Bird table ???.

[samboy]

Hi gang.

             Put a bird table in my back garden on Wednesday,  got fat balls, and various seeds on it but iv'e only seen one sparrow on it.  Bit odd me thinks.

[Ultrastu]

Its spring .

Birds have better things to do right now  

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Is the wood preserved with anything?

[Dave at kelton]

Takes sometime for them to get used to it.

[moondoggy]

The birds in Essex are not used to eating from a table 😂

[JohnfromUK]

8 minutes ago, Dave at kelton said:

Takes sometime for them to get used to it.

/\  This

 

[samboy]

1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Is the wood preserved with anything?

Got something on it but i dont know what. Doesn't smell.

[amateur]

1 hour ago, Dave at kelton said:

Takes sometime for them to get used to it.

We found the same after we got back  from a long  holiday, because they had not been fed from our table for a while.

It would take at least a week for them to come back.

[JKD]

1 hour ago, Dave at kelton said:

Takes sometime for them to get used to it.

This,,,,

1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Is the wood preserved with anything?

Most bought bird tables etc have preservatives on, nest boxes too,,,, doesn't put birds off at all.

1 minute ago, amateur said:

We found the same after we got back  from a long  holiday, because they had not been fed from our table for a while.

It would take at least a week for them to come back.

This also,,,, our bird feeding station is mega busy, but if we don't put feed out for even a day or two it goes all quiet,,,, until they find it again, and then it's mega busy again,,,, any time of year 👍

So basically, give it time and the birds will find it 😉

[Westley]

I was going to put one in my garden but you have me a bit worried now.  Were the fat balls a reaction to the wood preserver on it do you think   ?     🤔

[billytheghillie]

I made bird boxes from old pallets and the birds didn't use them, a friend told me to put some chimney soot in them to neutralise the preserve, wood stain, worked a treat.

[samboy]

56 minutes ago, Westley said:

I was going to put one in my garden but you have me a bit worried now.  Were the fat balls a reaction to the wood preserver on it do you think   ?     🤔

On;y 2 out of the 3 of them lol.

[harkom]

3 hours ago, moondoggy said:

The birds in Essex are not used to eating from a table 😂

Perhaps the fat balls are off-putting for Essex birds?

🤔.......er..??

[Dougy]

Im getting a couple of woody's on mine at the mo, amongst the other mixtures of Sparrows Robins, Blackbird, Ive even had Green woodpecker in the tree's, and unfortunatly for one Blackbird  the odd sparrowhawk

I dont put much out this time of the year, winter time there is a good variety of seeds, grubs home made fat balls. 

i watched tit;s this morning picking up dog hairs for nesting, and a robin nesting somewhere, cant find it yet. 

Edited April 20, 2020 by Dougy
Incorrect bird, changed from Kestrel.

[chrisjpainter]

Have you got a photo of where it's sited? I'm almost certain it's just the time factor. They will probably get there as is it's a bone-idly easy meal! but just in case it's something else, a picture of where it is might help

[samboy]

10 hours ago, chrisjpainter said:

Have you got a photo of where it's sited? I'm almost certain it's just the time factor. They will probably get there as is it's a bone-idly easy meal! but just in case it's something else, a picture of where it is might help

Dont know how to put photo's up, will have to find out.

[Mice!]

11 hours ago, Dougy said:

and unfortunatly for one Blackbird  the odd Kestrel. 

So did the kestrel take the blackbird then? Didn't know they would take birds.

11 hours ago, chrisjpainter said:

Have you got a photo of where it's sited? I'm almost certain it's just the time factor. They will probably get there as is it's a bone-idly easy meal! but just in case it's something else, a picture of where it is might help

I was going to say this, my bird table is deliberately small with a roof so nothing bigger than a blackbird goes on it really, and its positioned so the birds can dive in and out of cover making them feel safer.

Your best bet at the moment is sunflower hearts or grubs if you want to see the birds coming and going,  I've got green and gold finches on my Niger seed as well for the first time ever. 

[chrisjpainter]

1 hour ago, samboy said:

Dont know how to put photo's up, will have to find out.

If you can get them onto a computer it's pretty straightforward When you start a reply in PW, you see a caption 'Drag files here to attach, or choose files' in the bottom left. If you click choose files you can get it straight out of the folder you've put it in. Or, for expediency if that doesn't work for you, drop me an email with it attached and I'll put it up on here. I've sent you a pm with my email address in it, should you need it

[The Heron]

18 hours ago, samboy said:

Hi gang.

             Put a bird table in my back garden on Wednesday,  got fat balls, and various seeds on it but iv'e only seen one sparrow on it.  Bit odd me thinks.

Reminds me of the time I was in the pet shop with my mother in law she was in her late eighties and asked the man behind the counter if he had got fat balls it must have taken him half an hour to stop laughing. 

[Dougy]

3 hours ago, Mice! said:

So did the kestrel take the blackbird then? Didn't know they would take birds.

 

You are correct, i was wrong,it was a Sparrowhawk. 

 

 

[NatureBoy]

Kestrels will take birds at times. Mainly small and young birds. I have seen them take well grown young black birds. I have also seen blackbird fight off a sparrow hawk in my garden. Twice! Didn't look to good after (kinda half plucked). But it survived and carried on raising young. Got a bling jackdaw staking out my garden at mo.Ring on right leg. Keep feeding the birds! if they are taking food. We are still in the hunger gap and a lot are struggling with it being so dry. My feeders are very busy and need topping up daily. Important to put water out to if none near by. DO NOT! feed bread this time of year! Young birds can choke on it and it to dry for them. . . . Blackbirds nest i didn't know of in garden hatched out this morning  . . . . No turtle doves yet.              NB         

[Mice!]

29 minutes ago, Dougy said:

You are correct, i was wrong,it was a Sparrowhawk. 

 

 

Thought it was strange 😊

2 minutes ago, NatureBoy said:

Mainly small and young birds. I have seen them take well grown young black birds.

I can understand them taking chicks and smaller birds, just didn't imagine them taking on a blackbird. 

[samboy]

943425-import-history.log

[chrisjpainter]

Well, personally, I think that's well placed. It's pretty close to the hedge to give birds protection, but exposed enough for birds to be able to see it either from the air or other trees around. Time is almost certainly the key. 

Right now, a lot of birds are feeding on invertebrate larvae, fattening themselves up and their chicks. But you'll hopefully get seed eaters coming in and after the breeding season, fledglings will like a dead easy meal to get their bills into. once a few start, the rest will get the hang of it. They need to just recognise it's a) food and b) safe!

Edited April 20, 2020 by chrisjpainter

[NatureBoy]

3 minutes ago, Mice! said:

Thought it was strange 😊

I can understand them taking chicks and smaller birds, just didn't imagine them taking on a blackbird. 

Kestrels probably not take on many adults. But i have seen even good size young blackbirds taken by kestrels and crows etc. While it's so dry there's less worms beetles and grubs etc. Seen magpies and jackdaws knock them out of the air and kill them. Just like all the crow family and sparrow hawks will work a hedge or border in pairs. flushing young and looking for nests. Usually one above and  the other in flushing. When predators got growing young to feed they will really up there game. That's why they time there nesting to that of there prey having young in nest and fledgeing.  A lot nests seem to get cleared out by these predators and cats just before the young fledge. It when the parents are less cautious, busy feeding and the young more vocal. 75-80% do not make the first year. Approx 60% of predators don't either.    .Rooks will take eggs and young to though a lot of folk will say they don't. Certainly when it's dry and food in short supply. They had young ducklings and eggs my way this year.  NB