Little wanderers in the wild need care over the winter season

Eric Dempsey is a celebrated specialist photographer and author on the birds of Ireland who takes a particular interest in our back yard varieties. He explains how to help them through the darker months, starting with feeding.

“Birds relish variety, so include peanuts (never salted), black sunflower seeds (or hearts) and niger seed for goldfinches in a quality, mixed wildbird seed, plus some fat-balls.”

Can we feed scraps? “There are additional foods they will appreciate, but avoid salted bacon. Try grated cheese, brown bread (crumbed), apples in half and either stuck on branches or left on the ground. Blackcaps, thrushes and starlings love fruit. Once you start feeding, you need to keep going. Bird food can be costly and the problem is that cheap is not always good.

“For example, cheap fat-balls sometimes contains grit to bulk them up and economy bird seed mix may include large amounts of waste from the cereal industry. The birds will therefore only pick it over, leaving the rest on your lawn, potentially attracting rodents.”

He explains how to begin setting up the feeding area. “Start feeding birds away from the house to let them get used to being fed and gradually move the feeding station closer to the house. Don’t place it too close to a tree or branch where rodents can climb or cats can sit in ambush. If you can’t afford to buy a feeding station or table, use a clothesline — perfect for hanging out bird feeders.” Finally, don’t forget water in a shallow vessel — lack of water can kill birds in icy weather.

Hedgehogs

Protected by law and with their nocturnal habits, chances are you won’t see hedgehogs very often, but they visit abroad to rustle around hedgerows and deep grass at dawn or dusk. They can travel 3km just lapping the grounds.

If your garden is gently neglected, a hedgehog may take it for deciduous woodland and hibernate from December until March in thicker undergrowth. Be careful if you decide to do some spontaneous forking, slashing or strimming around wildlife rich areas.

Avoid touching or interfering with baby hedgehogs (urchins), even if they appear lost, as the mother will abandon or eat them if she’s not convinced they are her own.

If you are determined to feed your garden ‘hogs, then tinned cat or dog food with a meat rather than fish base is appreciated, and water is essential. Don’t offer them milk, which doesn’t agree with the hedgehog’s tiny digestive system. A hedgehog lighter than 600g by November is probably in need of help. If you do rescue a hedgehog for any reason, use a thick blanket or protective gloves to lift it into a suitable container lined with newspaper.

Don’t let the kids leer in, give the hog some room — this is not a Disney movie. Leave the animal alone leaning against a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel if it appears cold to the touch.

Get in touch immediately with either the ISPCA or Irish Wildlife Matters who have a list online of local rehabilitation licencees with specialist skills for hedgehogs and a host of other native creatures, irishwildlifematters.ie.

Foxes

The thrill of having a fox feeding in your garden is something special. Still, keep in mind that deliberately attracting foxes to your land means that the gardens immediately around you are also receiving this dubious treat.

If neighbours have rabbits, cats or very small dogs, this will be a frightening prospect, even if the risks to other animals are manageable and slight. Foxes are scavenging omnivores, patient and dexterous with rubbish bins. The area under the deck or beneath a shed can provide a perfect spot for a relatively undisturbed den. Collective sigh.

Still, although it may sound delightful that a vixen could give birth to a fluffy, boisterous litter a few metres from yours, the reality of a fox family tearing up the borders in search of insects and grubs, and excluding you politely out of your own garden, can soon sour your relationship with the madra rua.

Incidents of real danger are rare and exploded by the media. If things do get out of control, there are wildlife specialists who will come and trap the fox or foxes, but I don’t have to tell you — they will have to make a judgement call on whether to re-release the animal.

One such company, Wildlife Management, recommends habitat management — clearing up windfalls, securing bins and exclusion (tacking planks around the base of the shed for example), above all else.

Prickly plants will gravely displease a fox, and there are shop bought fox deterrent products to annoy them further. Don’t hand feed a fox as a moment’s misunderstanding can result in a bite, and don’t attempt to block an earth unless you are 100% sure it is empty.

Fishy tales

‘The most important part of autumn and winter pond care is to protect water quality” explains Cork-based aquatic biologist, Frances Gallagher. “Now is a good time to tidy the pond, remove rotting plant material, dead leaves etc. Try not to stir up too much of a ‘brown cloud’ of mud as this could damage the gills of your fish. It’s a good idea to put a net over it to keep out autumn leaves.

“Use a finer mesh to keep out acorns more than sycamore leaves. Install flexible tent poles to stop the net from sagging and secure the net with pegs at most of the edges.

“Try to leave an access corridor for frogs to get into the pond, where they will hibernate for the winter. This could be combined with an un-netted small ‘beach’, where garden wildlife such as hedgehogs and birds can continue to drink.

“If you have fish, you need to start feeding them less. As the water gets chilly, their metabolism slows and they live on their reserves. It’s important not to feed too much protein as this can cause harm if trapped for a long time in the gut of a hibernating fish.

“As soil temperatures (which correspond well with water temperatures), get down to 12°C, use a commercial winter food mix, or replace half of the fishes’ regular food with porridge oatmeal of a suitable grade.

“Feed about half of what you would in summer, both by cutting down the amount per feed, and by skipping days. By the time water temperatures are 10°C, you should feed no more than one quarter of the summer allowance, oatmeal only. At 8°C stop feeding and don’t resume until it really looks like spring.

“Keep an area of the surface free of ice. Floating a ball or a garden ornament such as a decoy duck, or a piece of untreated timber, can work well. Never crack or break the ice as the shock waves can damage everything living in your pond.”

With special thanks to Frances Gallagher of Rinn Bearna Aquatics, Cork and Eric Dempsey of Birds Ireland. Eric’s latest book, a fascinating birding memoir, ‘Don’t Die in Autumn’ has just been released, Gill & MacMillan, €16.99