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Feeding the Birds


This photo of a Willy Wagtail feeding its young is from my archive, taken at Rose Orchard Haus about this time two years ago.

A book I have read recently
Feeding the Birds at Your Table - A Guide for Australia by Darryl Jones.   In Australia feeding wild birds is frowned upon and yet many many people do it.  This book explores whether feeding wild birds really does have the bad impacts we are told about and concludes it is fine to feed the birds provided we take a few precautions.  I found the book very interesting and readable and decided on the following for my gardens.

At Burnbrae I will stick with watching the birds that the neighbour feeds. I get a good view of them from my kitchen window. Feeding has tended to attract the bigger birds.

At Rose Orchard Haus I don't feed the birds but there are lots and lots of little birds that I can readily see if I sit quietly in the garden.  I don't want to encourage more of the big birds because they will attack the fruit trees.

At Whistlers Rest whenever we visit (which is not all that often) the King Parrots fly in and look around as if to say "Come on where's our food?".  They are such a delight.  I will feed them.

Comments

  1. We don't feed the birds in our garden at Winmalee, but we do have a lot of native Grevilleas and Callistemons which attract the Honeyeater birds and the bigger birds also find plenty to eat in our yard, including our fruit and nut trees.

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    1. The book points out that plantings change the feeding environment in much that same way as a feeding table does. It will attract certain types of birds. Not a bad thing, just what happens. It may bring in Wattle Birds for example, which could cause smaller birds to reduce in numbers.

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  2. We get encouraged to feed birds come winter. And I do, they´re right beside my PC. Certainly just tiny ones, ours have yellow bellies.

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    1. The difference is we don't have very cold winters. Not that I don't think our mild winters aren't cold though.

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    1. This little birds sure do a lot of squawking at their parents.

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  4. Great shot! That's quite a solid looking nest.

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    1. Made on electrical wiring (since replaced with different wiring). I am not sure it was a safe nest.

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  5. Just lovely to see. I've been enjoying the Canadian geese honking each night as they fly south in formation.

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    1. That is a sight I would very much enjoy watching.

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  6. Great photo. Willy wagtails move so fast. Good idea not to feed the native birds.

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    1. Until I discovered the nest I thought the Willy wagtails had just taken a liking to us. But as soon as the little ones could fly they took off elsewhere.

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  7. That is a very sweet image Joan Elizabeth 💙

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    1. I like it too ... so excited to have got a nest shot.

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