During the week-end, members of the public are invited to observe and count, for an hour of your choice, the birds in your garden or on the balcony. Write down all the bird species you observe and their respective numbers. To submit your collected data, an online form will be available at https://www.naturemwelt.lu/recensement-des-oiseaux/
• Within the big picture, feeding garden birds is neither here nor there. It won’t help to save the planet, but unless you’re careless and inadvertently help pass on infections, it won’t do any harm either. Most birds will find enough to eat anyway; feeders just make life that bit easier in the short winter days. So it’s not so much the act of feeding that’s important – it’s the subsequent watching. Because most people feed garden birds for the fun of watching them: either squabbling over the food, or for the pleasure of seeing species other than just House Sparrows. For children in particular, it’s the ideal introduction to the exciting world of nature observation. Just follow a few basic rules, and you won’t go far wrong.
• Don’t feed kitchen scraps – they may contain ingredients (like salt) that do more harm than good. Go for things like sunflower seeds, chopped peanuts, rolled oats and salt-free fat balls and mixtures. Most shops stock good bird food nowadays, but at natur&ëmwelt’s Nature Shop at the House of Nature on the Kockelscheuer road, you’ll get not only the right products, but also plenty of good advice. Take your membership card along, and you’ll also get a discount.
• Use tubular devices or seed hoppers or other hanging feeders. If the food is spread casually over a table or on the ground, there’s a danger that the birds will simply sit on it or in it, and infections can quickly spread.