Category: RSPB

Two more bird feeders for you to make

17/5/2020

See the National Trust website for lots more ideas and inspiration.
Click here to see how to make a plastic bottle bird feeder

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attract birds to your garden by making a bird feeder

15/5/2020

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Garden birds benefit most from extra food during winter, but will visit garden feeders year round once they know they’re there. Feeders can be made from materials you probably have at home already - simply hang them up in a tree, from a post, bracket or even a washing line. The ideal spot is somewhere that doesn’t get disturbed too much, is sheltered and offers plenty of visibility so birds can see any danger coming (like neighbourhood cats). Put small amounts of food out at first, so you don’t get waste that might attract unwanted visitors.

Some birds, including robins, prefer feeding from a flat surface, so you could put out a tray, table or dish of seeds to suit them.

What you will need

Something to hold the seed mix. This could be pine cones, an old mug or cup, empty plastic bottle or even the cardboard tube from toilet roll
Vegetable fat or lard
Small seed bird feed
Mixing bowls
String

Method

Tie string to your pine cone or the mug handle so you can hang it from a tree or hook later. If using a cardboard tube or old plastic bottle, carefully poke holes into the sides to thread the string through.
Soften vegetable fat by warming it in your hands or in a saucepan over a stove. It doesn’t need to melt, just become soft enough to mould easily.
If using a cardboard tube: (see video here)
- Carefully poke four holes at equal distances around the bottom of the tube.
- Spread the lard onto the outside of the tube, then roll it in the seed mixture until it coats the outside.
- Poke two twigs or sticks through opposing holes in the base of the tube, creating a cross. This will give the birds somewhere to perch.
If using a pine cone:
- Add in the bird seed to the warmed lard a bit at a time, and mix until it sticks together easily.
- Gently squash the mixture into all the holes in your pine cone. Roll the cone in even more seed to coat the outside.
If using a cup or mug: (see video here)
- Add in the bird seed to the warmed lard a bit at a time, and mix until it sticks together easily.
- Pack the mix in to the cup or mug and firm it down well.
- Push a long twig directly into the mix to give the birds somewhere to perch.
- Tie your finished feeder directly onto a tree branch or if you don’t have any trees hang it somewhere quiet, sheltered and high off the ground to keep birds safe from predators.

See the National Trust website for lots more ideas and inspiration
all images copyright National Trust

Making a pine cone feeder. Click on images to enlarge.
YouTube Videos on how to make easy feeders from a mug and a toilet roll holder HERE

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Spring is here! Top ten signs of it in your garden

9/4/2020

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Spring has sprung, and the RSPB has created a list of ‘top ten signs of spring’ that you can see from your home!
Join in the conversation #NatureIsOpen
Connection to nature has a positive impact on both physical health and emotional well being.

The RSPB has collected top ten signs of spring that you may see from your garden:

Birds building nests – birds only spend a small part of the year making nests, so now is the time to be on the look-out. They use a huge range of materials! Chaffinches use sticky cobwebs to make pads on the branches, forming ‘anchors’ for their nest. Long-tailed tits create a pouch-shaped home with as many as 2,000 feathers inside as padding. Blackbirds and house martins use mud to make their nests. Starlings love fresh cut green leaves – nothing goes to waste.
Hedgehogs waking up – while birds are making their beds, hedgehogs are just getting out of theirs. They come out of hibernation around March/April and are on the hunt for food and water. They’ll have lost around a third of their weight during hibernation. You can help them by putting out a clean bowl of water or a meat-based cat or dog food.

3 Migrants returning – spring sees the return of migrant birds to the UK. In your garden you may be able to admire swooping swifts, marvel at sand martins balancing on telephone wires or hear the nightingales chirping call.

4 Bats waking up – you may start to see bats coming out to feast on insects in your garden – a single pipistrelle bat can eat 3,000 gnats in one night!

5 Bluebells – if you have any bluebells, now is the best time of year to see them burst into bloom, transforming the ground into a sea of blue.

