Helping our feathered friends.

lovely blog BB
wish I had as much room!

What a Lovely Blog Jane/Ray iv enjoyed reading & looking @ your Wonderful Pics :) I wash my bird Tables Regualary as i see when it gets that Horrid Food Build Up :/ Shame not every1 knows the Problems it can cause 2 Birds feet/legs . Iv just started to use a Fat Ball Feeder & done away with the nets they come in :)

Oh dont worry Arlene didnt you say you had 2 robins visit ? Thats a good sign and in this sort of weather birds will forego their shyness to get a good meal ..

Thanks Jacque saw that feeder of yours and reminded me about the nets .The advantage of taking photos is helps to remember to keep things clean ..if only it could make me more tidy lol

Enjoyed this blog,you have a fantastic range of wildlife in your garden it makes me green with envy,I have 2 very large Hawthorns at bottom of my garden covered in ivy and do get a lot of little birds in there unfortunately I,m not very good at recognizing them,even with my book in my hand,lol.......

They will appreciate the berries and cover Lincslass,and if you feed them,they wont worry about you identifying them ! lol

A lovely blog BB . and such nice clear photos it,s nice to see so many different species of birds in your garden plus Honey and shh you know who ! ..... :o)

Aww, your garden looks beautiful! Brilliant pics, great village, love your bird table and envious of the different birds you have. I often wondered whether I should remove those nets that the fat balls tend to come in, I have a fat ball tower feeder so I'll remove the nets in future, thanks BB, you are so helpful to me and the wildlife. Love to Cyril and Twiggy & Family and Honey

Awwww thanks Amy and Dawn.....Cyril and family very secretive at moment....he just coming out occasionally to take monkey nuts to drey..after raiding the feeder for himself lol. Honey doing ok..got a special treat of chopped up apple today as well as her grated carrot. We had pizza ! lol

Useful blog.
Nice to see the photo of Honey :o)
You look after her well.

Beautiful pics and great blog BB.....you have a smashing long garden and the village looks very old and interesting.
I didn't realize about the food build up and what it could do....will be aware of this in future. Not many birds in my garden though as I have three sets of furry ears usually keeping watch lol!!

Honey is a lucky Bunny. I would guess Twiggy is enjoying the relaxation before being a Mummy!

~had a pair of nuthatches on the bird table as well but I find that when I try something like cooked rice on the or soaked sultanas they just get left and no one had any meal worms today~empty shelves!
However the gulls will eat anything and everything put on the garage roof!gourmet food not needed!

Thanks TT : )
Janey...lots of history to village...the photo taken by the castle ruin is in forge valley...named after a blacksmiths forge in the area many years ago.Some lovely walks in the area and on the fringes of national park.

Thanks Dawn...Honey is fine...covering hutch in these cold temps,but shes holding her own..and as for Twiggy...we will just have to wait and see......all quiet..as it should be ! Shhh

Arlene...dont you worry..those gulls need looking after too ! they are abit like our demanding rooks.All get their share in the end..and thats all that matters.Why not try and get some photos of them ?¬

a really lovely blog to read Ray, all the birds in your garden are well looked after.
lol even Cyril got his photo in this blog.
looks like a lovely village you live in

Very interesting blog, BB and lovely photographs of your surroundings and visitors. I was a little worried about the leaning tower though! Are you in competition with Pisa?

Aw Eileen you know Cyril ... not exactly camera shy is he ?

Not surprising not much left of it Gee - built in the middle ages in a hurry by Sir Barrett ye olde builder I believe.

Lovely blog and helpful BB..this is the first time we have put out food, usually plenty on the bushes, nothing feeding on the feeder though, it said it might take 3 weeks before the birds find it? even the squirrel hasnt noticed it, could it be in the wrong place I wonder? we get a fair amount of birds on the ground.....robins, wren, blackbirds, thrush, collared doves, but nothing unusual.

BB your garden is beautiful even in the winter snow.
Did you build your feeder?

nice pics bb
have been putting out extra seed , on the ground and under cover, seen a few birds about.
might move the feeders this year , especially the gold finches feeder , as the seed on the ground below keeps sprouting into plants during summer , no good in the borders , so may put above the lawn....................steve

I often remember putting out various bird feeds and watching the ensuing feathered chaos in my Essex garden, but the birds here are well organised in finding all sorts of grubs and insects. If I did attempt to set up a bird station here the local feral cats and flying raptors would soon make it a gourmet restaurant! I leave them all to their own interests!

It's good to see wildlife thriving in our gardens. Not many birds visit mine - maybe because of the cat . In my friend's garden there are always lots of sparrows.
I like the photo of that old ruin. What is it ?

