I've almost filled the freezer with this year's blackberries. Big juicy ones plucked from brambly hedges in Ye Olde Hackney town. Now I know what you're thinking. How dare I deprive the poor birds of all that deep velvety berry goodness. Well, I'll make sure I make up for it by inviting said birds and other wildlife to come dine with me. The menu includes seed cake and suet pastry rubbings followed by a fruit platter of apple and pear, all washed down with clear, cool fresh water. I may even chuck in some breakfast cereal the next morning.
I've almost filled the freezer with this year's blackberries. Big juicy ones plucked from brambly hedges in Ye Olde Hackney town.
Now I know what you're thinking. How dare I deprive the poor birds of all that deep velvety berry goodness. Well, I'll make sure I make up for it by inviting said birds and other wildlife to come dine with me. The menu includes seed cake and suet pastry rubbings followed by a fruit platter of apple and pear, all washed down with clear, cool fresh water. I may even chuck in some breakfast cereal the next morning.
Birds are close to the top of nature's food cycle, feasting on a range of things from seeds to bugs with nuts, snails, seeds, fish, frogs, worms and ants inbetween. This is their equivalent of haute cuisine, but birds also love fast food, like cake crumbs, mild cheese, suet or cooked plain rice. What they don't like are greasy or salty sauces or condiments. Paffy bread is a contentious issue. Birds will gobble it up, but it simply swells in their stomachs and has little to no nutritional value.
London's wildlife is no different to that elsewhere in the UK or indeed in the rainforests of Sumatra. It's all struggling and if we don't step-up and act now, we'll lose lots of it.
Wildlife and nature add so much to our lives and are one of the few free, almost untaxed, "commons" that we can all enjoy. Nature provides clean air for us to breathe and water to drink. Wildlife pollinates our plants and distributes seeds so that brambles can scramble and provide purply-black berries to stain our fingers and stimulate our saliva glands. It richly rewards us and we must never allow it to be diminished. A small investment from us all supporting wildlife now, will give future generations the continued luxury of jam tomorow.
Find out more about London's wildlife by visiting our Tate Modern peregrine watchpoint next to the Millennium footbridge, daily from noon until 7 pm through to Sunday, 11 September.