Feeding birds in the UK?

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has issued new guidance to avoid spreading disease.

✋ Simply put, pause feeding any seeds or peanuts between 1 May and 31 October.

🌻 Also consider bird-friendly planting to provide natural food sources, such as sunflowers, teasels, and ivy.

🚨 The cause of an outbreak of a mysterious and deadly disease in finches in British gardens in 2005 has finally been determined by conservationists.

More guidance here:
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-garden-birds-disease.html

#SolarPunkSunday [edit]
#BirdConservation #BirdFeeding #NativePlants #Biodiversity #HabitatGardening #WildlifeConservation

#WildflowerWednesday

Just posted again to my blog Habitat Gardening. This time, I cover

🪱Preparing soil for native plants - by not doing hardly anything.
and
🪲Protecting #wildflowers that bloom early - by just relaxing and not ripping them out.

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/prepare-your-garden-soil

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Conservation #Wildflowers #Biodiversity #Invertebrates #SolarPunk

Prepare Your Garden Soil

This Time: Prepare soil for native plants; Protect wildflowers that bloom early [...]

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/prepare-your-garden-soil

You may remember that I posted recently about how to support bird nesting.

Yesterday, I had my gardening support wagon out and in it was a wooden box of small tools. A glove lay on top.

🐦 A pair of Carolina Wrens promptly started using my easily available nesting materials to build a nest under the glove in the box!

🤯 It was nearly complete in no time. They used twigs, stems, and leaves that I had broken into small pieces, dried iris leaves, fluffy debris from flowers, etc., and moss from a nearby shady area.

😬 I didn't have the heart to toss this away, so I moved the whole thing over to a bush about a meter away, a much better place. Jammed it between three branches pretty securely.

🤞 I'll check later to see if they accepted the new location.

#WildlifeWednesday #HabitatGardening #BirdConservation #Gardening

Sorry that I have been away. Gardening season is busy for me. In a few hours, I'll be headed to Raleigh, NC for the Arts in Bloom Festival at the NC Art Museum.

Will report on all of this as soon as I return. Until then enjoy my blooming Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens), a native vine that has stayed green even through the very cold days we had. Flowers popped out as one of the first flowers for my #NativeBees and other pollinators.

#Bloomscrolling #NativePlants #HabitatGardening #Gardening
@NCConnect

FOR THE BIRDS

🐦‍⬛ Non-native trees are commonly used in urban settings, but a new study out of Sweden finds that native trees provide more resources and are preferred by urban birds.

https://phys.org/news/2023-02-urban-birds-native-trees-long-term.html

🐛 Another study out of the University of Glasgow shows that common woodland birds produce more chicks when surrounded by a greater abundance of native tree foliage.

https://phys.org/news/2026-01-woodland-birds-native-trees-chicks.html

👉 Support the planting of native trees in all environments.

#WildlifeWednesday #Biodiversity #WildlifeConservation #NativePlants #UrbanPlanning #Birds #Environment #HabitatGardening #NativeTrees

Be Aware When Spring "Cleaning"

🐞 Check your timing when you begin clearing garden areas in the spring. Beneficial insects may still be overwintering in growth and stems.

🍂 Pic 1: This area of dead, overgrown iris leaves is a good example of a spot to overwinter, if you are a bug, so it was left until they had time to get active. (See link)

🌻 Pic 2: Waiting was not a problem, though. Time was used to create a design to maximize insect population support. Labels on the cleared area show that the design puts shorter natives at the 'top' of the bed and taller natives near the 'bottom'. Species prefer different heights.

🦋 This design also addresses the common view of this bed from beyond the 'top'. Now the many butterflies which will appear soon can easily be seen.

Go Native!

Details:
https://www.bhg.com/when-to-clean-garden-in-spring-11918761

#SolarPunkSunday #HabitatGardening #NativePlants #GardenDesign #Gardening #Biodiversity

PREPARE FOR HUMMINGBIRDS 🐦‍⬛

1️⃣ USians: Update Calendars for Appearances (Next 8 weeks)

🔸 Late February to mid-March: South Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida
🔸 Early April: Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina
🔸 Mid-April: Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Indiana
🔸 Late April: Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, parts of New England

2️⃣ Learn How to Support Them

🔸 Easy-to-make sugar and water solution should be available a couple of weeks before scheduled arrival. It can bring them to your window and help support populations and migration.
🔸 Resource: https://birdzfly.com/2026-hummingbird-migration-map-in-usa/

#SolarPunkSunday #Hummingbirds #WildlifeConservation #HabitatGardening

#WildlifeWednesday

🐦‍⬛ Has Spring nearly sprung in your hemisphere? Then it's time to think of your local birds!

🧹 [Edited to remove meanness] Unaware people near you cleared away leaves and debris last Fall, leaving precious little building material for our feathered engineers.

📉 You can help by taking a little time to make available twigs, last year's dead slender plant leaves, even natural fiber string and yarn. This will help reverse the bird declines we are seeing globally. More nests mean more chicks - and more bird song!

📒 Details are in my Habitat Gardening blog post, "Support Bird Nesting".

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/support-bird-nesting

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#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity #Birds #SolarPunk #WildlifeConservation