Autumn and Winter Jobs to Help Wildlife

Autumn is well and truly upon us and as the weather turns colder and wetter (if that's even possible) wildlife will be finding it harder and harder to survive. So here are some hints and tips to help them out this winter:

• Don't be super tidy in the garden; rake up leaves but then leave them in a pile for hedgehogs to use for cover.
• Pile up logs or branches to provide a home for insects, or consider making an insect hotel.
• Clear and clean nest boxes, if you haven't already done so. This will make them ready for birds to use as roosts when the weather is at its coldest. If you don't have any nest boxes, now is a perfect time to buy or make some and put them up.
• Autumn is a good time to plant wildlife friendly plants. Honeysuckle, hawthorn, cotoneaster and ivy will all provide berries for the birds and mice and then will be full of insects in the spring.
• Ensure that your bird feeders are cleaned regularly and topped up as often as you can. Once birds find them they come to rely on them. A good tip is to have two of each sort of feeder - two nut, two seed, etc. - and then swap them regularly, so you have one in use and one in the wash.
• Learn how to make bird cake.
• If you find a little entrance hole into your shed, don't block it up, so field mice can have a place to shelter. (If you keep your bird seed or nuts in the shed make sure they are in a sealed container or it won't be the birds you are feeding!)
• Ensure that if you are feeding the birds you provide water too. A pond is ideal but a birdbath, regularly filled (and cleaned), is perfect as well.
• Take part in the RSPB's Feed the Birds weekend: www.rspb.org.uk/feedthebirds/ and help add to the 30 years of knowledge they already have.

If you do all this then your garden should be full of life: sit back and enjoy the view!

Fiona

Leaves photo (c) Salena Walker 2009

Wagtail photo (c) Becca Sharp 2009

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