They say it's not over until the fat lady sings.. well in nature, it will be all over if the fat lady [robin] doesn't sing.
Feed the Birds weekend has passed but it's not a one off activity, the weekend's a reminder to continue to put out food for garden birds all through the winter.
What we're saying is, if you don't feed your garden birds to help them keep warm, they'll freeze to death. There are no size 0 models in this winter's bird fashion parade. Only the well-fed will survive to deliver a dawn chorus.
Over the weekend our London teams were on Hampstead Heath and in St James' Park allotment, reminding people to spare a few cake crumbs, fruit or other kitchen scraps for birds. The question they were asked most often was, "why should we put out food; birds have survived without human intervention in the past?" Well, I may be preaching to the converted on this blog-page but our most common species, house sparrows and starlings, are suffering huge population crashes. Both have lost around two-thirds of their numbers. Research strongly suggests this is food related.
There's a real shortage of bugs and seeds to eat. Our gardens have become extensions of our homes and are kept neat and tidy, there's far less to support wildlife than there used to be. Addressing this imbalance is easy, and the good news is that it need not be expensive or difficult and you'll be able to enjoy the sight of birds, butterflies and bees all helping to keep pests down for you.
So what do you do? You restock nature's larder by growing flowers, shrubs and grasses. No garden? No problem. A windowbox, balcony or a flat roof not only look nicer when you grow plants, but you'll also saving the opera that is nature. Visit our Community pages where people have shared their experiences of gardening for wildlife. If you need advice, tell us about the space you've got and we'll give you some ideas. It's our Homes for Wildlife project. It's FREE, but you do need to register.
Fat is a avianist issue, so bring on the fat birds. Use your food scraps to support nature instead of feeding your bin and we'll all winners.
My daughter's 'music' homework was all about the blues. She just wouldn't believe me when I said the godfather of the blues is a gravelly voiced chap called Muddy Waters.
"What sort of name is that," she asked. "It's as sensible and clear as most," I responded, glancing at the names on a magazine in front of me: Chenille, BB, Missy P, Axel and Wolf!
This exchange came back to me as I spoke with a reporter who'd called about Boris Johnson's long awaited Feasibility Report on the Thames Estuary Airport proposal. He's announced he's pursuing the £40 billion plan after engineer Doug Oakervee's report stated it's all possible.
Of course it is physically possible. No one's ever doubted that. Just as it's physically possible to build an airport on the moon. So what does the report say about caring for the legally protected habitats in the estuary? How they'll get round the issue of the Thames Estuary being a major migratory route for tens of thousands of birds that use it as a navigational aid? Then there's the wildlife that lives there, how will that be handled?
Doug Oakervee doesn't know.. he says: "It takes little imagination to appreciate that if any of the proposals or schemes [for a Thames Estuary Airport] under consideration were introduced without appropriate amelioration measures then the impact on this precious ecological reserve could be disastrous and in this day and age almost certainly unacceptable. Nonetheless, this has to be brought into balance if we are to succeed in finding effective means to deal with the many and complex issues surrounding climate change, as well as the needs and demands of a growing population."
Building an airport in a unique and fragile environment that supports tens of thousands of wild birds is not the way to go about tackling climate change. Doug Oakervee acknowledges this and his report probably didn't give Mayor Boris the lift he was looking for. Mr Oakervee's report believes the whole estuary needs consideration to ensure whatever is done, benefits the habitat, the people that live there, it's wildlife and of course the wider UK business interests.
Mayor Johnson's set up a new GLA Steering Group, as recommended by Mr Oakervee's feasibility report, which also states work on the project must begin next year. However, Mr Oakervee stressed the need for a well financed group; Mayor Johnson has created one with just 1% of the funding Doug Oakervee believes is required.
I hope the members of that steering group are fans of the blues, cause they're entering very muddy waters.
My Aunty Joyce is forever linked with goldcrests in my mind now. On Monday I joined relatives to bid her farewell at Birmingham's Robin Hood Cemetery. Afterwards we gathered in a nearby hotel and there in the late October sunshine, two of these gorgeous little birds played hide-and-seek in the top of a conifer. It's a nice way to remember someone.
Back at work my thoughts are turning to our annual Feed the Birds events, coming up the weekend after next (24 & 25 Oct). It's a time when we all start to feel the impact of winter as the clocks go back an hour, making the morning's rather dark! I've already invested in new batteries for my bike lights in preparation.
Birds have a pretty high body temperature and if they don't get enough food to eat each day to keep warm overnight, you won't be hearing them come the dawn chorus. Lots of people aren't sure about what food they can put out for birds. Basically avoid salty stuff and too much bread. Always try to provide water, prefaerably poured fresh into a clean bird bath on a daily basis. Never put out more than the birds will easily eat in a day, otherwise you could attract unwanted wildlife.
What's always best .. is to provide food naturally. Nature's larder has been left somewhat bare thanks to our overly zealous tidying of gardens and open spaces. There simply aren't as many berries, seeds and nuts around as there used to be. Imprortantly, insect numbers are also down and many birds rely on the high protein they can get from bugs, slugs and worms. So you'll need to embrace them too. There are ways of doing this without hugging a slimey snail or tucking a moth up in a nice wooly blanket in your bedroom drawers. Bug hotels, or wildlife stacks, are easy to create and you can use garden and household scraps instead of sending them to landfill.
When we get cold, we can light a fire, pull on a thicker coat or switch on a heater. Birds don't have that luxury. They may, in some cases, huddle together. I favour that approach when cold. Birds may nest alongside warm chimneys, in thick bushes away from the wind or undercover in old buildings. But the only thing they can really do to keep warm, is eat.
"It's not a cull!" Exasperated yelling in my dreams is not something I'd normally share; it reveals too much. But I've been forced to repeat those five little words so many times this past week, the phrase has obviously embedded itself in my subconcious.
Natural England has shifted ring-necked parakeets on to the general licence, along with Canada geese, Egyptian geese and monk parakeets. They join crows and magpies on the list of species that landowners can kill or trap without seeking permission.. the catch is that these birds can still only be shot or trapped if there is a good public health and safety or conservation reason for doing so. Previously, you'd have to give your reasons up front, but at least you knew you were acting within the law. Now, you'll have to make your excuses after acting, and if you haven't got good enough grounds... you become a jailbird.
Ring-necked parakets have lived in the UK since the 1800's. Someone returning from Africa or Asia, possibly a trader, probably brought them to the UK to sell as exotic curiosities. Some escaped and some were released and over the years, their numbers slowly increased. The urban myths say some escaped from the set of the Humphrey Bogart film, The African Queen. Jimi Hendrix added a couple on Carnaby Street in the sixties in a gesture of free love. The fact is, they've been here a long, long time.
They're loud, bright green with a rose coloured bill and like to hang out around people in very large numbers. You can't miss them. That's part of the problem. Like Matt Lucas's character Daffyd in the Little Britain TV series "the only queer in the village", they are flambuoyant and stir-up reactions. Some people hate them on sight, others admire and revel in their difference. Shifting ring-necked parakeets from one list to another is muddying the water. Nothing has significantly changed, they are still a legally protected species.
Government money, our tax-payers cash, is being spent on a couple of studies, to find out more about parakeet's. Previous studies found they were not causing a problem. Parakeet numbers have increased since then, so these new studies are welcome. Deciding whether, or how, to control an expanding, well established and geographically widespread species needs good intelligence, clearly thought-through strategies & plans, supported by good communication. I look forward to that and the return of peaceful dreams.