BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH

This weekend has been the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch and once again my garden birds have put in an appearance all in one go.

It was an early start and as I’d filled the peanut, fat snack and seed bird feeders the previous night the birds flocked in.

Blackbirds, robins and dunnocks were early visitors, while the great spotted woodpecker did cause a few birds to depart quickly when he arrived at the peanut feeder.

As they are a rather skittish bird he wasn’t around for long and soon the blue tits, great tits and others started to feed again.

Then came in the long tailed tits, a group of over 12, who enjoyed feasting on the fat snacks and peanuts. At one point the fat snack feeder was covered with six, before a robin came along and bossed them off it.

I checked with last year and the amount of birds I spotted was about the same, which is good news for the local population. Whether it’s the same for the rest of the country is something the RSPB will hopefully be able to show thank to people taking part in this survey.

In other news the garage robin is now confident enough to venture all the way into the garage and to the back where I have all my bird food. He/she was feeding from the fat snack feeder that I’d just filled and placed within a foot of me.

I think one day soon I’ll be able to feed this bird from my hand.

I’ve still not fixed the bird camera to the sparrow nestbox, but hopefully I’ll get time next week.

The current nestbox camera hasn’t revealed overnight roosting for any birds just yet, but with cold weather forecast in the coming weeks, it might not be too long before it welcomes a guest or two.

IS WINTER FINALLY SHOWING ITS COLD SIDE?

A couple of overnight frosts have led to an increased number of bird sightings in the garden.

I carried out the BTO’s Early Bird Survey this week and witnessed a wide range of birds visiting the garden before, during and after dawn.

In no particular order I saw blackbird, robin, blue tit, dunnock, magpie, great tit, tree sparrow, house sparrow, long tailed tit and great spotted woodpecker.

The range of species so early in the morning utilising the fat snacks, peanuts and seeds I put out shows that wildlife can sometimes depend on human handouts to help them through the winter.

I think there are at least two male robins battling over the space around my garden, with one currently occupying the garden and another taking up space that includes the garage.

I mentioned it previously that the garage robin has been appearing in the doorway every time I go in there, often taking some food from a feeder that I leave while filling the others.

This week I managed to get a picture of the robin and you can see him nicking some food below.

I’ll be keeping an eye on both robins, along with any others, to see if I can map the territories and distinguish between them to see if they all visit the garden at some point.

Images of the long tailed tits are my next aim, although I’m not seeing them every day so it might be a little trickier.

Now that the storms have stopped for a while, I wonder if we’ll see any severe frosts and/or snow. I hope so, as it’ll give the flora and fauna a point at which to start planning for spring.

DO BUTTERFLIES HIBERNATE WHERE THEY WERE BORN?

Happy New Year! This is the seventh year that I’ve been writing this blog for, which started in 2008 with a simple gift or a nestbox from my partner’s parents.

Now as we enter 2014, the number of animals, particularly small garden birds, that it’s chartered the lives of is continuing to grow.

Blue tits, great tits, robins and house sparrows have all been born in my small garden and fledged.

This year I hope to have to nestbox cameras and at least three nestboxes occupied. The second nestbox camera will be fitted when the stormy weather has calmed down.

Three new things have happened since Christmas, two of which I’ve been pleasantly surprised by.

Today was the first sighting of the long tailed tits, which I take to mean that the natural food resources are now almost gone.

It’s been much later than previous years, but given that we’ve not seen any snow and only a handful of frosts I’m not surprised.

I’m hoping to get some pictures of them soon to share.

The start of 2014 disturbed the hibernation of a small tortoiseshell butterfly, so I’ve made use of a Christmas present box and provided it with a place to rest until spring. It’s behind my couch so won’t have much disturbance, which is what happened when it first appeared in the kitchen window (below).

 

I’d like to believe that it was one of the six that my young daughter raised and released in late summer. If they do have a homing device to hibernate near where they were born than that would mean it’s true. Here's one of the six that were releases back in September.

 

Finally a friendly robin is now following me into the garage and practically asking for food. It watched me fill up the bird feeders and then starts to take food from them if I turn my back for a second.

I’ve not managed to get a picture of this clever robin, but as I know natural food supplies are very low I’ll be filling them up regularly and will expect to see him/her quite often in the coming weeks.