Set place at table for wrens
WHEN I got up this morning the Beast from the East had arrived and there was snow covering my car, my garden and the whole village.
The radio was telling me that there was traffic chaos and school closures as humanity in the UK failed to cope with the snow.
Yet wildlife was just getting on with the job of seeking food, although it was having to dig a little bit deeper than usual with this new layer on top of the soil.
Obviously on days like this bird tables and feeders are vital extra sources of food for our wildlife, which has been a little spoiled by recent mild winters. In general, wildlife tends to cope far better than we do in bad weather, for a start they don’t need to dress up in coats and hats and scarves, birds just fluff up their feathers or huddle together to deal with icy blasts.
My one concern was for one of our smallest birds, the wren which visits our garden, searching nooks and crannies in our wall for food. It has been active and visible over the past few weeks as it builds up its strength in winter and for the coming breeding season.
Wrens are the most common of British birds and can be found in almost any habitat as long as there are insects to eat.
Wrens will come to bird tables if you put meal worms out for them to eat.
There are about 8.5m breeding wren territories in the UK, and we have an estimated 120,000 individuals in the north west alone – about five per cent of all the birds in the region’s winter population.
You can’t miss the wren with its short, cocked tail and its dumpy body. It is a pretty bird, brown on top with a lighter underneath and a white line above the eye.
It was a worrying half-hour, and I ate my breakfast standing at the window until... the garden wren finally appeared, hopping onto the wall and then into a large crevice.
The Beast from the East has given us a timely reminder of the need to keep bird tables, feeders and water dishes full during late winter and spring. Even when the weather improves that extra nutrition is handy as our creatures prepare for the breeding season and then for feeding their young. promotion of the wildlife in Lancashire, seven boroughs of Greater Manchester and four of Merseyside, all north of the Mersey. It manages around 40 nature reserves and 20 Local Nature Reserves. The Trust has 29,000 members, and over 1,200 volunteers. To become a member go to www.lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129. For more information about Cheshire Wildlife Trust call 01948 820728 or go to cheshirewildlifetrust. org.uk.