Here in Wales we are blessed with just about every habitat imaginable. This means we have a wonderfully diverse range of wildlife and bird life. With Wales being such a small country it means you are never that far away from a local nature reserve. This is all very well until we have a long period of wet weather as we are currently experiencing, it is hardly conducive to wandering around and wildlife watching for your average nature enthusiast. Fear not, as you may have as good a time just simply looking out your kitchen window into your garden.
All of Britain’s gardens combine to make an area of green land bigger than all of the nature reserves in total. It is also estimated that there is a richer biodiversity going on beyond your own back step than in any rainforest. You are in effect a warder of a small reserve.
Why not spend a little time over the coming weeks getting to know your own little patch if you haven’t already. Do you know if hedgehogs visit in the night? I know they are visiting mine currently, as they are leaving me “evidence” on the lawn every night! Hedgehogs are having a bit of a tough time of it of late, there’s been a 25% drop in numbers in the last ten years, so a little helping hand can go a long way. One of the best foods you can put down for them is cat food (but not fish based ones) or soaked dried mealworms, there are also plenty of hedgehog food mixes on the market that are very good. One thing I would advise if using cat food is to put it out just before the sun sets, or else you tend to either end up feeding your neighbour’s cat, or the local rat population! We were lucky enough to have a family of four hedgehogs in our garden by late summer last year, and it is good to know that some survived winter, even if I haven’t physically seen one yet.
Something else to encourage wildlife into your garden is to plant a few tubs with flowers this spring, you will be amazed to see how many bees and butterflies will visit. There are little things you can do in every garden that can be low maintenance. You don’t have to have a sprawling garden to attract wildlife. You can always benefit from the overspill from other peoples gardens.
We are at the point where the early breeding birds will be bringing their first fledglings from their nests. If you feed the birds already, it is vitally important that you continue to do so, it is also equally important that you keep your feeders clean at this time of year. Parent birds will carry any bacterial contamination back to the nest with food stuffs and feed their chicks. Simply wash any feeders or birds tables with some hot soapy water, or a dilute solution of bleach, and give them a good rinse. Letting them dry naturally should kill off most of the germs that may lurk on there. If you provide a regular food source the parent birds may bring their young to your garden to feed, and that is a pure joy to watch!
That brings me to my final bit of advice. I received a tweet on twitter a couple of days ago from someone whose friend had found an abandoned House Sparrow chick in their garden, and asked what they should do. I replied, do nothing. It was too late; they had already brought it into their kitchen. I was then heartbroken to hear that they said the parent bird was looking for its fledgling in the garden. The simple truth is, by thinking that you are doing the right thing by helping the young bird you are probably killing it with kindness.
If you find what you consider a vulnerable chick in your garden the first golden rule is, try not to touch it. The parent bird is almost certainly nearby, and will be calling as will the fledgling. They are the best equipped parent to look after the bird. Keep an eye out for cats, or if you have one, keep it indoors until the bird is safe again. If it becomes apparent the bird may have fallen from a nest, then seek advice from your local wildlife officer, the RSPCA or RSPB, all their numbers are readily available on the internet or directory services. They will advise you the best way of helping the young bird.
Once you have got to know your local nature reserve better, why not grab a pen and a hot cup of something and start counting what you see. This year’s Make Your Nature Count survey is fast approaching on the week of the 2nd to the 10th June. This survey is one of my favourites of the year, as you get to count everything. As the webpage says if it slithers, tweets, forages or snuffles then count it!