This winter is no mild one. In fact, I’m pretty certain we’ll be talking about the nightmarish Storm Éowyn for decades to come and that cold snap at the start of January was ROUGH.
Not just for us, either. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) urges on their website: “When it’s really cold, birds need more energy to stay warm. But in winter there’s less daylight to find food and many of their usual sources run low.”
Really sad. Too sad, you might say.
Thankfully, the bird experts do have some advice and it actually involves, uh, cheese.
Why you should put grated cheese in your garden
You may have guessed it by now but grated cheese can actually help birds stave off hunger during these sparse months. The RSPB does recommend sticking to mild cheese, though, and advises that there are actually other kitchen scraps that you could put outside.
They advise: “bruised fruit, cooked rice, unsalted bits of hard fat, roast potatoes and dry porridge oats go down a treat with garden birds. Or you can make your own full-fat high-energy bird cakes.”
Just before you start tipping your compost tub out onto your lawn, though, they do warn that the following foods are harmful to birds:
- Cooking fat
- Dried coconut
- Cooked porridge oats
- Milk
- Mouldy or salted food
If you’re a bird lover, the charity states that keeping these foods out as well as a bird bath that’s topped up with fresh water and some form of shelter for the birds should have them flocking to your garden in no time.
How to provide shelter for the birds in your garden
The RSPB advises: “Planting dense hedges such as Privet or Hawthorn or letting Ivy and Holly grow will provide a great place for birds to roost in and shelter from the elements.
“Nestboxes are also in demand on cold winter nights, with birds cosying up together for communal warmth. The record number of birds found in one box is 63 Wrens!”
Brb, gotta set up a sanctuary in the back garden.