I'm a bit worried about that rather decrepit building, too. I don't think that Barrett's did a very good job there. Is it still under its 10-year warranty, BB?

Love the photos - especially the sparrow! Thanks for the blog.

Love your phots You take some good shots

You have some lovely photos BB...... some really nice close ups of the birds......

Thanks all - as you can see from garden so little growing ( very envious of your winter beauty Spritz ) that birds take priority.

Yes Steve those Nyger seed supposed to be sterilised but little birds really messy and I too have had odd plants sprout.Think I will make a gravel area around base of bird table ( a purchased one - not that good at woodwork ! ) have seen someone hang a hanging basket under small feeder which worked well.

Trouble is the larger feeder too long to fit and rather have more goldfinches..

Glad things are easier for your birds in Spain Nariz,ours being kept going through this weather one of our coldest winters for 30 years.The mortality rate for the little birds esp will be high so they all need our help.More heavy snow as I write !

The lop sided tower is all thats left from the castle built during reign of Richard III being based in Yorkshire he ruled from up here and built many castles .I love the local history - not far from Stamford Bridge ( no not where Chelsea football team play ! ) where King Harold fought the Vikings then had to march his men down to Hastings to fight William the Conqueror - 4 days later.

Can you imagine a trek of nearly 300 miles before battle - no wonder they lost !

A great blog. You're certainly providing well for the birds in the cold weather.

Hi BB, my robins have found the mealworms on the sleepers, by the pond, two there together today so I hope they are a pair, as you've told me before they wont be both male! Also been feeding the other robin in another corner of the garden, he's so tame and appears when ever I'm around that area - given him some meal worms too, lol. Also today I saw a yellow pied wagtail, It flew out of the overflow ditch that trickles from the pond, he was nice but shy!

Hi we used to run Home and Garden Centres. In the winter we used to sell tons of bird food, bird nuts etc., A few months later they would be asking for something to kill the weeds in the lawn! One customer even had canabis growing in his lawn? Did it really grow from the bird seed?

What a fantastic blog, so many clear bird pictures, it's lovely.

We have a real crop of blackbird families, maybe eight pairs, they had just started the courting, which leads to Blackbird WARS, when along came the icy weather. One year all the birds ganged up on the Alpha Male bird, they killed him. I had to put him in the wheelie bin.

Hi everybody...usually on here at teatome,but a 15 minute journey home has just taken us 3 1/2 hours Caught in gridlock due to jack knifed lorry,blizzard,,5 inches of snow and un gritted roads. Nightmare !

Thanks Paul..
Dawn..great that you have a pair of robins...hopefully will nest in one of your new boxes !! Wagtails are so funny to watch...running along with that tail wagging !
Marge..had heard that they will fight to the death,but not had the misfortune to witness it.Not nice for you........

Dotty daisy...whereabouts is your feeder ?If you put it close where the birds congregate they will find the food,surely !

I have a black and white one Dawn he is always trawling around on my garage roof ~we have had one for years but not sure if it's the same one!

How lovely Arlene, I've seen the black and white ones around but I dont think I've seen a yellow one before.

Our one trotty has been feeding all day here for about a month.today was joined by another pied wagtail who lasted five seconds.Our trotty was having none of it and sent him packing ! Shame..we would have fed both.! The pecking order......

BB our feeder is hanging from the new pergola, which is quite near the house, we did wonder if they were put off by the bay tree and the olive tree which has been covered in fleece and weed suppressant which as you know is black and is also near the house.......who knows?

Youre probably right Dd...especially if they flap a bit.You could move it around and see where they use it !Good luck and keep us all posted !

Sorry Weeds...no didnt build feeder but very sturdy,and was on special offer last summer at £21 !

My feeder has seen a lot of birds but it is about worn out, I've had it for years, need a new one. I'm toying with building one, I have some bits and pieces of lumber. Might be fun. Mr. says he will help. If we manage it, I will post a picture.

Hi Weeds - have you seen some of Mikec s feeders ? He has some lovely examples not sure if he made them but worth a look on his pics.

Ace garden BB. That first pic is stunning.

Really liking the bird pics too. Turned 40 last year and my team in work all mock me coz I took to birdwatching in the garden and now gardening.....Doesn't bother me though as they don't know what they're missing!

I'm counting down your blogs and totally enjoying them....

GREAT STUFF!

Who cares what they say...its a wild and wonderful world out there and all for free ! Think you will just get more and more enjoyment as the years go by.Am in early 50s and was only recently able to enjoy wildlife to this extent when became self employed as a gardener ! Thanks for your lovely comments.....