NATURE
Humble Habitats With Kate Humble
S
o we’re over a month into the new year al-
ready!
As 2012 proved that it’s al- most impossible to predict what might happen in our gardens, I’ll just stick to February for the moment. This can be one of the harshest months for wildlife. Spring may still seem a long way off and even if we don’t have snow it can be cold and wet. Sensible creatures will hibernate but birds have to face everything our climate has in store and at the same time get ready for the strenuous breeding period. If you’ve been feeding the birds it’s very important to continue and in fact it can be a matter of life and death. Small birds especially will waste vital energy flying to a food source only to find it has gone and they might not have the strength to look elsewhere. High energy foods like peanuts and sunflower hearts really help but grated mild cheese, soaked dried fruit and pastry, raw or cooked, are excellent! Much bird food is sold in plastic mesh bags and the
RSPB regularly receives reports of birds being trapped in this mesh. Birds can injure claws, legs and even tongues so it’s best if you can remove the mesh and leave the food loose on the bird table or in special ‘fat ball’ feeders. If Father Christmas brought you a nest box try to install it as quickly as you can as birds regularly look for nest sites in the new year. Blue tit boxes can be placed in the open, ideally on a house wall, and open fronted boxes, popular with robins, need to be placed in cover among thick ivy or shrubs. Lastly, why not carry out
your own Late Winter/ early Spring-Watch in your garden? It’s a chance for you to really do your bit to help protect our garden birds for the future. All you need to do is to set aside an hour or so on a weekend at this time of year and record your garden bird visitors. Even if you don’t see a soul it will still build up a picture of what’s happening in your garden year after year – a bit like the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. Why not plan on doing it this year and start a garden list? For the nation’s Top Ten Garden Birds visit
www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch That’s all for now. See you next time. Kate.
19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44