When Bird baths are an artificial pool or shallow basin filled with water, which is made for birds to bathe in, cool off and…unlike for humans!…drink the bath water. Bird baths provide a safe place for wild birds to bathe as birds require bathing to keep feathers clean and flexible and to maintain their skin healthy.

A bird bath provides a reliable source of water for birds and encourages wild birds into your garden.. in the summer to take bath and in the winter to drink ice free water. Hopefully the bird bath will be safe from predators.

A good looking bird bath makes a wonderful feature in any garden and draws a variety of entertaining birds to your garden.

Sunflowers Prove to be an Unlikely Saviour for Hampshire Farm

Sunflowers make a colourful crop, and one that has helped turn an ailing Hampshire farm into a thriving business. Mike Abram reports
Sunflowers seem an unlikely saviour for an arable farm, even one in the sunnier climes of Hampshire.
But the crop, along with millet, naked oats and, from next year, plain canary, has been central to Richard and Lesley Smith's thriving mail-order bird seed business, which has grown over 300% in the past two years.
Just under four years ago the couple gave themselves five years to turn around Street End Farm in Bishops Waltham. The 144ha (360 acres) farm was struggling along with a sideline business wholesaling poultry corn and birdseed to various outlets.
From there the business expanded into producing a small range of birdseed mixes, which the farm sold wholesale to garden centres. But the farm just wasn't big enough to compete with the major retailers.
"We'd started off by selling hay and straw from the farm," explains Richard. "And then we were asked whether we could do hard feed for horses."
From there the business expanded into producing a small range of birdseed mixes, which the farm sold wholesale to garden centres. But the farm just wasn't big enough to compete with the major retailers.

Naturetrek are only just down the country road from us at Street End Farm. After a visit to us they say.....We at Naturetrek have been really impressed by Richard and Lesley’s hard work for our local wild birds at Street End Farm. It is unsual to find a neighbour with such worthy aims! We also found the bird seed extremely attractive to our birds at Cheriton Mill ... as well as very competitively priced.

The price we pay for our Classic Peanuts and Peanut Granules for has come down recently, and we are really pleased to pass on these savings to our customers. Peanuts are flying our of the door at the moment because the weather is still so cold, so take advantage of these significant savings to you.

Not so long ago, feeding the birds was simply a matter of hanging up a plastic string of nuts and scattering stale bread. Now, bird tables are groaning under a smorgasbord of Robin Crumble, Finch Mix, insect-flavoured suet blocks and bowls of live mealworms. Even the humble peanut has been overtaken by the sunflower seed in a lofty £180 million bird food industry. Richard and Lesley Smith, owners of the Really Wild Bird Food Company, are one of a handful of producers who sow and grow their own bird seed. Here, on their 400-acre farm, near Bishop's Waltham, in Hampshire, fields of sunflowers light up the downs alongside millet, linseed, oats, rape and wheat. The seed is harvested, cleaned, mixed and packed before being sold online or at the local farmers' market in Winchester.

As a farm diversification scheme, growing and selling bird food seems to have taken off. From its early beginnings with just a few home-grown ingredients and a shovel, The Really Wild Bird Food Company is now in its fourth year of trading, with sales increasing even in the recession. ''Garden birds soon become part of the family,'' says Smith. ''Once our customers start feeding their birds they tend to carry on. They also like the fact that the food is fresh, home grown and fully traceable. All our mixes have been formulated to attract as wide a variety of birds as possible. Our most popular 'original' mix has 13 ingredients.''