Notes on nature

Monday's Magic Moment: my mum always used to say...

lucinda — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:34:14 GMT

'Don't talk with your mouth full.' And it's a lesson this fieldfare might want to take note of if he doesn't want to lose his rather juicy-looking berry!

Fieldfares are winter visitors to the UK and a very common sight in gardens at the moment - whether you're digging yourself out of snow, or had glorious sunshine over the weekend.

You can find all sorts of wonderful winter wildlife and landscape photography on RSPB Images - our very own image library.

This weekend... help birds stay warm

Katie Fuller — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:36:29 GMT

... not by knitting them little woolly hats and scarves, but by giving them some food and water.

The weather forecast is looking chilly for the weekend for much of the UK (as I write this it's minus 4 Celsius in sunny Sandy - pretty tough for us soft southerners). So it's even more important than ever to keep your bird feeders topped up and water available.

Even in the depths of winter, birds like to bathe daily. Personally, I can't think of anything much worse than an alfresco bath at the moment, but birds need water not only to drink but also to keep their feathers in good condition. It's difficult to stop water from freezing in these temperatures, but we have a few tips and tricks which might help.

As for food, it depends on which birds are visiting you. When it's cold outside and the days are short - and there's less time to feed - fat is the name of the game. There are a few things to be careful of, but don't worry - we've got everything you need to know about what to feed the birds. Things like apples and oats are also good sources of energy which birds need to keep warm.

Once you've done your duty and retreated back indoors, feel the warm glow of satisfaction as hungry birds descend. Cold weather often brings unusual visitors to gardens, so please let us know what turns up!

Monday's Magic Moment: hanging on

Katie Fuller — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:39:51 GMT

Would you dangle upside down to get a meal? It's all part of everyday life for a nuthatch - one of my favourite birds to watch. They're not afraid to hang upside down or run headfirst down tree trunks while looking for food. But then they have long, curved claws to help them hang on to the bark.

I wonder how many people saw nuthatches at the weekend as part of Big Garden Birdwatch? Send us your results and we'll be able to find out!

Visit RSPB Images to browse thousands of gorgeous photos like this one, taken by Steve Round.

This weekend...Take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch

Kevin Middleton — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:53:00 GMT

Well, it’s finally here. The big weekend. You’ve done the preparation, you can only sit back and watch.

Which is exactly what we want you to do! For just one hour on either Saturday or Sunday please sit down, take a look out of the window and count the birds in your garden. Oh, and then submit your results, even if you don’t see anything. We still need to know.

For more information on how to take part see the Big Garden Birdwatch website. It’s so simple!

All welcome

I’ll be taking part too, I wouldn’t dream of missing it! I’ve been doing the Birdwatch since I was fresh-faced youngster staring hopefully out of the patio doors, watching entranced as blue, great and coal tits flew to and fro on their own little missions.

Back then it was only for YOC (now Wildlife Explorers) members. I’m glad that in 2001 the powers that be allowed adults to take part too! Last year 609,177 people took part. Where you one of them?

Tactics

They’re pretty simple, my tactics. But it’s my last Big Garden Birdwatch in this house, so I’d like it to be a good one.

I don’t have a garden, there’s a few plants to attract insects, ivy on the walls where blackbirds nest in spring and a tree across the courtyard. Hung there is a feeder. Or, as it’s known in my house, the ‘finch swing’, on account of the number of finches regularly seen on it! Green-, gold- and chaffinches are all regulars. The goldies appeared just after my Birdwatch hour last year, so I hope they’ll turn up during it this year.

Woodpigeons, collared doves, blackbirds and dunnocks skulk around underneath the feeder, hoovering up any seeds the messy-eating finches drop. I know it’s not a competition, but two years ago I scored a record 12 species. Star bird that year was a blackcap. More of these migrant warblers are spending their winters in the UK and with this year’s mild winter, perhaps we’ll see a few more this year.

Tradition

So, I’ll be watching early(ish) on Saturday morning, with my trusty Birdwatch bacon sarnie. It’s all part of the tradition, it just wouldn’t be the same without my bacon sarnie! I’ll let you know what I see.

What are you hoping to see? Do you have any Birdwatch traditions? Let me know and share in the fun of the world’s largest wildlife survey.

