UK Nature Blog

Seed heads feed the birds

Those TV gardening programs always tell you to leave certain plants' dead seadheads standing over winter so the birds can eat them, but I had never actually seen it happening until today. Four Goldfinches parked themselves in the remains of my Rudbeckia and feasted away for quite a while. They do seem to have a habit of staying put once they've found some food - they do the same on the bird feeders.

Their beaks are just right for prising seeds from difficult places, classically teasels. Here's what those same Rudbeckia flowers looked like a couple of seasons previously. A nice reminder of glories to come whilst we persevere through the cold.

Birds are easier to spot in the snow

With no leaves on the trees and a white backdrop to everything, it's much easier to see the birds in the garden. There's almost nowhere for them to hide.

Where did all the garden birds go?

I have passed comment a few times over recent months about the lonely existence of my bird feeders this winter. There have been plenty of similar mumurings from other sources and the BBC picked up on it afresh today. Basically the birds are probably happily noshing down in the countryside since it's been so mild. A very cold week has just begun so it will be interesting to see whether that makes any difference.

Frosty lettuce

Just a few days ago I was eating lettuce fresh from the garden thanks to the very mild winter so far. But now those lettuces are frozen. The cold weather has set in over the last few days and most of the garden doesn't even thaw out during the day.

This seems to have finally caused the birds to start coming to the feeders, which had been extremely quiet until now. Don't forget that you might need to help them out a bit by topping the feeders up more regularly and making sure the bird bath isn't frozen.

Clean your bird feeders - they're filthy!

I'm ashamed to say that I let my bird feeders go far too long without being cleaned and as the weather has turned to 'eternally damp' recently, they've been in a sorry state and I'm not surprised at their lack of popularity. I'm too embarassed to post any 'before' pictures, but above are my feeders drying after a very thorough wash. You really do need a bottle brush and an old toothbrush to get all the old grime off. I even needed a carefully chosen stick to prise out the crusty, congealed, mouldy old food to start with in some cases.

A robin conducted a very animated display of disapproval that the window feeder had been taken down, so I will get them back up tomorrow and hopefully the birds will flock back.

If you haven't cleaned yours recently, and if you haven't taken a close look to see what state they're in, I suggest you do so ASAP. I also cleaned the bird bath - don't forget to do the same.

Nature notes - December 2011

For me it's not been a classic period for nature watching recently. Dark when I leave the house, dark when I return so not much opportunity to photograph birds and beasties. But I have noticed a few things all the same.

• It's finally got properly cold, with snow hitting much of the country in recent days. I'm not convinced the second/third flush of strawberries growing in my garden will ever ripen now!
• I haven't seen a single Redwing or Fieldfare this winter, which is unusual. I heard of them being in the country a month or two ago, but I've not seen any evidence of them.
• Similarly the bird feeders in my garden have been relatively quiet. The most notable birdlife is Long tailed tits, Robins and Blackbirds recently. Plus Sparrows, Blue tits and Great tits as ever. They're the boiled potatoes of birds in my garden.
• Magpies can sometimes be heard quite late (e.g. 10pm) shouting from the trees. I'm not sure at what - perhaps at cats or each other.
• There weren't nearly as many big brown house spiders running across my living room floor of an evening over recent months compared to years past.

It's a mad, mad, mad year

The BBC has a nice video report summing up what an odd year it's been in terms of weather, from the poinbt of view of a fruit farmer. I too have had strawberries flowering and bearing red fruit in the garden up until very recently, and it remains relatively dry in the South East.

Autumnal scenes

A couple of pleasant and typically autumnal scenes for you, in case the darkening days are starting to get you down. Both of these are in UKNB's home town of St Albans, so if you're local you might recognise the first one at least.

Unseasonal flowers

It's been unseasonably warm recently, continuing the yearlong trend for 2011 of going against the established theories of what the weather should be like at any given time. I found Marsh marigolds flowering today (they are a spring flowering plant ordinarily) as well as Brambles, which would usually be done by September.

This is assuming I've correctly identified Marsh marigolds above. I think I have but most of the web pages I found about them had them growing on land and with slightly differnt looking leaves.

Beech nuts

Here's a classic autumnal scene. Crisp leaves and the cases of Beech nuts littering a woodland floor - or even a pavement. I think you can even see a beech nut or two, as well as the empty burred cases, especially in the top left area of the picture. However if you really want to know what they look like, here are some great pictures and advice on eating them from Raw Rob's blog on wild food. Apparently they were used as a coffee substitute during the war!