Taking Care of Birds This Winter

We are still in the midst of yet another harsh cold winter. This is now the third consecutive winter with large snowfall, plummeting temperatures and regular frost and ice.

Everyone was talking about the impact on bird numbers after last year's hard winter, when a freezing spell of weather between January and February resulted in the fifth coldest winter in 100 years. The RSPB stated that the wren in particular struggled with breeding couples down 11 per cent. That's a loss of 700,000 pairs! With snow covering the ground where the wren likes to forage, food was difficult to find for one of our smallest garden visitors.

Which brings us back to this winter, when snow started falling as early as November and with at least 2 ½ months of potential baltic weather to come, what will the records show once the snow has finally finished falling and spring eventually arrives? How many more birds will suffer a drop in numbers?

Unlike other animals, birds don't hibernate. Some birds migrate away from the cold weather, whilst others from even colder climates migrate to the UK. Birds need to continue to feed to ensure that their energy levels remain strong. They will shortly need to re-double their efforts once they start to enter the breeding season where nests have to be built and young broods need to be looked after and fed.

Thankfully the awareness of the British public has been alerted to these issues and nowadays all sorts of bird feeders and seed mixes are available to buy at garden centres or online. People are also happy to encourage insects and other natural foods into their garden with plants and wild areas set aside to encourage wildlife. Birds are excellent pest controllers in the garden, devouring aphids, vine weevils, mosquitoes, midges and gnats. You don't have to spend lots of money on bird food either. Birds will happily eat household scraps of food, you would normally re-cycle or throw away. Its great to encourage birds into your garden! You never know, if you put up a nest box in your garden, they may even nest and lay eggs to provide a great spring show for you.

With so many different subjects about caring for birds during winter, we have put together a few links that should be of interest below -

Bird Links

 RSPB Advice - Feeding Household Scraps
 RSPB Advice - Building a Bird Table
 Ten Simple Steps to Help Birds In Your Garden
 The Dangers of Fat Balls!
 How To Build A Bird Table
 
RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

 Take part in the RSPB's annual birdwatch event and help them keep track of bird populations in the UK. Watch your local garden or local park for an hour and record the highest number of each species seen at one time. The RSPB are particularly keen to find out the impact of last year's harsh winter on bird populations and whether there is a trend occuring year on year.

 Take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch
 Identify Birds in Your Garden


Buy Bird Feeders
 
 Buy a Birdie Bistro Bird Feeder




Written by Animal Days Out

A Day Out in Barnes!!!

Linda needed to get the kids out of the house. The kids were excited until they realised their mum wanted to take them to Barnes for the day. Little did they realise.......

“Who fancies a day out exploring and seeing new things?” On hearing this my kids were wild with excitement. What could it be? A day out at Lego – Yippee!! Perhaps mum is taking us to the park for a change and not dragging us around B&Q today... Ooh Ooh we cant wait!! But then she comes out with a gem “OK lets go to Barnes”... Barnes, what is that? We are going south of the river, sounds really boring, what could be in Barnes? It really doesn’t sound like an exciting day out exploring. My kids settle into the back seat of the car deflated and fed up, knowing that this is going to be another day of boredom.

As we approached Barnes, there were shops and my kids were so bored of sitting in the car, their faces said it all – "oh no not more shopping", but then we turned left off of the high street. As the sat nav said “you have reached your destination” the kids peered out of the window and all they saw was a gravel car park – “Wow Wee, we are in for a really fun day out, NOT!!”, came from my oldest daughter’s mouth as she rolled her eyes – a look I am getting used to.

As we walked over the bridge to the entrance of the London Wetlands Centre the traffic and hustle and bustle of ordinary life seemed a distance memory. We bought our tickets and went through into the courtyard to begin our adventure. Apart from the odd plane going overhead to and from Heathrow airport, this place is a haven.

We saw all different types of geese, swans, ducks and more exotic birds and we completely forgot that we were so close to London. We hooked up with a group of people who were following a keeper feeding the birds. When the birds saw the keeper they became very vocal and couldn’t wait to be fed. It was funny to see them all quiet and going about their own business and when they realised that lunch was on its way how excited they all became.

We walked around for ages, enjoying the tranquillity and beauty all around us. We hid in the hides and tried to spot unusual wildlife, peered into ponds hoping to see something looking back at us and took funny photographs of ourselves with plants that we had never seen before.

Back in the courtyard there were several buildings that looked interesting but we just didn’t have enough time to explore them all. We went to the shop and then upstairs we found a childrens’ discovery area which looked really good.

Job Done! Happy Children

My children were so disappointed to be leaving the Wetlands, even though we had been there for several hours, both of them said in unison “can we come back again soon?” I would call that a pretty successful day out – wouldn’t you? Job Done !

Please note: I would advise taking a flask of hot tea or coffee and a warm coat as it does get cold. If you are going with children take some snacks with you but please remember to take your rubbish home with you.

For Discount Tickets if you fancy a trip try here

Written by Linda Trup for Animal Days Out

What's The Harm In Daddy Long Legs?

The last few daddy long legs have managed to bumble their way in to the house and are now flapping against a tall standard lamp in the corner of the living room. Like a man trapped in a prison cell, they can't seem to break free from the glow of the lamp as they fly into the lampshade time after time. It's like watching a plane crash land as it bumps into the ground and then lifts up a bit, hovering for a few feet before hitting the deck again. I had left the front door open as I carried out my ritual of emptying the day's re-cycling into the outside re-cycling bins and without hesitation the hallway light had attracted the bungling bugs as though a sign with 'Utopia' had welcomed them in.

It's amazing how many people are scared of these harmless creatures.Some people react with horror as though they are just about to face a firing squad. What is it that frightens them? Could it be the apparent random movement and dis-organised flight of these gangly creatures? Is it the buzzing noise that sounds as though everything they touch is charged with static electricity? Could it be the 'stinger' on some of them that looks a quite nasty piece of equipment?

So what exactly is a daddy long legs? It's a nickname given to the crane fly. Crane flies belong to an insect family called Tipulidae. The larvae of the crane fly has an equally unusual name in that they are known as Leatherjackets. In other parts of the world the crane fly is also known as the Mosquito Hawk, Gallinipper and Gollywhopper.


So what is this insect with more nicknames than an American wrestling star's tour? There are over 4,000 species of Crane Fly. The crane fly we all know and love has a long slender body with six brittle legs. The legs will detach from the body if the the crane fly is trapped. A favourite pastime of children seems to be to pull off crane fly legs to 'see what happens'! They have two strange antennae just behind their head. These are in fact called 'halteres'. They are the remnants of wings that have evolved into balancing devices. They obviously don't work very well with the crane fly though!

The 'stinger' is in fact called the 'ovipositor'. It's on the end of the female abdomen and it's where she lays her eggs from. It's completely harmless and does not sting at all.

The crane fly spends the majority of it's life as a leatherjacket (larvae). The leatherjacket lives primarily in lawns feeding off the roots of grass and other plants. It is considered a pest in somecases as large areas of prize lawn can be damaged causing bald patches.

Around late July, August and September leatherjackets start to emerge from the soil as crane flies with just one purpose in life. They mate within 24 hours and then die.

Along with spiders, the daddy long legs is one of the most feared of all insects that invade our homes. Yes, that's right! It does not sting, does not bite, when you touch it it's legs fall off and it flies like a model aircraft in the hands of a chimpanzee.

The next time you find one in your home, cup it in yours hands and release it in the garden. The poor thing needs to mate before it ends up in daddy long legs heaven!

Written by Nature Boy for Animal Days Out