September is going out the Scottish way: a band of rain, heavy at times, is sweeping north-east across the country today on a blustery south-easterly, and the Atlantic has a queue of fronts lined up behind it for the first week of October. It's mild enough — mid-teens by day — but the real story is happening at either end of it. We've just passed the equinox, and from here on the nights are longer than the days. For a garden bird, that changes everything: wild bird food in Scotland now has one job above all others, and that's getting small birds through twelve hours and more of wet, windy darkness.
Twelve Hours of Darkness
It's easy to look at the hedgerows just now — rowans dripping red, brambles still going strong — and conclude the birds are fine without us. But natural plenty and a bird's energy budget are two different things. A coal tit or a wren weighs about as much as a pound coin, and on a long, mild-but-soggy autumn night it can burn through a worrying share of its body weight simply keeping warm. Wind and rain make it worse: wet feathers insulate poorly, and every gust costs calories. The bird that goes to roost with its reserves topped up shrugs off a rough night; the one that doesn't starts the next morning already behind.
That's why the birds that look so relaxed in your garden this week are actually working to a deadline every single afternoon. The last hour before dusk is prime feeding time, and a reliable feeding station — one that's stocked when they call in — is worth more to them now than at almost any other point in the autumn. Keep it going through October and you'll also find you've signed up the winter regulars, from the robin that's just started singing again to the tit flocks doing their daily rounds.
Stoking the Stove: What to Put Out Now
From now until spring, think of fat and oil as the fuel and everything else as the extras. Suet is the simplest way to deliver it. A Suet to Go block in a rigid holder gives tits, woodpeckers and even the odd blackcap a slow-release energy bar that lasts for days, while Johnston & Jeff suet dumplings are an easy scatter-or-hang option the robins and blackbirds will find within the hour. Suet to Go pellets mix into any seed to raise its energy content, and if you'd rather buy once and be done, a box of 50 Johnston & Jeff fat balls will carry a busy garden deep into the winter.
On the seed side, black oil sunflower seeds remain the best value-per-calorie on the table — thin shells, high oil, taken by nearly everyone — and a 20kg sack of Johnston & Jeff Wild Bird Blend is the sensible October buy before winter demand gets going in earnest. Premium peanuts will keep the great spotted woodpecker and the nuthatches busy, and a handful of dried mealworms, soaked briefly in warm water, is a wet-weather lifeline for the ground-feeders when the lawns are too sodden to work. You'll find the lot in our wild bird collection.
Wet-Weather Feeding: Keep It Dry, Keep It Clean
A rainy Scottish October asks a bit more of your feeding station than a crisp frosty one. Put out little and often rather than filling everything to the brim — seed that sits wet turns musty quickly, and clumped, damp food can block feeder ports so birds go hungry at a full feeder. Tip out anything sodden, and give feeders a fortnightly wash in dilute disinfectant, rinsed and dried before refilling; mild, damp weather is exactly what the bugs that spread finch disease enjoy, and a busy feeder is only a kindness if it's a clean one. If you're adding kit, choose feeders that are simple to take apart and scrub — there's a good range in our bird feeder collection.
Two more seasonal jobs: always slip fat balls out of any nylon netting before you hang them, as birds' feet and tongues can tangle in the mesh with fatal results, and sweep up under the feeders every few days — spilt seed on wet ground is an open invitation to rats. And don't forget water. It sounds daft in a week like this, but puddles are poor bathing spots; a shallow dish of clean water, refreshed daily, helps birds keep their feathers in the waterproof, well-insulated condition their lives now depend on.
Find It at McCaskie
Whether you're after a sack of seed, a stock of suet or a feeder that'll survive a Scottish winter, you'll find it all at our four stores in Ayr, Kinross, Lanark and Stirling. Our friendly team — including AMTRA-qualified SQPs — know their siskins from their sparrows and are always happy to help you build a menu for the birds in your patch. Call into your nearest McCaskie store this week, or shop online any time at mccaskie.store — and keep the wee stoves burning through the long nights ahead.