Gardening
By Pippa Greenwood
Don’t forget your feathered friends A very Happy New Year to you all, and may 2021 be better than 2020! At this time of year many of us are regretting the excesses of the last few weeks, especially overindulging in food and drink. However, spare a thought for the garden birds: they won’t be overindulging and, if temperatures are low, they’ll need lots of energy to keep warm and stay alive. They are often in need of food and clean, fresh water. Most food scraps are suitable, but avoid anything which is spicy or salted and ensure it will not encourage vermin. Bread, cake or plain biscuits all make welcome treats, as do apples, which are a great source of fresh food and moisture for many birds, such as blackbirds, thrushes, sparrows and the various tits. 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 for seed or peanuts that attaches to the dining room window with a sucker, which is a wonderful way to watch the birds from inside the house. General bird seed mixes are perfect for those birds preferring seeds or finding 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. A seed feeder with a
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special thistle seed mixture is said to be a favourite amongst many of the finches. Fat balls and fat blocks, either plain or containing additional seed, peanuts, fruit etc. also provide an easily accessible form of much-needed calories, and can either be placed on your bird table or in special holders. Nowadays the thinking is that birds should be fed throughout the year (but if you do, it is essential to keep on doing it). Consider using some meatier live bird foods in the form of grubs and larvae, such as mealworms especially bred to be high-protein snacks for birds. 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 remember to scrub down and rinse out any bird feeding areas from time to time. Any bird foods you buy must be of good quality, preferably from a wellrespected supplier or bearing the logo of the RSPB, BTO or similar respected authority. At Pippa’s website (www.pippagreenwood.com) you’ll find stylish cloches, practical and pretty plant supports, the fantastic SpeedHoe, gardening tools, Grower Frames, signed books and the ‘Grow Your Own with Pippa’ system. Or book Pippa for a gardening talk at your gardening club.
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