Big Garden Birdwatch 2023

I did this year's Big Garden Birdwatch from 8:20 to 9:20 am. The weather was cold (about 1-2 C) and dull.  The big difference this year is that I've been using feeders much more.  Previously we had one feeder for fatballs, a bird table and scattered some food on the paving or grass.  However due to increasing numbers of Pigeons monopolizing the supplies, I've more-or-less stopped using the bird table and ground and now have a total of four feeders:

• The original, with fat balls, in the Magnolia
• Mealworms in the Lilac at the front
• Sunflower hearts in the Crab Apple at the back
• Suet pellets in the Cornus Mass.

I imagined that this would encourage more birds into the garden and make them easier to spot.  However, during the count, I observed that most species come and go to the feeders quite quickly whereas before they would spend more time looking for morsels in our unruly garden.  

During the count, I recorded a total of 31 individuals from 11 species.

My Big Garden Bird Count scores.

Some results stood out. For example, the were two Goldfinches and one Coal tit.  Although these species have occasionally graced my count, their visits have be very irregular and fleeting, with the Goldfinches usually flying high above the garden and not landing (which means I can't include them in the count). Over the last few weeks these have become reliable visitors, coming to our feeders every day. 

Big Garden Bird Watch - How counts have changed since 2011

I did get more individuals than the last couple of years. It doesn't necessarily mean much because numbers have gone up and down so much over since I started doing the count.  However, the main boost was a group 12 of House Sparrows that spent a little time squabbling over the sunflower hearts and suet. 

Hopefully as we enter the hungry period when the birds have eaten most of the naturally occurring berries and seeds, the feeders will help keep our feathered friends going until Spring. 

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.

Big Garden Birdwatch - 2020

It appears that normal service has been resumed for the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch. The feeders are topped up, I've prepared my recording sheet, binoculars are to hand and the birds have vanished like snow in summer.  I can only suppose that the damp, mildish weather has allowed the birds to feed up in the countryside and they don't need to visit our gardens so much.

Female Blackbird with grapes.

Finally, I managed to entice our first visitor, a male Blackbird, with some grapes.  Naturally, he hid behind a garden ornament to eat them so here is a photo of the missus.  A little later, a Carrion Crow perched in our Oak.

Robin - one of a pair

I was charmed to see a pair of Robins dancing in and out of the twigs of our Acer and Buddleia trees. This pair have been around for a while now, and I hope they will nest somewhere nearby.

Blue Tit on Winter Sweet

My favourites were the three Blue Tits searching for insects amongst our yellow Winter Sweet and Witchhazel flowers.  A pair have already been checking out our old nest box - maybe they will decide it's still good enough to use.

Male House Sparrow on Crab Apple tree.

The RSPB results (at the time of writing - evening of 26 Jan) shows that the House Sparrow is the most widely spotted bird. I only got one male, which perched briefly in our wonky crab apple tree. My most common bird, with six individuals, was Woodpigeon.

We usually get about eight or nine Starlings fighting over the food on the bird table but only two appeared during my bird count, along with one rather nervous Magpie.

Here is my results list.

Results for 2020

This graph shows the ups and downs of my bird watches since 2011.  This year I got fewer birds (18 from 8 species) than last year (35 from 12).

This year's results were a little below average.

Big Garden Birdwatch - 2019

This year's RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch was unusual because the birds didn't disappear from the garden the moment I started the clock. This time, my birdwatch started with me stalking my first ever birdwatch Wren at the front of the house, Mum was calling out "Robin, Starlings ... " and so on from the back.

My Big Garden Birdwatch results for 26 Jan 2019.

After the initial flurry of action, things settled down a bit and it was obvious that we were seeing some species in greater numbers than previously.

House Sparrows on our bird table

It was a particular pleasure to see a group of eight or more House Sparrows - the best score that I have had for this species.

Woodpigeon

We also had a group of seven Woodpigeons - again the largest score since I started. They were busy cleaning up under the bird tables after the smaller birds had scattered the food.

