Dear CJ Customer
Welcome to the CJs newsletter for July.
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Your garden in July
As June slips away and we enter the first full month of summer the return or "autumn" bird migration will slowly gather strength, with at first failed breeders and then early young blazing the way to the south. We're a long way from the peak migration of September and October but the process has started. The nights have also started to draw in, but thankfully we still have the best of the summer in front of us to enjoy.
In our gardens, town parks and village greens young birds will soon outnumber this year's adults, female bats will be suckling young and the first family parties of hedgehogs will be seen. July is also usually the month in which the last of this year's froglets leave the ponds.
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Things to do this month
 Continue to offer food, including live foods, to help young birds and busy parents.
- As for June, look out for potential fledgling traps such as loose fruit netting, open water butts, steep-sided ponds and, of course, pet cats. If possible please fit a bell to your cat's collar and keep him or her indoors at the beginning and end of the day, when the youngsters are at their most vulnerable.
- Try to leave trimming hedges until at least August, but preferably later, as many birds will still be nesting and nests that survive the hedge cutter may not survive the increased exposure to weather and predators.
- As part of the summer baby boom grey squirrels will be producing their second litters, resulting in the spring youngsters being evicted to make their own way in the world. We get more reports of squirrel nuisance in this month than any other so you may want to bookmark the squirrel management section of our website!
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What to look out for in July
The BTO's Paul Stancliffe uses BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch data to give a taste of what we might expect to see in the month ahead.
Sandwiched between spring and autumn migration, July is often quoted as the quietest month in the birdwatcher's calendar. However, for garden birdwatchers life can be fairly busy, as parent birds bring their young in search of food and somewhere relatively safe to hide. It is important to continue to put out food, but more important at this time of the year to give a little thought to the food that is put out. Garden BirdWatch results show that Song Thrushes peak in our gardens around the end of June and the beginning of July.
See, http://blx1.bto.org/gbw-dailyresults/results/gbwr376-20.html
In very dry conditions Blackbirds and Song Thrushes will struggle to find worms and snails but will readily take mealworms and fat cakes.
During July young Blue, Great and Coal Tits will visit gardens during inclement weather when invertebrate food is hard to find. Again fat cakes will be popular, along with peanuts supplied in a hanging feeder. If peanuts are put out on a table these should be crushed. Family parties of finches will also be in evidence and will devour sunflower hearts and sunflower seeds. It is especially important to maintain a clean supply of water as other sources can dry up during prolonged spells of hot weather.
Whilst not directly coming to feed at our feeders, House Martins and Spotted Flycatchers make use of our houses and gardens at this time of the year for breeding. The conservation status of Spotted Flycatcher is listed as red, the population having declined by 79% between 1995 and 2005. Most pairs of Spotted Flycatchers will now be feeding the newly fledged young of their first broods, but if the weather holds they will start all over again with a second brood. Spotted Flycatchers readily take to open fronted nest boxes placed within a little cover, and will use these year after year. Providing this nesting space may help to reverse their fortunes.
This year the British Trust for Ornithology, in partnership with Radio 4's World On The Move programme, launched the House Martin survey to find out how these amazing birds are doing. Spending the winter in Equatorial Africa they arrive in Britain during April to breed mainly under the eaves of our houses. Early in the season it seemed that the numbers of these birds returning was quite low. However, early indications from the House Martin survey suggests that they were late arriving, some as late as the end of May and into early June, and are now present in 'normal' numbers and are busy breeding. To take part in the House Martin survey and for more information visit the BTO website, www.bto.org
You can give someone a gift membership of the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch by clicking here.
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Book of the month
Gardening for Birdwatchers
by Mike Toms, Ian Wilson and Barley Wilson
This new book brings together the expertise of garden designers Ian and Barley Wilson (Natural Gardens) with that of the British Trust for Ornithology to produce the definitive guide for improving your garden for birds and other wildlife.
