First snowdrops of the year - 12th January

Birds

Living at the end of a country lane gave us a few challenges last week when we were snowed in. The car was parked up for ages; I have never had a tank of petrol last so long. We enjoyed at playing at being self-sufficient. Going to the shops was a major family expedition as we carted our groceries up the hill on our backs (we should have brought the sledge).

As the coal lorry didn’t manage to get to us over the icy period, we decided the best thing to do would be to chop our own wood, Julie and the lads went into the garden to rummage around for fallen branches and anything else that could be sawed up to produce a bit of heat.

WOOD WARMS YOU TWICE

Within a very short space of time we had a large pile of wood. We had fallen branches, the old Christmas tree and even the remains of some ancient wooden chairs that were slowly rotting behind the shed. I used the chainsaw and within a couple of hours we had enough fuel to last us a week. Some of it was a bit damp -still it still made for a good fire especially as it was mixed with the scrapings out of the coalbunker. Wood certainly warms you twice as it is quite labour intensive collecting and cutting it. We all had a real feeling of achievement that evening as we sat around the fire watching the wood merrily spit and crackle.


BIRDS
The birds are queuing up at the feeders in the garden as we have tried to keep them well fed over the cold snap. The feeders had to be moved from the trees as we have a couple of highly skilled tree climbing rats in the garden. We tied some string between the bean poles and the swing and dangled the feeders from this. The rats climbed the trees and studied it for a while (until one the lads took a shot with his pellet gun). As yet they haven’t been able to negotiate the thin green twine but they have probably signed up for circus school to learn tight rope walking.

ATTRACTING DIFFERENT TYPES OF BIRDS

There are different mixes for feeders and for bird tables and ground feeding. The better mixtures contain plenty of flaked maize, sunflower seeds, and peanut granules.

Small seeds, such as millet, attract mostly house sparrows, dunnocks, finches, reed buntings and collared doves and blackbirds enjoy flaked maize. Tits and greenfinches favour peanuts and sunflower seeds. Mixes that contain chunks or whole nuts are suitable for winter-feeding only. Pinhead oatmeal is excellent for many birds. Wheat and barley grains are often included in seed mixtures, but they are really only suitable for pigeons, doves and pheasants, which feed on the ground and rapidly increase in numbers, frequently deterring the smaller species.

Avoid seed mixtures that have split peas, beans, dried rice or lentils as again only the large species can eat them dry. These are added to some cheaper seed mixes to bulk them up. Any mixture containing green or pink lumps should also be avoided, as these are dog biscuit, which can only be eaten when soaked.

Fat balls
Fat balls are excellent winter food. If they are sold in nylon mesh bags, always remove the bag before putting the fat ball out – the soft mesh can trap and injure birds. You can make your own bird cake by pouring melted fat (suet or lard) onto a mixture of ingredients such as seeds, nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal, cheese and cake. Use about one-third fat to two-thirds mixture. Stir well in a bowl and allow it to set in a container of your choice. An empty coconut shell, plastic cup or tit bell makes an ideal bird cake feeder. Alternatively, you can turn it out onto your bird table when solid.


Dog and cat food
Meaty tinned dog and cat food form an acceptable substitute to earthworms during the warm, dry part of the summer when worms are beyond the birds' reach. We have loads of tins of catfood that our pampered dog refuses to eat (she only likes the ones in gravy) so these can help to feed the blackbirds, who also feed their chicks with it.

Things to avoid
Polyunsaturated margarines or vegetable oils.
Like us, birds need high levels of saturated fat, such as raw suet and lard. They need the high energy content to keep warm in the worst of the winter weather

Milk and coconut
Never give milk to any bird. A bird's gut is not designed to digest milk and it can result in serious stomach upsets, or even death. Birds can, however, digest fermented dairy products such as cheese. Mild grated cheese can be a good way of attracting robins, wrens and dunnocks.