Big Garden Birdwatch - 2015

Every year, I do the RSPB annual Big Garden Birdwatch. The idea is to spend one hour noting the birds that land in the garden. It's a rare treat to spend such a solid chunk of time simply watching what is going on outside without running round fixing this or tidying that. I found myself tuning in what was happening, peering into the leaves and trying to detect tiny movements in the foliage that would reveal the presence of a bird.

My scribbled notes.

I did my bird watch on a crisp, sunny Sunday morning and had the good fortune to start with a flock of goldfinches investigating the foliage and tiny cones in our conifer. Later, they had moved on to cascading birch twigs. They were accompanied by a surprisingly vivid male chaffinch and round little blue tits. As usual, I was amused by the antics of the starlings on the bird table. They were so busy squabbling, they hardly had time to get at the food.  A robin posed prettily amongst the lengthening hazel catkins. Later two others appeared and they left the garden in a flurry of feathers and angst.

Near the end of my hour, one robin returned, its orange breast blending surprisingly well with the few remaining oak leaves. A movement in the tree revealed a lone house sparrow. As I scanned the twigs for the rest of the flock, I saw a lovely song thrush who must have been sitting there unnoticed for some time.

Here are the results of this, and previous years' birdwatch:

	2011 Saturday, 29 Jan	2012 Sunday, 29 Jan	2013 Saturday, 26 Jan	2014 Saturday, 25 Jan	2015 Sunday, 25 Jan
Start time	8.45 am	8.45 am	9.07am	8.50 am	8.45 am
Weather	dull, icy		cold, bright	damp, misty	bright, cold
House Sparrow	3	4			1
Blue tit	3	3	2	3	2
Starling	8	9	2	8	5
Blackbird	2	2	3	3	2
Woodpigeon	1		1	2	2
Great tit		1
Chaffinch	2				2
Robin	1	1	1	2	3
Collared Dove	2	1	1		1
Magpie	2	2	2	2	1
Pied Wagtail	1	1	1
Song Thrush	2		1		1
Dunnock	3	1
Coal Tit		1
Goldfinch			1		7
No of species	12	11	10	6	11
No of individuals	30	26	15	20	28