Wild-life in the snowy weather...
06 January 2010, 10:28 PM
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Wild-life in the snowy weather...
Everyone is loving being out building snowmen and having time off work, but it must be a serious nightmare out there for birds and other wildlife as they can't get worms etc when there's been snow on the ground for weeks! Plus loads must be freezing to death at night.
I was thinking of throwing out some bread crumbs and peanuts but it's all likely to sink into the snow totally.
Anyone been thinking along similar lines, or got any tips?
I was thinking of throwing out some bread crumbs and peanuts but it's all likely to sink into the snow totally.
Anyone been thinking along similar lines, or got any tips?
06 January 2010, 10:33 PM
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I read an article about this the other week..
Seems like chucking some bread out and wot not is a good idea.
....and there were far more birds in people's gardens as the cold snaps sent them searching for food from bird tables in high numbers
Traditional weather helps British wildlife flourish - Telegraph
Traditional weather helps British wildlife flourish - Telegraph
06 January 2010, 10:40 PM
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we put out bird feeders with nuts and seeds in, if you don't have a bird table ,use an upturned bucket or something similar if theres snow on the ground. try not to leave bread on the ground as you'll be encouraging rats as well as birds.
06 January 2010, 10:59 PM
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Got mounds of bird seed/mix on the bird table for the poor bu66ers. Chucked some bread out but it froze solid before they came down for it! The most important thing for them is fresh water but I can't for the life of me keep the bird bath from freezing over. Poured hot water from the kettle to melt the bird bath but its refrozen in no time at all.
Oh and never put out whole peanuts loose for birds, they can choke on them. They must be either crushed or put in a feeder so the birds break them up to get them.
Oh and never put out whole peanuts loose for birds, they can choke on them. They must be either crushed or put in a feeder so the birds break them up to get them.
Last edited by Bravo2zero_sps; 06 January 2010 at 11:02 PM.
06 January 2010, 11:13 PM
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Thanks guys, I think I'm going to put a tray outside and just chuck on a load of crumbs and crushed peanuts on it. Will get some of those hang-up feeders too if I get to the shops. 
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06 January 2010, 11:35 PM
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well you do can do nothing if you like, but myself along with others will be all 'un-natural' and feed the birds. i don't quite like the natural selection thing myself, sparrows were once the most prolific bird in UK, and are now endangered, mainly due to loss of habitat, so maybe we can feed to poor little ******* now we've destroyed their homes to build our homes.
06 January 2010, 11:56 PM
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i'll try some ready break when the two blondes go by in the morning on the way to the station !! 
no seriously, i tend to forget about wildlife in winter (living in a flat) so will prob chop up the end of the loaf in the morning and scatter it in the park up the road.
no seriously, i tend to forget about wildlife in winter (living in a flat) so will prob chop up the end of the loaf in the morning and scatter it in the park up the road.
07 January 2010, 12:10 AM
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Everyone is loving being out building snowmen and having time off work, but it must be a serious nightmare out there for birds and other wildlife as they can't get worms etc when there's been snow on the ground for weeks! Plus loads must be freezing to death at night.
I was thinking of throwing out some bread crumbs and peanuts but it's all likely to sink into the snow totally.
Anyone been thinking along similar lines, or got any tips?
I was thinking of throwing out some bread crumbs and peanuts but it's all likely to sink into the snow totally.
Anyone been thinking along similar lines, or got any tips?
We also chuck any leftovers out for the foxes. We have a tree in the corner of the garden where they frequent, so we put it there. It is always gone in the morning
07 January 2010, 08:52 AM
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I've chucked out a load of crumbled up crackers and some crunched up peanuts this morning - should keep the little bug@ers happy!
Must admit I hadn't even thought about drinking water for them, but as mentioned I don't really know what the options are here other than filling a bird bath with warm water every 15 mins!
Must admit I hadn't even thought about drinking water for them, but as mentioned I don't really know what the options are here other than filling a bird bath with warm water every 15 mins!
07 January 2010, 12:57 PM
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Everyone is loving being out building snowmen and having time off work, but it must be a serious nightmare out there for birds and other wildlife as they can't get worms etc when there's been snow on the ground for weeks! Plus loads must be freezing to death at night.
I was thinking of throwing out some bread crumbs and peanuts but it's all likely to sink into the snow totally.
Anyone been thinking along similar lines, or got any tips?
I was thinking of throwing out some bread crumbs and peanuts but it's all likely to sink into the snow totally.
Anyone been thinking along similar lines, or got any tips?
smaller birds.
Les
10 January 2010, 09:21 AM
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Well the birds are getting really desperate now. A magpie has come onto the bird table and they in the 2 years we've been here have never come closer than the connifers at the edge of the garden:
Had to take the shot with a zoom lens from far end of the lounge as couldn't get any closer without spooking it they are that shy.
No water and no food in these temps must be killing so many birds off. I'm trying to think of way to keep the bird bath from freezing over but short of putting hot water in it evey 20 minutes there just isn't a way it's so cold.
Had to take the shot with a zoom lens from far end of the lounge as couldn't get any closer without spooking it they are that shy.
No water and no food in these temps must be killing so many birds off. I'm trying to think of way to keep the bird bath from freezing over but short of putting hot water in it evey 20 minutes there just isn't a way it's so cold.
10 January 2010, 10:25 AM
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We went a walk the other day to a local nature reserve, saw a swan, a kestrel, a buzzard, wrens, moorhens, blackbirds, thrushes, blue and great ****, loads of robins and chaffinches, a spotted woodpecker, a water rail and a snipe. Loads of fresh mole hills, rabbit and fox tracks............. well worth the wander.
