feeding the birds in the snow

Hi San...been doing this very same thing since 7.45 this morning.Work cancelled...school closed and snowing constantly.Dish of fat is under picnic table...cleared under bird table..round part of pond for trotty wagtails mealworms...and filled up all peanut feeders ! What a job...but worht the extra effort..as you say they really do need all the help they can get !

Well done for this blog Sandra. It is important to care for all the wildlife. Our gardens depend so much on them. I put crusts out for the birds but I am always afraid of Blodyn catching them, but it's ok in this weather - she won't go out lol. Anyway she never does catch birds - only mice and shrews.

In the old cottage I put bird feeders but the cat I had then was too old to be bothered. She would just sit and stare at the birds :o) but she'd leave them alone.

hi jane glad you didnt have to venture out to school and think your birds need you more :o)) hywel my angelina never touched the bird as most have seen in my pics, she just watched them ;o)) she wouldnt have liked this snow either ;o))
the flakes are getting bigger now here guys and fast to, i keep going out to check its clear for the food for my birds, well worth it to :o))

Great blog Sanbaz. I'm doing my bit in Southport. :-))

Went out especially yesterday to restock on bird food fat balls and nuts, glad I did as we must have had three inches of snow since 8am this morning, refilled all feeders and put some water out probably be frozen again now, had a sparrowhawk this morning too, perched on the balcony outside bedroom window, a magpie was flying up trying to attack it, pretty brave as quite a large bird, luckily feeders are were there's cover for small birds, although suppose poor sparrowhawks hungry too :-(((

well done muddy,, keep up the good work, ive just been out again to check all clear and food visible, mrs blackbird came over to me ;o))

oops crossed with you simbad, yes i have sparrowhawk to and your right they are hungry to, its nature isnt it, glad your doing your bit to help, keep warm ;o))

Great Blog San :D Its Stopped Snowing here now which is good news 4 us & the Birds :)

yes stopped here to jacque, not seen my little robin today so he may come now its stopped ;o))

Birds are stuffing themselves with nuts and fat balls (netting removed!) as we speak.:)))

Brilliant blog San. I'll be out there as soon as my feet defrost from clearing the paths!

lol alice,, glad i stocked up on fat balls yesterday, bet it wont take long for them to go :o))
thanx ian, yes warm ya toes lad first lol, i may clear drive for baz coming home to ;o))

Hi San. Great Blog . I have made some of BBs bird cake and have been doing my bit down here.

thanx sueb, glad to hear your helping the birds, stopped snowing here now but forcast may bring more tonight, just cleared driveway for hubby getting home, may be wasting my energy though lol

Last feed of the day just ggone down for them...crumbled Christmas cake...all feeders about to be re filled.This is like a military campaign !Lol

lol ive just checked to and water, mine had xmas cake today, best be carefull baz not had a slice yet hahah, going to walk to our local shop for out of date bread soon, sell it off cheap which is great for birdies :o)

Lol...great minds..our local Spar sells off scones etc and reduce them to about 20p pack at 6 pm !

lol thats great to jane, happy birdies all round :o))

: o )

Been in and out all day Sandra thawing and restocking feeders,I ` m cheating on the water supply,it freezes fast as I thaw in the birdbaths so I`ve turned the waterfearure back on for a while,must remember to turn it off after dark tho. Its a battle of wills feeding the Blackbirds and the Robins because Brynner clears the ground every time he goes out,I`m winning at the moment and birdies are getting fed, I still have my old rabbit hutch which I`ve upended under my apple tree, Brynner can`t reach it so it`s acting as a bird table, pleased to say the birds have found their dinner and Brynner is foiled again..LOL....

thats great sue, glad brynner is doing his bit and clearing snow lol, good idea with rabbit hutch to :o)) cant turn my water feature on as its frozen solid ;o((

hi san love the pics all my feathered pals are over weight now lol :o)

lol joanella think mine our to, come summer they wont be able to fly hahah

~ just to add that I have been looking around for the cheapest mealworms and
www.wildbirddirect.com/ are selling 1kg for £9.99 instead of £17.00 and a kg will fill one of those tubs from Wilkinsons with the 50 fat balls to a depth of two thirds~ that's a lot of mealworms.As I also wanted peanuts 12.5 kg for £14.50 .
I ordered yesterday at 4 and they were delivered at lunchtime today for the cheapest delivery option of £4.99 which I think is a one off charge for whatever you order~

well done on them arlene, a great saving, so your defernatly doing your bit :o))

~ hope so Sandra~ I also have suet pellets,niger seed sunflower seeds,fatballs etc in feeders so that all the birds have something to eat~

thats great arlene, a great selection for all, thats what i try to do, i dare not add it up what i spend in a year phew! scarey lol

I buy online as well Arlene and my last delivery came between xmas and new year and was also delivered next day, thats what I call good service.....

yes very good sue,, i may have a look at this site arlene

Agree with every one great blog.....

aww thankyou carol :o))

Agree with you San, the wagtails and blackbirds soon demollished the bits from under the outdoor benches and table this morning.