One of two Carrion Crows

I think many small birds were intimidated by the presence of two Carrion Crows in the oak at the side of the garden - even the Magpie flew away - so I went and had another look at the front.

Coal Tit in the front garden

I heard the Dunnock before I saw this modest-looking greyish bird. While I was looking at the it, two Goldfinches and a Coal Tit popped into view. At about the three quarter-hour mark I was getting a little concerned about the absence of Blue Tits as it would be the first year that I missed them. Mum said that they had been around during the week but, of course, that doesn't count. I enjoyed watching the secretive little Wren as it worked its way along a rather untidy hedge bottom and was rewarded by the appearance of a second.

Robin on the bird table.

I checked the bird tables and wires near the bird box but didn't see any sign of the Blue Tits. However, the Robin that regularly follows me round the garden came and posed for photos.

One of three male Blackbirds

I often see Blue tits working their way round the Oak tree. There were none around but a male Blackbird was in the tree, which, with the two already in the conifer, took me up to three.

Finally, as the last few minutes were ticking away, a lone Blue Tit appeared in the Robinia tree. This took my score up to 35 individuals from 12 species. This is the first time I have seen so many birds during the birdwatch - the previous high being 22 individuals. This was in 2011, which was also the only other year in which I saw 12 species.  I think that my totals were boosted by new glasses and bird watching techniques learnt from David of the Uckfield Local Nature Reserves Supporters Group but there were some genuinely bigger groups around.

This graph shows the ups and downs of my bird watches since 2011.  Last year's numbers were much lower.

The ups and downs of my garden bird watches

Big Garden Birdwatch - 2018

This year, I had to do my Big Garden Birdwatch a bit earlier (8:05 to 9:05 am) than usual because I needed to get to the hairdresser. I thought this might be why my scores were a bit low but I am assured that there were very few birds in the garden while I was away.

2018's Big Garden Birdwatch

I got a total of 18 individuals from 7 species:

• Blackbird - 4
• Blue tit - 3
• Carrion Crow - 1
• House Sparrow - 3
• Magpie - 1
• Robin - 1
• Starling - 4
• Woodpigeon - 1 

This compare's to last year's scores of 17 individuals from 11 species.  Mum suggested that the birds might still be finding plenty of food in nearby wild places and so are staying away from the garden.

The first birds to appear were the cheeky ones - a Magpie and a Robin, which both haunted the garden for much of the hour. I first saw the Robin amongst the purple cascade of Birch twigs. About 10 minutes in, they were joined by a group of Blackbirds, a Wood pigeon and a Crow, which lurked - rather shyly - in a branch just above the hedge.

I was a little concerned when Max, next door's cat showed up - but he just took a brief tour round the front garden before disappearing.  It was just after this, I started seeing the small garden birds including a lovely group of 3 Blue Tits in the Oak, their yellow chests almost glowing in the low sunshine.

I got slightly annoyed by 3 House Sparrows that seemed to be tormenting me by scuttling up and down the edge of a nearby house. Finally, they flew into our magnolia tree so I could count them.  That done, it was time to drop my note book and binoculars and head off to the town.

Big Garden Birdwatch - 2017

As I settled down for this year's RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, I kicked myself for not doing it in yesterday's beautiful sunshine. At 9am the light was so murky that I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to see the birds, let alone identify them.

Then two cheeky Robins flitted into the trees at the front of our garden.  As I watched their boisterous progress through the branches, I noticed a Song Thrush sitting quietly in the Robinia.

Notes from my Birdwatch.

Looking out at the back I noticed a Goldfinch on the old teasel seedheads.  In the next quarter of an hour, several different types of birds appeared in the garden. Great tits, Blue Tits, Robins and Starlings were all attracted by the food I had put on the  bird tables. 



Woodpigeon feeding on tiny crab apples.

Perhaps the most bizarre sight was a Woodpigeon tying itself in knots while gathering up the last of the crab apples.  When it finished, it stared glumly at the empty branch.

At about 9:35 a Jackdraw, a first for my birdwatch list, perched briefly on a conifer. I found myself glaring at a Herring Gull that seemed to be glued to my neighbour's roof and couldn't be counted.  My hour was rounded off by the reappearance of the robins.

