LEAVE OUT PLENTIFUL FOOD AND WATER AND
THE great thing about January is the leaves are all down. Even those that hang on late to oak trees will have tumbled and should have been swept up by now.
It’s a time of year for those liking neatness, but it also means a reduction in food for garden birds – insects that feed on leaves are fed on by birds and when one goes, so does the other.
There cannot be many folk who are unaware of the need to feed birds in cold weather, and also to give them water.
But there are still some who imagine that half a loaf of stale bread pulled to bits and dumped on a bird table is enough.
It isn’t.
Birds need proper food and fresh water. Refill the bird bath every couple of days and put out bird food in the morning, just enough to be eaten by the end of the day.
Lavish supplies tend to be eaten by grey squirrels, and even adventurous rats, and neither deserves encouragement.
Alternatively, invest in squirrel-proof bird feeders, with an outer cylinder made of mesh through which the birds can fit but not the squirrels.
Scatter some bird food on the lawn for ground feeders such as blackbirds, but make sure it is in the centre of the lawn so they can spot approaching cats.
Cylindrical wire feeders can contain peanuts (plain, not salted) for acrobats such as tits and greenfinches, and mixed seed for birds such as robins.
Balls of fat are good, too. Take off the outer plastic netting and drop several of them into a wire cylinder – the birds do not then become entangled in the netting and can get at the fat more easily.
Suspend feeders from tree branches or special stands that push into soft earth.
Goldfinches love nyjer seed, which is tiny and black and best dispensed via a plastic cylinder with holes that are small enough to hold on to the seeds but large enough to release them when encouraged by a sharp beak.
Store all your bird feeds in a rodent-proof container with a secure lid – a metal dustbin is ideal for this.
As for water, you don’t need an elaborate bird bath.
An upturned dustbin lid settled into the ground is suitable and will be patronised on a regular basis by birds of all sizes.
Make sure you melt and replace the water on icy mornings.
Take just a little trouble on the birds’ behalf and your garden will be a far livelier place during the winter than it would without their presence.
YOU’LL BE REWARDED WITH A VARIETY OF FEATHERED VISITORS