Join the RSPB Today

The RSPB are passionate about wildlife and with your help and support they can continue to save birds and wildlife, save and recreate special places for nature to flourish and to campaign and influence policies to help save the environment.

Join the RSPB today and receive the following:

• FREE entry to over 100 beautiful RSPB nature reserves in the UK
• FREE magazine, four times a year, packed with fantastic wildlife articles
• FREE joining gift including this “RSPB Where to discover nature” book if you join by 17th May
• If joining as a family you will receive the “RSPB Wild Families” welcome pack with booklets to help you and your children enjoy nature including FREE gifts and regular magazines for each child
• When charges to RSPB nature reserves apply, members get in free of charge

If you love garden birds and other wildlife then join the RSPB today to help our environment.

To help support RSPB conservation the RSPB also have an Online Shop which offers a great range of high-quality, environmentally friendly products.

They sell quality bird food, feeders, nestboxes, and from July to December, they also sell excellent quality Christmas cards, decorations and gifts.

100% of profit go to RSPB conservation

Make your own Fat Feeders for the Birds

This week I made my own fat feeders and it was surprisingly easy and cheaper than buying them. Here’s how I made mine:

• I had bought four coconut feeders a few weeks ago so once they were empty I washed them out to use as my containers. Once they are empty I’ll reuse them again.
• I melted 250g of lard in a saucepan.
• Whilst waiting for the fat to melt, using a food processor, I mixed up a couple of slices of bread, peanuts and sultanas until the size of breadcrumbs.
• To the dry ingredients I added some mixed bird seed and some dried insects until I had 500g in total.
• Once the fat had melted I added the dry ingredients and mixed well.
• I spooned the mixture into the containers then put them in the fridge until set then hung them out for the birds to enjoy.

You don’t need to follow my method to the letter, the dry ingredients can be anything you like as long as you don’t use anything salty i.e. no bacon and no salted peanuts. Bits of apple or green vegetables such as cabbage or broccoli would be good too.

Avoid using bread or whole peanuts during the spring when young birds are about or when parents may take food into the nest.

Also, if you don’t have used coconut feeders you can use clean yoghurt cartons; just put a hole in the base, thread through some string and knot it below the base to keep it in place. When filling the pots ensure that the string lies down the middle of the mixture with enough left over to enable it to be tied up.

In all I think it took me 15 minutes to make four feeders which I think is time well spent.

To make your own fat feeders you will need supplies; Garden Bird Supplies always have good quality feed at good prices:

Frosty/Snowy Weather

It seems the whole country has very low temperatures leading to morning frosts, some areas also have snow!

During this cold spell try not to walk in your lawn as it could damage the grass.

Also, leave out water for the birds but check it every morning, defrosting it if necessary.

Tender plants should be covered with fleece or moved into the greenhouse or conservatory.

Gardening Articles

Do you love your garden but not sure of the best way to prune your clematis, propagate plants for next year, make the best of your lawn or produce good quality compost?

If so then take a look at our gardening articles which we are sure will be useful to you. These articles are aimed at beginners and are written in the most simplistic way possible but if you require personal advice you can complete our Advice Form and we will email our response as quickly as possible.

• Aquatic Gardening, Ponds and Aquatic Plants
• Building Projects in the Garden
• Butterflies
• Composting in the Garden and the Kitchen
• Cut Flowers; Growing and Care
• Flowers and Plants
• Fruit and Vegetables
• Garden Birds and Wildlife
• Garden Maintenance Tasks
• Gardening for Children
• Green Gardening
• Greenhouse Gardening
• Lawn Care and Maintenance
• Outdoor Living
• Pests and Diseases
• Poisonous Plants
• Pruning
• Safety in the Garden
• Soil and Soil Improvement
• Types of Plants
• Weeds

Why should you feed the birds during the winter?

Over recent years there has been a decline in the number of hedgerows in our countryside leading to a shortage of berry laden trees and shrubs.

Planting shrubs and trees such as Rowans, Cotoneasters, Pyracanthas, Hawthorns, and Yews provide a marvellous source of winter food for the birds but sadly there just isn’t enough to go round. Click on the links above to buy yours for planting this spring.

Until your plants establish the birds are relying on you to provide them with the resources they need to see them through the long, cold winter months. Here’s what you need to keep your garden birds happy and healthy this winter.

Putting up a few bird houses or roosting pockets now will get the birds used to them before nesting time and may also be used as shelter during the colder days.

Do your bit to help the birds…

Low Maintenance Flower Beds

Question:

Our local council have decided to grass over four of the flower beds along our road due to cost cutting. They have said that they will consider alternative use of the beds i.e. monument or alternate designs. It has to be low maintenance and be appropriate for the seaside setting as the cliffs are about 200yards away. Can you offer any design ideas or websites that I can use to get advice.

Answer:

Hello, thank you for your email. What a shame you council have decided to remove the flower beds. However, I think one solution that would work well in terms of location and minimal maintenance is to produce gravel gardens. Basically they can remove existing planting and check that the soil is sandy and free draining, if not they can mix in a good quantity of gravel. Add sheets of weed suppressing membrane then top off with gravel and some decorative boulders, stones, driftwood etc. For planting they should use grasses as they will look good for most of the year and only need cutting back once a year, usually in the spring.

I suppose if this is thought to be too much maintenance they can just plant one or two (depending on the size of the beds) pampas grasses in each bed. They require little or no maintenance and can be quite impressive when in full flower.

