Feeding Wild Birds
The winter months can be dreary and long and sometimes it may seem that the weather will never be warm again! We have to find something to get us through to spring and for me personally it’s the enormous pleasure I get from watching the wild birds as they dine in splendour both in front and back gardens.
We have invested in many feeders of various shapes and sizes to cater for as many species as we can….this reaps rich rewards. We have seen the usual varieties of tits, finches, sparrows, robins and a fair few woodpeckers!
It is so important that the birds get fed and watered during the long cold days; food is scarce in the wild so whatever us humans can do to help can only be a good thing.
Thistle seeds attract finches and can be bought cheaply and these days most supermarkets sell peanuts and fat balls at reasonable prices.
All our feeders are positioned in such a way that our feline family are not treated to a feathered lunch, feeders hanging from gutters, a special high feeder in the front and on trees in the back garden away from over hanging neighbouring branches. They are relatively open so the birds have a good view of any cat trying to chance their luck! The feeders are brought in every year and cleaned and sterilised to within an inch of their lives as stale food can breed bacteria and toxins.
I read the other day, people have been known to put out salted peanuts….this is a big no no…no bird food should have any salt as this could very well dehydrate them affect their kidneys and eventually kill them.
Coconut halves are good as is fruit such as apples grapes and pears. Mealworms can be bought cheaply….Robins love those! Commercial seed mixes including canary seed, sunflower seeds, hemp, and many others.
Fresh water for the birds is also a must especially when everywhere is frozen, they can’t pop to the kitchen and get a drink…again nothing in the water to stop it freezing, it’s a manual job, break the
ice and top up with fresh every day.
So there we have it a free show every day in the garden birds doing acrobats and being entertaining….who needs a theatre?!
Linda Graham
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