It’s nice to have birds in a garden, apart from looking pretty there’s nothing quite like bird-song to announce that spring has begun.
They’re champion pest controllers too, greedy for aphids and slugs. This is especially useful if, like me, you garden organically and don’t want to use chemicals sprays and slug pellets.
Putting out food is the easiest way to encourage birds into your garden, and at this time of year it really is a life-saver, especially for the smaller ones. Numbers of garden birds have declined dramatically, ones that we took for granted, like song-thrushes and sparrows are now on the red list because their numbers have declined by over 50% during the last 25 years.
I’d much rather feed the birds with style and have some of these bird feeders in my garden than a pile of blue slug pellets.
These ceramic holders are for fat balls, perfect for small birds because they need to eat huge amounts of calorific food in really cold weather. In early spring you can put nesting materials, like wool into it.
These wire holders clip onto branches and are for spearing fruit onto them or hanging suet balls.
Where to site bird-feeders:
Bird feeders are best sited where there’s a hiding place for birds to hang out and make sure the coast is clear before they land on the food, or wait their turn for the feeder.
Choose a place near shrubs or dense wall-climbers like ivy. It’s entertaining to see blue-tits lining up in a fairly orderly manner in the bamboo in my garden while they wait for their turn in the bird bath or on the feeders. It’s worth having bird feeders where you can see the from the house, place them at the end of the garden and you’ll miss out on their antics.
Add some water for drinking and bathing and you’re guaranteed to have some bird visitors. I’m looking forward to some blackbird song in the spring, it’s one of the best sounds in the world.
Happy gardening
Jill
Bird feeders available from Green & Blue
Images: courtesy of Green & Blue.
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