Diary of Natural Environment In and Around Wimpole
October has nearly ended and with the temperature dropping everywhere, we’re soon to welcome some of our bird winter migrant visitors, Fieldfares, Redwings and if you’re lucky, Waxwings.
When these birds arrive they feed in the fields but also on the hawthorn berries in the hedgerows, especially when the ground freezes . Many of our resident birds also rely on hedgerow berries during the winter months, yellow hammers, thrushes, blackbirds, greenfinches, chaffinches, starlings and many others
Fortunately, hedge removal by farmers in the 1960’s has ended, and many farmers have replaced old hedgerows, vital not only for the birds, but insects, small mammals and some plants as well.
The revival of the practice of hedge laying also aids wildlife by thickening up the base of the hedge. If hedges are left uncut they turn into trees and have bare ground beneath. In the first year or two the…
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