Caring for Garden Birds

When the weather turns colder, we should think about looking after our feathered friends in our gardens.

When tidying up in the garden, don't be in too much of a hurry to remove those piles of leaves, there is hidden food supply for birds, the odd caterpillar, that tasty slug, perhaps that apple that fell earlier in the season.

Nature has her own supply of food such as berries from pyracantha, mind you, the blackbirds in my garden are very fussy which bush they raid first. The red berries are the first to go , then followed by the orange variety.

Climbing plants help to provide shelter on those cold nights, particularly those against the side of a house, clematis, ivy, jasmine. Hedges are useful for this purpose too. The sparrows make such a noise during the early evening, sorting out where they can roost, it's as if there is a pecking order.

A bird table is a very useful piece of furniture in the garden. There are so many designs on the market nowadays. The Cawston shown on the left has a supplimentary feeding table at a low level for shy birds. What a marvellous idea. The birds could feed and have a roof over their heads at the same time! See the new CMS Gardens range of bird tables and bird houses. Our bird table now installed towards the bottom of the garden, but in full view of the house provides easy pickings for a wide variety of birds. Now is the time I raid the kitchen cupboards to sort out the out-of-date dried fruit, ready to replace with new supplies ready for the Christmas baking sessions. The birds go mad for the raisins and sultanas, even stale cake soon disappears. We suspended nut and seed holders around the sides, thus adding extra feeding areas for the smaller birds away from the blackbirds and starlings. As yet, the nuts haven't been eaten, perhaps there is plenty of nature's own food supply around still as the ground isn't too hard yet to unearth a few tasty worms for breakfast.

There are all sorts of bird feeders on the market , varying from basic holders to elaborate versions having a central column for the seed or nuts with built in bars in the frame to deter squirrels and starlings. Always buy your bird food from reputable retailers as the nuts could be contaminated and also avoid the salty variety.

I well remember, years ago, watching Blue Peter with my children (in the days when it was only on one day per week.) They prepared melted fat to which they added bread crumbs, fruit, nuts. This was then set into yoghurt pots with a piece of string inserted in the middle. It was left to cool and harden where it could be hung upside down outside to the delight of the birds.

It is surprising just how many birds you can spot in your garden, some, hidden from sight.

A few months ago, I had an occasion when I had two overgrown conifer trees felled. It didn't take long for the garden to look like a bomb site. While the men were having a break, I looked out of the window only to see four robins perched on the felled trees. I have only ever seen one or maybe two at the most before. Robins have marked territories, they must have been hiding in the conifers. I have never ever seen that many since.

Water is in essential item in the garden for the birds, be it in a bird bath, an upturned dustbin lid sunk into the ground, maybe a garden pond. Some years ago, I had a fish pond in my garden. It was a delight to watch the antics of the many varieties of birds. Blackbirds, especially, used to come and perch on the edge of the plant baskets in the shallow water, either to search for titbits in the soil or just splash in the water. They would sometimes just splash in the waterfall pools. You would suddenly see this spray of water appear, and there would be sparrows, blackbirds just having a lovely bathe. Mind you, the cat was never far away at this point!