Bird Feeders Will Be Busy This Nesting Season

The first of March rings in the beginning of the breeding season for our wild birds and a time when birds of all kinds meet and gather around feeding stations, bird feeders and bird baths in the hope of finding a mate.

With the inclement weather, it has become all the more important to stock up our bird feeders and feed our birds in the busiest and energy demanding time of year. Birds will begin their search for twigs and moss to build their nests and they with the freezing temperatures and frosty nights the addition of bird seeds and peanuts in your bird feeders will be very much appreciated

As well as fill your bird feeders there are a number of other requirements that come into effect from March 1^st through to August 31^st. These laws have been introduced buy the Wildlife Act 2000 where it states that all trimming and cutting of native hedgerows in prohibited. This is of course to protect our wild birds as this is where they mostly nest.

During these early months of the nesting season food sources are essential to keeping song birds and their off spring alive. When the ground is frozen or there is a layer of snow covering the ground, our birds can not get access to worms and other insects in the soil.

Also if you have been feeding your birds through your bird feeders over the winter months it is likely that those birds have become reliant on that food source and you should continue to fill your bird feeders over the next few months and even into the summer.

There are many benefits in feeding your birds, notably the added life and noise that they bring to your garden when they come to feed. The first of the song birds to begin nesting include thrushes, robins and blackbirds and if you see them in your garden during the early parts of March you should know that the food you supply them may be going to feed their young.

Bird foods available in shops and garden centres offer a high energy food source that are filled with all the essential vitamins and minerals they require. Of course birds also love to eat worms and slugs and other garden insects so as a treat you can always leave some slugs from your vegetable patch on a bird table or feeding station.

Having said all this and with the snow falling outside I am off you top up my bird feeders. With the abundance of song birds in the area and using my garden i find that i need to refill my three feeders 3 to 4 times a week.