A farmer friend of mine was commenting that the dry spring has meant that meadow grass has not grown as much as it should and low silage crops are the result. Silage was described to me as cooked grass by the Bailiff of Three Barrows Farm (now called by its original name of Thundry) many years ago. My friend went on to say that the hay crop was reasonable but he was hoping to get a second cut of silage in the Autumn as the meadows are growing again following a few summer downpours.
I cut (topped) the field next door to our house to reduce the weeds and saw many wood mice (dark brown) scampering away from the tractor. No doubt their presence is attracting the owls that we hear calling now.

News From The RSPB
The RSPB held a meeting at the Maltings in Farnham recently and the main hall was quickly packed with enthusiasts. These meetings are held throughout the year in different parts of the country and its purpose was to thank every one for their efforts in participating in the 'Birdwatch Weekend' held in January when as many people as possible were asked to note the birds that they saw in their own gardens and report it to the Society. The idea was to give a snapshot of how birds are surviving over the whole country and the results have been compared with other years that this has been done to give a picture of the situation.
The birds most seen were sparrows and starlings although there is a decline in these overall. We don't see these in our garden. In Surrey the most frequent bird sighting was the Blue Tit. It was a fascinating and cheerful evening and a good performance from the officers of the Society who showed the slides.
A local reserve only recently purchased by the RSPB is Farnham Heath next to The Rural Life Centre museum at Tilford. It is at present mainly a pine plantation but much work has been done by volunteers to restore it to natural heathland to encourage Nightjars, Dartford Warblers and reptiles especially the rare Sand Lizards. We haven't managed to visit yet but it is on our list of things to do.

Another national day being advertised by the RSPB is The National Feed a Bird Day on Saturday 29^th October. The idea is for all of us to clean and disinfect bird tables and feeders and to start a feeding programme for the colder months ahead. Once started it is vital to keep the food coming on a regular basis . In severe weather feed the birds twice daily.

What Birds Like To Eat:

Bird Seed Mixture is available but avoid those mixtures that have split peas, beans, dried rice, lentils and dog biscuits.
Bird Cake, Fat Balls, Fat Bars. These items can be bought or you can make them yourself with melted fat, stale cake, biscuit crumbs, seeds, dried fruit, oatmeal, and/or cheese.

Birds will eat many kitchen scraps, Dunnocks, Robins, Blackbirds and Thrushes will appreciate grated cheese. Food for ground feeding birds can be apples and pears including bruised, part rotten or soft fruit, for Starlings Thrushes and Tits. Fat including suet (but not margarine) is liked by Tits, Woodpeckers and Wrens. They will also eat bread but it needs to be moistened if dry or stale to soften it. Peanuts crushed or grated  in nut feeders will attract Robins, Nuthatches and Spotted Woodpeckers. Sunflower seeds or heads are also very attractive but avoid peanuts in summer as they are indigestible to young birds. Gold Finches and Siskins like porridge oats or oatmeal while rice or pastry, cooked or uncooked attracts pigeons.

Don't forget to put food on the ground for Thrushes and Dunnocks but well clear of any cover so the birds can see any enemies coming.

Peanuts and fat balls are often sold in nylon mesh bags but the RSPB advise not using these, or take them out of their bag as the birds feet and tongues can get caught in the mesh and kill them. It seems that the only safe was to feed peanuts is from the proper metal peanut feeders.

Diana and Richard Terry

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