Bird Table News

This is why I feed birds.  They have to face such fierce weather and the only shelter they get is what they find

Hopefully we have seen the last of the snow and I hope a lot of birds have survived this snow bound world

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I have managed to get two photographs of Fielfares.  

Fieldfare in Winter

Fieldfare in summer

Fieldfares are from the Thrush family.

Usually they stay in fields in the countryside.  This harsh winter seems to have brought a lot of fieldfares into gardens and given people an opportunity to see them close up and also help them survive by putting bird food out.

As I’ve said before this winter their food has been locked under snow and ice. If you looked around the countryside when it was at its coldest you wouldn’t see many green fields (if any).  The ground is frozen solid.

Fieldfares often stay in flocks

They arrive in October and overwinter here.  Some Fieldfares come from Scandinavia and are winter visitors and migrate to Britain in October / November. These Scandinavian Fieldfares  don’t nest here. Other fieldfares are European fieldfares

FEEDING 

First, I’d like to say that providing an open, soft patch of lawn or soil is a good way to feed birds. Also in freezing weather (NOT, of course,   when there is snow on the ground)  I sometimes put hot water on a small open area of grass /soil.  This softens the soil.  I always get birds pecking at the soil.  It means they can at least try and get to the worms! 

Fieldfares eat animals and plants – so they eat worms or berries and fruit. 

If you put out some apple or pears, or any fruit  it is best to cut up small first.   Then they can easily carry / eat the food.  If the fruit is large they may drop it when they fly off with it. Among the berries they eat are Pyracantha berries off bushes and hawthorn berries.

I’ve also heard that they have been seen eating ground blend bird food.

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Gardens can be a life saver for birds.  To survive they have to go in search of food – and have found food in our gardens . So the extreme weather conditions have driven them to our gardens and our food. Bird feeding does work and help birds survive the winter.

I know we have had flocks of fieldfares in the fields near us at certain times.  When birds are far away and flocking together it’s hard to see what bird they are.  But certainly flocks of birds wheeling overhear in the skies are a part of the English Countryside.

Trisha

 PS Idid not take these photographs.  Photographs from istockphoto

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I like this photo.  I may print and frame it.

If you have any photos you would like to send me I would like to see them.

Trisha

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I’ve been feeding my family of birds a lot today.  They are wild birds – should they depend on my bird food so much?  Am I doing the right thing?

Here are some photos  (apologies for the space inbetween the photos – I can’t seem to get rid of these gaps!)

I think I don’t have a choice when you see the conditions that have been in this area over the last few days.

And here is a reminder of a lovely day

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Blue Tit in my garden

Blue Tit on a branch

A seagull hitching a lift

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Long Tailed Tits

Long Tailed Tits

 Aren’t these wonderful photographs. I wish I could take such photos.  Thanks John for sending them in – it’s ages ago I know.

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Growing our food

Can you think of a caption that suits this photo

As I walk along the lane it alive with birdsong.  The high hedges are home to many birds.  Small sparrows skim at fence height along the lane. Blackbirds fly along the hedge. 

There are many other birds in the distance that I cannot make out

When you think about it everyone and everything in this world depends on the changing seasons for food – and therefore for survival.

Birds and wild animals are closer to these changing seasons than we are, but perhaps we are just as dependent on this growing cycle as they are

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Roosting time for birds

Me and the moon

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Then the morning comes and it’s bird feeding time again, as birds seem to queue up for breakfast at their Bird Cafe

Two birds waiting for the Bird Cafe to open

The next day there was an  early morning breakfast

Mmm, What do I fancy for breakfast today

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Hedge - a home for birds

And birds need shelter, especially in winter when everything is frozen

Earth and water frozen during an English winter

Hedges can give shelter, food and a nest site for birds.  If you look closely at the photo below you will see a few berries still hanging from the large hedge which seems to have turned itself into a tree!

Shelter, food and a nest site all in one place

The ground isn’t frozen all the time and often gives birds much needed food – such as worms.  An untended piece of ground is sometimes very productive as the photo belows shows.

Here is the same photo but showing more of the area nearby

Gardens need not take a lot of looking after.  Plant a shrub and it lasts ages and can give cover and shelter to wildlife.

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