One of our pair of Robins.

The final score was 17 individuals from 11 different species. Strangely many of the birds that usually come as a flock appeared in ones, twos or threes.  I didn't positively identify House Sparrows but there was a group of birds that I couldn't see properly in the poor light and wasn't able to include in the count.

2017 Great Garden Bird Watch Results.

Compared to previous years, the variety of birds was good. It has only been better in 2011, the first year I did the birdwatch. However the number of individuals counted, at 17, was well below the average of 21.  Results of this and previous years' counts are shown below.

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
No of species	12	11	10	6	11	7	11
No of individuals	30	26	15	20	28	12	17
Blue tit	3	3	2	3	2	2	1
Blackbird	2	2	3	3	2	2	2
Collared Dove	2	1	1		1		1
Goldfinch			1		7		2
Great tit		1					1
Jackdaw							1
Magpie	2	2	2	2	1	1	2
Robin	1	1	1	2	3	1	2
Song Thrush	2		1		1		1
Starling	8	9	2	8	5	2	3
Woodpigeon	1		1	2	2	2	1
Chaffinch	2				2
Coal Tit		1
Carrion Crow						1
Dunnock	3	1
House Sparrow	3	4			1
Pied Wagtail	1	1	1
	Saturday, 29 Jan	Sunday, 29 Jan	Saturday, 26 Jan	Saturday, 25 Jan	Sunday, 25 Jan	Saturday, 30 Jan	Sunday 29 Jan
Start time	8.45 am	8.45 am	9.07am	8.50 am	8.45 am	8.55 am	9:05am
Weather	dull, icy		cold, bright	damp, misty	bright, cold	dull, mild	damp, mild

Big Garden Birdwatch - 2016

Once again, I've been doing the RSPB's annual Big Garden Birdwatch. I stopped rushing round trying to get everything done and counted birds.

Some of my notes from this year's birdwatch.

It seems that every time I do a birdwatch, I see something new. This time it was a huge wood pigeon and a shy female blackbird sharing the tiny crab apples from one of our trees. The blackbird had been haunting the garden for some days and now we know that the crab apples were the attraction. I also enjoyed seeing two robins, who appeared twice:

• At 9:25 one robin flew to the base of the bird table, while the other sang in our conifer.
• At 9:53, one was searching round the base of the bird table, while the other perched in the cotoneaster nearby.

To be honest, I didn't see very many birds compared to previous years. The Guardian's article Mild winter means lower numbers for annual garden bird count, RSPB warns says ...

RSPB wildlife adviser, Ben Andrew, said: “If the UK experiences a continuation of these milder temperatures, those taking part in Big Garden Birdwatch may notice their gardens quieter than in other years. The milder weather means that there is more food available in the wider countryside, with birds being less reliant on garden feeders.”

After my hour was up, I had seen 12 individuals, which is the lowest in the years that I have been doing this. On the up side, one of the local crows actually landed rather than just flying over so I was able add crow to my list for the first time. 

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

	2011 Saturday, 29 Jan	2012 Sunday, 29 Jan	2013 Saturday, 26 Jan	2014 Saturday, 25 Jan	2015 Sunday, 25 Jan	2016 Saturday, 30 Jan
Start time	8.45 am	8.45 am	9.07am	8.50 am	8.45 am	8.55 am
Weather	dull, icy		cold, bright	damp, misty	bright, cold	dull, mild
Blue tit	3	3	2	3	2	2
Blackbird	2	2	3	3	2	2
Carrion Crow						1
Magpie	2	2	2	2	1	1
Robin	1	1	1	2	3	2
Starling	8	9	2	8	5	2
Woodpigeon	1		1	2	2	2
Chaffinch	2				2
Coal Tit		1
Collared Dove	2	1	1		1
Dunnock	3	1
Goldfinch			1		7
Great tit		1
House Sparrow	3	4			1
Pied Wagtail	1	1	1
Song Thrush	2		1		1
No of species	12	11	10	6	11	7
No of individuals	30	26	15	20	28	12