Is anybody there?

lucinda — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:03:00 GMT

I'm not going to lie - the Birdwatch can be a worrying time.

What biscuits will I have with my cup of tea? Can I sit in my favourite chair and still see the garden? Will the birds know I'm watching them and not turn up?

Ok, so I'm being silly about the first two, but every year we get people telling us that during their hour Birdwatch their usually bustling 'bird-opolis' of a garden is strangly empty.

Now some of this is just bad timing. Not many people have the luxury to be able to stare out the window all day and see that actually there are quite a lot of periods of bird inactivity in their green space. This is perfectly normal - most birds wander over a wide area in search of food.

However, some of it might be due to slightly less obvious reasons.

Just as the cold weather of previous surveys brought a surge of birds flocking into gardens, so the incredibly mild weather of late could have the opposite affect. With the countryside not covered by frost and snow there have been plenty of berries and insects still available for our birds to eat.

It'll certainly be interesting to see what kinds of birds people are seeing this weekend, and in what numbers.

Which is why no matter if you saw 20+ or no birds at all, we still really want your results.

Happy Birdwatch everyone. And in case you're wondering, I'm rather partial to custard creams. Although ginger biscuits are always tasty. No, hang on, make that bourbons....

Monday's Magic Moment: putting on a display

Kevin Middleton — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:57:00 GMT

I saw this image of a displaying male goldeneye, taken by Graham Eaton, and just had to share it! I feel that it really captures the energy the males put into attracting the ladies!

This medium-sized diving duck can be found all over the UK at the moment, lakes and reservoirs are favourite haunts. I actually saw some myself at Grafham Water in Cambridgeshire over the weekend. The male's display is quite something, it'd be difficult for any nearby females to resist, surely?

There's thousands more images like this in our RSPB images library. Take a look, it's stacked full of wildlife shots from all over the world.

This weekend...listen out for drummers

lucinda — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:28:00 GMT

'Knock, knock. '

'Who's there?'

'Great spotted woodpecker.'

'Great spotted woodpecker who?'

If you're now expecting an hilarious punchline, I'm afraid you're out of luck - I'm no comedienne.

But if you listen out this weekend, you might just hear the knocking of a great spotted woodpecker.

Rather than singing about it, these smart looking birds like nothing better than to tap out their claim on a territory. And they can be pretty noisy about it, too - their rat-a-tat-tating can be heard for miles around.

As their name would suggest they often drum on wood, but occasionally they find things that make an even better noise!

Helping humans

Watching these birds in action is turly remarkable. And fascinating. To get some idea of the force these birds exert when 'head banging', it would be like you or I hitting a wall face-first at up to 20mph. Not something I'd like to try!

Even though we're still not a 100% clear how they manage this feat wihout causing themselves serious damage, a paper published last year shed a better light on how they do it.

The findings could even be used to help design better head protection for us!

Get spotting

For our friends in Ireland, I'm sorry to say that you'll just have to make do with listening to their drumming on our website as there are only a few woodpeckers in your neck of the woods.

For the rest of you - do keep an ear out and let us know if you spot one of these beautiful black and white birds this weekend.

And if anyone can actually finish the joke, be my guest and leave me a comment!

Monday's Magic Moment: reflections

lucinda — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:46:41 GMT

Katie's post on Friday reminded me how beautiful winter can be.

And when I saw this gorgeous image of Snowdon by Guy Rogers I just knew I had to share it with you.

You can find more stunning winter photos on RSPB Images.

This weekend... get snapping

Katie Fuller — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:42:32 GMT

I love photography... Hopefully we'll see some bright, crisp, frosty days soon - ideal for capturing those wintry moments. For me, the great thing about frost is that it can make almost anything beautiful (or at least more interesting than before).

Did you know you could see your photographs printed in an RSPB calendar for next year? We're running a photo competition again so it's time to get snapping!

Don't assume that, just because we're the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, we only want pictures of our feathered friends for the calendar. Wrong! Anything from the natural world goes.

And you don't need ultra-expensive gear, just an eye for a great photo. Nature reserves can be good places to look for photo opportunities but your back garden could be just as good.

Wouldn't it be amazing to see your work in print, adorning kitchen or office walls of people up and down the country?

