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have pointed out, snow does make birds all the more obvious. When I peered out later in the day, the apple tree was bending under the burden of several plump … birds. They were silhouetted against the morning light so not immediately identifiable

The danger of frozen water pipes is on my mind during this freezing weather, but I'm also concerned that garden birds are suffering, too.Water in my bird bath quickly turns into a solid sheet of ice on cold nights, and hasn't been thawing out during

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'm just back from a weekend visiting an old friend in Banwell, near Weston-Super-Mare. Always envious of his rambling house and large walled garden, we got to talking over garden wildlife and the troubles of traipsing fox dung through the kitchen

. At this time of year, I make sure the bird tables and feeders around the garden are always well stocked. Although peanuts have rocketed in price recently, they’re so popular with my local birds that we bought a whole sack of them a couple of months ago. I put

This autumn I intend to add to my collection of fruiting shrubs for birds. I’m going to take advantage of the fact that plants are available more cheaply now we’ve hit bare-root planting season.Unlike pot-grown specimens, bare-root plants are dug

With so many people reporting sightings of unusual birds in their gardens - and observing some pretty odd behaviour - I'm struggling to entice anything other than pigeons to my plot. I don't know if I should even take part in this year's RSPB Big

streamlined birds as the perfect herald of summer and I wondered why there were fewer this year. But on Wednesday there they were, a large group of maybe 20 swooping way up high.There must be a huge volume of aerial plankton up there. Every sudden dart aside

Feeding the birdsFeeding birds used to be a winter activity, from Christmas until the first spring flowers appeared. But birds need our help in the summer months just as much as during the winter.Because birds breed in the spring and early summer

the discomfort).But if I'm still cold beneath so many layers, I shudder to think how the poor birds must be faring. Their tiny, almost flesh-free legs must be frozen. I do what I can for them, and my bird table is currently laden with large quantities of crushed