10 January 2010, 11:10 AM
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Bought a big tub of fifty fatballs yesterday also a roosting pouch for them to get in out the cold. My birdbath keeps freezing up so i am using the little plastic trays you get when you have a chinese takeaway.
10 January 2010, 11:18 AM
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We put out;
Sultanas
No-mess bird seed mix
Suet pellets with insects
Madeira cake
Nyjer seed
Plus anything like left-over cooked potatoes, stale biscuits, crackers etc.
Also, kept a couple of those foil tin dishes as mentioned above for water. Could also put a tea-light or small votive candle in a jar in the bird bath.
It's like Hitchcock's 'The Birds' outside in the mornings. They all wait for me to go out with their breakfast.
Sultanas
No-mess bird seed mix
Suet pellets with insects
Madeira cake
Nyjer seed
Plus anything like left-over cooked potatoes, stale biscuits, crackers etc.
Also, kept a couple of those foil tin dishes as mentioned above for water. Could also put a tea-light or small votive candle in a jar in the bird bath.
It's like Hitchcock's 'The Birds' outside in the mornings. They all wait for me to go out with their breakfast.
10 January 2010, 12:04 PM
#23
We were out walking our dog round the three small lochs near my village and on one of them we saw this swan.
We are going back up this afternoon with some food for it.
We are going back up this afternoon with some food for it.
10 January 2010, 03:53 PM
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Our current feeding program includes the following.
Robin mix.(inc.Mealworms).
General seed mix on table and on feed slabs under tree.
Black sunflower in feeder.
2 Nut cages.
2 Fat *****, and a fat cage with different flavors in.
1 Small Nijer feeder and 1 Large Nijer feeder.
2kgs of sultana's soaked overnight and mixed with warm and wet stale wholemeal bread in the morning at 1st light and at around 14.30 spread evenly over the lawn/snow.
All the bruised/soft apples we can get our hands on from the local shops. (We feed a flock of Fieldfares at the moment).
4 Coconut halves.
All spare meat etc on plates for the foxes and badgers.
In the greenhouse we also have a heated platform I built for the 2 local feral cats in winter. 3/4inch slab of scrap steel on legs with a pile of cushions and a small parrafin heater underneath.
As it stands at the moment we average 25 species a day of the local birdlife inc. the sparrowhawk's and kestral's who use as the local sushi bar!!. Our record is 34 in 1hr.
We also have 2 species of mice living under the feed slabs and are visited by the local water rat from the river occasionally (lovely creature). Also large population of Squirrels that are still active despite the cold.
Water problems are solved by a low wattage pond heater keeping the hole in the Ice, and two shallow trays of water on platforms under the airbricks in the wall (enough heat to keep ice free).
Cost?. About £80 a month direct from a wholesaler. But the self satisfaction for my grandfather is well worth it. We pay for it with a couple of extra jumpers and the heating is set at 17 C.
Anyone requiring tips, you know where I am.
Robin mix.(inc.Mealworms).
General seed mix on table and on feed slabs under tree.
Black sunflower in feeder.
2 Nut cages.
2 Fat *****, and a fat cage with different flavors in.
1 Small Nijer feeder and 1 Large Nijer feeder.
2kgs of sultana's soaked overnight and mixed with warm and wet stale wholemeal bread in the morning at 1st light and at around 14.30 spread evenly over the lawn/snow.
All the bruised/soft apples we can get our hands on from the local shops. (We feed a flock of Fieldfares at the moment).
4 Coconut halves.
All spare meat etc on plates for the foxes and badgers.
In the greenhouse we also have a heated platform I built for the 2 local feral cats in winter. 3/4inch slab of scrap steel on legs with a pile of cushions and a small parrafin heater underneath.
As it stands at the moment we average 25 species a day of the local birdlife inc. the sparrowhawk's and kestral's who use as the local sushi bar!!. Our record is 34 in 1hr.
We also have 2 species of mice living under the feed slabs and are visited by the local water rat from the river occasionally (lovely creature). Also large population of Squirrels that are still active despite the cold.
Water problems are solved by a low wattage pond heater keeping the hole in the Ice, and two shallow trays of water on platforms under the airbricks in the wall (enough heat to keep ice free).
Cost?. About £80 a month direct from a wholesaler. But the self satisfaction for my grandfather is well worth it. We pay for it with a couple of extra jumpers and the heating is set at 17 C.
Anyone requiring tips, you know where I am.
Last edited by SVXNUT; 10 January 2010 at 03:55 PM.
10 January 2010, 05:24 PM
#26
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Foxes and Badgers are only something I can dream of around here. Our house was built only 3 years ago on what was an orchard which was full of wildlife. It seems the building of the houses scared all the wildlife away
We get only the most common birds in the garden such as Sparrows and Doves and Starlings and occasionally a Robin or 2 and a couple of Blackbirds. I have just managed to tempt the Blue **** further into the garden with fat ***** hanging from hanging basket brackets but they will not use the bird box I put up for them or the nut feeder as it is too close to the house. The Starlings however have mastered the nut feeder and empty it all too quickly
I've seen one Woodpecker sit on the fence at the end of the garden and we had the Sparrowhawk last year come down and kill something but that's about it.Foxes are about however the only one I saw was in the 1st month of moving in. A neighbour over the back in a much older house still claims to get Hedghogs in his garden but as ours is almost completely fenced we don't get them even though I left a hole in the fencing in the hedge that runs down the side of the house.
I'd love to have so much more in the garden but as it's fairly sparse in terms of bushes etc and fenced on all but one side with the hedge also having wire fencing in it there isn't much chance of getting more wildlife. Plus the dog likes chasing any birds off when she is out in the garden
10 January 2010, 09:52 PM
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