Garden and Pond update

The garden pond is very quiet now as the frogs are hibernating and the fish is not as active, though still visible.  It is icing over at night so that is another daily job – breaking up some of the ice to allow air to get in.  If the pump is on overnight, it keeps a clear patch but I am not sure if it is a good idea to have it running all the time.  Although I try and break up the ice in the birdbaths, the birds are also using the pond for drinking and bathing.

All of the following photos are taken through the kitchen window out into the garden so are not as clear as if I had taken them outside.  It is not easy to find somewhere I can stand outside that has a good view of the birds without scaring them off and also where I can stay warm enough to stand still for any length of time!

The peanut butter is still immensely popular.  The only problem I have is the speed at which it disappears….  I mix it with a few seeds both to bulk it up and to make it last a bit longer.

The birds all love having a bath when its freezing cold and as soon as I clear the ice and refill it, they all jump in.

I recently changed my hanging bird feeders as too much seed was being spilled on the ground where it became too wet and had to be thrown away.  Bird food is so expensive now I wanted something with a little tray to catch the seed but not big enough for pigeons to perch on.  The new feeders seem to do the trick although starlings can sit on them comfortably and they tend to eat a lot of seed very quickly.  I have had goldfinch on them and even a coal tit but haven’t taken many photos yet as I never seem to have my camera to hand when they appear.

Although the pigeons have yet to try the feeders, one enterprising Collared Dove has managed to perfect the art of landing on the feeder and eating the seed without falling off.  It even sat on the feeder one day and stopped any other birds from landing!