For those of you having a cold winter

[Von1983]

PLEASE remember our birdy companions that live outdoors!

I buy fat balls, mealworms etc but my AV pointed out something SO obvious it is scary.....

Put the nuts, pellets and seed your fid has disgarded out for the wild birds. He rightly points out that it is the best Christmas present you could give - all that nutrition. It is so hard for them to feed when the winter comes.

I have been melting suet into half a coconut shell with Cal's left overs and ok, some out of her tubs lol and hanging it up.

The birds are literally flocking.

I have one special little tit that comes to the FRONT of the shop every day, so I have to sprinkle some outside the door for him. Today is the 4th day in a row he's been!

It's so easy to get caught up in the rush that is the festive season....spare a thought xxx

 

[nofearengineer]

Sounds like you have a while flock of adopted wild fids you're now taking care of, Von. Great thing to do.

 

[HRH Di]

It's not too cold here yet, well it never gets too cold here, but I've been pretty lax about keeping my bird feeders full. Add that to the fact that the neighborhood squirrels broke into my stash of sunflower seeds...

We have 2 pairs of cardinals that live nearby and several blue jays...of course, flocks of sparrows. All stop by on a regular basis. Once in awhile in the winter, we get a few little chickadees - very uncommon for Texas but they were everywhere in the winter when I was growing up in Montana. I just love those sweet little round birdies!

 

[Von1983]

It's not too cold here yet, well it never gets too cold here, but I've been pretty lax about keeping my bird feeders full. Add that to the fact that the neighborhood squirrels broke into my stash of sunflower seeds...

We have 2 pairs of cardinals that live nearby and several blue jays...of course, flocks of sparrows. All stop by on a regular basis. Once in awhile in the winter, we get a few little chickadees - very uncommon for Texas but they were everywhere in the winter when I was growing up in Montana. I just love those sweet little round birdies!

Those pesky squirrels! Except....I can't help but love them too!

There is a bird called a chickadee? My mum called me that when I was a little girl....still does, actually lol! I never realised it was a REAL bird! I will have to google this - thankyou very much! Sweet little round birds....well, I was a chubby kid

EDIT: They are very sweet! A lot like our black and white tits - like the one visiting daily. He looks sort of bedraggled. I wish I could communicate that he is welcome to move into our house out of the cold to recuperate before heading back out when he feels better lol.

 

[mellykyitus]

i do that too von, with my picky flock there's always something left for the wild ones! i had a bullfinch visit yesterday! xxx

 

[Ratzy]

It's SUMMER down here. Average temp? 28-40 degrees. The corellas are flocking, the kookaburras are hanging about the BBQ area, the local whistling kite, black shouldered kites, wedge-tailed eagles and peregrine falcons are hunting. The starlings are feeding off the paddock, the yellow-rumped thornbills are being bonny and cute, the yellow-tailed back cockatoos are flying overhead and the pacific black ducks are paddling on the dam with the ducklings. Life is good in Summer for a junior ornithologist.

Pity I can't feed the birds, though. A guy in the bird watch club ( elderly guy ) said that we used to get wild budgies feeding on the paddocks so I'll keep an eye out for them.

 

[lisamarie973]

I used to live in North Carolina, when I was there, I had the most amazing bird feeders, bird bath in my super wooded fenced in back yard. I never gave much thought to feeding the wildlife around me, but, my Mother did!! So, when she came to visit, we bought wild bird feed as well as several different types of nuts for the squirrels!! We also had hummingbird feeders as well, which got PLENTY of company from the sweet hummingbirds, during the spring time anyways. Here is a photo of one of the little squirrels enjoying his peanut that we gave him. We would just throw the nuts all over the back yard and they had so much fun retrieving them. We also would put out fresh berries for the birds upon occassion, until the bears decided I put them there for them!!

 

[Von1983]

BEARS LISA????!!!! EEEEEKKKK oh my goodness!

Ratzy, it sounds like heaven over there just now! It is SO cold here and set to get worse! I bought 3 more feeders yesterday to put in the garden beyond our back garden - they can be from you to our birdies lol. I will even write "Love Ratzy" on them for you and take a picture.

I love hearing about all the different wildlife you guys have in other parts of the world.

I can't imagine what it must be like to see a kukaburra or bear out of the window. Magical.

 

[HRH Di]

I've been lax the past couple of years about keeping my feeders up. My hummingbird feeders saw their last season a couple of years ago, and I haven't replaced them yet. However, I have some honeysuckle and jasmine along the fence and the hummingbirds stopped by for those blossoms. Their fierce little things!

Von - I've always loved chickadees and really miss them. The winters were so cold when I was growing up and I'd love to watch them through the window all lined up on a tree limb taking turns at the feeder - they're so polite! And according to Wikipedia, tits and chickadees are the same thing

 

[Von1983]

awwww! That sounds adorable!

There's always a big thing over here in the winter with small sized feeders so that the lil guys can only get access such as sparrows, robins and tits. I always feel sorry for the crows, starlings and pigeons though so I try to cater for them all!!!!

 

[SalsasMom]

here is a chickadee for you i have gazillions of outdoor fids, i go broke feeding them all