View Full Version : RSPB birdcount
singingcactus
21-01-2010, 09:41 AM
Just went to the patio windows with the kids to count the birds, only to see the kitten swinging from the speedy bird cake, eating it!
Hmm, think we will be entering a zero count for birds this year lol.
little miss chatterbox
21-01-2010, 09:46 AM
oh no!!!!! we made those last night but am struggling to get the string to stay in the cake! what am I doing wrong??
Can't hang it off a tree if the string keeps falling out!
Hope the cat goes away so you can see some birds!
we had peanuts hanging in a bird feeder once and they went down really quickly but I never saw any birds.....the one day I saw a mouse!!!!
venus89
21-01-2010, 10:12 AM
Just went to the patio windows with the kids to count the birds, only to see the kitten swinging from the speedy bird cake, eating it!
Hmm, think we will be entering a zero count for birds this year lol.
:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
I'm doing mine at the children's centre as the birds don't seem to like my cats......
venus89
21-01-2010, 10:13 AM
oh no!!!!! we made those last night but am struggling to get the string to stay in the cake! what am I doing wrong??
Can't hang it off a tree if the string keeps falling out!
Hope the cat goes away so you can see some birds!
we had peanuts hanging in a bird feeder once and they went down really quickly but I never saw any birds.....the one day I saw a mouse!!!!
the string should be knotted and poked through a hole in the yoghurt pot, not attached to the bird cake :idea:
little miss chatterbox
21-01-2010, 10:25 AM
ah! that'll teach me for not reading the instructions properly! I had it in my head that we had to take the cakes out of the yoghurt pot and hang them off the tree so when I did the string came off - dur!!!
singingcactus
21-01-2010, 11:06 AM
I've taken mine out of the yoghurt pot! I had to insert the string with a skewer, but it has taken the weight of my kitty without breaking so is working well.
We have 2 kitties and the birds usually just ignore them, but this year there has been only 2 blackbirds the whole time we've been trying to count :( - my kitties are too thick to bother the birds. The birds just mock them.
venus89
21-01-2010, 11:46 AM
Ah - maybe I'm wrong then! :blush: I'll go check......
venus89
21-01-2010, 11:49 AM
Phew! I'm right - I sent all the mindees off with theirs on the pots!
http://www.rspb.org.uk/youth/makeanddo/activities/birdcake.asp?step=5
We went outside to look for birds in the garden yesterday.
Guess what...............
Not a single one:eek:
Where have they all gone? Do they not like nuts and bird seed anymore?
singingcactus
21-01-2010, 12:17 PM
haha, don't worry about how you do it, no right or wrong. It's just a way to feed the birds :laughing: (or kitties).
I had some left over that didn't fit into the pots I had chosen and have just squished it onto the fence at the back of the yard for the birds who prefer to cling to walls etc, rather than swing to and fro in the wind as they eat. We've put out the left over christmas pudding on the grass for the ground feeders too - bet the kitty tried that grrr. (obviously the pudding is fresh, dh only had it yesterday, forgot we had it in the cupboard)
PixiePetal
21-01-2010, 12:26 PM
I always have lots of different birds in my garden.:thumbsup:
Until last years birdwatch - no one to be seen all day :laughing:
Hoping for better this year
Zoomie
21-01-2010, 01:50 PM
I know the contents of the 'cakes' stick together cos you put them in the fridge, but when you hang them up outside, don't they just fall out of the yoghurt pots ??????????
singingcactus
21-01-2010, 03:12 PM
Still no birds at ours either :( and all the kitties have been away for hours. Lots of lovely bird cake balls, christmas pud and muddy worms going to waste. Those 2 blackbirds I saw this morning have been the only ones all week.
venus89
21-01-2010, 04:29 PM
I know the contents of the 'cakes' stick together cos you put them in the fridge, but when you hang them up outside, don't they just fall out of the yoghurt pots ??????????
No idea :laughing: I really really firmly wedged it in so I don't know.....
Helen Dempster
22-01-2010, 09:20 PM
:ROFL1: :ROFL1: :ROFL1: Oh this made me laugh and laugh - I can just imagine that!!!
My birdcount came to the grand total of zero too...thanks to next doors cat sitting and waiting at the bird table :mad: But we did see a robin at ds school so I might have to add that to my list (just wasn't in my garden) :blush: