Birds raiding my flower pots with bulbs...any advice?

Arequipa

Good afternoon,

I hope you all had a nice Christmas.
I have 7-8 medium to large flower pots and boxes with a mixture of daffodil, tulips, snowdrops and other bulbs.
I planted them in a mixture of top soil & compost which is planted up to the rim of the pots...
They are outside on my patio.

Every morning... There is a load of compost all over the patio and a few bulbs upturned in the pots or on the ground beside the pots...

I think it may be magpies or blackbirds...

Can you advise me how to protect the bulbs?
I obviously dont want to harm the birds in any way...

Thank u!

A

bizidea

Have you seen the birds actually at the pots.any possibility there are badgers near you

Arequipa

Hi! I havnt seen the birds at the pots.. but i live in suburb in North Dublin city in an enclosed small garden...
I really doubt it is a badger...
There are foxes in the area...
But the dominant bird that is always in the garden is the magpie.. there are lots of them... Often in big groups...

Reckless Abandonment

Its blackbirds. They have started at my pots in the last few days. I've never found a way to stop them. they normally only do it for a few days maybe a week and then stop. I've learnt to live with it. One ot two blackbirds and do a fair bit of damage in a hour or so

bizidea

I had d same problem but it was a badger Im in the country though.have you many song birds around with all those magpies they really do a lot of damage to other smaller birds

Harry Palmr

Simple enough find a few sticks (bamboo cane) and chop them into 1 foot lengths put a few in each pot and tie some gauze on top - you get the sun and air but not the birds.

Arequipa

Morning! Thank you for the replies...
I have a few bird feeders in a tree at the end of the garden, so i get blackbirds, robins, bluetits etc regularly in the garden..the magpies fly around in groups and often seem to be fighting amongst themselves...

Thanks for the idea about the gause.. i might give that a try..

Would a layer of grit at the top of each pot wor?


A

Hocus Focus

Arequipa wrote: »

Morning! Thank you for the replies...
I have a few bird feeders in a tree at the end of the garden, so i get blackbirds, robins, bluetits etc regularly in the garden..the magpies fly around in groups and often seem to be fighting amongst themselves...

Thanks for the idea about the gause.. i might give that a try..

Would a layer of grit at the top of each pot wor?


A

Grit will not deter them. An alternative to the gauze would be black sewing thread strung between the stakes randomly across the pots so as to form a kind of network. You won't be able to see it from medium distance and the birds don't like it. My mother used to do this to keep birds off seed beds.

Arequipa

Thanks for the reply mate!

New Home

Cuttings of Pyracantha would probably help, too, but mind your hands.

Arequipa

Okay.. thank u!