Mrs B picks up the scraps

A question about : Mrs B picks up the scraps

The starlings had raided the feeding station and as usual they had left a mess behind on the ground below, along comes Mrs Blackbird and picks up some of the scraps

Best answers:

• Over the Winter all i put out each day was cooked rice, i have one, sometimes two pigeons, and sometimes a magpie.
  About a month ago when we were doing that bird count i bought peanuts and wild bird seed, and i looked on line to make hanging feeders with lard; suet; porrdge; the seeds and nuts. But still the only visitors are the pigeons and magpie.
  I've done a wildlife garden although there's nothing much growing at the moment, but in the Summer there were plenty of other birds live around here.
• It takes time to build up your clientelle Sam, the birds need to get to know the food is there and then they will start to show up regularly
• The feeder i made which is similar stuff to a shop-bought fatball, i used a cutdown plastic milk bottle and that's hanging from the garden swing with two bird tables that i made. One of the bird tables, i had a clear plastic dome which was an old lampshade so i made the birdtable with this over it so that the big birds couldn't get in underneath, but i thought the small birds could have the seeds to themselves.
  As you say i'm sure they come in the end.
• We can't compete with our neighbours, who run a permanent bird-buffet.
• I often see the Starlings rifling through the seed and tossing out all the bits they don't want. Thank goodness for Blackbirds, Collared Doves & Pigeons who aren't so fussy, or messy!
• Oh, you are lucky to have collared doves.
  We had three pairs in our holly when we moved here. They've been seen off by the great big bully pigeons. They're like turkeys. I wonder how they manage to fly.
• At my late father's house, we had a cat whose food bowl would sit by the back door.
  On sunny days, the door would be open and the cat would lie out in the warm sun under a tree.
  A female blackbird, with one dodgy wing and an eye for the main chance, would sit on the top of the open back door and, when she thought the coast was clear, would pop down and nick chunks from the cat's bowl.
  Cheeky.