They're not to everyone's tastes and some gardeners might consider them their worst enemies. I know one of my neighbours hates them with a passion. He patrols his lawn and plucks the dandelion flowers from their stalks before disposing of them carefully. For slugs, he has devised an even more ruthless strategy: he collects them in a bucket and empties the hapless contents onto the road outside our houses so that they get run over!I see slugs and dandelions differently. Goldfinches adore dandelion seeds, and for me that's enough to make me look upon them favourably.
Because of the cheerful yellow flowers (which I secretly like), I can stand at the kitchen window as some of my favourite birds feed just a few feet away. They soon munch their way through a dandelion head and leave a scattering of down on the grass - minus the seeds. It's unquestionable that slugs are unpleasant creatures, but I've forgiven them this year. The reason? A pair of song thrushes has built a nest in my (slug-hating) neighbour's garden. When I look out of the window, there's often a beautifully-spotted thrush hopping across the lawn with a beak crammed full of tiny slugs in the manner of a puffin carrying sand-eels. I'm proud that my slug-filled garden is keeping song thrush chicks fed, and I like watching the goldfinches making short work of the dandelions. Rather than worrying about how to get rid of these pests, I'm hoping that the birds will do the hard work for me...
I like dandelions and slugs too....indeed most of the wildflowers, I have always thought,
are much prettier than our 'cultivated celebrity status' flowers...not to mention the high prices!!! On a sunny day, a field of the lovely yellow heads which, close up, look like miniature chrysanthemums can be stunning. As for the slugs I like them.....more providing a plentiful supply of food for our feathered friends.
Which leads me to a serious topic....I discovered that slugs adore eating my cat's left over biscuits...last year after a shower of rain, the slugs came out, and the left overs had circles of parents and 'babies' munching and enjoying their 'find'...I started putting some out for them!!!!! (have stopped meantime).
HELP QUESTION!!!! WILL THE BISCUITS IN TURN HARM BIRDS AND OTHER SLUG EATING CREATURES. I know this is your busiest time of year but would appreciate answer ASAP. Never mind 'Aren't Birds Brilliant'...which they are...so is RSPB and all the Teams.
Hi Maureen. Thanks for your comment. I can't think of any reasons why the biscuits could harm whatever eats the slugs. Slug pellets can cause problems, though. You can get lots more wildlife gardening advice in our Homes for Wildlife project and the Advice pages, or you can Ask an Expert.
Thanks Katie.....sorry about delay in reply....I have been 'living' with the Loch Garten Osprey Family and have become so caught up in their daily routine that the rest of the world does not exist at the moment!!!!!
Thank you for your advice re slugs...I have submitted question for expert advice.
Like katie I have song thrushes in the garden. I have laid down planks from an old pallett between the rows of cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli plants. In the morning I turn the planks over move back behind the hedge and within a few minutes the thrush arrives and carries off the slugs. I have not seen any young ones so far but the blackbird parents are feeding two chicks who follow behind them. I still have a few nibbled cabbage leaves but a wash and trim and they taste fine.
Lizzie biolik
20 june 2008
For the past three mornings 2 goldfinches have been coming to my feeder at 05.30, before any of the other birds. This is the only time that they have been seen,whereas for most of the day there is a constant flow of other birds. Is the goldfinch a shy bird and is it common for them to be in the west of Scotland?
Hi Lizzie. Thanks for leaving a comment. What a good idea to help keep your song thrushes fed. So many other people would just reach for the slug pellets. I have to say I'm a bit touchy when I find slugs in my vegetable patch...
Joyce, sometimes goldfinches can be a bit shy when they first find a bird feeder. It must be quite overwhelming if it's a busy one. Perhaps you'll find that they become more confident over the next few days and weeks? They are lovely birds to watch. I'm not sure how common they are in western Scotland. Does anybody else know?
Last week while at the kitchen sink, one of my favourite places for inconspicuous bird watching, I saw a very rare visitor to MY garden. It was a male bullfinch. He was very busy jumping up to the leaves on a hosta plant in a pot. He stayed for some time feeding furiously. Needless to say I was curious knowing that the finches are mainly seed eaters.
