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 - 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

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

Big Garden Birdwatch - 2014

It's that time of year again. Time to do the RSPB's big garden birdwatch. Otherwise known as big migrations of birds to somewhere that is not my garden. The idea is to count the birds that land in the garden during a one hour period.

It was very damp and misty and, at first, I thought I wasn't going to get anything at all. I had heard some bird song when I left the house to fetch the paper but no sign of any birds landing in the garden.

While I was doing my birdwatch, I was amused by the starlings that perched just outside the garden. I wasn't so happy about the magpies that frightened the little birds off.

So here are my numbers for this and a few previous birdwatches.  This year, during a spell of record breaking wet weather, we had fewer species than previously but we had greater numbers of individuals thanks to our starlings boucing back from last year's poor showing.

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

If you are reading this on the weekend I wrote it, you can still fit your hour in. Just spend an hour noting the birds that land in your garden or other patch of ground and submit your results using the RSPB website.