Birds
If you enjoy bird watching, want to attract some new wildlife or just want to do your bit for nature this autumn/winter, there are a number of nutrient rich foods you can leave out for the small ones and some shelter you can provide.
- Starlings and other small birds enjoy a diet of peanut cakes, grains, seeds, fruits and nectar, all of which are scarce throughout the colder months.
- Sparrows, finches and nuthatches enjoy munching on seeds prised from sunflower heads.
- Blackbirds and Thrushes enjoy a nutritious diet of fruits including over-ripe apples and raisins.
- Wrens favour finely chopped bacon rind and grated cheese
- Finches and Tits enjoy berry and insect cakes
Other bird foods such as waxworms or dried mealworms are widely available in most pet supply stores.
Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs and other ground creatures tend to seek shelter just as much as food amongst our gardens during the colder months. Their usual diet of slugs, ground beetles, caterpillars and worms are particularly hard to come by during this time of year but will thoroughly enjoy and benefit from any combination of nutrient-rich foods including;
- Meat-based cat or dog food and cat biscuits
- Mealworms
- Hedgehog food, of course, accompanied by a shallow dish of water.
Toads and Frogs
During the spring and Summer, you can attract small amphibians such as newts, frogs and toads by providing a small pond for tadpoles. But during the autumn, winter or once the tadpole stage is over, they tend to shy away from water and seek shelter elsewhere in the garden. You can give them a helping hand by providing shelter throughout your garden:
- Log piles make a good shelter for amphibians and other small creatures, so check these for wildlife before clearing up or disturbing.
- Leave twigs, dead leaves and logs, sticks, rocks and stones as they are the perfect winter dens.
- If you are melting an iced-over pond in the winter, place a pan of boiling water on the ice to melt it gradually. Never attempt to break or smash the ice suddenly as this may harm wildlife and disturb any creatures hibernating at the bottom of the pond.