RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch results 2018

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We all remember the Beast from the East, the snow that visited us early in March and then repeated its visit a couple of weeks later.  Now we seem to be plagued by torrential rain and cold weather so that Spring feels far away still, but hopefully this weekend will see an upturn in temperatures for the whole of the UK. The RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch seems such a long time ago after all of our extreme weather since then, but, trumpet fanfare, the results are in......pause for effect,  More than 420,000 people completed the count and 6.7 million birds were recorded.  Its good news for the blue tit (pictured) as their numbers are up by 5% but the winner seems to be the goldfinch with recorded numbers up by 11%. The long tailed tit and coal tit are also up in numbers, perhaps helped by the milder temperatures before...

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The Beast from the East

Well it has finally arrived , the snow is here, the news is full of weather pictures and we are inundated with reports that there is much more snow to come.  The fields, gardens and roads are covered and there seems to be disruption throughout the whole country due to this freezing weather. Hopefully you are reading this in your lovely warm , centrally heated house and well stocked up with lots of warming foods, after all this weather has been forecast for some time.  The Beast from the East is a Polar Vortex with weather coming straight from Russia coming in on Easterly Winds.  We can be prepared but how well prepared are the birds in our gardens? Most of us are really generous and do put food out for the birds but did you know that fresh water is also important, I know its not easy to put out...

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National Nest Box Week 14-21st February

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National Nest Box week starts on Valentine's day, the 14th February.   This is traditionally the day that not only people are romantic but it is also the day that apparently birds pair up too.   Nest boxes can be a great idea &  there are many on the market or you can make a simple one yourself.  Due to modern living there are less spaces available for smaller birds to nest, such as old garden sheds, or old trees.  Sparrows have seen a decline in their numbers as apparently modern house roof spaces saren't suitable for sparrows to nest & so many of the woodland areas have been built on or tidied up.  Hopefully a breeding pair of birds will make their home in your nest box & then breed & lay eggs & hatch their young successfully.  Some of our customers have web cams in their nest boxes and enjoy their...

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New Year, Updated Website, Post Free on orders over £60

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With the continued support from our friends at Gingerweb, who always patiently go that extra mile, we have finally updated our website.  We have added some new products and little add on's that you can put into your shopping basket and we will be able to add them to your order post free! We have managed to keep prices as low as we can but the great news is we have been able to reduce postage costs and can offer FREE POSTAGE on orders over £60.  The new products we have added include, a small pack of 6 fat balls at £1, a suet block, coconut half and single large fat ball , all at £1 when you purchase other items, such as a bag of Wild Bird food.  We will simply pop these items into the Bag of Wild Bird food and they will all be delivered as one package....

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Our first blog on the new website

This is our new website! Hopefully you will find it easy to navigate and be able to easily buy what you need for your birds. You will notice that all our prices are more competitive and the postage has been halved - Most importantly if your cart gets to £60 total then the postage will automatically be free! Please have a look around and let us know what you think below

Friday the 13th - Spooky or spectacular?

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Well it always comes doesn't it?, Friday the 13th and love it or loathe it there is no escaping it, its here and we all just have to get on with it. So why is it so feared? Apparently the sixth day of the week (Friday) and the number 13 are considered unlucky , so to combine them you have double trouble, or so it was thought. Friday was also the day that traditionally executions took place so it was considered to be most unlucky and also called Hangman's Day. The number 13 is also associated with the Last Supper and as Judas the traitor was the 13th person so the superstition continues, and it is not just in the Christian faith , Hindus also consider a gathering of 13 to be unlucky too so the number 13 seems to be an issue with many faiths and religions. In fact fear...

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#BackBritishFarmingDay

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Every day seems to be a listed day for #National Wear a Hat day, or #National Rice Pudding Day (August 9th in America if you're interested) , but today is #BackBritishFarmingDay and that is a bit more relevant to ourselves. First and foremost we are farmers and have been on both sides of the family for generations so you could say farming is in our blood. Certainly it seems to be continuing with two of our children doing Agriculture related subjects at University, but who knows what the future holds for farmers everywhere. I thought I would share a few interesting facts with yourselves about British farming, please forgive me if you already know them, but they certainly surprised me when I read them this morning. Did you know that for every £1 invested in farm support, farming delivers £7.40 back to the economy?, no, neither did I. Farming plays an...

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Small Straw Bales in a Soggy September

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Its a very dark ,soggy September day here on the farm, We have had four lovely weeks of dry weather, it has been dry for so long that this morning our Vizsla puppy, Frank, refused to go out in the rain until he was absolutely desperate, I think he had forgotten all about what rain was. He's in for a nasty surprise soon with the Winter weather just around the corner. The wonderful dry spell has enabed us to get the wheat and barley combined , the fields cleared of straw and a lot of ploughing started too. We only have one field of oats left to cut which wasn't ready yeaterday, plus the beans then we are all finished harvesting for this year. Its then time to sow the Winter seeds after the fields have been ploughed, cultivated and a good seed bed prepared so the crops get the best...

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Now you see him now you don't

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We are so fortunate to live in this part of the UK where it is still possible to occasionally see Red Squirrels, we even had one in our garden last year and I managed a very quick snap of him/her from the kitchen window. I was shaking so much with excitement I am surprised it was possible to see the squirrel on the photo at all. I did share it on our facebook page and in a blog post last year. A friend of ours who lives on a neighbouring farm has been helping with the local Red Squirrel group and has managed to take some amazing photos of squirrels and other local wildlife. Take a look at his work on his website. https://www.leonsavagephotography.co.uk We are in the process of creating a specific squirrel mix because we are asked more and more for Squirrel Food as many customers have spotted squirrels...

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New Year and Frank

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Happy New Year to all of our customers and Blog readers. Here's hoping that 2017 is a great year for us all. Ours got off to an unusual start as Frank arrived between Christmas and New Year. He is a Hungarian Vizsla and is nine weeks old and has taken over our lives and hearts already. We already had Stanley, our 12 year old Border Terrier and we have always had at least two dogs at any one time. When our last dog Marjorie died suddenly at 3 years old we were heartbroken and it has taken a long time before I would agree to have another dog. Many years ago we had a Hungarian Vizsla, Barry, who was absolutely wonderful even if he was 'slow to mature', and we always said that if we had the chance we would love to own another one. Frank has arrived and my life...

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