Maureen McCann said

30 May 2008 19:42

I like dandelions and slugs too....indeed most of the wildflowers, I have always thought,

are much prettier than our 'cultivated celebrity status' flowers...not to mention the high prices!!!  On a sunny day, a field of the lovely yellow heads which, close up, look like miniature chrysanthemums can be stunning. As for the slugs I like them.....more providing a plentiful supply of food for our feathered friends.

Which leads me to a serious topic....I discovered that slugs adore eating my cat's left over biscuits...last year after a shower of rain, the slugs came out, and  the left overs had circles of parents and 'babies' munching and enjoying their 'find'...I started putting some out for them!!!!! (have stopped meantime).

HELP QUESTION!!!!     WILL THE BISCUITS IN TURN HARM BIRDS AND OTHER SLUG EATING CREATURES. I know this is your busiest time of year but would appreciate answer ASAP.    Never mind 'Aren't Birds Brilliant'...which they are...so is RSPB and all the Teams.

Maureen McCann said

13 June 2008 18:25

Thanks Katie.....sorry about delay in reply....I have been 'living' with the Loch Garten Osprey Family and have become so caught up in their daily routine that the rest of the world does not exist at the moment!!!!!

Thank you for your advice re slugs...I have submitted question for expert advice.

Lizzie Biolik said

20 June 2008 14:24

Like katie I have song thrushes in the garden. I have laid down planks from an old pallett between the rows of cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli plants. In the morning I turn the planks over  move back behind the hedge and within a few minutes the thrush arrives and carries off the slugs. I have not seen any young ones so far but the blackbird parents are feeding two chicks who follow behind them. I still have a few nibbled cabbage leaves but a wash and trim and they taste fine.

Lizzie biolik

20 june 2008

Joyce Craig said

20 June 2008 16:31

For the past three mornings 2 goldfinches have been coming to my feeder at 05.30, before any of the other birds. This is the only time that they have been seen,whereas for most of the day there is a constant flow of other birds. Is the goldfinch a shy bird and is it common for them to be in the west of Scotland?

Elizabeth Tutton said

21 June 2008 11:44

Last week while at the kitchen sink, one of my favourite places for inconspicuous bird watching, I saw a very rare visitor to MY garden.  It was a male bullfinch.  He was very busy jumping up to the leaves on a hosta plant in a pot.  He stayed for some time feeding furiously.  Needless to say I was curious knowing that the finches are mainly seed eaters.

When he had gone I went to investigate and found that he had been feeding on the unripe seed pods from the violets which have over-run all my pots and spare spaces in my garden and on the lawn.  I was getting a bit tired of violets all over the garden, but now they can stay.  I have seen bullfinches flying out of a hedge some distance from my garden so hope that he was going back to feed young.

franmacbird said

21 June 2008 13:21

I seem to be very lucky with my garden, I think partly due to the location, we have cemetaries lots of parks and local rivers with the Thames not too far away.

I will just list the most often seen birds,  Robin, Black Birds, Starlings, by the dozen,  Dunnock and House sparrow Wood Pigeon, in the spring early summer we have lots of tits Coal, Blue and Great with plenty of young. Some years we have Gold Finch but plenty of Greens, Autumn/winter we have the Ringnecked Parakeets, in early summer they are mostly, I believe raiding the fruit trees in Kent!!

With occasional visits from Sparrow Hawks, and both Lesser Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, the occasional duck and the last two years Jays, add a sprinkling of Magpie, Crow and Rooks, what more could I ask?.

I enjoy photography and as I have a good stock of bird feeders with I hope, something to every birds taste my camera is always snapping away.  I love my monthly newsletter from RSPB always something of interest, and you all do such good works.

bunny said

21 June 2008 23:37

Well, if there are any slugs left in our back garden ,after the frogs have had their fill, the birds are welcome to them. I found sitting patio pots on top of breeze blocks deters the slugs.

But  I was guilty of plucking dandelion heads, and this year went as far as a weedkiller , and we lost all the clover ,daisies, buttercups,shepherds purse,dandelions and others in the back lawn.  Husband was very pleased as back lawn was starting to look more like muddy scrub than lawn, I do have quite a few bare patches too reseed.

Question, do any birds eat the frogs that happily hop round eating our slugs'n'snails?

Last year we had goldfinches nesting in tall fir tree out the front.  This year great (crested ?) (black & white & red cheek patches)woodpecker has been bringing his fledglings round the back where silver birch is. Where we lived before, one year I left all the fallen apples on the ground from the apple tree, and we were rewarded with a field fare who came to stay as  long as they all lasted!

Had to build a retaining wall down the side of our house where the stream is, Dave put in hole for birds nest and it's been used by blue tits both years!  How long till I can cut back the Hazel and trim the tree overhangs without disturbing any late nests?

Thankx

petehutch said

22 June 2008 05:10

The goldfinches in my garden are certainly not shy. They come for sunflower hearts all day and some will come to a feeder with black sunflower seeds less than a foot from my window. They are quite aggressive and will not move for a sparrow or greenfinch.

In contrast coal tits come only for black sunflower seeds and stay for only a few seconds.

Birds eating slugs seems to be a fairly recent development in my garden. It seemed to start during a drought a few years ago when there were no worms to be found for some weeks. Since then blackbirds, robins and song thrushes eat them, but only small ones. I always wondered why thrushes were said not to eat them but were prepared to break open snails.

I have been using copper tape to protect my troughs from slugs for a couple of years. I have now started using slugrings to protect some of their favourite plants. For the first time I have delphiniums in flower this year.

jane smalley said

23 June 2008 15:49

If I could add to Maureen's comment about cat food left overs... I used to put the old 'wet' meaty food out for the hedgehogs & so another cat doesn't come in, but have noticed that the blackbirds come along & pinch it all... much to the disgust of the magpies that aren't quick enough! So I now put it out first thing for them & if they think its gone a bit too dry they go & dunk it in the bird bath!

Janice said

28 June 2008 18:18

Bunny - Often frogs in our pond fall prey to crows and I'm sure the heron that visits occasionally settles for a frog if the fish are hiding successfully. I was really delighted to see a Mistle Thrush on the bird table this week and I'm always pleased to see the Song Thrushes. Sometimes we see Jays, Jackdaws, Sparowhawks, Tree Creepers. We have Nuthatches that come in to feed and a family of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, as well as most of the Titmice and what appears to be the local contingent of Starlings - very noisy, very entertaining.