This spring, across much of south-west Britain, we’ve enjoyed day after day of bright, sunny weather, albeit with a fresh north-easterly wind brought by the blocking anticyclone situated overhead.
We might welcome the sunshine, but for our garden birds it can lead to problems. Each pair of blue tits – the perennial stars of BBC’s Springwatch – need to find no fewer than 1,000 moth caterpillars, for every single day that their chicks are in the nest. That’s roughly one every five or six seconds during daylight hours – quite a task, even for the most dedicated parent.
But this spring, due to the very dry weather, many are struggling to find food. One naturalist, Nick Gates, has seen the blue tits nesting in his Bristol garden bringing back chunks of suet balls to their nest – a sure sign that they are unable to find enough insects.
In the meantime, Mike Toms of the British Trust for Ornithology reports that eastern England is experiencing very different weather conditions – chilly winds and heavy rain – which can wash caterpillars out of the trees. That means there is a shortage of food there too.
Back here in the west, with the current dry spell forecast to continue well into June, things may well get worse before they get better.
