It was the 44th year of the Big Garden Birdwatch at the weekend. It’s an hour long survey run by the RSPB, helping them to get an accurate idea of how our UK Birdlife is faring.
On Saturday I did the birdwatch from my kitchen, camera and pencil poised, ready to record my feathered visitors. I have had quite a variety of birds show up in my back yard recently, so was very pleased when a few arrived in the hour.
8 Sparrows.
2 Bluetits.
2 Jackdaw.
2 Long Tailed Tits.
1 Blackbird.
1 Wren.
Both my total tally and varieties of birds are up on last year and in fact are up on the last few years too. Positive news for my corner of Lancashire. 🙂
On Sunday I joined my Sister and Niece for their bird count, lemon drizzle cake baked for the occasion. Walt the cat didn’t fancy joining us this time, but plenty of birds did appear at the feeders. My sister lives in the countryside , so it was especially nice to see Nuthatch and a Pheasant put in an appearance. That pheasant looks well fed!
Did you join in with the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch?
sunshine and celandines 
Oh, lovely! You’re lucky to get such a variety of garden visitors.
I was very lucky this year. X
I missed it this year, but have been feeding the birds through the winter, we usually have sparrows, blue tits and a robin, I try to disparage the pigeons because they like to sit on the swing and defecate on it. 🙈 X
😂Oh No! Those pesky pigeons…
At this time of year we tend to get blackbirds, sparrows, robins, starlings, great tits and doves (although there only seems to be one dove atm).
I think you did better than me this year, despite being on the edge of fields I didn’t have many visitors, they must have known they were being watched.
It can sometimes work out like that.
These are delightful
Thank you.
I love seeing what a few of my blogpals see in this birdwatch hour and wish we had similar out here at certain times of the year. Thanks for sharing, take care & hugs.
You should do one anyway. Would love to see. X
We did! sat in the summerhouse (brrrr) the variety very similar to our last four years however interestingly enough the numbers of each has changed (for the better!) Less woodpigeons, more starlings, more sparrows and wren!
That’s good news! I had a fleeting wren too. 🙂
You did better than us. Our count was 2 Wood Pigeons, 2 Blackbirds and 1 Robin. Not great, but better than nothing and, if I remember correctly, better than last year!
Mine have slowly improved over the years. But anything can happen in that hour. I once had a sparrowhawk scare all the birds away!
I didn’t do it this year. Failure to organise myself! I still mostly get wood pigeons and magpies, but the odd blackbird and Robin make an appearance from time to time. Hoping to improve things a lot this year. Well done on encouraging so many birds.
Thanks Cathy. Not sure how but numbers have definitely gone up. They all seem to love fat balls. X
I didn’t do the official count but I have started feeding birds for the first time this winter. I was always very reluctant for fear of my cats ( one in particular) attacking them, but I have found a solution by hanging the feeders in high shrubs alongside my driveway. Away from fences and high amongst the prickly branches, the cats can’t get near to them. It has quickly become a feeding station hub of activity, and they are going through a lot of food. Sadly, I can’t actually watch them feed from the house, and they tend to disappear inside the shrubs when I approach, but knowing they are enjoying the feast is what counts. If I stand very still, far enough away from the drive, for about 10 minutes, they will gradually return and carry on eating. My visitors at the feeders are mainly blue tits and robins, with some blackbirds, magpies and pigeons eating seed from the ground. They get so excited and noisy when I top up the feeders and walk away, letting their friends know that breakfast has arrived. There can be 15 to 20 small birds there are any one time. It’s so lovely!
I thought I had replied but my reply has posted below. 🐦
That’s wonderful. Bluetits are so cute and it’s always nice to see robins. The bigger birds get to enjoy the spoils too. I don’t think I’ve ever had a magpie visit!
There are a lot of magpies living in the trees near my house. They aren’t usually a problem but can become very territorial at nesting time. The problem is that their territory is also mine, but they don’t want to share 😀. I sometimes worry about the cats, as the magpies can sometimes swoop, quite low, over the garden when the cats are there. I think it’s just a threat to keep away from their trees, but magpies have been known to attack. They are stunning birds but I am wary.
They would keep me busy, or perhaps not, as you have lots. Everytime I see a solitary magpie I have to say ‘ Hello Mr Magpie’ incase I get bad luck. They are beautiful intelligent birds and a little bit scary. X
We did the Big Garden Birdwatch but I think they know they are being watched as every year we get really poor results. We usually have a garden full of sparrows up to 20 at a time but we saw 1! Along with two other birds, a poor showing and this year it wasn’t even raining, one year we had none as the wind and rain kept them away.
I don’t do the Birdwatch thing as I often watch the birds in the garden anyway. I don’t get many in the back as the HA took all the trees and hedges away a few years ago but I get loads of sparrows in the front, they seem to love the fuschia hedges and I could spend ages watching them flitting in and out 🙂
It’s good that you have a healthy population of sparrows as they are meant to be in decline, I have lots too!
I did the BGB too and it was Starlings that topped my list with House Sparrows in 2nd place. I’m on the edge of town and so we had 15 Starlings but for the 1 hour count time, we only had 8 House Sparrows. Wouldn’t you know it later that day I counted at least 20 House Sparrows! Runners-up were Dunnock, Robin, Blue Tit, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and a Blackcap. That’s 12 species well up on last year’s 7. Your photos are great. I’m afraid a camera is too techie for this OAP.
Thanks Ashley, you will just have to paint them, like your lovely snowdrops. 🙂
That’s an amazing tally by the way, with all those starlings you almost could have a mermeration. Very impressed you saw a Blackcap on your count. X
We think the Blackcap is a visitor and the starlings now only come when I put some bread out. Our feeders are the “guardian” type to stop squirrels and bigger birds from eating all the seeds. Given half the chance the starlings would empty the feeders every day! And they make such a big mess, especially on the kitchen window which I’ve just cleaned! ☂😟
I do get starlings occasionally and yes they are very boisterous and messy. X
This is so neat, and such a great idea! Your bird photos are also gorgeous!
Thank you. Maybe you should do your own little count, just out of interest for us bloggers abroad. I haven’t a clue what Birdlife you get in New York state. X
Great initiative, and it’s very good news that the numbers are up. Nature had a couple of recovery years during lockdowns and it shows.
Absolutely 🤗
Lemon cake sounds just about perfect for this kind of activity. Very pleased to see a pheasant dropped by!
You definitely need brews and cake when watching out for the birds. We loved that the pheasant visited, he’s a beauty!