THE BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH

This year, the garden was once again subject to an hour of bird counting, as the annual RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch survey took place.

Last year the list of birds spotted and counted was as follows (starting with the most seen):

House sparrow – 9

Blackbird – 9

Great tit – 7

Blue tit – 6

Starling – 5

Robin – 4

Magpie – 4

Long tailed tit – 4

Dunnock – 4

Woodpigeon – 3

Goldfinch – 2

Tree sparrow – 2

This year the order changed slightly, and we didn’t see any tree sparrows or woodpigeons. The 2018 order was as follows:

Long tailed tit – 9

House sparrow – 7

Great tit – 4

Dunnock – 4

Goldfinch – 4

Blue tit – 2

Blackbird – 2

Magpie – 2

Wren – 2

Robin – 2

The weather on Saturday wasn’t the best and we did pick a time later in the day, so missed most of the action earlier in the day, hence the lower numbers.

The flock of long tailed tits didn’t disappoint again, and they even managed to outscore the house sparrow.

I’ve not noticed any real difference in the number and type of birds coming into the garden over the last few years, with sightings of tawny owls, sparrowhawks, crows and song thrush, among those who are seen perhaps a couple of times a year.

Among the flora in the garden, the snowdrops, winter rose and crocuses are already flowering, with others, including daffodils and tulips, starting to emerge as green shoots.

While it’s still January, and there’s likely to be more colder and stormy days to come in the next couple of months, the weekend did start to give us a feel of spring – temperatures reach about 14c on Sunday.

Which means it’s time to make sure the bird nest boxes are in good order and ready for any spring guests – particularly the camera nest boxes!

BYE BYE HEATWAVE

The heat wave has now come and gone, but it has left behind some warm weather albeit with plenty of rain, particularly forecast for the week ahead.

There’s still been no sight of Spikey and I’m concerned now as I don’t think he’s been eating much of the cat food or mealworms that I’ve been handing out.

Indeed there seems to be a family of magpies that have been raiding the garden for my mealworms and the cat food, although how much of the cat food is left by dawn is something I don’t know.

I’m going to check the house sparrow nest boxes out this week as I’m not sure if another clutch of eggs has been laid yet, or indeed if there will be another brood this year; I’d be surprised if there wasn’t.

All of the plants are now out of the greenhouse, apart from the three ‘resident’ tomato plants, and most are surviving well outside.

The runner beans have flowered and the first signs of beans are now coming through, while the broad beans have flowered and some will soon be ready for picking and eating.

They’ve all been visited by plenty of bees and this year has seen the biggest number of bees in the garden for nearly a decade.

Every day the bees have visited the garden in huge numbers, with many varieties of honey and bumble bees.

As more and more flowers come into bloom it seems the supply of pollen and nectar will continue for the foreseeable future.

Currently the sweetpea plants are flowering and soon it’ll be the tomatoes, before the sunflowers continue the supply.

Of course all this means there’s plenty of colour in the garden.

The swallows appear to be in very big numbers this year and I’m predicting the count will exceed 40 when they start to prepare for the journey to their winter home and gather on the telephone wires.

Until then I’m going to enjoy their aerobatic displays and beautiful voices as the glide and swoop in and around the garden.

Next week I’ll bring news of a song thrush that has taken to singing loudly and at length around the garden.

A SPRING IN MY STEP

Has spring finally sprung? It certainly feels like it and the birds seem to know it around my garden.

I’ve seen pairs of great tits, blue tits and dunnocks flirting together while the blackbird couple spend time in the garden and surrounding area a few times a day.

The great tits seem to be showing great interest in the nestbox with the camera in, although while I can’t be sure if one or both are roosting in there because the camera still isn’t working, I’m confident that it is happening. The alarm calls at dusk when I’m in the garden seem to be a good indication of this.

Looking at the camera I feel the fault is definitely with the aerial sending the signals to the receiver as the infa red lights on the camera are working, showing power is getting there. If anyone has any suggestions as to what I can do, please post a comment, it would be much appreciated.

Over the weekend the great tits were witnessed displaying to each other while picking up pieces of dead grass, which could be nesting material.

The robin that follows me around the garden has been seen with a potential mate in the last few days, including a few minutes of displaying to each other over the weekend. Perhaps they will use the robin nestbox that has been in my garden for four years, but only used once.

My favourite visitor of the weekend was a song thrush, which seems to have taken a liking to my garden and the surrounding area, and is now almost as common a site as the other birds. Below is the best image I have of it so far, but I’ll keep trying for a better one.

Song thrush in my garden

The house sparrow flock seems to be getting louder, although this is probably down to the signals that spring is here, rather than a problem with my hearing!

