Feed the birds scraps!

The pros and cons of feeding the birds!

It’s always a soothing experience to watch a little blue-tit slip between the bars of the ‘ball feeder’ without so much as a shiver of a wing! He doesn’t stay for long, does a circuit on the floor of the feeder and although he’s quite safe, exits the open ‘windows’ as smoothly as he entered!

Blue-tits, Great-tits, Chaffinches, one or two Goldfinches and Robins have dined at our everyday-nothing-special-but-food-anyway ‘featherstaurant’!

The cons are when the Pigeons, Blackbirds and even the lovely Song Thrush come to dine, but find they’re like giants in Lilliput and have to make do with the crumbs under the table. The Pigeons are the biggest culprits in protesting strongly by fouling the patio beneath the feeders! Yuch!

So it was time to give them their own-sized featherstaurant out of the way of the patio and the BBQ!

Scrap wood was easily hammered together (thanks to a kind non-DIY hubby!), given an edge and chained ready to hang …. somewhere!!  The only suitable place, for now, until we’ve cleared a bit more of the jungle, was from the old rusty swing frame which had formed a secret entrance to the deep dark jungle!  It hangs a little low, but with nice sunny weather and clear days, the bundu-bashing and jungle clearing will continue and hopefully reveal the ideal tree branch.

Of course, Murphy’s law – I’ve run out of birdseed!!

The Song Thrush was the first – and only – to try out the breadcrumbs and only stayed a couple of seconds. So I did some research to see what other kitchen scraps can be fed to birds – a surprising variety it appears!

Pastry, cooked and uncooked!

Citrus fruit! (Fished the half mouldy Clementine out of the bin!)

Grapes, Melon rind, Apples, Pears, Banana

Peanut Butter

Raisins, Sultanas etc soaked in water.

Baked and Mashed Potato! (not that there’s any left on our plates!)

Unsalted meat!
Cheese grated
Uncooked Porridge Oats!

Yes, I had some left over uncooked pastry! So bits of that went into an Aunt-Bessie-Yorkshire-Pudding-foil-container and was thumb-tacked to the table.

Yes, I have some raisins and sultanas. Soaked them in water and they went into a Peanut Butter jar lid thumb-tacked to the table.

Birds-eye view!

And yes, the other half of the mouldy Clementine fished out of the bin cut into tiny pieces and put in the lid of a Smash (instant mashed potato) tin and thumb-tacked to the table.

And yes, there’s always peanut butter in the cupboard, so some smeared to the side of the bird-table should do the trick.

The Open sign is up…….

...... well either they have a bird-watch and disappear as soon as I look outside, or I just simply miss them, but when I went out to photograph some extras, I took the crust of bread to top up and found ...... 

.... the raisins & sultanas all gone!!

And the Song Thrush was watching

Not a clear pic at all but the Song Thrush is on a branch in the top left quadrant, just her head and shoulders!

Give them time and tomorrow, maybe a little cheeeeese!!

Thursday update!
Soaked raisins are obviously the favourite! In less than an hour the lid was empty this morning!  During the night the Clementine fruit pieces and the uncooked pastry were eaten - by what, I don't know! I think the Starlings have cottoned on to more free food as three or four of them were being smartly marched away from the table on the shed roof by a strident Blackbird this morning!

This morning's menu is grated cheese, soaked wholewheat bread, and soaked raisins - which are gone already! Glad the featherstaurant is being utilised!