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[jaypo]

Moved one of my feeders,as that blimmin hawk thing had one trapped inside the feeder again,so I've moved it further into the tree

[CLKD]

Where cats might get a bird   

Take that feeder down for a while?  I've been wandering around wondering where to hang our feeders this year due to a very fast, sharp cat in the area.  She prowls, hides, pounces  .  She'll sit on a branch and reach out to catch !!!!  she's good with mice too.

And looks totally innocent  . 

[Taz2]

Which type of feeder have you got jaypo?

[jaypo]

Well it's one enclosed with bars all the way round but the starlings were still getting into it,so I put chicken wire around the bottom half and the birds learned to just get in from the top half,if it hadn't been there the hawk would've got the birds for sure,OR do you think,they might've been able to escape more quickly if the chicken wire WASNT there?
Clkd,it's a very thorny tree,not sure what it is but the cats seem to leave well alone

[CLKD]

Many years ago I had a chaffinch stuck head first in a wire feeder that had lost the top - I rescued it whilst the puppy was having an early morning P.  That would be 3.00 a.m. then 

[Taz2]

Well it's one enclosed with bars all the way round but the starlings were still getting into it,so I put chicken wire around the bottom half and the birds learned to just get in from the top half,if it hadn't been there the hawk would've got the birds for sure,OR do you think,they might've been able to escape more quickly if the chicken wire WASNT there?
Clkd,it's a very thorny tree,not sure what it is but the cats seem to leave well alone

I think there are a lot of feeders on the market which do trap birds. They probably would have been able to escape quicker without the chicken wire. You will lose a few to the sparrowhawk but that's nature and they all need to feed after all. I love watching my starlings on the feeders knowing they are on the red list so also need our help. Very expensive though! There's a comment here if you scroll down about sparrowhawks learning to trap smaller birds. https://community.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/f/feeding-garden-visitors/279955/is-25x25mm-wire-mesh-suitable-to-allow-smaller-birds-such-as-blue-and-great-tits-maybe-even-bullfinches-to-pass-through-whilst-stopping-larger-starlings

Taz x

[CLKD]

There have been few starlings here in the Midlands  not even nesting in the eaves as during previous years.

Slugs - crawling along the wire covering the ponds then falling in  - need to get the grabbers or net to scoop them out!

Hardly any birds other than a few of this year's goldfinches.

[jaypo]

Taz,one of the replies on that forum,was a feeder guardian,well,that's the one that I put mesh around as the starlings could easily get through the bars,I just used to watch the sunflower hearts disappear before my very eyes  we have LOTS of starlings and blimey do they squabble on that tree of mine .
Lots of sparrows at the moment too

[Taz2]

They do eat a lot! Mine prefer the suet balls to the sunflower hearts. They shift six balls a day. They also love the bird table fodder of any table scraps, left over cat food, grated cheese, digestive biscuits, soaked sultanas. The sparrows love the ordinary seed but also the sunflower hearts. I feed Niger seed too and only the goldfinches and siskins have beaks slender enough to get the seeds out so that lasts longer. I'm late filling up the ordinary seed so I've just noticed that the wood pigeons are eating the suet balls 

[CLKD]

I gave up on nyger seed ........ too messy.  Fat balls.  Sunflower hearts.  Live/dried meal worms.  Don't put out scraps these days due to rats  and a kitten that will eat anything 

[jaypo]

Never thought to get those fat balls,don't mind the starlings feeding on them,much cheaper too,mind you,it is really funny watching them,so determined to work out how to bypass the mesh,they haven't yet jaypo 1 - starlings 0 

[CLKD]

Pigeons clear up under our feeders to a certain degree. 

[jaypo]

Yet more feathers on the grass,I'll have no collared doves left at this rate 

[CLKD]

It's a bird table ......... all birds feed their young.  Nature in the Raw.

[jaypo]

Where do hawks nest? I've lived her for 4 years now and this is the first time I've ever seen a bird of prey,we do have a LOT of trees around here,do they nest in them?