Monday, February 01, 2021

RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch

After a dismal try at counting birds on Friday lunchtime when they decided they didn't want to appear to be counted, I can't blame them the weather was vile, we sat down with coffee and biscuits on Saturday morning not expecting to see many birds again.  How wrong we were.

Here is the list of birds we saw during the hour.

Goldfinch  - 13
Wood Pigeon - 1
Robin - 2
Great Tit - 1
Chaffinch - 1
House Sparrows - 8
Blackbirds - 6
Bullfinch - 1
Blue Tit - 1
Dunnock - 1

Not a bad count at all.  I was concerned to see just one blue tit as they usually come as a pair and feed off the fat balls.  I was hoping that the Bullfinch would appear and about ten minutes after I'd mentioned him there he was!  We probably saw two dunnocks but as I wasn't sure about the first one we only recorded one.  There were a lot more sparrows in the hedges but we couldn't count them all, the eight I saw together on top of the hedge as they moved upwards to avoid a cat walking below.

Of course after the count we were visited by a song thrush, three long tailed tits and also two Crows, not quite enough for a murder - the collective name for crows.


 Below - not a bird, of course, but Mabel from across the road.

 Cats, foxes and badgers like the suet sprinkles too.

All photos were taken through glass, so not entirely crystal clear. The photo of the crows  is from the wildlife camera taken early in the morning before we collected it from the garden after breakfast .

I tried a couple of times yesterday afternoon to submit my list and finally managed to access the site about 7.30p.m. in the evening.  I expect lots more peole were joining in this year as the event has been well advertised.  Goldfinches were my top bird, followed by house sparrows.

20 comments:

  1. A good list, particularly if your Saturday was as grey and cold as it was here. It seems to be usual for more interesting species to turn up as soon as you've finished!

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    1. Saturday was the lesser of two evils weather wise, Friday was just awful. Yes, lots of birds late to the party, never mind, I'm sure they would have been recorded in another garden smewhere around here:)

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  2. Great total Rosie. Very envious of your bullfinch. We are lucky if we have a sighting once a year here and I have only ever seen them on the feeders once! We saw 10 species yesterday - I didn't do it Saturday as we had sleet all day and the birds were few in number!

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    1. It wasn't a bad total and a lot more than I expected. Last week we had two male bullfinches on the feeders and a female pecking on the ground like the chaffinches do. The goldfinhes make such a mess but the ground feeders tend to peck around underneath catching the dropped seeds:)

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  3. Not a bad count at all Rosie! I didn't do it as the weather has been truly horrible and I haven't seen or heard many birds in the last few days. Sparrows though are becoming quite common again around here usually flitting in and out the hedge that borders the front garden. It will be nice to awaken to dawn chorus again come the spring. :)

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    1. It's good to see more sparrows about, I was watching some in the bushes on our walk yesterday - they were flitting about from bush and hedge to tree and back. We hear wood pigeons in the morning and sometimes a robin, it's usually the blackbirds that herald spring:)

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  4. That sounds a really good count. So nice that the bullfinch visited, and your charm of goldfinches. My feeders have been empty since the sparrowhawk arrived. 🙃

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    1. I like the bullfinches. My neighbour had a sparrowhawk on her garden on Saturday it took a wood pigeon and devoured it under her seat at the top of the garden. Nature is cruel sometimes:)

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  5. Little birds seem to avoid our reasonably large suburban garden. I kept an eye open but we were visited by usual pairs of wood pigeons and magpies. After rain we had a male blackbird come and poke about the edges of our patio. Then, of course, there was Norman from next door, who annexed our garden in early-2015 once he realised we were cat-friendly. He patrols regularly just in case Buster from the back has been to mark our hebes as his! Perhaps, this helps explain why we don’t have a wild outdoor aviary like you. Love Robert.

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    1. Ah, Norman, he loves your garden and I'm glad all your neighbourhood cats have gardens to patrol as their territoty, keeps them away from the busy road into town. I've noticed magpies in the trees at the top of your garden as we've sat looking out of your window, which I'm sure we will do again one day:)

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  6. As I am a devotee of cats, my favour must fall on the divine Mabel.

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    1. She is such a pretty cat and knows it too:)

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  7. Well done with the count & I do wish they'd do something similar here at times. Maybe I'll sit outside a couple of times a year with my camera & do a count & some photos. Take care, stay safe & hugs.

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    1. It would be lovely to see some of the different birds you must have visit your garden, they all seem more exotic than ours. Take care:)

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  8. Quite similar to my count in Jersey with the added beauty of a bull finch. It’s lovely to see new birds in the garden :) B x

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    1. It was lovely to be able to record the bullfinch and also to see the thrush later, it seems ages since we saw a thrush:)

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  9. A good list, i'm envious of the Bullfinch, they are a rare visitor here! Great photos too!

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    1. Thank you Pam, it was great to see the bullfinch:)

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  10. That's fantastic, what a haul! I think all our birds flew to your garden! The ones that did come were too quick so I gave up in the end. 🙂

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    1. I was pleased by how many birds appeared during the hour, we usually have a flurry mid morning and mid afternoon so we planned the count for then:)

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