I think it must be a good year for snails/slugs as I have loads in my garden too. The frogs and hedgehogs havent got going yet I find when they do they help keep them right down. Have a look at the RSPB site as they have a lot of info on attracting birds to your garden. Basically birds need to feel safe and have shelter such as a tree near the bird table, some are ground feeders and some table feeders while others such as Tits like hanging feeders. But no plastic mesh hangers please it can trap their feet. If you invest in a feeder of some sort and keep it clean and full, birds will come.

Yes, I have 2 feeder near trees the birds love them. However the thrushes and blackbirds seem only to sit on my fence!! Occasionally they will fly down and eat my worms!!!!!. I feel like telling them to leave the worms alone and only eat the slugs and snails lol

You can only encourage birds they will then do their own thing. I go out at night and collect up a lots of snails etc in the dark.

Yeah, I have done that DRC726 with a torch next door thing i'm mad my own family do as well. But it does the trick

At least I am not the only one lol I like being out in the dark the garden is full of interest at night too

I once had a bat brush passed my head! I was speechless!! not frightened but speechless.

Thank goodness other people go out slug and snail hunting at night ! But are any off you in a dressing gown and pink fluffy slippers ?
To encourage birds a bird feeding station with different types of seeds etc and also ground scattering to make sure that you cater for each type of bird. Also a few birdbaths around the garden and a nesting box or two.

they like dried fruit such as currants/raisins. in the autumn they also eat windfall apples. dont forget they have territories so you may not get lots of them in. I get 3 pairs and then their offspring only. lots of other birds though.

Hi Pottingmad, does a dressing gown and colourful spotty wellies count? If we all lived in the same street, it would be funny. We could look to the skies and see torch light, and shout to each other "how many have you found?" ha ha ha.
Yes I have the bird station and different types of seeds and water available. Ah well one day.Perhaps I should put up a sign saying Goldfinches welcome!!!!

I love watching what I think is Bats swooping around sometimes and I sometimes sit in the garden in my night clothes in the high summer.

My Auntie does that, I have had to rescue her a couple of times; she been frozen! Well I'm off to bed, work tomorrow groan. I bet it stops raining now I'm back to work

Neither blackbirds nor thrushes will feed from something like a seed or nut feeder they need a flat surface. I love al birds but find the blackbirds a two edged sword - they do good work but pull up plant labels and wreak certain plants :-(

We have a pair of Goldfinches nesting in one of our palm trees. At one time we had very few finches but then a friend suggested a thistle seed feeder. It really does attract them, definitely worth the £4 !

I had 2 blackbirds, this year, trying to have the garden as territory, eventually the smaller one gave up. When we had a much larger garden they shared....maybe about 4 of them. They are very territorial ground feeders on grass, in leaves and bare soil. Hedgehogs are best, not many these days. A 'messy' garden is best for them. Where they can shack up for the winter and stick around afterwards to feed, but not on bread and milk

Cat food is good for hedgehogs

Yes Dorjac milk is very bad for hedgehogs, I too leave out cat food at dusk and love to see them feeding, but we had to get a quieter dish because they play with it on the patio during the night.

Thistle feeder sounds interesting, I will look out for one of those, or even better grow thistles oooch!!
Dorjac I always have a messy part to my garden for the beetles, had some slow worms and scopians the other year!!!
Cat food is only good for hedgehogs if you have them MG, sadly I have never seen any round here.

Great neither thrushes nor blackbirds will eat at any feeder...

The big blackbird with the brown lower wing feathers won an unequal contest. he saw off 2 chaffinches this morning too, and a big fat pigeon. He sings a lot more than last years blackbird. So far I havn't seen a his ladyfriend. She may be in the quiet garden nextdoor. I suppose could be sitting on eggs already. If gardens are fairly small, a busy, bossy blackbird ranges over more than one garden, and sees off rivals from them too. When we did have a lot of hedgehogs they loved dry cat food. Seemed to thrive on it. They made themselves nests for the winter under suitable plant leaves that I lazily left in place. To my astonishment there were three in a row one year at the front of the border.....two very large males. At one party we had there were baby hedgehogs running round guests feet after dark.

Our hedgehog family last year took no notice of us in the garden and one came and sat under my chair Dorjac. Do you leave a good water supply for them ? they need it if giving them dried cat food.

I would not feed dried cat food but the proper tinned stuff! Which our cats refuse to touch, they will only eat the pouches

several of the male blackbirds will go to the feeder and take seed from it. but one in particular will knock the feeder about and then go down to the ground to pick up his 'winnings'.