Competition Time.

[melv16]

I've put up my feeders today. What will be the 1st species of bird to feed on them in the morning?

[Mozz71]

Depends how rural you are. I'll go for an obvious choice. Starling.

[Captain2]

Blue or great tit for me.

We've not taken our feeders down all year melv, do you think they should fend for themselves in the summer months? Must say consumption has doubled in the last three weeks, since it got a bit nippy.

[melv16]

Starlings very rarely use feeders. Try again mozz:-)
They are also very rare where I live.

[melv16]

I've tried feeding in the summer and the food ends up rotting in the feeder. There's also lots of natural feed in my neighborhood.

[Captain2]

Well our lot have let nothing go to waste at all, melv and it's such a pleasure to watch them just outside your windows.

If only I could beat the family of three squirrels and the magpies - greedy things.

[Mozz71]

Oh, there are tonnes of them down here. I'll go for a chaffinch in that case.

[rowanwitch]

Urban.... Great tit
Rural...... Sparrow
Unlucky.... Grey squirrel!

[Tilly2]

Sparrows.

[Hopkirk]

Definitely squirrel

[melv16]

Don't mind the squirrels or magpies. I shot 5 and trapped 3 rats last year

[melv16]

I get very few sparrows in my garden. Goldfinches way out number them.
I put a sparrow nest box up some years ago, only to be ignored.

[Tilly2]

You can have some of our sparrows. We have oodles of them. Cheep, chirp. (and a Sparrow Hawk.)

[melv16]

And the results are in.
1st prize goes to a great tit
2nd robin
3rd goldfinch
Dunnock and woodpigeon are feeding underneath the feeders.

[rowanwitch]

Great tits seem to have inbuilt homing devices for fresh feeders

[hellywelly4]

I found out that it was really worth getting squirrel proof feeders. They do cost more but they are really effective.

[ladybirder]

I keep one feeder loaded with sunflower hearts on offer all year and I can tell you I have a Robin that feeds several times a day. May not be the same Robin every time of course but when I have bothered to check it has always been a female. Occasionally a Blackbird will attempt to feed, usually to be chased off by 2-3 Robins which suddenly appear from nowhere LOL.

[Buenchico]

With the way that the weather's been in Sheffield lately, Melv, I'd have thought that you ought to be seeing penguins in your garden ;-)

[ladybirder]

Helly which SPF's are you using please? I haven't found one that works yet. If they can't run up the pole the little devils leap onto the fence then turn around and leap onto the feeder above the cowl.

[Captain2]

We have what is supposed to be a squirrel proof feeder; took our resident family of three Greys about two months to work out that if one hung in the tree and pulled the bottom of the feeder inwards then No2 could feed off it and No3 could pick ip the spilled ones off the ground. I think they can beat anything given time.

Thanks for BA, Melv.

[melv16]

You're welcome, captain.
Yes Chris, we've had quite a lot of snow up here, nowt compared with the north east and Scotland.