The weather up until this week has been an absolute blessing to work outdoors in but it’s all change this week. And with the clocks going back on the weekend, then it will feel more like winter for sure. Whilst I can make friends with the dark evenings by going home from work, lighting the fire and drawing the blinds, the dark mornings are always harder to enjoy. I will appreciate the lighter mornings next week and especially as I am now accompanied by my little resident robin. If I haven’t fed him before night melts to day, he is straight through the open patio door, demanding his breakfast loudly from the back of my kitchen armchair. Robins are very territorial – often to their disadvantage. As I watch the replenished feeding station whilst ‘planning the day’, he makes a big song and dance about chasing away the sparrows. Whilst he does that, a trio of blue tits come in and help themselves to the vacant breakfast bar. My feisty robin then returns ‘totally outraged’ and chases them off whilst – you’ve guessed it, the sparrows come and feed. All the time he is ‘defending his breakfast’, he is leaving it unattended for the ‘clever feathers’.
Image by Christiane from Pixabay (Image by Christiane from Pixabay)
My feisty robin loves his dried mealworms and soon I will also put out suet balls for my feathered diners as their high-fat, high-energy content will help them through the colder months. I keep a windfall apple and pear on top of the stone wall for the birds too. It’s a great way to use the windfalls, which are a great source of fibre and vitamins A, E and C and will help healthy digestion, healthy feathers and eyes, and immunity.
My little feathered friend also enjoys a bath. As well as keeping a shallow dish topped up with water (rainwater out of the water butt) for him and the other birds to drink, I’ve also got a birdbath for them. It’s placed where I can watch them splash about, so they have to forgo their privacy but they are just too entertaining to give them privacy.
All small birds will be glad of some evergreen cover through the winter. They will make use of any dense shrubs in the summer for nesting but in the winter, having some ivy, and evergreen shrubs or hedges will offer them safety from unpleasant weather and predators now.
A top choice of tree for attracting robins and other songbirds into the garden is an Amelanchier lamarckii. It’s also a great choice for humans as it really does keep on giving through the seasons. This ornamental tree features beautiful white star-shaped flowers in early spring, before the coppery young leaves emerge, they host sweet, edible berries in summer, and has brilliant, vibrant autumn colours to end its annual attributes.
Also known as a serviceberry tree and snowy mespilu, as well as being great for the birds, the small tree is a gardener’s dream. They flower in mid-spring, attracting pollinators and the fruit ripens from late spring through summer, providing robins (and other garden birds) with a steady supply of soft energy-rich berries, which are perfect for feeding their young. They are also edible for humans and can be eaten raw or cooked – if you can get to them before the birds do.
It can also be grown as a multi-stemmed tree and is a hardy, hardworking little tree that is attractive in all four seasons. I – and the birds – highly recommend it. And as we fast approach Christmas, it would make a great present for the gardener who has everything – except an Amelanchier.
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