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With the ‘Beast from the East’ bringing very cold temperatures and lots of snow, our wildlife will be finding it very difficult to find enough food to eat just to stay alive. Did you know a Blue tit can lose 5% of its body weight overnight as it uses the fat it has built up during the day to keep it warm during the cold night?

We can do a lot to help our wildlife at these times – of course feeding the birds a variety of different food will make a huge difference, as most of their usual food is hidden underneath deep snow. But nest boxes can also be lifesavers. They can provide a safe and secure space where lots of birds can huddle together so they don’t lose so much heat.

We have a whole host of wildlife feeding in Perthshire Wildlife HQ garden just now, with a few additions to the usual. These include Fieldfares, Redpolls, Bramblings, a wild rat, 2 cheeky rabbits (eating more hen food than the hens), a Song thrush, a parliament of rooks (lots of rooks), as well as the usual robins, blackbirds, siskins, chaffinches, tree and house sparrows, dunnocks, blue, great & coal tits, starlings, jackdaws, woodpigeons and collared doves.

The wider the variety of food you offer, the wider the variety of wildlife you will attract.

Fingers crossed for a thaw soon as the cost of bird food soon mounts up!