Over the last 3 days, I have refilled the feeders with or put out - 7kg SFH, 2kg wheat, 1kg small seed, 1kg peanuts, 1 kg soaked sultanas, 0.5 kg Nyger and 6 chopped-up, wholemeal crusts. There are two large fatball feeders as well.
There have been plenty of birds utilising all this grub; yesterday, I counted 50 Chaffinch at one point before they were spooked by a lorry turning into the industrial estate; there were more uncounted. At least 13 Brambling with 8 males at once, making me think that there could be more than that. 3 BH Gulls is the most in the 4 weeks we've been here. Goldfinch numbers have held up at a max count of 10 at any one time. Yesterday late on, 4 Rooks decided to come down and scare everything for a while. Best in some ways were the 3 Siskin at once, coming to the Nyger; I find these always take some time to locate feeders in gardens, especially away from any conifers (like us). A new addition this week was Song Thrush when 2 birds were driven in by the poor weather - and possibly the sight of some sultanas.
I reckon the birds are eating somewhere around 4kg of food per day, presented either in feeders or on the ground. I can see that I shall have to find a sponsor if this weather carries on much longer!
POSTSCRIPT: Overnight we had 5cm (2 ins) of snow - elsewhere in the county they had up to 20cm.
Got out early and cleared some snow in the orchard and put down fresh wheat and mixed seed for the expected breakfast rush. About an hour later, I did count 15-16 Bramblings feeding in amongst >50 Chaffinches.
Following pic taken 10 minutes after sunrise from the kitchen window.
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