![]() ![]() ![]() But I would argue this is a very different matter to bird feeding in domestic gardens. ![]() The abundance of (but thoroughly ignored) Do Not Feed The Birds signs now common in parks is part of this approach. Warnings in public places not to feed the wild birds, but that’s different to feeding wild birds in the garden. This appears to have been a pivotal moment: thereafter, feeding wild birds – a practice that would normally have been regarded as simply wasteful – became acceptable, widespread and even a sign of moral expression. This mixture made into a thick stiff paste which we can all sup with our bills, and the smallfry – those perky tits, chaffinches, sparrows etc., which abound everywhere, are equally delighted with the crumbs. Spurred on by a multitude of items in the newspapers of the day, people were implored to search their kitchens for anything that the starving birds might eat.Ī letter to the London Daily News from “Johnnie Thrush” suggested a mix of stale bread, water, oatmeal or barley meal and a few handfuls of hempseed. Despite the prevailing Victorian attitudes of “waste not, want not”, the severity of the conditions and the plight of the suffering birds lead to the first widespread examples of public bird feeding. What struck me immediately about this desperate situation were the similarities to the UK’s infamous Great Blizzard of 1890-91. ![]()
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