Have you ever wondered why red robins are associated with Christmas? Read on to find out why! Back in the times of Victorian Britain, postmen were nicknamed “robins” because of their red-breasted coloured uniforms. From there, the robin on the Christmas card came to represent the postman who delivered the card. But it isn’t quite as simple as that, as there are links that pre-date …
Continue readingAutumn is one of the best times to observe many forms of wildlife. At this time of year, it’s common to see the Brambling, Redwing, Waxwing, Fieldfare, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Siskin, Spotted Woodpecker, Jay and more as they start to bulk up before Winter. It’s important for them to find plentiful food sources at this time of year, in fact their very survival through the …
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During the festive season, it’s likely with large amounts of food on offer, we’ll find ourselves with plenty of Christmas leftovers, but rather than it go to waste, an ideal way of putting it to good use – is feeding it to our beloved garden birds. As throughout winter; natural food sources that wild birds rely on will become scarce. We have put together some …
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Recently the population of our much loved British birds have undergone a review by the British Trust of Ornithology (BTO). The latest BirdTrends report; which spanned the full length of the UK, looked at various habitats in wetlands, farmlands and waterways including marine and costal areas, comparing the health of 26 bird species between the 1970s to the present day. The report detected a dramatic …
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It’s fair to say that the enjoyment and fun we all get watching our birds on our feeders and around the garden is priceless; but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t sometimes like it to be a little less expensive! With Christmas just around the corner it can be tempting to cut back or look to make savings so we’ve produced some top tips on saving money …
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We all love our garden birds they look amazing and are always entertaining but there’s also so much more going on under the feathers that makes them doubly amazing and helps us understand why feeding certain foods is so important to help some of our favourites! Birds, like people, are warm-blooded but they have a higher metabolism which means they process food and oxygen much …
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Earlier this week, Chris Packham announced the publication of a People’s Manifesto for Wildlife; a stark warning of how the UK is allowing its natural environment to fall into barren ruin and, more importantly, a comprehensive and compelling breakdown of what is needed to reverse this sleepwalking into “ecological apocalypse”. There is a great deal of information in the manifesto – and much of it …
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Officially autumn, September is a month of change for birds in our gardens. With their annual moult completed most are looking brand new and fresh in the feathers that will carry them through the winter ahead. Most of our summer-visiting birds are on the move this month as they begin to think about heading south. Migration isn’t just something that happens on Springwatch, it’s a …
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August may be the quietest month of the year for bird song but it can be an interesting month for garden birds. For most garden birds the breeding season is over and many are losing old feathers and growing new ones in a process called moult. This loss of feathers is why many birds seem to go missing in August as they not as mobile …
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At this time of year, everything in the garden seems to go into fast-forward – fledglings are bulking up and testing the limits of their new flying skills, there are bugs, bees and minibeasts of all shapes and sizes and plants are shooting up inches every day (or so it seems!). The reality is that this is what summer is all about – warmth, sunshine …
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