Hobbies and Crafts

Not unless there is a surprise heatwave in Cumbria Lesley :-D :-D

kandj you deserve a medal for your perseverance in trying to attract small birds to your feeder :-)

Are you off to a warmer dryer climate Ann?

Jane I hope you are pleased with the work your plumber has done :-) I think a good plumber is worth his weight in gold.....and that's what they normally charge:-D :-D :-D

Lesley x

Starlings, blackbirds, thrushes, collard doves are all loving the berry suet pellets sprinkled on the ground but no little birds at all, so still no interest in window feeder.

Neighbour has suggested currants might attract the little birds, and so these are added to the bread just now. See what tomorrow brings.

Big bird watch is 25/26 Jan. Unfortunately I won't be home to do it

Garden Centres will have plenty of Mealworm I should think.Or if you have a pet shop nearby they probably would.
Have been out a lot of today so haven't really seen what has been gong on Bird wise.I just know they have busy emptying that feeder :-D :-|

Village shop has sold out of dried mealworm and so I have put the berry pellets down until I can find some elsewhere (garden centre perhaps?).

Leslie you must have read my mind, because I wondered if I should move one of the bird baths from the back garden into the front but they are both concrete and mega heavy., so a definate No No for us two golden oldies! I have used an empty ice-cream carton instead. Not quite as ornate but I do use these in the hot weather and the birds love to have a deep bath. Let's see what happens next.

Talking of deep baths Jane. You must be so happy the workmen are finished. Now why does work always cost much more than we budget for??!! Enjoy the peace and quiet now. It's always good to have the place back to yourself after workmen have come to do jobs.

I have the dried worm Kandj and I don't like putting my hand in the bag (yuk) they just look gross.
My Plumber and mate have finished YEAH :-D :-D.Now it is cleaning and some decorating to be done.OH has just started in the downstairs loo.I will leave him to it.
With all the extra pipe work and boarding plus a few other unexpected bits it has cost us an extra £400 :-S.But now everything is done ,until the next problem .Hopefully nothing just yet.
We had a collared dove today .Normally we don't see them in the garden.

OK, many thanks for the two suggestions.
I'll buy some mealworm this afternoon from the garden shop in the village Jane. It will have to be the dried ones as the live wriggly mealworms like maggots make me cringe and give me the creeps.(told you I was a wuss!!).

I will also set up some water Lesley and see what happens next. FIngers crossed for a good result ha ha.

One more idea kandj:-D you say you have bird baths if they are not near your new feeder it might be worth while putting a container of water close by, it hasn't got to be anything fancy;-) what I use is an upturned a flowerpot and put a deep plant saucer on top, the birds don't mind what the water comes in:-D

Great photographs Jane:-D :-D :-D thanks for the link Ann :-)

Lesley x

Lovely Jane. don't worry if it gets full I can always delete but people usually like to see them.

Just a thought Kandj.How about sprinkling some dried Mealworms on the ground near the feeder.That might attract some birds and then they might spot the feeder :-D

Ann that Woodpecker was hilarious.It couldn't have got another bit of food in it's beak lol.We actually had both Male and Female ones visiting that Coconut .I think that photo is one of my favourites out of all my bird pics.

My OH was out on one of his long walks this morning and got a lovely pic of 2 Red Kites.I will forward that on too for you.Please don't think you need to put all on the blog if there are to many.I might just inundate you lol.

Jane, our window feeders are about the same style as I also have a flat roof and a rubber ridge for WHEN (??) the birds decide to come and feed from it.

Ann, the feeder is attached to the lounge window as this is where hubby and I spend most time. This is at the front of the bungalow and I have a thick hedge around a lawn which have always attracted lots of birds. I have used a tin tray on the lawn for years and years and lots of garden birds come several times a day to use my ground feeder.

I'm not convinced that the small amount of traffic from the road is the reason the window feeder is being ignored when we have lots of other birds feeding daily in our front garden for over 40 years without any problems at all..

If I were to change windows, Lesley then the feeder would have to be sited on a window at the back of our bungalow and we would hardly ever see the birds if they should come to use the window feeder.
There is still no interest whatsoever in the bread so the wild birdseed mix will be tried out next week. It just might work? It is worth a try so we shall see.

Hi Jane, your photos are on the blog. I do have to be careful as with the craft blog it did suddenly tell me it was full. But I deleted a few and it seems to have been ok since and not had a problem with the photo blog. Love the photo of the woodpecker, lucky you to have it in your garden.

My feeder is one with 2 suckers and the cut out oval bit in the middle.with a little flat roof bit and rubber strip on the feeding edge.There is also a bit of string that can be secured in the little window just in case the suckers fail.

We have beautiful clear blue sky this morning.I'm hoping the Red Kite might show an appearance.I did see it yesterday.
Ann I have several pics of birds I could sent you for the blog .But don't want to overload you lol.I will have to send them separately as I am not sure about 'attaching '
Told you I was rubbish when it comes to the computer.OH and son are fed up telling me how to do something over and over again :-S

kandj It must be so frustrating for you not having any birds visit your feeder :-( if you haven't had any success by the 26th how about trying another window.

Ann can I have your photo blog addy please.

I remember the news coverage of the Tewkesbury 2007 flooding, how I felt for everyone that suffered and possibly still are suffering from that summers devastation:-(

Lesley x

Kandj if it is at the front of your house could it be that there are people walking past all the time to disturb the birds?

Ann, I'm not sure of the style of Jane's window feeder. The one I bought is a
RSPB window feeder in plastic with 3 suckers which fit well to the window. I thought this was more stable than others with 2 window stickers. The middle section is cut-out and see-through, so we had hoped to be well entertained but we are still ever hopeful and trying to be patient.

Jane, we have well established hedges in the borders of the front garden which provide good cover for our garden birds and they pop in and out and nest there too.
Neighbours either side have trees and across the road is a huge high conifer which we can see is well used by the birds around here.

I did find the Google info very interesting so thanks for that idea. I will continue with the bread for a week and then try some wild birdseed mix for a further week and see what happens then. This will bring us to 26th January and hopefully we will entice the birds to feed and come along to entertain us.
If that doesn't happen, then the feeder will have to go methinks.... watch this space!

We don't go there much but used to shop regularly in Morrisons there until a large new Tesco opened near here.

I'm guessing the problem might be is that there are no trees or bushes near the feeder.
Have you tried Googling to find out why Birds might not visit a Window feeder?.That might be worth a go.

So not far at all from Tewkesbury then Ann.I knew you were near but didn't realise you were that close.

Is yours the same design as Jane's Kandj? I know we once had no success with a smaller one then Janes but I think it has a lot to do with location.

Jane we are about 9 miles from Tewkesbury, maybe not as far as that, about 20 minutes by car. :-)

a dull dark and cold day here today and only really seen doves and pigeons