A veteran gardener and nature-lover is urging fellow gardeners to do their bit to save British birds from extinction.
Douglas Jones, from Knighton, said the right type of garden was vitally important for the survival of wildlife. And with careful choice of plants and shrubs, even the smallest plot could become a bird haven.
The 84-year-old was commenting on the latest State of the UK’s Birds report, an annual publication produced by a coalition of conservation organisations looking at the fortunes of the country’s bird populations.
Climate change is the headline issue this year - with rising temperatures said to be responsible for British birds to be laying their eggs much earlier than 40 years ago.
Birds such as the chaffinch, blue and great tits, robins and swallows are, on average, laying their eggs a week earlier than they did in the mid 1960s.
Dr Mark Avery, conservation director with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: “This year’s report shows climate change is with us already and from our gardens to our seas, birds are having to respond rapidly to climate change simply to survive.
“As often before - birds are acting like the canaries in a mine shaft and giving us early warning of dangerous change.”
Mr Jones, a member of Knighton Gardening Club, said: “As long ago as 1950, my father and brother had a stall at Shrewsbury Flower Show explaining how to encourage, birds, bees and butterflies to your garden.
“Birds are certainly not an enemy of the gardener.
“The right choice of flowers and shrubs can make all the difference. For example, there’s lots of privet along the cliffs at Saundersfoot in South Wales and it really attracts the birds.
“Another tip is to grow sunflowers in your garden - birds love the seeds.”
The retired engineer said: “Modern farming practices make it even more important for gardeners to do their bit.
“In my part of the world, you see hedges being torn up and replaced with wooden fences, destroying birds’ nesting sites.”
Tips to encourage feathered friends:
- Choose shrubs and trees with berries or fruit such as rowan, crab apple, elder and bramble.
- Lavender, buddleia and native ivy are good for birds and also attract butterflies and bees.
- A small pond provides water for birds and can be a haven for frogs, toads, newts, dragonflies and other insects.
- Grow sunflowers and fennel, leaving them to go to seed so they provide food for wild birds.
- Choose plants that flower and produce seeds or fruit at different times of the year, so insects, birds and animals can have food in all seasons.
- Put food and water out for the birds in wintertime, especially if the ground is frozen.
- Put up a bird box.
- Cut back on weedkillers, pesticides and insecticides.
- Consider leaving a few spaces in your garden undisturbed. Log piles and decaying plants and leaves are a retreat for beneficial insects.
By Peter Johnson
17 Comments
It would help if farmers were banned from cutting back hedges until well into autumn/early winter. On the lanes locally hedges have already been cut - taking valuable food for the birds. Lack of food before winter makes it harder for the birds to survive - all for the sake of everything looking neat and tidy.
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Is’nt it evolution? I have 2 cats which reg catch small birds - until the birds learn to look for cats then they will be wiped out.
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Near the offices I work in they have just rippped up a huge area of old headgerow to make way for a path under the watchful eye of Shropshire County Council.
This was done in the middle of August when birds may well have been having second brood of chicks and the loss of hawthorn etc for food. The effect on the local bird population will go unrecorded as the birds appear to have been secondary in the decision to pull up the headge.
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an excellent article for which thank you, bound to get a few wum’s unfortunately
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Everyone can buy birdfood and put it in their gardens.
Go on, you’ll love the results!
And responsible cat owners keep their cats in doors.
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Y Mab Darogan
By your way of thinking….your cats had better watch out for my dogs!
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matt says keep your cats in doors, i havent a cat but what a stupid comment to make cats eat birds its called nature locking a cat up 24/7 is most definatly cruel .i honestly cant believe that some one thinks that is fine in order to save the odd bird from what is nature at its unpleasant but nature and natural.
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Only this afternoon I had a Green Woodpecker on my lawn. With two birdtables and a bath, the number and species of birds I get are numerous. Badgers have a sett here, squirrels, yes, common greys are numerous and a menace but still welcome, hedgehogs come quite frequently and kestrels taking blue/ grey /coal and long tailed tits from the tables is a common occurrence. The only things not welcome are cats, they will enter at their peril and seem to sence what awaits them, they just don’t come. Can’t abide the things, they should be treated the same as dogs, kept inside or only outside in the owners garden or on a lead. Cats and their owners get away with blue murder.
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Cats should, indeed, be kept indoors and not allowed to rampage through neighbours’ gardens, indiscriminately killing beautiful birds. Of course, cats need exercise and I advocate walking a cat on a tight leash in the same manner that one might exercise a dog.
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Stuart, what is the difference between a kestrel taking a bird and a cat taking a bird? Surely it’s just nature, either way?
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There’s a vast difference, a kestrel is a wild species acting naturally in the wild, a cat is a domesticated species allowed to run wild by irresponsible and anti social humans. Simple. Anyway, I love wild birds (and tame ones too) and I hate cats. My own rules apply in my own garden
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That’s not quite how the law sees it though, is it? It is an offence to trap, injure or kill a domestic cat. And the RSPB does not support calls for legislation to restrict the freedom of movement of domestic cats because they believe there is no evidence to support such a law.
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H. St. John Peasbody. You have been worrying me lately as I have agreed with several of your comments in last few days but I see you are back to your normal trolling best. Left off the medication nursey left out for you again have you. And Stuart your rules don’t apply even in your own back garden. If you harm or distress a domestic cat whilst it pays you a visit. You will be getting a visit from the RSPCA and looking at a hefty fine.
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good man, we must act now to save our planet
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who cares, birds are pests just like rabbits, they ruin all my veg, kill em all i say
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lineman, the difference is the kestrel has wings!
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Now who said anything about harming or distressing a cat Bluejay, they just don’t come into my garden for reasons best known to themselves and Lineman, the RSPB are not the only ones that we should consider and go by, just pluck a few people out of a street crowd and ask them what they think of cats messing in their gardens, jumping out at cars (and luckily getting killed in the process), making an unholy noise all night and generally being a confounded nuisance. The law makes special provision for any “horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog”, allow these to stray and one could be in trouble or, hit one in a car and not report it and again one could be in trouble. Why should a da……. cat be any different, certainly they are greater nuisances. With the exception of a dog, I don’t see any of the other animals listed here killing wild birds. The control of cats is long overdue in our urbanised environments.
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