Cyn's Nature Notes: Feeding the Birds on a Freezing Morning

Monday, 1 January 2007

Feeding the Birds on a Freezing Morning

It is a cold day today. The temperature not much above freezing, with ice patches on the lawn and hesitant snowflakes swept down on the chill wind.

I saw blue tits and great tits waiting when I came into the kitchen. I quickly opened the window and tossed out some peanuts and mixed seeds. I soaked two slices of bread in lukewarm water and breaking it into pieces, sent that out as well. Taking a handful of peanuts I ranged them along the outside window sill, where before I had even finished a cheeky blue tit had already taken one. Blackbirds and robins were alternately feeding and squabbling over the food, not with each, but with other birds of their own kind.

I was pleased to see a thrush snatching and gobbling food on the outskirts. Blackbirds really enjoy the fruit peelings put out each day, and I sometimes wonder if I boiled up the root vegetable peelings to soften them, whether the blackbirds would enjoy those too. Of course, suet is another welcome food, unfortunately I have run out of it.

I am glad the malus tree, which had such a heavy crop in the autumn, maybe the best yet, although fed on every day, still has hundreds of crabapples left. It is such a vital supply to so many. Blackbirds love it and I am surprise not to see the thrushes in it more often. This morning we had three jays feasting there. Pigeons also spend a great deal of time enjoying its fruits as do squirrels. The most surprising visitor to the malus tree was a pair of sparrowhawks. This was witnessed by my neighbor and her friend who were delighted.

Sparrowhawks fill me with mixed emotions. I have watched them catch, pluck, and slowly kill blackbirds, collared doves, and even one after the other tiny blue tits. I have to be philosophical about these happenings though, as I have positively delighted in watching the tawny owl catch voles – and do not voles have as much right to life as blue tits? Does the sparrowhawk not need to eat as the tawny owl does?

Every creature is so hungry today and many times I have put food out for them. It is a good thing that I am prepared with plentiful stocks on hand. It causes much amusement, when each year I ask family members for bird food as my Christmas or birthday gift. I hear people whispering about me being eccentric, which I probably am, but many years ago I read our wants are endless, but our needs are few. It struck me how true this was.

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About this Blog

When we moved to our present home in December 1987, I was very ill and bedridden. My garden was a life-saver, although it was very different then. The first thing I did was to put up bird-feeders, and long hours were spent lying indoors in a recliner. This was when I discovered many things. Do you know the underside of every blue tit’s tail is differently marked? Gradually, over the years, the garden changed. We put in shrubs and plants that would not only enhance the garden, but would also be good for wildlife. The first rabbit we saw was so joyful for us. The deer eat the flowers, prune the apple trees, eat the marrow, and are wonderful to watch. Foxes have been a major part of our wildlife. We have fed them each night for more than 20 years. They are such a delight, especially in late summer and early autumn when there are youngsters. They behave like puppies and are great fun to watch.

I love all wildlife: the mason bees that nest in the brickwork of the bungalow, the hornets that last year made their home in the roof above our bedroom, the bees currently nesting in the roof above the bathroom. On a hot evening, if you stand quietly in the bathroom, you can hear this amazing sound: it is very rhythmic and reminds me of the waves at the seaside. It is made by the beating of the bees’ wings as they fan their nest to keep the temperature at the right level -- how many people have heard that sound? I feel so privileged.

Obviously, I feed the birds. When I open the window in the morning I call “Come on Bobby and Blackie”, and one followed swiftly by the other they fly immediately to the bird table. Each morning, on rising, I make my way to the kitchen and find the squirrels already sitting on the window ledge waiting to be fed. Winter brings the moorhens and spring time the mallards. Our pond is a poor effort from a human point of view, but wild creatures see it differently. On summer days, the grass snakes spend long hours in the pond: eating the fish, froglets, toadlings, newts, and any other living creature they can swallow. Although I hate to see the pond emptied this way, I do enjoy the snakes and feel they are an important part of the balance of nature in the garden. Watching a dragonfly nymph climbing out of the pond, up a plant stalk, and then over the next few hours gradually transforming into a beautiful dragonfly -- these are contented hours well spent.

It has been my pleasure to write and publish a nature column each month. I am always delighted to hear how much pleasure this brings to my readers. I have often been asked if I have written a book, so I am making more of my writings and photography available through this web site and blog.