Another idea, although not exactly coastal in design is to use prostrate woody plants such as Cotoneaster horizontalis, Cotoneaster dammeri, Pyracantha (instead of training it against a wall let it spread along the ground). These plants will soon cover a large area and once establish require no maintenance at all. If a weed suppressing membrane is laid before planting then the weeds should be kept away until the plants establish. An added bonus is that the berries in autumn will feed the local garden birds and the flowers in spring attract butterflies and bees. The links are to Crocus.co.uk to show you what the plants look like.

Do you need to feed the birds?

I have always been a big believer in feeding the garden birds throughout the year. However, I stopped feeding a few months ago as the feeders were attracting vermin. Since then I have only provided saucers of water; they together with the Ivy and other bird loving plants still attract a good number of birds.

Every day I sit at my computer watching the birds bathing in the saucers of water, feeding on aphids and other insects and I have had wrens and blackbirds nesting in the Ivy and Clematis growing up the fencing.

There are a few birds I miss such as the woodpecker and goldfinch as well as the sparrowhawk but I don’t miss the mice and squirrels!

I will probably put out some high fat food during the winter but will no longer feed the birds during spring and summer, I’ll just enjoy them using my garden as a bathroom.

Feeding Garden Birds

A beautiful, well maintained garden is a wonderful thing but what makes it special is the birds; you can attract birds to your garden throughout the year with very little effort.

Take at look at the RSPB’s Top Tips for attracting birds to your garden:

• Introduce a bird table
• Put out high protein seed mixes & kitchen scraps such as animal fat and soaked, dried fruit
• Put out hanging feeders for black sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts, sunflower-rich mixes or unsalted peanuts
• Ensure a supply of fresh water every day
• If it is very cold use tepid water but don’t use any antifreeze products
• Supply apples and pears for blackbirds, song thrushes and other members of the thrush family
• Fat blocks rubbed into the bark of trees is a great help for treecreepers, goldcrests and others
• Put up nest boxes to provide roost sites for the smaller birds; they will then be used for breeding later in the year.
• Plant berry-bearing plants such as hawthorn, rowan, holly, cotoneaster and berberis in your garden
• Leave wild, weedy or shrubby areas in the garden; these provide a natural seed source, cover and a supply of small insects
• Feed live foods such as mealworms and waxworms to attract a wide range of species.

There is a wide variety of bird seed mixtures available from pet shops and the big DIY stores. The better mixtures contain plenty of flaked maize, sunflower seeds, and peanut granules. Mixes with nuts are suitable for winter feeding only. Small seeds, such as millet, attract sparrows, finches, and collared doves. Blackbirds love flaked maize. Tits and greenfinches seem to prefer peanuts and sunflower seeds.

Wheat and barley grains are only suitable for ground feeding pigeons and doves. Avoid seed mixtures that have split peas, beans, dried rice or lentils as again only larger birds can eat them dry. Mixtures containing green or pink lumps should also be avoided as these are dog biscuit, which can only be eaten when soaked. Black sunflower seeds are an excellent year-round food and sunflower hearts are very popular as well as being less messy. Nyjer seeds are small and black with a high oil content and are particular favourites with goldfinches and siskins.

Peanuts are rich in fat and are liked by tits, greenfinches, house sparrows, nuthatches, great spotted woodpeckers and siskins. Crushed or grated nuts attract robins, dunnocks and even wrens. They can be high in a natural toxin (aflatoxin) which can kill birds, so buy from a reputable supplier.

Fat balls are an excellent winter food. If they are sold in nylon mesh bags, always remove the bag before putting the fat ball out as the soft mesh can trap and injure birds. To make your own bird cake, using a one-third fat to two-thirds mixture, pour melted fat (suet or lard) onto a mixture of ingredients such as seeds, nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal. Stir well and pile into a container such as an empty coconut shell or plastic cup. Allow to set. Live foods such as mealworms are loved by robins and blue tits, and may attract other insect-eating birds such as pied wagtails. Mealworms are a natural food and can be used to feed birds throughout the year. Birds need high levels of saturated fat, such as raw suet and lard to keep warm in the worst of the winter weather.

Blackbirds readily take dog food, and even feed it to their chicks but dry biscuits are not recommended as birds may choke on the hard lumps, soak it first and ensure it stays moist during hot days. Never give milk to any bird, regardless of species or age as it can result in serious stomach upsets or even death. Birds can, however, digest fermented dairy products such as cheese, and mild grated cheese can be a good way of attracting robins, wrens and dunnocks. Any breakfast cereal is acceptable, although you need to be careful only to put out small quantities at a time. It is best offered dry, with a supply of drinking water nearby, since it quickly turns into pulp once wetted.

Always remove any stale or mouldy food promptly as stale food provides a breeding ground for salmonella bacteria, which can cause food poisoning.

It is also most important that you provide a source of clean water. Birds need water for drinking as well as bathing but remember that it may freeze during the winter so check your supply regularly during cold spells. During the summer the water will quickly evaporate so, again, check it regularly.

Now you know what to feed the birds but where do you feed them? Consider the following as you decide where to site your bird table.

If possible your bird table should be placed where the birds will not be disturbed by humans but don’t place it so far from the house that you can’t see it. It should be in an open, safe place where the birds can see that they are safe from predators and placed where it gets neither too much sun nor too much cold wind.

A small bush about two metres from the table gives the birds somewhere safe to perch while they look to see if it is safe to feed. Birds prefer different feeding places so provide a raised table placed on top of a post, hung from a branch or a bracket but also provide some ground feeding stations.

The most important thing to remember is to keep your bird table or feeding stations clean as dirty tables can harbour dangerous bacteria left by sick birds and start an outbreak of disease. Brush off debris every time you put out fresh food and scrub the table with a mild disinfectant solution every few weeks. Each autumn clean the table, tighten/replace screws and make sure it is still a safe place for birds to feed.