Hi Annie
I see the blue tits on the fat balls sometimes now. They are on a weeping birch, so not an ideal location for starlings or larger birds to get to. Hopefully some long tailed tits will find them – they are so lovely to watch – and listen to. It is a bit further from the house than I normally feed, though, so I need to have some binoculars handy to get a good look down there. I know what you mean about feeding loads of jackdaws, a few years ago, I used to have fat balls out the front of my house and there was a nearby favourite tree of rooks – they used to get through the fat balls in no time. Don’t know why but they don’t seem to go round the back so much.
The two hoglets are still visiting and showing no signs, yet, of hibernating. No attempts to make nests in the feed boxes this year. But, the rat, cats and mice take up far more video space than the hogs do. The camera watching the feeding area doesn’t seem to have any problem picking up the mice. The mouse did scarper last night when the rat arrived, which was interesting.
I have a new system for the food. I used to put a piece of Perspex between 2 small children’s tables when it rained, but have now changed that to four large filled plant pots so it’s much lower. (bricks to weigh it down on top). I’ve placed it so that it’s quite near to the entrance to one of the feed boxes, so it makes it more difficult for the cats to get in there. Some sometimes try to get underneath, but not so often – probably not that comfortable. It has the advantage that the hog who doesn’t like going in the boxes is likely to get more food and he doesn’t seem to notice the lower ceiling. It also keeps the food drier if it rains – less space for the rain to blow in. Luckily the rat doesn’t seem to turn up until after the hoglets have eaten, but I’d really rather not be feeding it as well!
