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.

BIRDWATCH 2013 BRING SURPRISE VISITOR

After the wildlife in and around my garden spent the last few weeks dealing with the cold, frosty and often snowy weather, this weekend brought a whole new set of meteorological setting for them.

The snow melt and heavy rain has led to lots of flooding, but also an opportunity as temperatures rise and a host of flying insects took to the air.

Looking at the week ahead would suggest that the weather will be windy and fairly wet, offering not much comfort for those insects. The good news is those insects are about and hiding when the weather is cold.

I carried out the RSPB’s 2013 Birdwatch survey this weekend and it was good to see plenty of the birds I usually see coming along for me to officially count.

Three types of tits – great, blue and long-tailed – along with jays, blackbirds, wrens, tree and house sparrows, dunnocks, chaffinches, robins and a lovely surprise in a female bullfinch.

This survey is important and I had help from my young daughter who was very excited seeing the robins and blackbirds.

The blackbirds are a couple and she now calls them Mr and Mrs, well after I’d tried to tell her the colouring differences between male and female. Perhaps I’ll leave that again for another day!

Watching the female bullfinch was a nice surprise and while I’ve seen bullfinches before in my garden, their visits are rare.

One sight that is rare in the summer and not much more common in the other seasons is the long tailed tit.

In winter I often see a flock of them hanging from all sorts of angles in the trees, chattering to each other before one, and then the rest descend on my feeders – mainly the peanut ones.

The flock numbers about ten and during the last few days they’ve been seen every day.

So will the change in weather bring any more exciting visitors, or perhaps more indications that thoughts of the birds and other wildlife are turning to the breeding season.

I’m now going to try and fix the nestbox camera and see which if the tits will be first to claim it for their own this year.