Bird Food

[The Mad Monk]

We have fed the birds in our garden in Surrey for a number of years.

Fat balls, nuts and seeds. The fat balls were the most popular, followed by seeds and then nuts. All sorts of birds, tits, sparrows, starlings, woodpeckers, the lot. About two weeks ago the numbers dropped dramatically, all we see now are a few tits. Any idea why this might be?

I appreciate there is scope for a few schoolboy jokes, but I have avoided them.

Any one got any serious answers what might be the reason for the absence of birds?

[55palfers]

This time of year there will be rich pickings of natural food in the hedgerows and fields.

[P700DEE]

Other sources of food in the neighbourhood. We feed the birds but they prefer our neighbours. We can tell if they have gone away as suddenly three fat balls a day disappear!

[Zirconia]

I find the birds are fickle. One certainty is the hedge full of sparrows now they have it mapped. Not always full through the day but it is on their rounds and some days the hedge is full of them and the nippers as the are shown the ropes. On the odd occasion they are not around.

Starlings are usually on my aerial every morning waiting for the feeder to be filled. The several during the day, they seem to flit around. Bluetit nested and fledged then never saw them again. It was constantly feeding off the fat cakes after the little uns hatched.

Never had the complete absence.

[Henryhall52]

55palfers said:

This time of year there will be rich pickings of natural food in the hedgerows and fields.

Hence the appearance of so many spiders too..
Coincidentally is anywhere else seeing a larger than normal amount of dragonflies ?