Helping Wildlife this Winter

As we enjoy a warm cup of tea indoors, wrapped in our blanket, let's not forget our little friends who live outside!

Animals in the wild can struggle to find food in winter. We can all help by doing a little bit at home.

What you can do this winter:

• Leave a handful of nuts/seeds outside for squirrels and birds.
• Make fat balls with seeds and hang them in trees/on your balcony (a lovely activity to do with the children!).
• Leave acorns and conkers on the ground when going out for a walk! These are precious food for our woodland friends.
• Leave a section of your garden wild for animals to be safe. You might have hedgehogs moving in!
• Don't cut back seed and flower heads over the winter, bugs and bees might use them for winter cover.
• Leave leftover seeded bread (not white), oats and bruised pears and apples outside for creatures to enjoy.
• Keep an eye on your feeders and top up and clean regularly (this would most certainly need to be done more often than in the summer with nature's food supply being lower).
• Install bird boxes and make a log pile if you can.
• Leave the leaves in flower beds or a corner of your garden to become compost as much as possible instead of discarding in plastic bags (worms need their food too!).
• Have water available for animals to drink and birds to clean (and keep your water and feeders clean!).
• If you need to cut things back, try the chop and drop method.
• If you have hedges with plants that have berries such as Ivy, Holly or Hawthorn leave pruning until January/February so the birds can feed on the berries,
• If you put seed/nut feeders out for the birds try to buy bird food that is grown here in the UK, as some habitats overseas have been destroyed to grow bird food for the UK market.
• You could also plant more things in your garden that will provide seeds for the birds over the winter months such as Sunflowers, Sea Holly or Asters. Some of these plants have the added bonus, if left over winter, to look very beautiful to us when covered in frost.
• Have a fantastic time watching wildlife visit your home this winter!

You can share about what you do to help wildlife these colder months with us, as well as pictures of any visitors you may have!