Keep an eye on the weather this winter
Over winter, birds can sometimes struggle for food and resources due to frozen conditions. It’s always a good idea to keep informed about fluctuations in temperature throughout January and February to inform you of those moments when birds are in most need of support.
To help, we’ve put together some of the most accurate weather prediction tools available (desktop websites and mobile phone apps) to help you understand the weather this winter.
Understanding the weather can be critical for understanding the behaviour and needs of your garden birds.
Top three online places for the weather
The BBC weather system is powered by MeteoGroup and offers one of the most accurate tools for learning about the weather. Available not only on the BBC website, but also via their dedicated BBC weather app on either Apple or Android phone.
The Met Office is one of the most trusted sources of accurate weather information, and provides clear and easy to view local and national predictions on all devices, including mobile, tablet and desktop. If you’ve got a smartphone, why not install their app for convenience.
Google offer a quick and easy way to discover information about local and national weather information. Simply visit Google and type in your location plus the word “weather” (i.e. “London weather”) and you’ll receive a result of up to 8 days. There’s no need for a dedicated app for this information, as the same can be done on smartphone devices.
Top wild bird winter foods
Ultiva® Autumn and Winter Seed Mix
Ultiva® Autumn & Winter seed mix is a specially-formulated mixture of high energy, oil-rich seeds and grains that feature black sunflower seeds, naked oats and white dari.
Premium Wild Bird Sunflower Hearts
These highly nutritious and oil-rich sunflower hearts for wild birds come without the husks of complete sunflower seeds.
Premium Quality Wild Bird Suet Balls
Our premium suet balls each contain over 90g of high grade beef suet, wheat, peanuts and added dried mealworms too! We guarantee your garden visitors will love this new recipe!
The delightful little bird on this weeks email? Showing my ignorance here, please can you tell me what it is. I can’t see it on my list of common garden birds and it’s so pretty, I’ve definitely not had it in my garden yet and we do get all sorts.
Regarding “squirrel proof feeders”. No one’s told our residents that they are NOT supposed to take the lids off! We’ve resorted to cable ties to stop them emptying the feeders in a day. They just pester and pester at the lids until they can get them up then it’s a free for all until they’ve emptied them. Their appetites are ferocious! We feel awful shooing them away but they’ve become really brazen now and go just far enough away to “protect” their booty then carry on their picnic as if we’ve not disturbed them!
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for your comment. The bird featured on the email is a Coal tit. Depending on where you live, you may not receive many Coal tits in your garden. The area just north of East Anglia is one of the only areas of the UK where Coal tits do not commonly reside.
I love sparrow and several years ago had dozens Iive very close to Heathrow airport when I visit there they have hundreds how many have I ,none shrubs loads of ivy bird food everywhere no sparrows .WHY?