Feeding Small Birds

I think I had feeders for the small wild birds at Fountain Lane but I began to take a really serious interest in the subject at Lodge Road.

We had a small beech tree in the garden which was ideal for hanging feeders from, I had a bird table, and I stuck bamboo poles into the ground from which more food could be displayed. By the time I had finished there was food available for every sort of small bird.

Part of the fun came from inventing feeders. This one, which worked remarkably well, was made from a plastic ice cream container. Later, particularly at Matenderere, I began building highly scientific ones which were aimed at specific birds and which also tried to deal with the problem of vermin and less desirable birds, such as starlings, taking the food.

The family treated this growing obsession with mild amusement although, with the number of voraciously hungry birds soon visiting the garden, Gill must have begun to worry about the inroads made by peanuts, seed and fat into the family's food budget. Later, too, there would be problems with who had priority on the use of the garden, David with his football and cricket, Gill's flowers, which suffered grievously from David's activities but not my birds, or my bird feeders.