Feeding your Wild Birds
Your garden is part of a vast network of habits which supports our wild birds, gardens are estimated to cover about 270,000 hectares – more that the area of all the National Nature Reserves in the UK!
One way to discover and re-discover the wonder of nature is to feed, and provide habitats for, garden birds and other wildlife visitors in gardens. In doing so, we can help to create wildlife corridors, which are vital to ensure our wildlife has enough room to adapt to climate change.
Vine House Farm has provides some excellent advice on attracting wild birds to your garden, what to feed, when to feed and how to feed!
Purchase your Wild Bird Food from Vine House Farm
and support The Wildlife Trusts.
VHF is offering a 5% commission on ALL mail order and online sales, this commission goes to your local Wildlife Trust and you don’t even need to be a
Wildlife Trust member.
News from the Farm – July 2009
Our aim here at Vine House Farm is to be able to farm sympathetically to wildlife while still being able to maintain a profitable farming operation.
Every spring I carry out bird population surveys to monitor the bird population of our local area. It gives us a fantastic insight into how the conservation measures that we have implemented have maybe benefited species.
Several years ago we built an irrigation reservoir with an island in the middle of it, with the aim of attracting birds to nest on the island. Common Turns have been nesting there for the last few years. Due to Moorhen predation number have varied from year to year, this year however we now have 45 pairs sitting on eggs. Our Tree Sparrow population is doing well, several pairs have fledged young and more nests continue to be occupied. They have been especially successful where we have dug a series of ponds specifically for wildlife. These ponds have not only provided water but a huge increase in diversity of plant species compared to other areas of the farm. We have also put up several nest boxes around the ponds this spring, several of which have been used.
Spring Watch this year highlighted the fact that the Cuckoo numbers are down. Here at Vine House Farm we have also seen a decline in their numbers but in recent days we have seen 5 Cuckoo’s all vying for territory along the edge of one of our hedges which we planted ten years ago, which of course is encouraging to see.
Nicholas Watts
Tree Sparrows - Photo taken by N Watts at Vine House Farm
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