If you're tempted, you can find out everything you need to know about entering on our website.

Good luck!

Monday's Magic Moment: eating like a bird

Katie Fuller — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:25:00 GMT

With Big Garden Birdwatch coming soon, who wouldn't be delighted to have these visitors to their feeders?

If you're not familiar with them, they are tree sparrows. Numbers of these pretty birds plummeted by 95 per cent between 1970 and 1999, so we're working hard to give them a helping hand. You might be lucky enough to see them in your garden if you put out seed for the birds, though also keep an eye out for their close relatives, house sparrows.

Head over to RSPB Images to see lots more gorgeous photos like this one from Tony Hamblin.

This weekend...Prepare for your Birdwatch

Kevin Middleton — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:56:00 GMT

The countdown to the Big Garden Birdwatch is on! It’s now just three weeks until it’s time to sit down, perhaps in your favourite chair, and look out your window for just one hour, counting the birds in your garden.

So, how can you make the most of your Birdwatch? Just how are you going to attract charms of goldfinches, squadrons of starlings and tonnes of tits to your garden?

It’s all in the preparation

You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘failing to prepare is preparing to fail’? Well, that’s true for your garden too! And this weekend is the perfect time to start your Birdwatch preparation. It’ll give your birds time to get used to any new foods or feeders.

There are three steps in my mind:

Clean
Fill/top up
Sit back and enjoy

First things first. Get out there and clean your feeders. Don’t be shy, give them a good brush. Take a look at our advice pages for more information on how and why to do this.

Now could also be the time to invest in any new feeders. Our shops have sales on now, so why not pick a brand new feeder when you stock up on your bird food?

Get it out there

So you’ve got your food. The birds love it: it’s tried and tested. Get it out there. I’m not saying that you need to have feeders off every branch and mealworms scattered everywhere, but make sure your feeders are topped up and the right food is out. If you’ve got peanuts, for example, lying uneaten in your feeder, ditch them. Now’s the time to try something else. Put food on a bird table too, or the ground, for birds like blackbirds and dunnocks that don’t traditionally hop up on the feeder.

And don’t forget water: birds need a drink too! It only needs an upturned dustbin lid (surely there’s one lying around now most people have wheelie bins!) or even a tray for your plant pots. Just fill with water, stick a couple of stones in it and, hey presto, you have a water supply.

Again, take a look at our website for all the info you’ll ever need on feeding your garden birds.

Watch

Now that you’ve cleaned your feeders, and put out your food, it’s time to sit back and relax. The birds will come. If you’ve only just started then it may take a while, but chances are that if you’ve put out the right food, in the right place, they’ll be there in three weekend’s time.

So, you see, preparation is the key. It really is that simple to enjoy a bumper birdwatch! Enjoy...

Share your tips

Why not share your tips? What foods do you put out and are there any special tricks you use to entice the birds into your garden?

Monday's Magic Moment: Feeling a bit delicate?

Kevin Middleton — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 09:00:00 GMT

I wonder who woke up feeling like this grey seal yesterday? It's one of thousands of great photos in our RSPB Images library.

Although this particular seal may be nursing a sore head, it's actually a great time to get out and see grey seals right now. They'll be hauling out onto the sand and having their pups at places like Winterton Dunes in Norfolk, and Donna Nook in Lincolnshire. What better way to blow away the new year cobwebs than a bracing coastal walk? Just ask our friend the seal!

This weekend...looking forward

lucinda — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:33:00 GMT

As we get ready to wave the year goodbye, we hope that whatever you're up to this weekend you enjoy the tail end of 2011 and are looking forward to new beginnings.

As well as celebrating a new year, this weekend get your creative juices flowing with your inventive captions for this camera-shy red squirrel. I look forward to your great suggestions in the comments below.

From all of us in the Web Team we wish you a happy 2012.

Monday's Magic Moment: cheeky chappie

lucinda — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 09:23:00 GMT

I don't think there's much else I can add to this cute photo of a robin by Mark Sisson except to say that I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas.

This weekend... have a merry Christmas!

Katie Fuller — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:10:00 GMT

You don't need to be told what to do this weekend...! But if you're after advice on how to give your garden visitors a festive treat, we have everything you need to know about feeding birds.

Merry Christmas from the Notes on Nature team.