6 Dragonflies return - the common darter dragonfly will start to come out. These regular visitors to gardens perch on vegetation, walls, fences, garden canes and washing lines as they wait to catch their prey, which, for a common darter dragonfly, is pretty much anything they can catch.

7 Frogspawn in ponds/toadlets emerging - If you have a pond in your garden, you may start to see tiny toadlets emerging. They love juicy insect larvae, spiders, slugs and worms, so you can create a toad haven by making your garden as insect-friendly as possible. Leave your leaves to dissolve in the ground rather than raking them up, planting wildflowers, or building a bug hotel!

8 Blossoms – if you’ve got crab apple or cherry trees in your garden they’ll be starting to burst into bloom. Bees love crab apple’s pink blossoms, while the cherry tree blossom holds both the male and reproductive parts in the same flower.

9 Grass snakes waking up - Grass snakes start to wake up from hibernation around now to look for a mate, so you might see one in your garden or park. The females lay eggs in places such as compost heaps where the rotting vegetation can keep the eggs nice and warm, so be sure to check any piles in your garden before moving them.

10 Dawn chorus for early risers on light mornings – from around March to July birds are looking to defend their territories and attract a mate, which means an early start! The first birds start singing about an hour before sunrise, with skylarks, song thrushes, robins and blackbirds starting off the choir. The early part of the day is perfect for birds, dark enough that predators can’t see them and the still air can carry song about 20 times as far. There’s always the RSPB bird radio if you can’t get enough and want to listen to birdsong throughout the day.

RSPB website

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Birdsong single set to soar into charts

22/2/2019

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A track of pure birdsong is being released for the first time as part of the RSPB’s ’ Let Nature Sing’ project to get birdsong back into everyday life
The charity is calling on the public to download and stream the song, both to highlight the fact that there are 40 million fewer birds in the UK now than half a century ago and to experience its healing qualities
The single will be released for International Dawn Chorus Day in May

To highlight the crisis that that nature is facing and the loss of over 40 million wild birds from the UK in just half a century, The RSPB is releasing a specially-created track of birdsong titled ‘Let Nature Sing’. The single contains some of the most recognisable birdsongs that we used to enjoy but which now are on their way to disappearing forever. A compilation of beautiful sound recordings of birds with powerful conservation stories include the Cuckoo, Curlew, Nightingale, Crane and Turtle Dove who form part of the dawn chorus choir.

The track is designed to help reconnect the nation with nature, helping people find a moment to relax and promote a feeling of tranquillity, as birdsong has been proven to aid mental health and promote feelings of wellbeing. The single uses entirely new sound recordings by an RSPB birdsong expert, recorded on nature reserves and other places around the UK.

The single will be available to pre-order on all major platforms from 5 April and on general release 26 April reaching a crescendo for International Dawn Chorus Day on 5 May. More information can be found and the track downloaded at www.rspb.org.uk/letnaturesing

Martin Harper, RSPB Director of Conservation said: “Nature is falling silent; over the last 50 years we’ve lost a quarter of the birds that used to sing and soar in our skies. We’re losing our connection with nature so we’re using music to put it back on the agenda by releasing a track of pure uninterrupted birdsong. Children today grow up with much less birdsong in the soundtrack to their lives. We’re asking people to show their support and concern for nature by downloading the single and enjoying the benefits that birdsong brings into our lives, but also helping to get nature noticed.”

Although the track is not designed to raise funds and the download price is the minimum permitted under chart rules; any proceeds raised will go to help the charity’s 200 UK nature reserves, where a home for the birds featured on the single is created and protected for future generations to enjoy.
Photos: Kevin Sawford ,Craig Churchill ,David Tipling ,Richard Brooks (rspb-images.com)

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Two more bird feeders for you to make

attract birds to your garden by making a bird feeder

Spring is here! Top ten signs of it in your garden

Birdsong single set to soar into charts

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