Posted by Andy Bate on November 30, 2007 at 6:18 AM
Hi all
I know im prob a bit late but am about to do this years feeding station! Had one last year which lasted about 2 months before it got smashed up.
Just wondered what set ups people use, last year i had a large table about 1ft of the floor with perches all around and a large log with suet smeared all over it. Attracted Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tit, Robin and Woodpecker, however the Green and goldfinches stayed up in the tress looking puzzled! am i best introducing some feeders this time round????
What is everyones prefered option??
Posted by Andy Astbury on November 30, 2007 at 8:21 AM
For Goldfinches Andy the best way is to use a pole feeder for Niger seed and clamp a nice looking twig to the pole just below the feeder.
Greenfinches etc are better using a sunflower feeder but with a perch setup the same way, and you can always find a nice long branch that you can use to bridge the gap between 2 feeders.
I spend all my time trying to keep my feeders out of the shot otherwise I'd post an image for you, but all the small bird images on my site have been done like this.
One thing I'll be trying this back end is a water bath raised up on an old drum so that I can shoot flat across the water surface - if I can keep it free of ice in cold weather it should attract quite a few species, but I need to get it built in next week or so in order for birds to get to know it.
The only problem with suet is that it sometimes sticks to the birds beak and takes a hell of a clone job to remove.
Hope this helps a bit
Posted by Andy Bate on November 30, 2007 at 8:37 AM
Thanks Andy, always helpful as ever!! will try the clamp thingy this time round!
Posted by Dave Sewell on November 30, 2007 at 9:51 AM
Andy,
Something else to consider is an extra long feeder (you can get them to 1.2 metres) so that the birds don't run out of food between your visits.
Dave
Posted by Andy Astbury on November 30, 2007 at 12:02 PM
Just another thought Andy - Droll Yankee feeders if you can get hold of them - very tough, keep the water out and don't block very easily
Posted by Andy Bate on November 30, 2007 at 12:39 PM
Discussion
5 repliesI know im prob a bit late but am about to do this years feeding station! Had one last year which lasted about 2 months before it got smashed up.
Just wondered what set ups people use, last year i had a large table about 1ft of the floor with perches all around and a large log with suet smeared all over it. Attracted Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tit, Robin and Woodpecker, however the Green and goldfinches stayed up in the tress looking puzzled! am i best introducing some feeders this time round????
What is everyones prefered option??
Greenfinches etc are better using a sunflower feeder but with a perch setup the same way, and you can always find a nice long branch that you can use to bridge the gap between 2 feeders.
I spend all my time trying to keep my feeders out of the shot otherwise I'd post an image for you, but all the small bird images on my site have been done like this.
One thing I'll be trying this back end is a water bath raised up on an old drum so that I can shoot flat across the water surface - if I can keep it free of ice in cold weather it should attract quite a few species, but I need to get it built in next week or so in order for birds to get to know it.
The only problem with suet is that it sometimes sticks to the birds beak and takes a hell of a clone job to remove.
Hope this helps a bit
Something else to consider is an extra long feeder (you can get them to 1.2 metres) so that the birds don't run out of food between your visits.
Dave