Like all other garden birdwatchers I feed a variety of foods over the winter. I mainline on sunflower hearts with two feeders, one of which is squirrel proof. I also feed niger seed, fat blocks, suet pellets and kibbled peanuts on hanging feeders. Every morning I scatter mealworms and a groundseed mix from Vine House Farm - robin and friends mix if you are interested - not cheap but it all gets eaten and there is no mess. I have recently been feeding out of date mince pies but these are quickly snapped up by the herring gulls. Like most folk I bought a tub of suet balls from a local store, some were eaten quickly others had to be broken up eventually and scattered on the ground for the crows and pigeons. My son was feeding his birds on Home Bargains (HB) fat balls and they seemed to be disappearing at a rate of knots so I decided to try them as well. The difference was astonishing - they went like hot cakes, so now I only put one in the suet feeder and top up with different ones. I quickly noticed that no matter where in the feeder I placed the HB suet ball the birds always went for it first. Observation shows that all four tit species, and blackcaps go there first. If the magpies, rooks, hoodies and jackdaws appear they also do the same. Even the blackbirds which do not usually bother with the suet feeder as they can't really hang on for long will have a go at it. Evidence is below.
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| The HB variety is one from the top and is clearly a different colour! |
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| Great tit and blackcap |
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| Blackcap (F) |
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| Blackcap (M) |
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| Blue tit |
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| Jackdaw |
HB have also started selling suet blocks and they appear to use the same recipe so these are also going fast. They are a different colour, they contain black sunflower seeds, and they do smell different and before you ask, no - I haven't tasted them!! Comments welcome as to why birds go straight to the HB fat balls first.
Recent patch additions are goldcrest in the garden plus lesser black-backed gull, knot and robin at WOW
2024
105: Redpoll
WOW
56: Lesser black-backed gull
57: Robin
58: Knot
NDCP
HB Fat balls are softer and the birds love them. HB also do the harder ones which only attract birds if you crush them. Hope you had a good trip to Northumberland.
ReplyDeleteCracking day out and a new blog in place.
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