I suspect they will disperse a little in the coming weeks to find a suitable communal nest site, which may be close to my garden – in which case I’ll be seeing them all spring and summer.

So as spring starts to appear, it won’t be long before the current dawn chorus of song thrush, blackbird and robin is joined by my favourite summer resident, the swallow.

I hear through @Swallowsighting that some swallows are already starting the long journey to the UK and perhaps we’ll see one by Easter. Fingers crossed because they’re presence in this country is something we should celebrate and enjoy.

SONG THRUSH SONGS BRIGHTEN UP ANY WINTER DAY

As winter keeps us on our toes with bouts of cold weather and potential snow, the wildlife seems to be more and more attracted to my garden.

In the last week the flock of long tailed tits has visited at least once a day, often more than once, with one or two jays – I think it may be a pair – now feeding confidently in the garden; well as confident as this shy bird can be!

My favourite piece of recent news is the arrival of a song thrush to the garden, which appears to have taken up residence in and around the garden.

It has been singing from various high points in the trees in the last ten days, sometimes for hours on end.

The very latest on the song thrush is that it now appears there are two of them – I’m hoping the singing has been performed by the male and he has attracted a female.

I hope they have found a place to nest and that it is close by. The songs have been beautiful and I must have heard at least 20 different ones over the last week or so.

The flocks of smaller birds are getting bigger, with the blue tits, great tits, tree sparrows, house sparrows and chaffinches often joined by robins, blackbirds and the odd wren in the garden.

They’re all enjoying the fat snacks, peanuts and seeds I’m putting out for them and when I refill the feeders, the birds seem to know what I’m doing and I can hear them excitedly chattering and gathering close to where I put them in the trees.

I haven’t heard the wailing of mating foxes this year, although I know they’re about. To many people the sound is very distressing as it’s often in the middle of the night and does sound like a baby crying from a lot of pain.

The tawny owls have not been heard for a few weeks, although I’m sure they’ve taken refuge further towards the woods for greater protection from the weather conditions; I hope to hear them again soon.

Until then, let’s hope the promised cold weather and snow won’t have too negative effect on the wildlife and the birds benefit from my handouts.

A NEW SEASON

After the excitement of last year, I'm really looking forward to a new season of Blue Tit Watch.

I've been feeding the birds with seed, fatty snacks, peanuts and most importantly water during the extremely cold winter and have found some wonderful surprises.

A flock of goldfinches and tree sparrows are using one of the trees to roost and one evening I watched them mob a sparrowhawk that was resting on a branch.

The following list of birds has taken advantage of my food supply with a few surprises:

Blue tit, great tit, long-tailed tit, tree sparrow, chaffinch, blackbird, dunnock, robin, great-spotted woodpecker, pheasant, goldfinch, song thrush, starling, woodpigeon, jay and magpie.

I've noticed recently the blue tits taking an interest in the next box used for the last two years, although they now have a choice of four next boxes spread around the garden in different locations.

This blog will gradually deliver daily updates as the cold winter is replaced by the warming glow and scents only spring can offer.

LATEST NEWS

May 7th

After a spell of warmer weather the paired blue tits were seen mating outside the bird box on a number of occasions.

Since then the birds have turned from a pair to one, presumably the male, who's been singing warning songs everytime I've been in the garden.

The obvious conclusion would be the female sitting on eggs in the nestbox and the male keeping her up-to-date with what's happening outside.

In the last couple of days the male has been seen taking mealworms (supplied by me) into the nextbox without the usual sound of chicks begging for food.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed the female is on eggs and hopefully will hear the sounds of chicks in the next couple of weeks.

Which is a positive of the holiday to Mexico (due to be taken on Saturday) has been cancelled. Fingers crossed all this will lead to me seeing the chicks fledge.

The recent weather hasn't been exactly May-like (my greenhouse has fallen in the winds) but a new batch of mealworms has arrived and I'm ready to help feed any chicks.

Talking of chicks it seems with the variety of birds arriving and taking away beakfuls of mealworms that a number of chicks are in the surrounding buildings and countryside.

Pairs of robins, blackbirds and great tits and indulged in the feast, with goldfinches, tree sparrows and dunnocks utilising either the worm handout or peanuts.

With the odd visit from woodpigeons, house sparrows, chaffinches, pied wagtails, magpies, a greater-spotted woodpecker, wrens and a pair of song thrushes, the garden is full of life.

The usual swallows are performing aerobatic sorties catching flying insects and nesting again in the small barns behind the house, while long-tailed tits have lengthened the time between their family visits.