Doh what not to do after a 12 hour night shift :))))

Oh forgot to mention every other day julie gets pork pies and cheese from the shops which she then chops all the pork pies up and grates the cheese,which we find the birds really love so do the cats.So happen it is kind of my fault :)))))

Mark you need to have that house on a pulley, so you can bring it up and down to put food on. Oh dear, another job !!!

Wow ...that's dedication for you. You'll have to be careful on that ladder when high winds are blowing.

It is a problem Mark, I have my own cats and always have to stop them laying in wait for the birds, of course we cannot always be there and no matter what you do you`ll never be able to stop them completely as its natures way and comes to them instinctively to hunt.

Love the blog Mark.....made me smile. My husband feeds the birds and like with you it is a serious business.

Good idea to put it out of cats reach Mark :o)

I like the blog, Mark. It is not so easy to solve the problem :))

Cats dont kill birds if their stomachs are full.
I would feed them. Tinned cat food is 78% water.
Years ago my brother had a cat. A German lady lived 2 doors up. She had been in the bombing of Dover in WW2, had a permanent headache, caused by her own countrymen. There was a wall between her back garden and the street.
It was her pleasure to entice wild birds along this wall, into her kitchen by putting out crumbs for them. They hopped in the back door, and into the living room. Her house was on the corner of a busy crossroads, traffic and buses going by all the time. She invited me into her house, and I saw these wild birds doing this.
She had a key to my brother's house, and went round 3 or 4 times a day giving his cat cut up pieces of cooked beef and pork. She even bought this meat from the butchers specifically to do this.
His cat never touched her birds.

My cat doesn't kill them Snoopdog. She brings everything she kills back to the house, and there are never any birds - only field mice and shrews. My previous cat was the same.
Some cats probably do kill them, but they don't all do it.

At least the birds now have a 'birds eye view' !! Lol, Love it Mark.

You're right Snoopdog, infact usually only health well fed cats hunt. It is an instinct for them to hunt,the belief that only hungry cats hunt isn't quite true. If a cat is hungry it will eat just about anything, but might not have the strength to hunt properly.
I've been brought up with cats, both tame and feral. The ones which lived in the house faired far better at hunting then their 'wild' counterparts, and lived longer to boot.
Hywell, your cats may well be killing and eating birds before they bring a 'kill' home for you.
Mark, I would suggest you move the birdtable to a spot in the garden where there are less places for the cats to hide and pounce. The birds will soon get used to the new dining area. Cats like to creep up on their prey.
You could also try putting some chicken wire wrapped loosly around the base to discourage cats climbing up.
Good luck.

Hi all i would like to thank you all for your comments.Sorry if i caused a debate with any upset to any one.

I am a cat lover and i will place a blog on showing all the cats i used to keep.14 in fact lol.Story will follow with the blog.

The only thing i can say it is in every cats instinct to hunt whether domesticated or wild.A neighbour of mine as 4 cats of which we send round food so i am not actually feeding them in the garden .It just upsets me to go finding dead birds including sparrows which are a depleting population already in the bird boxes.I will be placing something around the middle to stop cats climbing up the pole.It will be friendly please be assured.

Thankyou all again.Mark

You've done a great job Mark - 1 of my 3 cats is insistant of waiting at the base of the bird table. On occassions he sits inside it for hours. Luckily we get very few dead birds - all my cats have bells on their collars - which does help.
Hope it works

Cats!! Until i was interested in gardening i had no particular views of cats, however i do have now.

I have spent a fortune on every type of deterrent with not much joy it has to be said for as soon as there was a newly laid square inch of new compost laid in my garden, every cat in the street would use it as a toilet.
As a very responsible dog owner it just surprises me that there are so many rules and regulations regarding dogs and their owners however cats and their owners are pretty much allowed to take no responsibility at all once Tiddles has been kicked out for the night. Obviously there are good and bad owners of all pets but just because "it's what cats do" in my opinion is just not good enough.