Tuesday 29 December 2009

Dead of Winter


Sadly small birds are now dying due to lack of food and the extreme cold. Could I remind people to clear a spot for the birds and put out some feeding for them, throwing food into the deep snow is hopeless. Use a board, or bird feeders and grease balls hanging from the trees or bushes.
With fresh snowfalls the weather continues to cause misery and death to the wildlife. I was told today that a young Swan was found near the end of the east beach stuffed in a ditch with it's head missing and a wound in it's chest. It looks as though our cowboy shooters may have killed a Swan, perhaps in their eagerness to shoot something ! Can I remind them that it is illegal to kill a swan , and if caught will be prosecuted ! The wildlife have a hard enough time trying to survive without cretins with guns shooting at them.

The Nairn River Swans are still hanging in there, and I feed them twice a day with Carrots and wholemeal bread. The hard nightime frosts are so severe that they actually have ice forming on their backs from time to time. Yesterday after feeding them they decided to have a bath and wash off some ice. (see enclosed video)
You can see the ice on the back of 2 cygnets (photo.)

3 comments:

growtosow said...

we have been keeping the feeders fill and the birds are going at them non stop. all the best

jayteescot1 said...

Aye same here, garden is full of birds desperate for food. No let up in the weather for the forseeable future either !

Anonymous said...

Aye things are pretty desperate - Don't forget the birds, they'll even take your old tatty peelings if you boil them up.
Well done for highlighting this Joe!