Today is RSPB’s Feed the Birds Day which takes place very year on the third Saturday of October.

While it’s great to feed birds all year round, both for them and for you, today is a great opportunity to reflect on the colder weather and how we can make the effort to help our feathered friends even more as natural food supplies dwindle in the winter.

So spend some time this weekend wiping down your bird tables and making sure your feeders and bird baths are nice and full. If you have a garden, there’s no better way to spend an autumn morning than with a cup of steaming hot chocolate watching the birds start their day.

Here is a poem I’ve written contemplating the importance of birds in our natural world. I hope you enjoy it.

Feed the birds

Someone once told me
you can tell a lot about the health of the world
by how brightly the butterflies shine
and how loudly the bees are working

but walk through a land without birdsong
and feel the cold fingers of dread

run through what

you don’t even realise you hear
until you do not.

Now the days are growing colder
it’s time for the clocks to turn
back our feathered friends
with a tasty treat or three.

Fill your world with life and song

you don’t even realise you hear
until it’s gone.

As the nights grow colder
and the world bathes in artificial glow
remember that little robin redbreast
has a life outside of the snow
filling pretty cards
forgotten after the final midnight.

You can tell a lot about the health of the world
by how brightly it shines
and how loudly it sings.

 

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