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, if I can even call it a garden. There will be soon, but that’s not much use to the birds now. I’ve diligently inspected my feeders for signs of disease, and emptied, cleaned and refilled them when they’ve needed it. But still the birds stayed away

This Saturday (30 October) is RSPB Feed the Birds Day. To celebrate, I gave my feeders a good wash with hot water and disinfectant and bought some expensive bird seed. The birds, still busy eating aphids from the trees in the local park, are none

of each bird at a time taking food from the feeders. Suddenly the garden explodes in a flurry of activity, as both pairs of birds race around the garden, finding caterpillars and other morsels to feed their young. It’s all over by the end of June, although

Last winter, when I went to great trouble to feed the birds in my garden, my offerings were largely ignored. This winter, I'm trying again, leaving seeds, chopped apples and suet pellets for ground-feeding birds such as robins, blackbirds

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Europe’s smallest bird. I would have expected such an occasion to take place in a pine forest or a large rural garden, but this chance encounter occurred on a scrubby piece of park just behind the Hackney Road

of the reasons cited for such declines is a lack of insect food. While sparrows and starlings have adapted to use garden bird feeders, insects form a large part of their diet and their young are almost exclusively fed on insects. And you'll never find swifts

easily access buildings•    they carry Weil’s disease, which is potentially fatal to humansI paid close attention to my garden and realised I had to act when I spotted Ratty mopping up split niger seed from the bird feeders in broad daylight

no birds, despite the sparkling clean feeders and expensive food I put out for them.I'm pleased to report that this has all changed. What's more, my garden has become a battle ground. When the snow came in December, a robin and blackbird tentatively started

clumps of this and that from my mum, who is very understanding of having her established perennials lifted out of the ground and brutally divided with a spade. My bird boxes and feeders have been up for a while, but there’s been no sign of any birds

). But I feel it's only a matter of time before they find it. The only birds visiting my garden at the moment are a blackbird, robin and several pigeons. Blackbirds and robins are ground feeders, so I leave food on the ground for them. I put it out first