Living at the end of a country lane gave us a few challenges last week when we were snowed in.  The car was parked up for ages; I have never had a tank of petrol last so long. We enjoyed at playing at being self-sufficient. Going to the shops was a major family expedition as we carted our groceries up the hill on our backs (we should have brought the sledge).

As the coal lorry didn’t manage to get to us over the icy period, we decided the best thing to do would be to chop our own wood, Julie and the lads went into the garden to rummage around for fallen branches and anything else that could be sawed up to produce a bit of heat.  

WOOD WARMS YOU TWICE

Within a very short space of time we had a large pile of wood.  We had fallen branches, the old Christmas tree and even the remains of some ancient wooden chairs that were slowly rotting behind the shed.  I used the chainsaw and within a couple of hours we had enough fuel to last us a week.  Some of it was a bit damp -still it still made for a good fire especially as it was mixed with the scrapings out of the coalbunker. Wood certainly warms you twice as it is quite labour intensive collecting and cutting it. We all had a real feeling of achievement that evening as we sat around the fire watching the wood merrily spit and crackle.


BIRDS
The birds are queuing up at the feeders in the garden as we have tried to keep them well fed over the cold snap.  The feeders had to be moved from the trees as we have a couple of highly skilled tree climbing rats in the garden. We tied some string between the bean poles and the swing and dangled the feeders from this. The rats climbed the trees and studied it for a while (until one the lads took a shot with his pellet gun). As yet they haven’t been able to negotiate the thin green twine but they have probably signed up for circus school to learn tight rope walking.

ATTRACTING DIFFERENT TYPES OF BIRDS
There are different mixes for feeders and for bird tables and ground feeding. The better mixtures contain plenty of flaked maize, sunflower seeds, and peanut granules.

Small seeds, such as millet, attract mostly house sparrows, dunnocks, finches, reed buntings and collared doves and blackbirds enjoy flaked maize. Tits and greenfinches favour peanuts and sunflower seeds. Mixes that contain chunks or whole nuts are suitable for winter-feeding only. Pinhead oatmeal is excellent for many birds. Wheat and barley grains are often included in seed mixtures, but they are really only suitable for pigeons, doves and pheasants, which feed on the ground and rapidly increase in numbers, frequently deterring the smaller species.

Avoid seed mixtures that have split peas, beans, dried rice or lentils as again only the large species can eat them dry. These are added to some cheaper seed mixes to bulk them up. Any mixture containing green or pink lumps should also be avoided, as these are dog biscuit, which can only be eaten when soaked.

Fat balls
Fat balls are excellent winter food. If they are sold in nylon mesh bags, always remove the bag before putting the fat ball out – the soft mesh can trap and injure birds. You can make your own bird cake by pouring melted fat (suet or lard) onto a mixture of ingredients such as seeds, nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal, cheese and cake. Use about one-third fat to two-thirds mixture. Stir well in a bowl and allow it to set in a container of your choice. An empty coconut shell, plastic cup or tit bell makes an ideal bird cake feeder. Alternatively, you can turn it out onto your bird table when solid.

Dog and cat food
Meaty tinned dog and cat food form an acceptable substitute to earthworms during the warm, dry part of the summer when worms are beyond the birds' reach. We have loads of tins of catfood that our pampered dog refuses to eat (she only likes the ones in gravy) so these can help to feed the blackbirds, who also feed their chicks with it.

Things to avoid
Polyunsaturated margarines or vegetable oils.
Like us, birds need high levels of saturated fat, such as raw suet and lard. They need the high energy content to keep warm in the worst of the winter weather

Milk and coconut
Never give milk to any bird. A bird's gut is not designed to digest milk and it can result in serious stomach upsets, or even death. Birds can, however, digest fermented dairy products such as cheese. Mild grated cheese can be a good way of attracting robins, wrens and dunnocks.

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Winter bird care
written by SallyB, December 12, 2010

We always enjoy putting out food for the birds. It is one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to see wildlife really close up. In winter, birds may have difficulty finding natural foods such as berries, insects, seeds, worms and fruit. Earlier in the season we noticed the holly absolutely laden with berries – a sure sign of a long cold winter or so the old wives’ used to tell me when I was a kid. Nature has signposts for us, if only we could read them. Mind you not all of us have forgotton (I heard the Donegal Postie on Highland radio who seems to know how to read the signs).

Feeding the birds regularly over winter will help the birds survive until the spring and God knows they have no supermarkets and oil centrally heated nests.


What would they eat?

Most kitchen leftovers can be used to feed birds. Bread can be crumbled up and scattered - moisten very dry bread first as it could cause dehydration.

Biscuits provide a rich source of fat, and cooked rice, pasta and pastry are packed with starch. Potatoes can be boiled, baked, roasted or mashed, and cheese - crumbled or grated - will be very popular with robins and wrens.

Fat is a wonderful source of energy - cut bacon rinds, fat from chops or blocks of suet into cubes. Mealworms can also be very useful, you can get large tubs of them from the petshop, Lidl were selling them too last week.

Fruit, such as windfalls or bruised apples and pears, goes down a treat with blackbirds and thrushes. It may also attract winter visitors from Scandinavia such as fieldfares and redwings.

Beware: Grapes, sultanas, raisins and some artificial sweeteners can be very toxic to dogs and some other wild/domestic animals. These foods should be put on a raised bird table and never scattered on the ground.

Go nuts

Fresh coconut in the shell is a great favourite with tits. Drill two holes in one end and drain off the milk. Saw the coconut in half and hang outside. Never put out desiccated coconut as it swells up inside a bird's stomach.

Peanuts are rich in fat and attract nuthatches, siskins, great spotted woodpeckers, tits, greenfinches and house sparrows. Peanuts may be naturally contaminated with an invisible toxin so make sure you buy peanuts of guaranteed quality. Use a darning needle to thread nuts in their shells onto string or put shelled peanuts in wire mesh containers or spiral feeders. Robins and dunnocks will eat crushed or chopped nuts. Never use salted nuts.

Bird seed mixes with sunflower seeds attract greenfinches and chaffinches. Dunnocks and finches prefer smaller seeds such as millet or canary seed.


Reduce risks

Scatter food on the ground for thrushes, dunnocks and wrens. Cats pounce from bushes and trees so don't put food nearby. Don't put food out late in the day; it might attract rats and mice overnight.

To reduce the risk of spreading disease, clean bird tables and feeders weekly and water bowls daily.

Bird pudding

* Make a mould, a half coconut shell is ideal, and thread some string or wire through a small hole in the base.
* Mix some seeds, chopped nuts, sultanas, biscuit crumbs and rolled oats in a bowl.
* Melt the same volume of lard or suet in a pan.
* Add the fat to the dry mix and stir well.
* Pour the mixture into the mould and leave to cool.
* When the pudding is set, hang the mould upside down in the garden.

Thanks to the DSPCA for their advice

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