Ladybird Ladybird, Don't Fly Away, I've Got Bugs On My Roses

With the first signs of spring they start to appear. The warmth stirs them out from their hiding places and these hungry little predators begin their work of hunting down their prey. Their prey are no match for this hunter and whole colonies can be devoured within hours. Without the ladybird we would surely be infested with aphids ruining our crops and plants. If the bee does an invaluable job pollinating, then the ladybird does an equally important job defending plants and crops.


There are 26 types of ladybird in the UK. The common myth children are taught is that the number of spots on a ladybirds back indicates it's age. In fact each number of spots indicates usually a different species. This is not always the case though. For example the ten-spot ladybird can have up to 15 spots on it's back. The eighteen-spot can have between 14 and 18 spots. It's even more difficult with the harlequin ladybird. There are over 100 different types and variations of spots, colours and size.

The harlequin in particular is considered invasive. It's not native to the UK and came from Asia originally. It was imported into the USA and Europe as a biological pest controller on farms. It's bigger and lives longer than our native ladybirds and is more efficient at large scale pest control. It soon made its way across the Channel and is now out-competing our own ladybirds for food. The harlequin larvae are bigger than our native species as well. Ladybird larvae have no problems with eating other ladybird larvae if aphid supplies are on the low side. The smaller native ladybird larvae are no match for the harlequin larvae.


Animal Days Out will be rearing our own ladybirds this summer and we will let you know how we get on.

Find Out More with the Ladybird Fact File

Written by GMP from Animal Days Out

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