WILDLIFE AT HOME
The ability to connect with nature from the kitchen window is the first step to developing a deeper bond with the outdoors.
Bird feeders can be a fantastic way to start your nature journey. Before you invest, find out what birds live locally and what food will attract them. When using a multi seed mix birds often discard the seeds they don’t like while trying to find those they do, so it is best to have different feeders for different seeds. This avoids waste that can make a mess and attracts mice and rats. Remember you will need to clean your feeders regularly to prevent birds spreading disease to each other.
It can take a while for the birds to find you, so just fill your feeders half way at first. Autumn is a good time to start as food in the woodlands and fields will be getting less. Once your feeders are established, enjoy spending time watching and getting to know who visits. You will soon discover you have families, pairs and individuals that regularly enjoy your garden and this knowledge creates a bond between you and the birds. Give them names if you like.
Growing herbs in the garden, a doorstep pot or window box creates an irresistible lure for bees, butterflies and other insects. I have found thyme, rosemary and especially chives and marjoram to be the best. Look out for bumblebees sleeping under the chive flowers.
If you have a little more space and can bring yourself to be relaxed about the tidiness of your garden, leaving piles of leaves, wood and stones will improve the invertebrates living there. You’ll need to get down and dirty to see these wonders, but the rewards are great. Not just for you, but for the creatures that feed on them. Remember learning about food webs at school? Well you’ll be making an ecosystem all of your own! It may take a little while, but these insects will attract predators and soon you’ll find frogs and toads, birds, bats and hedgehogs visiting your garden too.
After a while you won’t be content with viewing the wildlife from the window, you’ll be popping outside with a cup of tea, feeling the sun on your face and searching for beetles, hedgehog poo and interesting fungi. If you have room, a little water is the next best thing you can do for the wildlife you have brought to your patch. The animals you have invited to your garden will need a drink or perhaps a wash. Just a washing up bowl sunk into the ground is enough, but make sure you create a ramp for them to get out.
Your deepening familiarity with the wildlife in your garden is the result of the bonds you have made by observing and understanding the creatures who visit. Venturing further afield is an inevitable natural progression in your journey to awaken your wilder self.