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RSPB
home page
The RSPB is the wildlife conservation charity that takes
action for wild birds and the environment.
The BBC is not responsible for the content
of external websites. |
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ALSO |
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Ellesmere
Heronwatch
The Ellesmere heronwatch performs a vital service by monitoring
the numbers of herons breeding on the mere. It's also great
entertainment for visitors who can watch the birds via a screen
in the visitor's centre.
RSPB
BIG Garden Birdwatch in Shropshire
The
RSPB is asking people in Shropshire to join in with the biggest
birdwatch in the world. Help
them to build up a important picture of how our common birds
are doing.
BBC - Nature
A site for anyone interested in animals and the natural world.
BBC
- Birds homepage
Ornithology news and information including weekly features,
message boards, birdcams and e-cards
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| TWEET
BIRDS |
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Put
out food and water on a regular basis. It's important to all
birds for drinking and bathing.
Don't forget to put some food on the ground for bird such
as chaffinches.
Plant a hedge for wildlife -make a mixture of native shrubs
such as holly, hawthorn.
Put out fresh coconut, popular with blue tits - but NEVER
use desiccated Coconut.
Making
a fruit Christmas Cake? Spare a few raisins, sultanas and
currants for birds.
Keep any bird bath free of ice to help birds drink and bath
but NEVER use chemicals.
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Time
for the Birds
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Click
on any of the titles below for more information that might
help you help our feathered friends...
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Caring
for birds in your garden
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Make a bird cake of melted lard or suet mixed with bird seed,
and raisins.
No garden? Fasten a feeder to a window with suction cups -
bring the birds even closer.
Planning
next year's garden? Research which plants are best for birds
and other wildlife.
Birds need water for drinking and bathing - buy a bird bath
or use a shallow dish or inverted metal dustbin lid.
Spend
a few minutes threading peanuts in the shell on to a string,
hang them in the garden, then sit back and enjoy the antics
of the feeding birds.
Dried
cheese? Don't bin it - crumble it in the garden for wrens
to enjoy.
Browse
the RSPB web site for loads of information and latest conservation
news - www.rspb.org.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
If
you're a cat owner, put a collar and a bell on your cat.
In winter, birds can be at extra risk from feline predators.
Make sure it's the safe type - ask for one with a quick
release buckle and make sure you fit it properly.
Collect
some pine cones and stuff fat or bird cake into the cracks.
Attach a piece of string to each, and hang them up.
Dead
flower-heads provide seeds for birds - instead of cutting them
now, leave them until February. |
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Shropshire's
top ten garden birds for 2003
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No
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Bird
Species
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Average
No
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1
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House
Sparrow
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5.2
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2
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Blue
Tit
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4.2
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3
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Starling
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4.0
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4
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Chaffinch
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3.0
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5
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Blackbird
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3.0
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6
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Greenfinch
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2.5
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7
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Great
Tit
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2.1
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8
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Robin
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1.5
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9
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Collared
Dove
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1.5
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10
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Wood
Pigeon
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1.4
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Shropshire's
top ten garden birds for 2004
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No
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Bird
Species
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Average
No
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1
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House
Sparrow
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5.4
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2
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Blue
Tit
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3.8
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3
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Chaffinch
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3.2
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4
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Blackbird
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3.2
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5
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Starling
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2.6
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6
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Greenfinch
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2.3
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7
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Great
Tit
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2.1
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8
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Robin
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1.5
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9
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Collared
Dove
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1.5
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10
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Wood
Pigeon
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1.5
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Shropshire's
top ten garden birds for 2005
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No
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Bird
Species
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Average
No
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1
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House
Sparrow
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5.0
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2
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Blue
Tit
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3.7
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3
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Chaffinch
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2.8
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4
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Blackbird
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2.8
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5
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Greenfinch
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2.4
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6
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Great
Tit
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1.9
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7
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Starling
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1.9
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8
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Wood
Pigeon
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1.4
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9
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Robin
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1.4
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10
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Dunnock
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1.4
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Feed
the birds -Great recipe's the feather friends will love...
four to choose from
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Bird
cake - Our feathered friends love it!
Instructions:
1. Take two parts nuts (peanuts are best-but not salted),
seeds, oatmeal, cheese, currants and raisins.
Mix together with one part melted suet or other fat.
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Blue
Tit feeding
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2.
Let the mixture set in a suitable container - an empty yoghurt
pot for instance.
3. Hang it up where the birds can gradually peck out
the mixture, or tip the bird cake out onto a bird table.
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Crumble Pastry Maggots - Don't worry - There aren't
any real maggots in this recipe!
You need: Mixing bowl
Ingredients: 85g flour, 30g lard, butter or high-fat-
margarine - remember birds need the fat.
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BBC
TV Chef -
Antony Worrall Thompson
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Instructions:
1.
Put the flour into a bowl.
2. Mix in the lard with the tips of your fingers.
3. Rub the dry mixture into little pieces that look
like maggots!
4. Sprinkle these onto the ground, on your birdtable
or around bushes and flowerbeds.
Robins, tits and blackcaps will eat these maggots off a
birdtable - look out for dunnocks, wrens and pied wagtails
on the ground.
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Suet and Nut Log by Rick Stein
You need: A broken branch, a saw, a hammer, a drill,
hooks, string.
Ingredients: Peanuts, raisins, suet, beef suet or
lard, kitchen scraps, sunflower seeds.
Instructions:
1. Find a broken branch that is covered in rough bark
- only take a branch that has already fallen from a tree.
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BBC
TV Chef -
Rick Stein
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2.
Cut it into 50cm lengths with a saw.
3. Drill holes of different sizes through the 50cm
sections of branch.
4. Hammer hooks into the top of the pieces of branch.
5. Fill the holes with some or all of the following:
peanuts, raisins, suet, sunflower seeds and kitchen scraps.
6. Hang up your suet
and nut log with the piece of string and watch for the birds
to start feasting.
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Speedy Birdcake by Jane Asher
You need: Suitable container - coconut shell or clean
yoghurt pot, a heatproof pan, string.
Ingredients: Beef suet or lard (you need one part
of lard to two parts of any of the following. You can just
use seeds but any of the other ingredients are suitable
too), seeds, nuts, dried fruits - raisins, sultanas - finely
chopped bacon rind.
Instructions:
1. Melt or soften the suet/lard in a pan.
2. Pour the other ingredients you are using into
the suet and mix well.
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BBC
TV Chef -
Jane Asher
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3.
Place the string into the container so that half of
the string is in the container and half is outside. Hold
the string in place and pour the mixture into the container
over the string.
4. Leave the mixture to cool.
5. Once the suet has hardened, hang up your container
by the string that you left hanging outside the pot or coconut.
Enjoy watching the birds eating the food. You may see
tits, greenfinches and, if you are lucky, great spotted
woodpeckers. Blue tits and great tits may perform acrobatics
and hang upside down at times while they eat.
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