Kennedy Wild Bird Food are good for bulk Sunflower and suet pellets but because they all have special offers now and again it pays to shop around! I get loads of emails advising new offers~

GoY birds must be the best fed birds in the world....I leave our water feature running all the time so they have some water available for when the bird bath freezes over..

seems they are all the same stroller lol get it while they can :o))
thanx arlene i will check a few sites out :o))
thats great Alice.. i cant do that but keep checking the water feeder and breaking ice that forms, your right we all on here give our birds a good chance to survive this weather ;o))

I am using Clarice and Jacques recipe for bird cakes they are really cheap and easy to make Sanbaz.I am busy chopping ,grating and crushing bicuits cheese and apples to add to them any food scrapsI am putting out for them.I cant manage very well for water though and what about the seagulls ? they dont land unlike the ravens crows and jackdaws.

yes they are good the fat cakes mavis, sounds like your doing a great job there, seagulls dont land in my garden i keep the food away from the centre of garden purposly, dont have crows or jackdaws only in near by fields :o)) im having trouble with water as it freezes so quickly

Today the jackdaw sussed out the fat cakes and swooped down and helped himself to one and took off with it.I was going to bring the bird bath in to defrost it but it is frozen to the ground.So I am going to fill an empty planter for them in the morning.

Just the job Sb! Keep up the good work. The hardest job here is keeping their water un-frozen.

Been in and out all day doing my little bit for our feathered friends, looks like your birds are really well fed judging by the size of that Chubby thrush ;0))

I fed ours to San. I also broke up the fat balls as they were freezing in the cold. I spread them where ever I could and even propped up one side of the bench cover and put a load under there. :~)))

mavis it took the whole fat cake, greedy thing lol, good idea with the planter to :o))
jb i agree the water is the hardest, keeping it from freezing :o(
thanx carol, yes knew you would be doing your bit for the birds, well done :o))
great ian, i had to break some fat balls up to because they had frozen,good idea with the bench cover to,, it all helps and they soon find where we put the food ;o))

Your not kidding they do San! It was like feeding time at the zoo under there. Lol :~))

lol ian well done you :o))

I've been out again this morning and everything I put out yesterday has gone so I've broken up 12 fat balls and put them out on saucers and under every surface I can find, filled up the feeders and left some more on the table (which has a roof!)

thats great ian, sun shining here and main roads clear, snow starting to melt, mine have had a packet of wholemeal babs going cheap at co-op, fat balls and chips from lastnight plus lots of seed and sunflower hearts lol, better fed than us haha

I wouldn't mind coming to my garden for a feed (if I were a blackbird, or would I be a crow? Lol) You're right of course the birds are well fed in our gardens!

What bird would you be San?

umm not sure ian, think i would be miss wren lol, very girlie hahah

That Thrush looks like he/she's had plenty to eat. All plumped up.
Re the bird baths. When the water is thawed, put an empty pot in and then when it freezes again take the pot out leaving a circle of water under neath.

yes the thrush was back today paul, kept staring at me through patio doors, funny, good idea with water thanx :o))

Thanks Paulthegard I knew you did that in your ponds once I get my birdbath un frozen thats what I will do.

the starlings in my garden seem to eat anything in sight.
But i managed to buy a big tub of fat balls for the birds and have got two feeders to put them in at either end of the garden.They are going like hot cakes.
But i will be putting more out tomorrow along with more water

thanx hijuju, sounds like you have a full time job with your birds to, hard keeping up with them, need all the food we can give them :o))

Well done Sanbaz, I doubt very much that any GOYs garden birds will go hungry, but once people start feeding they must continue especially when they have young, a lot of people think you only need to feed in the winter and that's it.

thanx dotty and your right, they need feeding all year even though they can bring their own food in summer always pop extra out for them and gives them a varid diet :o)

;~))))

Just thought I'd put this on your blog Sanbaz as it is about feeding the birds, I noticed a really strange and rather funny thing yesterday and today, feed the birds every morning at the same time then wash the breakfast pots noticed a magpie through the window, he brought a couple of pieces of bread and actually hid each piece in a different spot among the leaves of a plant then piled dead leaves etc on top, do you think he was saving them for later,lol, never seen one do that before have you? wonder if its the same one who likes to dip his bread in the bird bath before eating, lol.

hi simbad,we have a magpie that hides bread too,he hides it in between the corrugated edges of the roof of the garage, been doing it since xmas but not noticed it coming back for it...

lol simbad, ive never seen anything like that before, maybe he was saving it till later, now thats intelligent isnt it :o)) will keep my eyes open for strange goings on now

Ive been stocking up on my fat ball feeders and loose bird food anyway and my old mans nuts, oooopppppppssssssssss i said the wrong sort of nuts, little birdy nuts .
They all seem to be enjoying it .But who ordered the snow today, i popped outside for a couple of minutes then it started to fling it down with the white stuff again.
Its bad enough that i cant get warm without that coming out of the sky

poor you hijuju sorry you have snow again, its been lovely and sunny for the best part of the day here, there was a threat of snow mid afternoon but didnt come thankfully, keep up the good work with feeding your birds lol"nuts"

Joanella funny birds aren't they always remind me of a gang of naughty teenagers, haven't seen ours come back for it either, maybe forgot where he put it,lol,mind you Fudge (our lab) would probably find it before they got the chance,lol, do you think its the cold weather making them do it?strange............
Certainly do seem to be very intelligent don't they Sanbaz,lol.

lol simbad can imagine fudge watching where they put it and then going to get it ahhaha, but i think birds are more intelligent that we think :o)

hi san , yes simb,they remind me of gangs too, very crafty but cant be that crafty if they forget where they put it lol :o)

hi joanella yes think your right lol

if i hid some chocolate id know where it was lol :o))

Me to,lol :-)

and me lol