winter to spring

The days getting longer, the sun edging higher in the sky, spring bulbs are beginning to break through the earth, a clump of garden daffodils are in flower but it will be a few more weeks before the hedgerow daffs appear.

Farmers will be getting the final hedges trimmed before March when bird nesting begins. In the fields the ewes and lambs are fed daily and it helps that the days are drier now.

 

Garden birds are busy checking out their nesting sites and really enjoying these warmer days - although food is still scarce. If you want to help then with nesting boxes the RSPB gives good advice.

We're seeing two jays most days, here in the garden, although they are really considered to be woodland birds.

Jays were rarely seen in gardens before 1998, perhaps they have depleted their stores of acorns and moved into the gardens in search of food. Like all crows the Jay is intelligent and they will quickly mastered extracting peanuts from containers if they cannot find food in woods and hedgerows.

 

 

snowdrops flower in the hedgerows during
January and February

 

 

Feeding the birds in your garden is a great way to help them through the winter months and prepare them for a busy time ahead. It is important that you keep the feeding area clean, use a good source of bird feed and provide fresh water daily.
See the guidance from the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare -  www.ufaw.org.uk/gbhi.php and the RSPB advice.

 

 

 

What to look for	January 2010	February 2010
		August 2009	September 2009	October 2009	November 2009	December 2009

 

 

 

 

 

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