National Nest Box Week was established and developed by the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) to provide a focus on nesting birds and to support their conservation and local biodiversity. It encourages the placement of nest boxes in your local area, at a time when small birds traditionally pair up ahead of the breeding season.

Natural nest sites such as holes in trees or old buildings are disappearing fast, so our native birds need all the help they can get to find a safe spot to breed. Birds may even use the nest box year-round, roosting cosily in it during the winter months.

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I moved into my rented house last May, and of course I set about feeding the birds in my new garden straight away. I established some of the familiar faces of the garden bird world within a few months, but it was only at the beginning of this year that I started to see Starlings.  More...

Kitchen scraps make an excellent addition to your usual choice of bird food. By putting out the right scraps, you are helping to reduce landfill waste, as well as providing the birds with additional essential fats and carbohydrates which are especially important in the Winter and during nesting season. More...

With the weather forecast looking wet, wet, WET for the foreseeable future, it's worth taking a look at our bird feeding practices to ensure we give our feathered friends a fighting chance as the season changes, the temperature drops and natural food sources diminish.

Birds naturally waterproof themselves by preening their feathers, coating them with oil from glands at the base of their tail to help water run off. They also trap pockets of air in the downy under layers of feathers to keep them warm - like a duvet!

So in light showers, you may see them fluff up their feathers, but in heavy rain, they will flatten them down to help water run off. More...

One of our most recognisable wild animals - the humble hedgehog - is currently on a mission to fatten up before hibernating over the Winter. From roughly November to March, they will snuggle up in a pile of leaves, logs or garden debris to conserve their energy before breeding in the spring.

This loveable creature's true habitat is woodland but they also love to explore our gardens, which provide shelter, food and potential mates. Hedgehogs are often called 'the gardener's best friend' as they like to feast on pesky slugs. More...

With so many of our native bird species in sharp decline and being added to the 'Red List' - offering them highest priority for protection - it's refreshing when one bucks the trend and numbers increase. 

Buzzards have been making a huge comeback and are now Britain's most abundant bird of prey, breeding in every single county since the year 2000.

Numbers have now reached the region of 68,000 breeding pairs, as opposed to a low of 1000 in the early 1900s when they were widely culled by gamekeepers who wrongly believed they were a huge threat to their game birds; thankfully this practice is now illegal. More...

Arguably more important than providing food for our garden birds is ensuring they have access to fresh, clean water for bathing and drinking.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that their need for water is met elsewhere, particularly if you live near a river or lake, but these large bodies of water don't always suit smaller birds.

Providing a bird bath is a great way to attract birds into your garden. If you have a water feature or running water, they will thank you all the more! More...

It's the breeding season for hedgehogs, and it's as important as ever to give these loveable creatures a helping hand where possible.

Although their natural habitat is woodland, our urban gardens are also favoured by them due to the plentiful supply of food and shelter. If they are very lucky, someone might have left hedgehog food out for them, too. 

Hedgehog Awareness Week is organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) between the 5th and 11th May to highlight the problems hedgehogs face and what we can do to help them. More...

Recently, a long-term customer came into the shop to make a purchase. Nothing out of the ordinary there, except she had brought with her an envelope full of old catalogues and receipts from us, wanting to know if any of it was still relevant. 

We were pleasantly surprised and delighted when she pulled out a 2009 catalogue! We thought it had long gone, and memories came flooding back for Sian who remembers very well sitting at her desk and laying out the design herself using Microsoft Publisher; not to mention the printing and stapling involved in the operation.

We sent the customer on her way with a brand new 2019 catalogue, of course, (now outsourced!) but have kept a copy of the 2009 version in the office for posterity. A lot of our seed mixes and the products we sell have remained the same, but some we had forgotten about - suet coated peanuts, anyone...? Dried earthworms...?

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The breeding season (April to July) is a great time to feed mealworms, wax worms and other live foods to your garden birds if you don't already do so!

Of the many varieties of garden bird whose numbers are in decline in the UK, it is the insectivores who have been the worst hit. The lack of mature, native trees in our gardens and ever-decreasing areas of natural woodland means that wild birds cannot find the insects they need to feed their young, resulting in fewer eggs and fewer fledgelings. This makes live foods a more conscientious choice, particularly during periods of colder weather (when insects will hide away in warm places) and especially when you consider that the birds' activity rate during the breeding season can be 100 times greater than during the winter months.

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