Why Keep a Simple Garden Bird Log

A garden bird log need be no more than a notebook kept by the back door. Jot down the date, the weather, roughly how long you watched and which species turned up, with numbers where you can manage it. Ten brisk minutes at the same time each morning is plenty, and the first hour after dawn is when activity peaks. Within a season or two you will notice patterns no field guide can tell you: that the blue tits arrive at the feeder in a rush just after eight, that the dunnocks never stray from the base of the hedge, that the goldfinches vanish for a fortnight in late April and return in June with pale, fluffy young in tow.

Nothing about this needs to be scientific. The value is in the noticing. A rough tally of a blackbird singing from the same chimney pot each March, or a sudden crowd of siskins on the nyjer feeder in November, teaches you far more about your own patch than any general guide.

Spring: Song, Territory and Early Nests

From February the garden changes gear. Great tits begin their two-note call, robins sing at first light and after dusk, and song thrushes — where you are lucky enough to have them — repeat each phrase two or three times from a high perch. Log the first date you hear each song; compared year on year, it is quietly revealing.

Nesting starts early, often before the leaves are out. This is the season to ease off with any loose food that could harm chicks: never offer whole peanuts loose, as they can choke nestlings, and keep any peanuts in a rigid mesh feeder where birds must take them piece by piece. Dried mealworms, soaked first in warm water, are a far better offering now, along with a shallow dish of clean water for drinking and bathing. Keep disturbance low near ivy, hedges and nest boxes, and let the lawn grow a little ragged — caterpillars, the staple diet of most garden chicks, need the rough patches.

Summer: Fledglings and the Thirsty Months

By June the garden is full of gawky, begging youngsters — speckled starlings following their parents around, house sparrows dust-bathing in dry soil, young blackbirds digging about under the shrubs. Note in your log which species fledge first; starlings and blackbirds are usually away before the tits, which often raise a single large brood rather than two small ones.

Water matters most now. Birds lose moisture quickly in hot weather and need to bathe to keep their feathers in working order. A shallow dish, refreshed daily and no more than 5cm deep, with a gently sloping side and a stone for footing, will be visited far more than any feeder. Avoid fat balls and other suet products in warm weather; they soften, turn rancid and can smear plumage. Insect-rich mixes, mealworms and sunflower hearts are safer summer fuel.

Autumn: Departures, Arrivals and Storing Up

August and September bring the quietest weeks of the year, followed by a slow refilling of the garden. Swifts and most swallows leave early, while redwings and fieldfares arrive from Scandinavia to strip berries from rowan and holly. Later, siskins, redpolls and occasionally a waxwing or two may appear, especially after a poor berry crop in the north.

This is the moment to clean out nest boxes — remove old nests and any unhatched eggs once you are sure nothing is still in use — and to plant or sow for next year's birds. Teasels, sunflowers, lavender, honeysuckle, cotoneaster, crab apple and wild cherry all feed birds directly and harbour the insects they need in spring.

Winter: Fuel, Fat and Shelter

Cold weather roughly doubles a small bird's daily energy needs, and a long frosty night can cost a wren or goldcrest a serious amount of condition. Food becomes genuinely life-saving. Black sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts, nyjer, suet pellets and mealworms will draw the widest range of species; keep feeders topped up in the late afternoon so birds can fuel up before roosting.

Water is just as important. Birds still drink in freezing weather, and natural sources are locked away. Break the ice each morning, use a shallow dish rather than a deep bowl, and consider a gently heated bird bath during long cold spells. Shelter matters too: dense evergreens, thick ivy, log piles and untidy corners give roosting places, and a nest box offers a dry, draught-free night's refuge.

Feeding, Water and Shelter Through the Year

• Hygiene first. Wash feeders and water dishes every fortnight with hot, soapy water, rinse thoroughly and dry before refilling. Rotate feeding positions to avoid a build-up of droppings and disease.
• Vary the menu. A seed mix, a suet feeder and a supply of live or soaked mealworms will together attract tits, finches, sparrows, robins, blackbirds and starlings.
• Site feeders sensibly. Place them either very close to a window (within a metre) or well beyond three metres, and near shrubs so birds can dash to cover from cats.
• Provide water all year. Shallow, clean and ice-free — bathing is as important as drinking for feather condition.
• Add shelter. A 25mm-hole box suits blue and coal tits, 32mm suits great tits and house sparrows, and an open-fronted box may attract a robin or pied wagtail. Face boxes between north and east, two to four metres up, away from prevailing sun and rain.
• Keep the log going. Write down what you see, what you fed and when the water froze. A year's notes will tell you exactly what your garden needs next.