I feed the birds all year around but am finding I am filling up my feeders practically everyday during this weather each day I check them they are empty....
I also buy the cheap loaves from tesco and feed bacon rind,  fruit, fat balls  etc but cant seem to cover it ..it never seems enough

Anyone give me idea of what else I can safely feed ...its costing me a fortune ..LOL

My local pet shop has sold thousands of pounds worth of wild bird food over the last two months, and is constantly running out. I bought wild bird seed and suet pellets a few days ago and they have almost gone.

I've also added bread, currants & raisins and stale biscuits and we have been hosting Starling Parties in mum's little back garden for the last few days, up to 30 at one time..... which is a lot in a small back yard! Not to mention the difficulty of keeping my cat in, and preventing my dog from scoffing the lot. (Food not starlings!! lol).

The RSPB site has some good ideas for food you can give, I looked on there for advice myself.

If you know anyone with a Batleys account then their own brand wild bird food is less than £8 for a 20kg bag. I also save all the fat from the george foreman, and buy cheap tescos beef dripping, mix it all together with any left over bread and some seed and split into old takeaway tubs to make my own cheap fat trays.

For anyone else reading this thinking about feeding the birds please remember that water is very important too at this time of year. I'm putting fresh water out several times a day as it freezes so quickly!

PS: this was what I was looking for -
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/whatfood/scraps.aspx

I gave the starlings last week's leftover lamb stew yesterday, and they went beserk for it! Good ideas here for using up leftovers to feed birds.

I should also say that many people are seeing a much different selection of birds coming in - my mother usually has sparrows, blue tits, blackbirds and the occasional wren, and also the local Jackdaws when she throws bread onto the shed roof. It's the starlings who are starving hungry here at the moment - the rest have vanished, but they are literally fighting over what they can get here. I don't mind, they are obviously desperate, and there's a lot of them. They are also very wary of coming into a small enclosed garden where they can - I'm sure - sense there's a resident dog & cat. They take ages to scope out the garden and come in but when they do it's like watching feathered piranhas! :)

yes been scrapping out the fat off cooking and freezing it to harden up and putting it out , will buy the dripping never thought of that.
I know the water freezes so quickly..

Will take a look att he rspb site thanks..

Thanks for reminding me about water but it's been impossible here for the last few weeks, it freezes in an hour or less. See my edit to post above. It's easy to see which species are the most desperate.

I always feed the birds and like the others having been going through loads but know it's so important to keep feeding.

I left my sunflowers to die off and the other day on the three sunflowers I had a cockatiel ( have loads of wild ones) on either end and a robin feasting in the middle, wish I'd had the camera.

My mum has fed the garden birds for years.... but there's also been a very nasty ongoing problem here with rats, which have come into the house, so she has had to stop putting out regular seed & feed.

She will throw leftover bread and stuff onto the shed & garage roof where it's taken immediately by jackdaws etc, but sadly any food in the garden isn't allowed any more.

At least in this snow, we're getting a good feeling from helping the birds temporarily, and it's being taken up very fast.

> Thanks for reminding me about water but it's been impossible here for the last few weeks, it freezes in an hour or less.

I know, I put out a dish of luke warm water when it gets light and then bring it in and defrost it as often as I remember through the day, I've seen a lot of birds drinking (and even bathing!) so I think melted water is a rare commodity at the moment.

Fat, any solid fat -The highest calorie source you can give them.
At a pinch solid cooking fat bought in blocks from supermarkets, or now's a good time to empty the deep fat fryer.

I agree with the water, the birds are hammering at the ice.

We have a regular pheasant (plus the odd one or two) so I always leave some seed on the ground ,- but the other day there were twelve under the bird table :)

Daisy

I've sent that link to hubby. We started feeding birds when we moved in here, have had to get more sturdy feeders thanks to the squirrels, but the peanuts in particular are proving very popular. And yesterday when we left the garage door open for a minute a robin flew in! Luckily he flew out again though. Only problem is, when the birds drop bits of fat balls and peanuts etc my horrible mob of spaniels is gathered waiting to pounce on the scraps - hope peanuts in these small amounts are ok for dogs!

i feed mine all year too, including the squirells and wild mice and today i had a treat, a long tailed tit on the feeders, i have never seen one before and we also keep getting a woodpecker on the peanuts, its great

my lot won't touch the wild bird food I tried them with. What they really go mad for here is layers mash (nicked off hens till I blocked them off) I now just put out couple of dishes of that a day for them-and at £8 for 20kg its lot cheaper then the wild bird feed!

I have been feeding the garden birds since moving here 3 years ago, it is fascinating.  I give them wild bird food, peanuts in a feeder, coconut shell with fat/seeds.  I did try bread but they weren't interested.  We have a lot of blue tits, robins, and some other birds a bit like blue tits but bigger, and some very pretty ones with golden chests and very long tails.  Also woodpigeons, collar Doves, and some Rooks or Crows (big garden across the lane has a Rookery in the trees).  The Robins and Blue Tits are the cheekiest and least afraid - they hop around the tree branches almost within reach when I fill up the feeders, and yesterday morning 1 Robin (not sure if very brave or very stupid :) ) hoped down to the ground (I had 6 pugs out in the garden with me) and got up close and personal with  Lollipop - their faces were only inches apart - each looked interested in the other, but Lollipop did not move, and the Robin fluttered back up onto a branch about 18 inches above her.  It was a lovley Christmas moment, wish I had had the Camera with me, and glad none of the Spaniels were loose!

l have always fed the birds.Their christmas treat this week is grated cheese and atora vegetable suet mixed with the seed,the cheese is a special favourite with the blackbirds and robins and it costs less than the expensive high energy bird food.I pour boiling water on the bird bath so it stays thawed for several hours,and even though it is so cold they still splash and bath,makes me shiver to watch them!

The birds around here prefer sunflower seeds, they hardly touch the peanuts and bird seed. I've left bones that the dogs are bored with on the garden table that still have some bone marrow in the middle and they go for that.

I read recently that peanuts are better fed crushed - I have put some on the bird table, but they don't go quickly either :) We have niger seed out as well and get a lot of goldfinches eating that.

Daisy

The link for the rspb is useful, thanks for that. We are not only feeding the birds in our garden, but also on our regular walk. Quite a few people have set up feeding stations, and we all help stock them on a daily basis. Where I walk we usually end our walk at Rivington Barn Cafe having a hotpot and a cup of tea. Whilst I was enjoying my hotpot, a robin landed on the table and sat there waiting for me to break off some pastry crust and sprinkle it on the table. What with Jade waiting with her paper plate for the hotpot and the robin eating the crust, it did wonders for my diet.