The well-illustrated text, complete with planting plans, gets to grips with the techniques that underpin successful wildlife-gardening, highlighting those varieties of plants that have particular wildlife benefits and explaining how best to manage your garden for wildlife.
With sections on different garden features (e.g. lawns, ponds, shady corners and sunny borders), this book should enable you to enhance the wildlife value of your own garden. The book contains a wealth of information, all of it based on sound scientific research, enabling you to tackle some of the myths and misconceptions about gardening for wildlife.
Heading up the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch Team, Mike Toms is one of Britain's leading experts on garden birds. He is a strong advocate of 'citizen science' and has developed a reputation for popularising the science of garden birds and engaging people with the wildlife around them. Author of the Garden BirdWatch Book and a regular contributor to BBC Wildlife and other publications, his knowledge of garden birds (and other garden wildlife) has helped to make Gardening for Birdwatchers an authoritative and highly readable book.
Natural Gardens, formed over 10 years ago by garden and landscape designer Barley Wilson and ecological consultant Ian Wilson, brings a fresh approach to garden design. By working with nature rather than against it, they produce a natural form to a garden which is pleasing and beautiful to people and provides much-needed living space for wildlife. The main focus of their work is garden design and creation, with further expertise in ponds, streams, meadows, woodlands and other natural habitats. Ian and Barley live in North Norfolk and work throughout East Anglia. Ian & Barley bring their skills to Gardening for Birdwatchers, providing planting schemes that can be incorporated into other gardens.
For more information and to buy, click here.
For a wider selection of natural history titles, why not visit our sister company,
Subbuteo Natural History Books?
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Wildlife news
Balloon ban bid by biologists
The Marine Conservation Society is asking organisers of balloon releases to consider alternative forms of publicity as the balloons pose a danger to marine wildlife. Click here for more information.
Puffins decline at largest UK colony
The BBC News website carries this story about a significant decline in Puffin numbers at the largest breeding site in the UK, which might be symptomatic of worrying changes to the North Sea ecosystem.
Young birds get singing lessons from the RSPCA
Our friends at the RSPCA have been playing bird song CDs to young birds in their care to improve the chances of the birds living normal lives after release. The BBC News site again has the full story, here.
Tread lightly, and be careful what you light
There have been concerns over many years about the provenance of much of the barbeque charcoal that we burn, with some sources stating that most imported charcoal comes from unsustainable sources, often associated with the destruction of mangrove forests as they are cleared to make way for commercial prawn production. Mangroves can provide coastal communities with vital protection against tidal surges and tsunamis as well as being important wildlife habitat.
The Guardian has this piece on the British charcoal industry. If produced as part of a managed rotation home-grown charcoal has the potential to be a positive force for native wildlife, which certainly adds to the flavour of our burgers!
RHS Flower Shows
Come and see us at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show from 8 to 13 July and the Tatton Park Flower Show from 23 to 27 July.
These shows are an excellent day out and also provide a chance to see our products at first hand, get advice or just say hello!
For further information please click here.
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Get involved
Fill a Feeder Campaign 2008
Running through the summer, the campaign is to raise awareness of the importance of year-round feeding for our garden birds - a concept championed by CJs in the 1990s and approved by the RSPB and BTO for the last 10 years. We hope to reach our target of getting 10,000 feeders in the country's gardens by the end of the summer.
How can you do your bit to help? Simply invest in a feeder, some high energy bird food and provide a fresh supply of water. Make sure you site your feeder away from any predators that may be lurking in your garden. If you really want to go to town, try planting wildlife-friendly trees and shrubs in your garden or even leaving a small part of your garden to run wild. Even if you don't have a garden you can help, you can provide a window feeder. It's that easy!
Once you've got your feeder in place, take a photograph and email it to marketing@birdfood.co.uk or post it to us at:
Fill a Feeder Campaign,
CJ WildBird Foods Ltd,
The Rea,
Shrewsbury,
Shropshire
SY4 4UR
Entries will be collated and the results of the campaign will be published in early September. As an added incentive, the sender of the best photograph will win £100 worth of CJ products of their choice!
