Yesterday I avoided the internet as I had pains in my shoulders. I still haven’t set up my workstation as I would like and shoulder pain is often a sign of this. During the day it spread into my arms, forearms, wrists and hands. With rest and a hot water bottle it had receded by bedtime and with a night’s rest I have pain in my left wrist so am attempting some typing. Of course, it may all be down to old age or arthritis, you never know. Maybe it was just my day for pains in the joints and the location was a red-herring.
Feeding tits at Budby Flash
I dismantled a bird feeder yesterday. It was empty and we have made a commitment to good feeder hygiene. Two screws to remove the bottom plate was fine, though I did feel they could have been more substantial. Four perches to twist off – no problem. Getting the collars round the feeding holes was more tricky. Each pair is held together by a small screw. They aren’t good quality screws and I managed to mess one of the heads up, so it no longer works. I could drill out the broken one and replace it, but the metal is poor, accessibility is poor and my ability to carry out simple tasks has always been poor. Any tale I may tell of my adventures with tools often hinges round my lack of dexterity and leads on to a succession of misadventures.
I will find a way of cleaning without dismantling. It will be better in the long run. Meanwhile, the moral is clear – don’t buy medium-priced bird feeders. Anything that is medium-priced is simply a trap for the unwary. It looks like you are buying something good but you aren’t. You are just buying better paintwork at a higher price. The durability and efficiency stay the same.
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We always used to buy cheap feeders, and they worked. This time, as we want the garden to look nice, I went for better looking feeders, with the consequence of paying a higher price. Unfortunately, higher price translates to better looking rather than better quality. I really need to put some thought into future purchases.
The plan is to feed birds in an efficient and healthy manner. If the feeder can’t be cleaned properly, or falls apart, the plan has failed. It’s not quite as profound as Ruskin, but it’s still lesson in life, even if it is delivered by bird feeders rather than a man with a serious Victorian beard.
Great Tit
Good luck with the feeder hygiene. Keeping them clean be be very hard.
I hope you feel better soon. Shoulder and joint pains are tough ones.
Thank you Lavinia. Yes, it’s hard to rest a shoulder. I tried looking helpless and weak but Julia tells me gentle exercise, like a stroll to the kettle, is good for me.
I shall picture you gently strolling over to the tea kettle and back. 🙂
🙂 There are worse ways to spend the day.
I share your problem with cleaning the feeders. They make it as hard as possible with fiddly screws and inaccessible corners. I need to look at better feeders because, as you say, I should have hygiene at the front of my mind when feeding birds. I have been a bit casual over the years,
MY parents used to feed birds by putting scraps and seed out on a wall and making fat feeders. They had plenty of birds over the years including treecreepers, goldcrests and nuthatches. What they didn’t have was fancy feeders or diseases.
Makes you wonder if the two are linked.
Good question.
My thoughts are running along the lines that if you don’t use feeders and only put out food for a day at a time on the top of a wall, things aren’t going to build up.
On the other hand, feeders are so convenient.
So sorry about your shoulder!
Thank you. It’s a little better today so I am optimistic about a full recovery soon. 🙂
👍💪
🙂
I tried to put up the new bird feeding station this morning. A couple of the garden robins decided not to wait and came in to see what they could find. Rapidly they found the seed bag on the floor. Now still waiting for the stations first visitor. Bet they don’t use it.
Typical isn’t it? 😉 I’m sure they will use it, it’s just a case of hem finding it. In our case, I think the competition from neighbouring feeders may be a factor.
An excellent lesson!
Hi Laurie! How are you doing?
A very good lesson for the New Year.
If only I’d learned it a little earlier! 🙂
It might not be Rushkin, but it might be more practical
🙂