In the UK this weekend the clocks will be going back and the winter nights will be drawing in, indicating a time of year that most of you will want to be getting all cozy indoors.

However this winter please make sure that you don’t forget your feathered friends, those beautiful garden birds that provide much pleasure with their playfulness in the garden and chirpy song. At winter garden birds need a helping hand through the provision of nutritious food to keep them warm during the winter months and in preparation for the breeding season.

Some may argue that by feeding garden birds it is interfering with nature – however we have already interfered with nature by building too many houses, mass agriculture, use of pesticides killing useful plants for birds, and removing hedging containing nutritious food and replacing it with walls and fences instead.

Thus it is my personal opinion that feeding the garden birds is good, because not only does it provide pleasure in watching them feed it also helps conservation efforts especially in urban areas where there is a lack of suitable natural food sources.

However when you feed your garden birds it is important to consider the following:

• Chose the right food and feeder for the birds you are trying to attract
• Don’t feed them bread (bloats their stomach) or salty products (as it will dehydrate them)
• Do buy bird food from a reputable company (I use http://www.walterharrisons.com/ as they also donate money to Notts Wildlife Trust for every bag of bird food sold
• Be careful where you put bird feeders in order to not attract vermin, if possible move them to different parts of the garden regularly for hygiene reasons.
• Wash the bird feeders regularly with boiling water and suitable non harmful cleaning product to ensure that disease is not spread (always use rubber gloves when handing bird feeders for your own protection)
• Do put out water (for example using a bird bath, or upturned dustbin lid) as it is important that birds have access to clean drinking water.

If you would like to help your feathered friends, then this weekend is a good time to start as it is the RSPB’s “Feed the Birds Day” and it is still “Wild Weeks” which I mentioned in the ‘Go wild this week’ post.

To celebrate Feed the Birds day there will be a variety of events happening across the UK including one at Attenborough Nature Reserve in Chilwell, Nottingham on Sunday 28^th October. Such events will provide you with guidance on how to help your feathered friends.

In addition to feeding your garden friends, this weekend why not put up a nest box or even plant some native hedging which will provide your garden friends with natural and nutritious food.