Enjoying the wildlife in our garden

I’ve always wanted a garden and now that I have I do my best to enjoy it as much as I can. That mostly means enjoying the wildlife in our garden, besides playing with the dog, having some meals in, and, of course, doing a bit of gardening.

In the last years, we’ve got only big birds, like magpies and pigeons at our feeding station. But, this year, we’ve started to get smaller birds, like these black birds and a few sparrows. I think the difference is made by the Passiflora. It grew a lot and the smaller birds feel safe and protected by it. The black birds are so small that some of them stay on it. How cute are these birds? Well… is true that one of them looks a bit menacing, but, even so, they are still cute.

The black birds are so light that some of them can stand on the Passiflora. It’s always fun to see them balancing on the delicate stems.

On the left fence is a pigeon, waiting for his turn to eat. The black birds will sometimes throw food for him, so  could enjoy the food without actually bothering them. It happened too often to be a coincidence.

As the birds are squabbling, we can’t miss them from the house. Their chirping is very load, we can hear them even if the windows are closed. So, this means that we can have a look outside to see them eat and fly and squabble. The birds are so funny.

They eat that bowl, filled to the brim, in a day or two. My husband changed the slim bowl he put before with this big one, so we don’t have to top up the food a few times a day.

Enjoying the wildlife in our garden. My tips for feeding birds:

1. If you want to feed birds in your garden, make sure the garden is safe for them. Put the bird feeder in a place where cats can’t reach it easily. From that point of view, our garden is very safe, the dog is a huge (pun intended) deterrent. See the post on Festus and the pigeon from last year.

2. Another thing to consider is if they have enough food. Top up regularly and put a bigger bowl if is needed. The bowl I’m having now is a stainless steel bowl from the kitchen department. Choose the right food for them. Different birds like different kind of food, so try a few to see how it works. For us peanuts will not work, but suet pellets do. I’m not too keen on handling the suet pellets, but if this is what the birds want, this is what I buy for them.

3. If you have a bush, place the bird feeder near it, so small birds can hide in the bush if they feel a threat.

If you want to have butterflies and bees, plant some flowers. This year I’ve planted edible flowers and the insects love them. I’ve seen so many bees at the edible flowers that I’ve made sure I harvest only a small portion, so they can have their nectar. It’s wonderful to see white and yellow butterflies flying around the garden too. Next year I’m going to plant a few more flowering plants, to have even more butterflies around.

This is how we are enjoying the wildlife in our garden. Do you have birds in your garden? Would you like to?