And we have to sow 6 different species, its reasonable to expect that most will go onto to set seeds, albeit with varying success depending on season,
AHL2 - Winter Bird Food
- Thread starter Stephensonlouis
- Start date
- Location
- Ceredigion
Good Question
Forage Brasicas , God knows when they will but defo not the year of sowing , most of last years sown will be flowering now
Sunflower would have to be sown early
Spring Barley, maybe someone who has grown Winter Bird Food in the past can fill me in , surly when it sheds seed in October as soon as it rains it will start growing. What's the magic touch that keeps it whole to provide winter feed ?
Forage Brasicas , God knows when they will but defo not the year of sowing , most of last years sown will be flowering now
Sunflower would have to be sown early
Spring Barley, maybe someone who has grown Winter Bird Food in the past can fill me in , surly when it sheds seed in October as soon as it rains it will start growing. What's the magic touch that keeps it whole to provide winter feed ?
farmerm
Member
- Location
- Shropshire
Autumn flowers...
- Location
- Portsmouth
Mixedupfarmer
Member
- Location
- Norfolk
The land will surely end up full of thistles, docks, grassweeds, etc if trying to get 3 years without a reseed?
Yes, planted some after barley this year and had 1000's of little birds all over it Dec, Jan and Feb.
Hindsight
Member
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Thats good to know, though I note you are located in Cornwall. What altitude and proximity to the sea. Just for comparison with here. Though we will know here in a few months.
- Location
- Ceredigion
Anything will last 3 years if you don't harvest it,
About 50 m and next to the sea
Hindsight
Member
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Thanks. So warm and growy! 0About 50 m and next to the sea
yellow belly
Member
- Location
- south west lincolnshire
never had any winter bird mixes last 3 years
2 year mixes with kale (if it get through the flea beetle can work but do often get a lot of thistles in the second year
adding a bit of perennial chichory can help but rpa do not like it even though it atracts more small bird than any other plant
most larger seeds that are produced do not re establish in the second year
if you have fat hen then it helps compete with the thistles but can dominate the cover
rpa do not like one plant to dominate the cover
2 year mixes with kale (if it get through the flea beetle can work but do often get a lot of thistles in the second year
adding a bit of perennial chichory can help but rpa do not like it even though it atracts more small bird than any other plant
most larger seeds that are produced do not re establish in the second year
if you have fat hen then it helps compete with the thistles but can dominate the cover
rpa do not like one plant to dominate the cover
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Which native British birds are used to a diet of mouldy sunflower seeds, mammoth millet, kale seed etc?
What we are doing is creating a non native, non natural pseudo ecosystem.
Yes there might well be more small seed eating birds but an artificially high population sustained by non native “crops”. And also a larger population of the non native brown rat.
Sorry, but the whole thing just smacks of a designer countryside dreamt up by urbanites.
What we are doing is creating a non native, non natural pseudo ecosystem.
Yes there might well be more small seed eating birds but an artificially high population sustained by non native “crops”. And also a larger population of the non native brown rat.
Sorry, but the whole thing just smacks of a designer countryside dreamt up by urbanites.
farmerm
Member
- Location
- Shropshire
Pick a selection of cultivars that are the diet of native British birds and don’t look a gift horse in the mouth…
- Location
- Lincolnshire
It’s an interesting question as to what is the truly natural diet of a truly native British bird.
I’d imagine grass seed mostly.
It also begs the question as to what bird numbers were like before cereal growing arrived on these shores. Has farming really caused a decline in numbers or did early farming methods with wastage cause a big rise in numbers of small seed eating birds which have now fallen back to natural prefarming levels as combines waste less and grain stores are better sealed.
Every time the RSPB moans about a decline in bird numbers it’s probably only a result of tidier farming not any kind of active thing we’ve done against the birds. Certainly we lost a lot of sparrows here when RT got fussy about the grain store and I think the bird flu has hammered them as well. Domestic cats cause huge losses as do raptors but never mind it’s £750 /ha so crack on.
I’d imagine grass seed mostly.
It also begs the question as to what bird numbers were like before cereal growing arrived on these shores. Has farming really caused a decline in numbers or did early farming methods with wastage cause a big rise in numbers of small seed eating birds which have now fallen back to natural prefarming levels as combines waste less and grain stores are better sealed.
Every time the RSPB moans about a decline in bird numbers it’s probably only a result of tidier farming not any kind of active thing we’ve done against the birds. Certainly we lost a lot of sparrows here when RT got fussy about the grain store and I think the bird flu has hammered them as well. Domestic cats cause huge losses as do raptors but never mind it’s £750 /ha so crack on.
- Location
- Ceredigion
Why don't they include legumes in the bird food mixes , don't birds like legume seeds
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Fat Hen or to give it its on trend name quinoa grows as a weed here and small birds love it.
Is it allowed in the mix? It would take over here anyway. Seeds hold on well into winter.
Is it allowed in the mix? It would take over here anyway. Seeds hold on well into winter.
- Location
- Essex
Who says they don't? I always include legumes.
It's not all about the birds, flowers in the summer for pollinators, good for soil health etc.
Nothing native or natural about arable cropping either.
I agree on this totally. SFI gives the land a break from the pre ems. I hate spraying yellow stuff in the autumn. It make me nervous doing it.