30 Days Wild - Day 2 Birdfood Cocktail

Another indoor day for us today but, thanks to the weather cancelling our bat survey tonight, at least we've got chance to fill up the bird feeders at home.
Our little corner of South Yorkshire isn't particularly well endowed when it comes to garden birds, but that won't stop us!
First first stop for any wannabe garden birder is obviously bird feeders.

We try and tailor our home made seed mix to the tastes of our regular avian visitors:

For the sparrows,coal tit, blue tit and starlings a mix of suet pellets and sunflower seed (with and without shells).
For the goldfinches, niger seed in it's own special feeder, although they seem to prefer the sunflower hearts these days. 

For the rest; blackbirds, dunnock, collared dove, wood pigeon and the occasional magpie, they get what the others throw onto the floor!

We also put out suet balls and suet cake too which they all seem to use as a backup when the cocktail feeder runs out.

The pond seems to be a big draw for the birds too, the blackbirds particularly enjoy a bath in the shallow end.

Although it's not scientifically proven, we think we've made a difference in the last few years, the house sparrows being a fairly recent return after several years absent. We also get starlings nesting in the soffits on the front of the house; they've already had 1 brood fledge this year.

A site day for us tomorrow so hopefully we'll be able to post something a bit more out of the ordinary.