The Birds In My Garden

LIFE/NATURE/Gardening

I feed them throughout the year

I feed birds in my garden all year round. Above is a photo I took with much luck of a Blue Tit which I disturbed- hence the fluttered wings. I had uploaded this photo to my laptop elsewhere, and for some reason, I cannot make it larger.

In the UK we are losing species of native birds due to loss of their habitat. I rarely see a Blue Tit in my garden. I see them on my walks by the sea and in other gardens belonging to friends.

I am constantly emailing my council about greenspaces, the carbon footprint of developments. I get irate that the law about permeable driveways is not enforced as when it rains heavily water cannot sink into the ground. We get flash floods and regular floods on busy roads, in underpasses, (sidewalks under the roads), and people's gardens have been washed away.

My garden has permeable ground, so that rain can sink in. We are getting much wetter winters now, and the fewer places that rain has to sink in means that those places become waterlogged and cannot hold down the roots of ancient trees.

I have been upset in the last three years, as neighbours have removed bird cover. One took out shrubs in a nearby communal garden which was always full of birds. My walk to town was a pleasure in hearing birdsong in those shrubs. A neighbor in the rental house next to me cut back bird cover in the nesting season! This is illegal, but the letting agency doesn’t care. I complained to them, and they said that if something needs cutting it needs cutting. As a result of my complaint, my neighbor placed a dead bird in my back porch. I am thankful they left.

So fewer birds are coming to my garden, yet my squirrel-proof feeders become empty quickly. I keep on doing it as there are trees around my neighborhood, as well as in my garden. I also have three nesting boxes. A pair of Robins have territory just outside my garden. I long for them to visit.

I am grateful for any bird lover in my neighborhood. My road is small with little through traffic. It is a one-way road, due to it being very old and therefore too narrow for two-way traffic. An ambulance has blocked it at least once. A firetruck would be entitled to push its way past our cars. I no longer possess a car. And I am fortunate to be at the sea end of it.

Gulls are a pest. Three summers ago, I had a gull’s nest on my roof. Due to their protected status, I could nothing, and I am still waiting for scaffolding to become available to repair my roof.

Humans are the only species on the planet that destroy it. More awareness is growing thanks to the pandemic, but not enough and not in time.

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