SPRINGWATCH has endorsed a handy gardening hack that could go a long way to protect the birds in your garden.
The BBC programme is known for its tricks and tips on saving and enhancing the wildlife around you.
The Springwatch team often have handy tips for viewers
They’ve encouraged fans to keep muddy puddles in their gardens
Amid all the goings-on on the TV show, it has revealed an easy way in which you can help to save birds that might come into your garden.
A tweet about the hack read: “Did you know a homemade muddy puddle could help nature?
“Swallows and House Martins use mud to create nests, which is hard to come by in the hot summer months.
“By leaving a dish of mixed soil and water out, you can help them build a home.”
So rather than avoiding muddy puddles in your garden, you might just want to keep them in order to protect the wildlife that might fly into your home.
The handy tip comes after the BBC nature series came under fire for a shocking scene.
On Tuesday night’s Springwatch it featured a harrowing report on raptor persecution and birds that are being illegally killed.
Frank Gardner headed to Norfolk to meet a group of people who were trying to hold those responsible to account, and at one point had to watch an upsetting video of a gamekeeper beating a buzzard to death with a stick.
The report also featured numerous shots of dead birds such as pheasants which had been illegally killed, and it proved for upsetting viewing for those at home.
Taking to Twitter, one Springwatch viewer wrote: “It was so hard to watch. Why did that evil little man get a suspended sentence when you had the vile little stain bang to rights?”
Another tweeted: “Awful, awful the suffering and pain I couldn’t watch.”
A third added: “The footage is just horrific. I saw it a while back and it left me feeling broken, physically sick, in tears and helpless.
“But these things need to be seen, nothing comes from being silent about the wrongs in the world. Keep up the good work exposing these scum!”
Meanwhile a fourth shared: “Springwatch. I’ve literally just watched a man trap and beat a buzzard to death with a stick.”
