Cold, hungry birds? You can help!

The past few weeks have been tough. The weather's made our lives difficult, but it's been even tougher for our birds and wildlife. So it's a good job that we can do our bit to help.

I've been trudging up my snowy garden to feed the birds every morning - before feeding myself, of course! Even here in Bedfordshire it's been below zero for about a week, so it's a bit cold first thing but definitely worth it.

There's usually a robin waiting to receive its rations of porridge oats - at least five have been visiting! We don't normally see that many, so it must be the cold and hunger that's making them drop their guard.

Porridge oats make good bird food - they're fairly cheap and available in most supermarkets - and lots of birds eat them... starlings, blackbirds, dunnocks and even reed buntings, as I've found.

The fat balls and blocks that I've put out have gone down a storm with blue and great tits, and even a great spotted woodpecker one day. The chaffinches and greenfinches have gone for the black sunflower seeds and mixed seed, but a young male sparrowhawk which made a few unsuccessful raids had an appetite for other things... 

I've tried to keep some water available for my hungry flock, and melted a hole in the pond, but it's been tricky. Try floating a small ball in your birdbath which will bob around in the breeze and hopefully keep the water from freezing completely. Otherwise, go out with your kettle in the morning.

We've had more than 500 e-mails in the past week from people who've seen funny-looking birds in their gardens. Most of these turn out to be redwings or fieldfares, which migrate here from Scandinavia each winter. Normally they prefer to feed in fields, woods and hedgerows, but the snow and ice has forced them to look elsewhere.

If you have berries in your garden or some apples, you may well receive a visit from these pretty thrushes. Or if you'd like to, try putting out some apples and you might tempt them down... I've had no luck with that yet - it seems that carrion crows and jackdaws fly off with the fruit before anything else gets a look-in! 

I'm really jealous of my parents' garden. Not only do they have fieldfares scoffing their windfall apples, but a female blackcap came to bathe in their pond during my visit.

I've never had a winter blackcap in my garden, even though they're spending the cold months here in greater numbers. Normally, blackcaps would be expected to migrate to southern Europe or northern Africa, but the ones that come here in winter are from a population in southern Germany which may even evolve into a separate species!

Outside gardens, the RSPB even has measures in place to help bitterns survive the cold weather - frozen water means they can't catch the fish they need.

We've got loads of advice and tips on what and how to feed your garden birds. I shan't be putting out any fish around my pond, but I'd love to read about what's been visiting your garden, and what's on your garden bird menu!