Feathered


Friends By Pippa Greenwood


Watching wild birds in your garden is a real delight, and as many help to keep pests at bay for much of the year it makes sense to encourage them in. You can provide a haven for wild birds as long as you have a fair number of potenal hiding places, such as a few good sized shrubs or trees ‐ and trees which provide berries or other fruits are always going to be welcome.


But what else can you do to encourage your feathered friends into the garden? A source of water really is one of the best features, so either buy an ornamental birdbath or create one from a shallow dish with sloping sides. The water should be no deeper than 2” (5 cm) and if you do have a deeper container then you should fill the lower depths of it with good sized stones, to reduce the depth. Ideally the water should be changed every other day, but at this me of year it is essenal to make sure that the water does not freeze for long periods of me. Other garden water features, including ponds with shallow sloping sides, are also perfect for many birds to feed and bathe in. Providing birds with addional food materials is worthwhile, but remember to provide a constant supply or they may come to rely on something that is not there when they need it most.


If you have a problem with squirrels, then use a squirrel proof feeder – they resemble bird cages and hold a central cylinder of peanuts, though they can cost up to


40 info@lymingtondirectory.co.uk


£40. If squirrels are not a problem, use a cheaper nut feeder, but posion it so it is out of range of cats.


Save household scraps for the birds too; they enjoy apples, cooked rice, cheese, old breakfast cereal, raisins and sultanas and, of course, bread. Buy fat balls which contain mixed seeds and hang them from trees or large shrubs where they will provide a fantasc meal for many birds and, provided you posion them correctly, means that you can also enjoy watching them. I only buy the net‐free fat balls, as birds’ feet can get trapped in the net.


You can also buy grubs and larvae to feed the birds. These high protein snacks are parcularly useful once birds start feeding their young in the spring, and are best distributed on a bird table or even on a garage roof. They are available by mail order or from garden centres and pet shops.


If you feel like making or buying a bird table on which to set out the feasts you are supplying, then so much the beer. Choose one which is not easily accessible by cats, and posion it where you can watch the birds as they feed and drink. I mainly feed the birds on top of an old, established hedge. It is just tall enough for me to reach its flat clipped top surface and I put out bird food on flat wooden trays – perfect for me to view and


impossible for cats to get the wrong idea about who is meant to be eang!


01590 643969 www.lymingtondirectory.co.uk


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