[Shannonzico]

hi there,

I recently moved to slightly rural property and really got into feeding the birds for the first time ever!

I have two feeding stations and have gone a little over board with offering, fat balls, seeds, suet blocks, suet pellets, meal worms and peanuts! Its a great set up as there are no cats, a hawthorne bush right behind the feeders that they dash to when scared and a huge tree hanging right over it, then on the over side of the road is a huge woodland where alot of them fly over from.

Its a constant hive of activity, with lots of regulars. Blue tits, great tits, chaffinches, robins, house sparrows, dunnocks and every morning and evening a female and male greater spotted wood pecker pay a visit! Once in a while a green finch pops by but not often, and a Jay has been spotted twice but quickly flew away. Sadly we also have a few naughty rats that hang round the bottom of the feeders and today i had my first visit from a squirral, which suprised me as we only have the one huge tree and it means it would of had to cross a busy road to get over here.

Anyways, i have a few questions that i wonder if someone could help me with.
First and foremost, jackdaws are annihilating my suet blocks in less than a day! i can't afford to feed 7 a week but i dont want to stop putting them out as its the only thing the woodpeckers like, any ideas on how to stop them?

Secondly, what can i do to attract more birds?

and thirdly, there is this little bird who keeps popping by, its very skittish and i cannot find it in any of my bird books. I was pretty sure it was a young great tit but i've looked them up online and it doesn't look like the pictures i've seen. I haven't managed to catch a photo yet as it is so skittish but i shall try to describe it, It's got the head of a great tit, with black and white stripe and of a similar size but its body is the wierd bit, its tiny! Probably the size of a blue tit and its head look humungous on it, i cant really remember what its body colouring is but i shall try and get a photo or remember its colours next time i see it, but makes me think of a blue tit crossed with a great tit!

thank you to anyone whose got through this epic post!

[bongofury]

Your location and set up sounds great and you are attracting some good birds. I have GSWs visiting too and they will only eat fat cake. The Starlings eat most of it before the woodies get a chance and I haven't got a solution yet.

As for your unknown bird, could it be a Coal Tit?

Have you got a nijer seed feeder? This might bring you Goldfinches, Siskins and perhaps Redpolls, particularly during the colder months. You need a specific feeder for the seed as its very fine.

[ClarkWGriswold]

My first thought was the same as Bongofury - Coal Tit

Rich

[Shannonzico]

Thank you for your replies.

Yesterday i was horrified to witness a rat catch and kill a dunnock, i wasn't quick enough to stop it :( i had no idea rats would catch the birdies!

I've moved my feeders away from the hedge out into the middle of my garden, the birds aren't impressed but the rats dont like it out in the open so i'm hoping they won't be able to catch any more of the ground feeders.
Does any one have any idea how to make this hedge an unfriendly inviroment for the rats, i live in the countryside so wont ever get rid of them but i'm hoping to move them along some how ?
I won't poisen anything due to my morals, and live traps wont make a difference as we are in the country so i'm hoping theres a way just to make their favourite areas unpleasent ?

[Val & Rex]

Hi Shannonzico
Agree with the coal tit,as for the rats The best and safest way is an air rifle we are lucky we have the best rat catchers visit us every night. http://rexgrant.webs.com/apps/photos...toid=156800820 we never see a rat
Regards
Rex.

[Shannonzico]

sorry i should of made it clearer, i'm a strict veggie who used to keep rats as pets and theres no way i could kill or harm the rats in any way.

Other than the catching of the bird they aren't causing us problems at all so i just want them to move along a little away from the bird feeding areas!

[Val & Rex]

Originally Posted by Shannonzico

sorry i should of made it clearer, i'm a strict veggie who used to keep rats as pets and theres no way i could kill or harm the rats in any way.

Other than the catching of the bird they aren't causing us problems at all so i just want them to move along a little away from the bird feeding areas!

Hi again Shinnonzico
Sorry to say that you will have to accept the rats catching the odd bird just feel lucky its not
Best of luck
Rex.

[kennethwfd]

Originally Posted by Shannonzico

sorry i should of made it clearer, i'm a strict veggie who used to keep rats as pets and theres no way i could kill or harm the rats in any way.

Other than the catching of the bird they aren't causing us problems at all so i just want them to move along a little away from the bird feeding areas!

I have the policy of "live and let live", but the wild brown rat is different to the domestic rat. Brown rats are very destructive, they have a fetish for plastic, and both my car and I know of two other cases where a rat has caused a lot of damage to the wiring.

Last year a friend was rearing some goslings, a rat broke into the shed, then their pen, and killed the lot.

They are carriers of leptospirosis (Weill's disease) which can affect dogs and humans, which is one reason why dogs have to be inoculated every year.

These are not just wild animals co existing. Human's dirty habits such as treating the countryside as a cross between a skip and a toilet has led to a large increase in their population