Closing Date: 31 August 2008
The 2008 BTO/BBC Radio 4 House Martin Survey
House Martins are enigmatic little birds: they build their homes on ours and spend the summer flying over our towns and villages, and yet we know very little about them. The BTO is working with the BBC Radio 4 World on the Move series to look at what is happening to House Martins in Britain and Ireland this year.
There are three questions that you can help the survey to answer:
1. Where are House Martins breeding this summer?
2. Is this a bad year for House Martins?
3. How commonly do House Martins use artificial nests?
To go straight to the Survey's homepage, click here. As with all BTO online surveys, the form is very straightforward and will take a minimal amount of time to complete - just enter your address details, click on either yes or no to six questions, and hit submit. It's that easy!
Mammal I-Spy
This summer, People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is asking for families to play a rather unusual game of I-Spy when they are out on the roads - looking for and recording any mammals that they may spot. Jill Nelson, Chief Executive of PTES, explains "Car journeys can be rather boring, particularly for children, so we hope that families will take up the challenge to take part in our Mammals on Roads survey, which should keep everyone entertained whilst at the same time helping wildlife."
The Mammals on Roads survey runs from the beginning of July until the end of September and asks for records of mammals, alive and dead, that are spotted on single carriageway roads whilst making journeys of twenty miles or more. This is the eighth year of the survey and each year gives PTES a clearer understanding of mammal population changes in the UK. The top five most common species spotted are: rabbit, hedgehog, badger, fox and grey squirrel.
This year is the eighth that the survey has run and by building on data year on year, long-term trends that might not otherwise be visible can be spotted. Already the survey has highlighted a sharp decline in counts of hedgehog casualties*, suggesting that populations in the wider countryside may be in trouble. The hedgehog became a priority species in last year's review of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and monitoring numbers nationwide may be critical to the success of future conservation efforts.
"Records of sightings are absolutely vital for us to build up an accurate picture of what is happening to the UK's mammals, both on a regional and national basis," adds Ms Nelson. "Gaining a clear understanding enables us to understand when we need to investigate how specific populations are faring and when to take action to help them."
Those who are interested in taking part in the survey or would like to find out more information can contact the People's Trust for Endangered Species (www.ptes.org), either by phoning 020 7498 4533 or emailing mor@ptes.org
* Results from previous years of Mammals on Roads indicated a worrying decline in hedgehog numbers. Counts of hedgehogs along roads decreased by 7.5% each year for the first four years of the survey in England and showed a similar decline in Wales. If the trend continues, it is equivalent to a high Red Alert decline, a term used by conservationists to refer to a loss of half the population of a species in twenty-five years. In England as a whole, the survey found numbers of hedgehogs along roads have declined by over 25% over four years.
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And finally...
Duck goes the extra mile to save ducklings
The Daily Mail brings us an uplifting story of maternal devotion, as a Mallard duck kept in contact with her ducklings for over a mile after they disappeared into an underground storm drain.
Staying in contact is one thing, but getting the youngsters out was even more of a challenge. For the full story, which we promise has a happy ending, click here.
(The Mail also featured a photo story of a Grey Heron attack on a family party of Mallard in County Wicklow. The photos are amazing but be warned, this story doesn't have a happy ending.)
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July Codeword Puzzle
Enter this month's Codeword Puzzle, correctly guess the name of the mystery bird, and you could win a brand new bird feeder and a bag of sunflower hearts!
The puzzle is online now.
Click here to enter.
Congratulations to our June winner, Iris Smith from Cumbria, who successfully completed the puzzle and correctly identified the mystery bird as Goldfinch.
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Contacting Us
If you have any questions about caring for birds and other wildlife in your garden, please call us on Freephone 0800 731 2820, email advice@birdfood.co.uk, or visit www.birdfood.co.uk.
Best wishes and happy
bird feeding!
All at CJ WildBird Foods
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