned for a x-stitch pattern of them back in the days when we were living hand-to-mouth), and chicadees, bluebirds and mouring doves, but Dickcissels are a new one to me (off to check). Oooh - looks like a sparrow with a yellow bib! I am glad your husband gets so much pleasure from the bird feeders. If you are laid up poorly it almost gets you outside with them. I'm glad we don't have racoons, although we do have the occasional squirrel at the nut net in the yard.
ReplyDeleteIrene - hello. You're not my double are you? I just looked at your blog and you support all the causes I do! I just don't understand these supposedly frugal people out there if they are just spending mindlessly (and buying crap!) Do you think they see it as a lifestyle tag? Compared with those who cannot be anything other than frugal it seems like they are rubbing their noses in it.
R. Robin - I daren't put out fat balls until it is really really (as in snow) cold, as they are such little greedy guts they get through a tub in next to no time! Helped, on occasion, by the Jackdaws I might add!
I thought I was going it a bit with four pairs of jeans (two different styles) plus three pairs of gardening dungarees. But I do get messy, and washed carefully they will last me a few years.
ReplyDeleteWe have a bird feeder midway down our garden. Because next door feeds them as well, they go there for seed, and come to us for suet blocks and mealworms. We get finches, blue, great and long tailed tits, robins, starlings on the whole. In the coldest spells, we've had some gems - nuthatches and goldcrests, plus male and female blackcaps, who stop off after feasting on ivy and honeysuckle berries.
Because are garden is so narrow, (14ft) we do have problems with squirrels jumping from the fence to the feeder. We've tried squirrel proof feeders, but Pickles (so named because he's particularly fat & greedy) learnt to grab the base and tip it sideways.
Usually our winter is not that bad 2 months as the most but we have had snow in the valley twice in 10 years !
ReplyDeleteI don't feed the birds because we, usually have mild winters but I am tempted.
But i do not want them to depending on me.
cheers, parsnip
Love all your bird visitors; we have suet out for them and it's fun to watch them pecking away at it. All varieties of flying winged critters find our fruit trees and annuals that have gone to seed. Sixty-two pair of jeans !~! In my whole life I have not owned a total of 62 pairs of pants, wow, that's a big number... I like your lifestyle, BB, calm, centered, complete.
ReplyDeleteBlue Shed - I have 5 prs, two for best, 2 for wearing around the house and a gardening/painting pair which will become polishing rags when they wear right through. You have a wonderful selection of birds coming to your feeders. I only have hanging ones because of the cats, but would love to put out mealworms for Mr Robin and friends.
ReplyDeleteparsnip - I agree they do become reliant, but I don't feed through the summer, just November to end March.
Lynda - there's a compliment about my lifestyle! I do love the way I live as it is "me". I fill my days with the things that satisfy me and interest me and bring pleasure - that sounds very hedonistic doesn't it?!