Willow Warblers in Birdbath
I don’t know whether it is a seasonal thing, but the small garden birds seem to be remarkably regular in their bathing habits. If I look out of the window between 1-2pm the chances are that there will be a queue waiting for their turn. The blue tits are the largest group and will all dive in together with a great deal of splashing, but a few days ago I managed to photograph two willow warblers sprucing themselves up ready for migration.
While it is still the silly season in the newspapers, there is nothing silly about the story appearing at the moment about the threat to greenfinches from trichomonosis (a disease caused by a parasite) that is killing them in large numbers. It is primarily a disease of pigeons but for some reason greenfinches are succumbing. I’ve upped the hygiene with my birdfeeders and birdbath, using Citrox, the citrus-derived natural disinfectant (available from www.organiccatalog.com) to keep things as clean as possible.
Posted in Biodiversity
Tagged birdbaths, birdfeeders, citrox, greenfinch, trichomonosis
Birds need water as well as food in freezing weather – pour a kettle of hot water into any birdbaths or over the ice on pond margins.
In this really cold weather it is worth putting a blanket of fleece over greenhouse plants
Avoid putting salt on your paths as it can leach into the borders and kill plants – use ash, horticultural grit or sand instead
If snow does break branches on trees and shrubs, shake the snow off to avoid further damage but don’t prune back until temperatures rise or the frost may penetrate even further in to the plant.
