Big Garden Birdwatch - 2022

I did this morning's #BigGardenBirdwatch from 8:20 to 9:20am. It was bright but cold. I melted the ice in the bird bath, put some seed on the bird table and got going.  I didn't even wait to get inside, I heard the 'teacher, teacher' cry of the Great Tit and spotted a bunch of fat Woodpigeons dozing in the Oak and got recording.

Woodpigeons dozing and preening.

Then some small brown jobs are tumbling through our hedge - 3 cheeky House Sparrows. Scanning carefully with my binoculars I found a Dunnock. Far above, at the top of one of our birches, a Magpie. Then, for a long time, it seemed to go quiet.

Where are all the birds?

I prowled round the house, straining to see movement outside. Nothing around except the pigeons.  A movement in our birches caught my eye. Three little balls of yellow fluff - Bluetits - had appeared amongst the stunning black and white branches and trunks. They were soon joined by the Great Tit that I had already counted. Even so, I took a moment to admire its smart plumage against the white trunks and blue sky.

I moved to the back of the house to see if there was anything there.  A few starlings on the phone wires - but I can't count those. Then one drifted down into the Magnolia tree. The rest stayed stubbornly on the wire. A charm of Goldfinches flew straight past our garden into our neighbour's. A strong throbbing song from the top of our conifer drew my attention to a Robin. One of our usually reliably greedy Blackbirds had finally appeared to claim one of the grapes we had scattered outside earlier.

With the end of the hour coming into view, a shape appears in the Robinia and promptly disappeared behind a thick branch. Another pigeon? Then a pointed beak appeared followed by a bright blue eye. I added the Jackdaw to my list.

I give the Oak tree one more look - and found a Jay perching close to the group of Woodpigeons.  It has been visiting the garden for sometime.  In the Autumn, I spotted it caching acorns, so maybe it is back for a snack.

The final score.

I saw 20 birds from 11 species - very slightly more than last year.