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Garden tits and fat balls. No, I'm not about to start writing top shelf, plain brown envelope stuff, just about birds and bird feeders. I had the most horrible experience a couple of days ago, with a great tit and a fat ball. It had me in tears, so

This weekend is the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch, the world's largest bird survey. In last year's Birdwatch, over 400,000 people sat for an hour and noted which species visited their gardens; six million birds were counted. The Big Garden Birdwatch

is generally the case with autumn lawn care) looked considerably worse than it did before we started.But at least the disaster zone is now level and the words ' has potential' is uppermost in my mind. I just hope the local bird population is not now feeding

I thought my garden was already quite a haven for mammals, birds and insects, but there is always more you can do for them. With this in mind I've just registered to take part in the RSPB Homes for Wildlife scheme. After answering a few brief

and particularly lovely feathered critters we try to provide a habitat for. I've heard the argument that it's not that sparrowhawk numbers are on the increase, but that they're simply following their food, so as the smaller birds become more numerous in gardens

. But why else would the birds want to be in my garden unless I shared my produce with them?I understand the meaning of the word sharing, but I don't think it features in bird vocabulary. It certainly didn't for the collared dove that sat motionless in my

they produce. You get huge height, fabulous, huge flowers and then a mathematically desirable fibbonacci series display of sunflower seeds that will now be enjoyed by wild birds for weeks to come. Many of the seeds have already been eaten by my daughter

With the fruit swelling on your strawberries it's time to protect them and cover the soil around the plants with a mulch. This will prevent the crop getting splashed with mud when it rains. And don't forget to net the plants against birds and keep

the feathered visitors to my garden. These had to be birds actually landing in my garden and not just flying over. And no cheating! Although I saw long-tailed tits in my garden last week, but not during my hour, I could NOT record them. Neither did the song

. The remaining flattened daffodils on the drive are starting to right themselves. Sadly, my Iris reticulata have not fared so well and are still horizontal. The bird table, with its adornments of fat-ball dispensers, peanut feeders and household scraps hit