Wild birds having a feast : An update

flowertron (72)in #nature • 3 years ago

The title should actually be ~~Wild birds~~ A squirrel having a feast.

We knew that squirrels would be an issue when putting food out for the garden birds. This week the situation has been an example.

_{the culprit}

The food log I put out last week only lasted a couple of days. It did not get eaten straight away; it got broken off and birds ate parts of it on the ground.

I got working on another food log. This time I put two teaspoons of the agar agar hoping that the extra amount would make the log a bit harder and perhaps more difficult to break.

Below is a photo of the ingredients :

After putting the mixture in the mould and letting it set the result was a successful log shape :

As I noticed the log was a bit soft I wrapped some string around hoping that it would stay as a 'mass' for a while.

Through the kitchen window I saw one of the first birds to visit and it was a jay, garrulus glandarius, which is a type of crow. These are beautiful birds and although I know it’s too big for the set up, I do not mind feeding off the log. The only problem is the bird size.

After approximately an hour the log had gone. It was not the jay though.

I took that photo through the kitchen window. I went out a couple of times to scare the squirrel away knowing that it was too late and I had no way of stopping the outcome.

There are quite a few crumbs still left on the ground so other smaller birds have been getting those.

I need another plan, but it will definitely not be an attempt at making a squirrel-proof bird feeder like this.