The Great

Don’t forget your feathered friends

At this time of year many of us are really regretting the excesses of the last few weeks: overindulging in food and drink, too much sitting around and not getting out and about and taking exercise – and maybe not even going into the garden quite as much as usual! Combine all this with what usually amounts to a two week period of near hibernation and the bathroom scales will be daring you to step on board, with the prospect of a large meal perhaps seeming particularly unappealing. However, spare a thought for the garden birds, as you can be sure that they’ll not have been overindulging and, if temperatures have been low, they’ll have needed a huge amount of energy just to keep warm and stay alive. At this time of year they are often in desperate need of a few square meals and a supply of clean, fresh water.

Most food scraps will go down well, but avoid anything which is spicy or salted and make sure that the food you use will not encourage rats or other vermin. Bread, cake or plain biscuits all make welcome treats. I also put out apples – sometimes those from the trees at home, either when I have too many or if they are starting to go a little wrinkly in store. If you don’t have this option, why not buy a bag of apples? They needn’t be anything other than the cheapest or wonkiest and they’ll make a great source of fresh food and moisture for many birds. I fi nd that the blackbirds (and even an occasional thrush visitor) love them, but sparrows and the various tits tuck in happily too.

Peanuts are very popular and the peanut feeders I have are constantly covered with nuthatches, blue tits, great tits, coal tits and even the occasional longtailed tit or very agile sparrow. A good quality bird feeder is essential unless your garden happens to be a squirrel-free zone. I also have a small Perspex feeder that attaches to the dining room window with a sucker, which when fi lled with bird seed or peanuts provides a safe, squirrel-free feeding area and a wonderful way to watch the birds for us humans inside the house. Something like this would make a brilliant gift for anyone too, especially someone who is confi ned to their house – far more entertaining than watching TV!

General bird seed mixes are great too, and perfect for those birds preferring seeds or fi nding aerial acrobatics from a peanut feeder impossible. Sprinkle the mix on a bird table, the top of a wall or perhaps a garage or shed roof and you should see it being consumed by a selection of smaller wild birds. If you have a seed feeder then consider getting a special thistle seed mixture, said to be a favourite amongst many of the fi nches.

Fat balls and fat blocks, either plain or containing additional seed, peanuts, fruit etc. also provide an easily accessible form of those much-needed calories, and can either be put straight onto your bird table or

placed in special holders.

Nowadays the thinking is that it is worth feeding birds throughout the year (but if you do, it is essential to keep on doing it). You may then also wish to consider using some meatier live bird foods in the form of various grubs and larvae, such as mealworms especially bred to be fed as high-protein snacks to the birds.

And just one last thing, research has revealed that, much as regular feeding of garden birds is to be encouraged, we should all be reminded that a bit of housekeeping is necessary too: the research reveals that both E.coli and salmonella can be found on bird tables and bird feeders if they are not cleaned regularly, and it is possible that birds could be threatened by these and other pathogens. So do remember to scrub down and rinse out any bird feeding areas from time to time. It is also essential that any bird foods you buy are of good quality, preferably from a well-respected supplier or bearing the logo of the RSPB, BTO or similar respected authority.

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