When he had gone I went to investigate and found that he had been feeding on the unripe seed pods from the violets which have over-run all my pots and spare spaces in my garden and on the lawn. I was getting a bit tired of violets all over the garden, but now they can stay. I have seen bullfinches flying out of a hedge some distance from my garden so hope that he was going back to feed young.
I seem to be very lucky with my garden, I think partly due to the location, we have cemetaries lots of parks and local rivers with the Thames not too far away.
I will just list the most often seen birds, Robin, Black Birds, Starlings, by the dozen, Dunnock and House sparrow Wood Pigeon, in the spring early summer we have lots of tits Coal, Blue and Great with plenty of young. Some years we have Gold Finch but plenty of Greens, Autumn/winter we have the Ringnecked Parakeets, in early summer they are mostly, I believe raiding the fruit trees in Kent!!
With occasional visits from Sparrow Hawks, and both Lesser Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, the occasional duck and the last two years Jays, add a sprinkling of Magpie, Crow and Rooks, what more could I ask?.
I enjoy photography and as I have a good stock of bird feeders with I hope, something to every birds taste my camera is always snapping away. I love my monthly newsletter from RSPB always something of interest, and you all do such good works.
Well, if there are any slugs left in our back garden ,after the frogs have had their fill, the birds are welcome to them. I found sitting patio pots on top of breeze blocks deters the slugs.
But I was guilty of plucking dandelion heads, and this year went as far as a weedkiller , and we lost all the clover ,daisies, buttercups,shepherds purse,dandelions and others in the back lawn. Husband was very pleased as back lawn was starting to look more like muddy scrub than lawn, I do have quite a few bare patches too reseed.
Question, do any birds eat the frogs that happily hop round eating our slugs'n'snails?
Last year we had goldfinches nesting in tall fir tree out the front. This year great (crested ?) (black & white & red cheek patches)woodpecker has been bringing his fledglings round the back where silver birch is. Where we lived before, one year I left all the fallen apples on the ground from the apple tree, and we were rewarded with a field fare who came to stay as long as they all lasted!
Had to build a retaining wall down the side of our house where the stream is, Dave put in hole for birds nest and it's been used by blue tits both years! How long till I can cut back the Hazel and trim the tree overhangs without disturbing any late nests?
Thankx
The goldfinches in my garden are certainly not shy. They come for sunflower hearts all day and some will come to a feeder with black sunflower seeds less than a foot from my window. They are quite aggressive and will not move for a sparrow or greenfinch.
In contrast coal tits come only for black sunflower seeds and stay for only a few seconds.
Birds eating slugs seems to be a fairly recent development in my garden. It seemed to start during a drought a few years ago when there were no worms to be found for some weeks. Since then blackbirds, robins and song thrushes eat them, but only small ones. I always wondered why thrushes were said not to eat them but were prepared to break open snails.
I have been using copper tape to protect my troughs from slugs for a couple of years. I have now started using slugrings to protect some of their favourite plants. For the first time I have delphiniums in flower this year.
Thanks for leaving comments, everyone. It's great to hear about your wildlife-friendly gardens.
Bunny, it would probably be wise to wait until the breeding season is definitely over before cutting back any trees. If you wait until late August, that would be safe.
Petehutch, I'm not sure why birds don't like eating big slugs. The thrushes definitely only took the small, white ones. Maybe the bigger ones are too tricky to handle!
If I could add to Maureen's comment about cat food left overs... I used to put the old 'wet' meaty food out for the hedgehogs & so another cat doesn't come in, but have noticed that the blackbirds come along & pinch it all... much to the disgust of the magpies that aren't quick enough! So I now put it out first thing for them & if they think its gone a bit too dry they go & dunk it in the bird bath!
Bunny - Often frogs in our pond fall prey to crows and I'm sure the heron that visits occasionally settles for a frog if the fish are hiding successfully. I was really delighted to see a Mistle Thrush on the bird table this week and I'm always pleased to see the Song Thrushes. Sometimes we see Jays, Jackdaws, Sparowhawks, Tree Creepers. We have Nuthatches that come in to feed and a family of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, as well as most of the Titmice and what appears to be the local contingent of Starlings - very noisy, very entertaining.