Nice spot of lunch for a Blackcap..

[Ruby]

Seems that quite a few people have Blackcaps over-wintering in their gardens this year, and I thought I'd pass on a feeding tip that I recently discovered by accident....

In my garden at least, the fruit eating birds seem to be really possessive and aggressive - I put out plenty of apples, but the poor old Blackcap is at the bottom of the food chain, getting chased from one apple to the next by the Blackbirds and Fieldfares.

Last weekend, we had half of a manky old melon left over, that was definitely past its best, so I thought "Give it a whirl..." and speared it on a vertical branch in our Forsythia.

Well - the Blackcap loved it, but nothing else did..... Result, one happy Blackcap who had uninterrupted snacks for the next 3-4 days.... :bounce:

[AnnieW]

Thanks for that idea - I have quite a few blackcaps, but like yours they are generally at the end of the pecking order. Next time I have some spare melon, I'll give this a go !!

[Elizabeth Bigg]

Very rarely see blackcaps here, but having seen what niger can do for goldfinches and siskins, I'll put one on my shopping list. What sort of melon do you recommend?

Fruit is not popular here - I occasionally put out an apple, and it stays there for ages. I even hung some with wires from a tree last year - but they were left to dry out.

[Ruby]

Hi Elizabeth,

It was just a regular old yellow melon.... Not sure that I'd bother though unless you have a problem with other birds chasing the Blackcaps away from the apples etc.

[Michael Frankis]

Nice tip thanks, tho' I don't need it - still masses (thousands!) of ivy berries on the ivy-covered tree in my garden. Plenty for Blackcap, Blackbirds and Wood Pigeons alike.

Michael

[Ruby]

Crikey Michael - Our ivy berries are only barely starting to come ripe down here - I would have expected it to have been a bit later up in the 'frozen north'

Have to say that the birds are only showing a passing interest though - They're obviously pampered I reckon...

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Ruby,

Strange - 'my' Blackcap's been eating them for over a month now. Maybe I'm lucky, but the ivy up here has a very long, staggered ripening season, early or mid January to April. It's a brilliant plant for birds, incredibly prolific with berries. The Wood Pigeons start on it even before they're ripe, back in November, yet it is still loaded even now. Lovely thick cover to hide in, too.

Michael

[Ruby]

Hmm.... Maybe different kinds of ivy with different maturing times??

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Ruby,

Could well be; mine's ordinary Hedera helix, but there are several others fairly common in cultivation (H. hibernica, H. colchica, H. canariensis, etc).

Michael

[Graham S]

Blackcaps seem to be on the move? On the weekend I had my usual male and female, today I had 3 females fattening up on the sunflower hearts.

[modern_min]

The blackcap in our our garden is certainly not at the bottom of the pecking order. He chases all the other small birds away from the feeders, including greenfinch, great, blue, coal and long-tailed tits, and sparrows. I did notice he didn't take on the blackbird, though. Its a bit of a shame, really. It was nice to have him here, but I want the other birds as well!

The feeders are in a dense shrub, with a lot of spiky rose scrambling through it. This is a bit like the places they nest. Surely he isn't defending a potential nest site?

[Andy Bright]

The blackcap in our our garden is certainly not at the bottom of the pecking order. He chases all the other small birds away from the feeders, including greenfinch, great, blue, coal and long-tailed tits, and sparrows. I did notice he didn't take on the blackbird, though. Its a bit of a shame, really. It was nice to have him here, but I want the other birds as well!

The feeders are in a dense shrub, with a lot of spiky rose scrambling through it. This is a bit like the places they nest. Surely he isn't defending a potential nest site?Hi Modern-Min, welcome to birdforum from all the staff here, hope you enjoy the site.
All winter I have been bemoaning the lack of Blackcaps, then a female turned up a coupe of days ago and has been munching through the apples... seeing off the Blue Tits at any opportunity.

I haven't a problem with the Blackcaps chasing off the other birds... There's plenty of other food available for them.

regards,
Andy

[helenol]

Had a female blackcap recently, she was even seen on the feeders! (sunflower hearts). Never seen that before.

[Ruby]

...photo taken Friday....

Spooky!!

[luke]

...photo taken Friday....

Spooky!!

nice pic
the greenfinch outside looks as if its thinking well how did it get in there?

[Kiscokid]

Helen - also had the blackcap on the bird table yesterday getting stuck into the sunflower hearts.....still prefers the mouldy apple though and gets first option on that as none of the others will touch it !

[helenol]

still prefers the mouldy apple though and gets first option on that as none of the others will touch it !
I'm not surprised the others wont touch it - a mouldy apple! ;)

Try Wycombe market on a Fri or Sat at the end of the day, they may be able to sell you some apples on the cheap.

Regards

[helenol]

...photo taken Friday....

Spooky!!
Just noticed this pic. Maybe she had a word with the Chilterns blackcaps about the sunflower hearts ;)

On a more serious note, not seen the female for a couple of days now.