..do i need anything else ?

[justsomeoneelse]

hello all,
ok, i have a triple feed (peanuts/all-season seed mix/meal worms) birdtable with a suet cake hanging from it on the left handside of the garden, i have three seed feeders (niger, sunflower hearts and all-season seed mix), a peanut feeder, and two suet cake hangers on the right handside of the garden, and various other treats dotted around, oh, and birdbath... is this enough, is it over-kill, or is it a case of more food options the better ?

what do you others have feed/feeder wise ? apart from the intial outlay, its costing a fair amount each fortnight topping up the feeders... oh, and costing a lot of time scrubbing all the 'mess' away !

am i doing the birds harm by making them lazy ? the lawn used to be covered in birds listening for worms, now they just seem to all wait on the fence until i fill the meal worm pot up ! do birds over eat ? do they know when to stop ? i appreciate once you start feeding birds you shouldn't stop, but i don't want no phone call from various authorities being blamed for making birds podgy !


justsomeoneelse

[dorte]

Doesn't nature just sort of sort that out? I.e. when plentiful food around natures creatures breed more and more creatures survive, when less food they don't and more die?

How much fun is it tho' to put out the live mealworms (mine go in a weighted container on top of shed, it seems cat safe ther at the moment) and then sit with your cuppa and watch!

My shed reminds me of one of those big ships with planes (too early in the mmorning to remember tech term). 5 mins after container has been placed the dunnocks & sparrows (yes - they are both sparrows, but i can never remember which is which tree /house?) come in like little planes from all sides, land, have a quick check around for predators, hop to the container, tilt their little heads (I leave the stuff the worms come in, is that safe for the birds) stuff their beaks and take off to feed their babes...... and then the next lot comes in........ 20 mins later a tub of 40-50 worms has....... gone:o