It has been a busy month in my garden, with lots of new feeders and the birds taking full advantage of all the different foods on offer. With my cameras live streaming on the CJ Wildlife website, there has been a lot of interest in all the different species that are now regular visitors. I have had some lovely emails from visitors to the site who have said how much they are enjoying being able to watch all the wildlife that visits here. This is particularly the case when people do not have the chance to have feeders themselves, or for people who have had to move to sheltered accommodation and can no longer have bird feeders. It is always lovely to hear from those who watch my cameras, not only across the UK, but in other countries as well!
There are a number of feeding stations, 3 of which are on the PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) camera, which means that I can move the camera around. Sometimes you will see it trained on 3 pole mounted feeders. In the right hand feeder is a mix of sunflower hearts and black sunflower seeds. In the left hand feeder, is the CJ no-mess seed mix and a cylindrical fat bar is in the centre.
You will see a wide variety of species here regularly including: Blue tit, great tit, coal tit, long-tailed tit, greenfinch, goldfinch, chaffinch, bullfinch, robin, blackbird, jackdaw, wood pigeon, nuthatch and great spotted woodpecker.
If I am at my desk, I can zoom in with this camera….
I also have a CJ Wildlife fat-based feeding station viewable from the PTZ. This has a large cylindrical fat bar peanut cake in a holder that provides excellent perching opportunities, especially when you have loads of long-tailed tits! You can also see the Longford peanut butter feeder that holds 3 jars of special bird peanut butter and has a guard to keep of the larger species and the squirrels! You can also a metal squirrel feeder in the background! The aim of this is to convince the squirrels to feed there rather than on my bird feeders!
This high energy feeding station is very popular with one of my most favourite of birds; the long-tailed tits who arrive in a flurry of twittering , like little feathery lollipops and cover the feeders before flitting off to their next stop. The other members of the tit family also love this food as it provides a high energy boost in the cold weather. I strongly recommend feeding such foods if you can.
The PTZ cam is sometimes trained on my feeding platform. Most of the species mentioned before can be seen here too…
One of the many advantages of having a sponsor, is that I get to try out lots of different bird feeders and get to trial the new ones! For someone obsessed with bird feeders, this is rather wonderful!
CJ have just bought out a range of feeders made from recycled plastic (HDPE). The environmentally friendly material is frost-resistant, UV Stabilised – so it will not discolour, offers protection against squirrel damage and will not rot. In turn, they can also be recycled. They are also guaranteed for 5 years.
I have come across feeders in this material before and I must admit, I love it! It looks good and the longevity of it really appeals to me.
This is the Matterhorn Seed feeder and I certainly like the look of it. It is sturdy and well made. The roof is hinged for easy filling and the base has a perforated metal mesh. The clear panels and the mesh can be removed, making it really easy to clean. The birds can feed from both sides of the seed tray, but the two additional side ports create even more space. #gallery-17112-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-17112-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-17112-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-17112-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
It took about 5 minutes for a blue tit to check it out. As the day progressed , more visitors came to check it out and I think it will be a very popular addition to my growing collection! It can be purchased from the CJ website HERE #gallery-17112-2 { margin: auto; } #gallery-17112-2 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-17112-2 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-17112-2 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
Most of you will be familiar with my snack bar camera, but some people have asked what the birds are coming to feed from. This week, I set a temporary camera up on the outside of the snack bar, so you can get a birds’ eye view of this feeding station! It was actually really nice to watch the birds visiting from a different angle! #gallery-17112-3 { margin: auto; } #gallery-17112-3 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-17112-3 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-17112-3 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
My fox cam is really becoming popular and is worth checking it out early evening when I put some food out. Feeding dried dog biscuits, I am attracting up to 4 different individuals now and we are getting some cracking views. This week, I got some clips of a vixen and a dog feeding tougher. The dog foxes tend to be bigger and a chunkier frame, with a thick neck. The vixens are smaller and more delicate looking. #gallery-17112-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-17112-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-17112-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-17112-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
With numerous individuals visiting, there can be times when there are some fights…..
I was working at my PC this week and the dog fox appeared at 3.30 in the afternoon!
On top of these cameras, my mammal box is also giving excellent regular views of wood mice and bank voles, both in the day and at night.
I can guarantee, there is always something to see, so pop in to take a look…. and if you see something interesting, do let me know! Just make a note of the time. All my cameras record 24-7, so I can always go to playback to find what you spotted!