Garden Feeders.
Since i have lived here i have wanted to put up garden feeders, however i have been very reluctant to because there are so many cats living in the area (at least 6 within my immediate neighbours homes) and i can't stand the thought of them catching & killing the birds.
I have noticed recently (around Christmas time) that there are only now 2 cats living nearby so i decided to go ahead and put feeders up at the start of January 2018 and have been very pleased with the results.
'Rodney' the Wood Pigeon
'Dora' the Collared Dove.
I have even named a couple of the birds (yep finally snapped and gone soft...!!!) Wood Pigeon & Collared Dove are regular visitors to my garden , even before i put up feeders , i also have a couple of Dunnock.
Dunnock.
I regularly have at least 4 Blue Tits & 2 Great Tits visiting the feeders and i am quite hopeful they might breed nearby.
Blue Tits.
There are 2 Robins which are quite possessive of the feeders and are hopefully going to nest in my neighbours shed as they have been regularly checking it out.
Great Tit , Robin & Goldfinch.
I was especially pleased to attract Goldfinch to my feeders , they just can't get enough of the Nyjer seeds , i get anywhere from 4 to 7 Goldfinch everyday.
Goldfinch.
I also see 2 Long Tailed Tits on the fat balls most days , plus i was pleasantly surprised to see plenty of House Sparrows and both ♂ & ♀ Chaffinch , although they don't always tolerate each other.
House Sparrow & Chaffinch not getting on.
Long Tailed Tit.
I see regular Starling's on the feeders and their colours when the sunshine's on them is quite simply stunning to see.
Starling.
One of the highlights of visiting birds to my feeders is without doubt a superb ♀ Blackcap , i have also seen a ♂ Blackcap but that only stays in the foliage (so far).
On suet pie.
♀ Blackcap.
Wren & Goldcrest have both visited my garden , and several Blackbirds made appearances during the recent snow fall.
Wren
Blackbird in the snow
Heavy snow on the feeders.
I have seen plenty of birds fly over the garden such as Red Kite, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk & Ring Necked Parakeet to name but a few, however probably the most unexpected bird i saw sitting on the fence before flying off was a Black Redstart !!!
So to sum it up i have only had my feeders up since January 2018 and have really enjoyed the experience of what they can attract and of course the main thing is it helps the local population of birds (especially through bad weather) to survive .
I have taken part in the Rspb Big Garden Birdwatch for the last couple of years with very little input , hopefully next year my records will be much better.
