![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Tits and wrens regularly roost in nestboxes, with wrens inviting plenty of friends to share. This is an excellent strategy, as tiny birds are particularly vulnerable during cold nights many wrens, huddled together, helps to keep them all warm and cosy. I remember watching almost 200 pied wagtails diving into thick ivy growing over a fairly low wall in a local park - an amazing sight with the latecomers struggling to find a spare perch. In gardens, mature ivy is a favourite and, if this is growing against a house wall, the birds get extra protection and fewer chilly draughts. Reedbeds are also popular. Starlings love these, diving in en masse at dusk after swooping around in ever increasing numbers. However, as far as providing shelter is concerned, then birds usually choose evergreens, thick bushes and hedges for night-time roosts. That is really cold, and naturally we feel desperate to help our garden birds when temperatures sink so low. What can I do to provide warm shelter for my garden birds? Sally said: Temperatures as low as minus 30 Celsius are forecasted for our area with continuous freezing conditions for at least 10 days. Sent in by Sally McKenzie, Maastricht, Netherlands. Many birds rely on gardens for food and shelter, especially over the really cold winter spells, so providing a range of foods such as seed mixes, suet based foods and soft fruit is a top tip. Providing supplementary food in your gardens is definitely a positive step for wildlife. We are already seeing jays working hard to cache the chestnuts. Despite the lack of acorns, sweet chestnuts and hawthorns are both heavy in nut and berry and provide a tempting alternative. Those wild animals that are able to take advantage of other food sources will fare much better. Winters are hard for wildlife, they will take their toll on all creatures, this is part of the natural cycle. By not producing acorns one year the population of the creatures that have come to rely on acorns decreases, that oak tree may then produce a super-abundance of food the following season that the smaller numbers of acorn eating creatures cannot eat their way through. In years where oaks don't produce acorns, the oak tree has played a smart move. Pear trees for example that rely on insect pollinators, bees in particular, were left without pollinators during the main flowering season as a result of an extended wet and cool period that limited insect activity. Whilst some trees like oaks produce good crops followed by bad crops in irregular cycles, some trees’ production of fruit, nuts and seeds are influenced by climatic factors. The arrival of bramblings in significant numbers may also reflect a problem with the beech mast crop in Scandinavia. The jay isn't fond of crossing open water so to cross the North Sea suggests a poor acorn crop. Jays migrating into the UK is a sign that their favourite food, acorns, is in short supply on the continent as well as in Britain. 12 November 2012Ī wild bird irruption (a large irregular migration) often indicates an issue with a food source. Sent in by Shirley Roberts, Carmarthenshire. ![]()
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