I feel I should pass this on...
I spend a lot of money on bird food. I have a monthly order that is delivered by my local pet shop. Part of the feeding regime is pellets - over £4o worth a month! All our birds love them, but especially the Robins and Blackbirds... Oh and the Starlings, who quite frankly eat too many; are too bossy and wind me up a little, but I love them all the same. Consequently, I have had to increase my order to over £50 per month and this includes Berry, Insect, Peanut & fruit varieties, which I mix together so they have variety! Luckily, as I buy them this way the pet shop let me have them at a very good price (by the way, that's Fields Pet Shop in St Austell and they deliver free of charge). They do 4 different varieties and the birds have different preferences throughout the year as to which flavour they like to indulge in. It's all very complicated and requires fine tuning at times with the food order! However, getting to the point, I ran out this month (hence the increase in order size yet again!) so (from the local garden centre) I bought a 3kg tub of Gardman Bery Suet Treats to get us by at £12.99 (stated as a "VALUE PACK") - (£12.9 flippin 9 for 3 flippin kg's!!!!!!!!!). They state on the tub that "they attract Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Blue Tits, Great Tits and other species". Well, they may attract them, but that's where it ends! The birds will not eat them. Even the Starlings turn their beaks up at them. Now, it can't be a seasonal preference thing, as they are "berry flavour" and the Blackbirds and Robins (not to mention the pesky, but lovely Starlings) love the berry treats at this time of year, but not these VERY EXPENSIVE BERRY TREATS!
Just for the record, the ones they absolutely love are from "PREMIUM WILD BIRD FOOD" and are called "Suet to Go - High Energy Suet Pellets"... Happy Feeding :-)
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Hi Angie, that is so good of you to feed birds to that extent. We have two feeders on our balcony and all day at the moment Great, Blue and Coal Tits Chaffinch and Greenfinches as well as a Robin that thinks he owns the place are constantly feeding. It appears to be the same ones all the time and I am guessing that they hand out close by at night and don't go anywhere else in the day time. Who can blame them.
ReplyDeleteAngie, take them back.......even if they refuse to refund your hard earned money, there is entertainment enough for another post. Go when it's busy. The charlatans are more likely to cough up. Have fun and keep feeding the little feathered blighters.....If you think starlings are annoying wait till you get a wood pigeon or two.
ReplyDeleteThanks Roy. Can't think of anything more deserving to spend my money on!
ReplyDeleteYou are funny Adrian. I'll get Trevor to take them back :-) You can't argue with a deaf man in front of a crowd; it just wouldn't be right!! I have noticed the Woodpigeons increasing in numbers. Don't know how I'd cope with the poo if they start coming down; Starlings and Collared Doves pooing everywhere is enough.
Yeah the bird feed budget just gets higher and higher but I certainly don't begrudge the visitors a tasty snack. Personally I stick to sunflower hearts (not the cheapest option I know) but nearly everyone stays happy. Peanuts seem to last for ages here but the fatballs (NOT Gardman) seem to get gobbled up fairly quickly.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Adrian .. take 'em back or even e-mail Gardman .. you may be surprised at their response. FAB.
Frank, I agree - Sunflower hearts are fab! Trevor is in charge of getting the seed and I have noticed he has not bought any hearts lately; I think this explains the lack of Bullfinch in the garden, as they love getting messy with Sunflower Hearts!
ReplyDeleteThink, I might try the email idea :-)