Big Garden Birdwatch - How did it go?

My first time but it was great to have an excuse to hang on to the binoculars, sit in the conservatory and not feel like I should be doing something else! Although it did take me a couple of days to identify the 6 fieldfare that turned up unexpectedly - never seen before, and not so far since!

Hi, sorry I am a bit hopless with Forums, but I do have couple of comments on the BGB.

 I agree that it is totally frustrating to be limited to 1 hour's watching, and would support a 'new' or even extra  versions that allows people to do an all day, or even weekend count. My count for this year, for example, would have been significantly higher if these options were readily available.

 I fully understand why the 1 hour 'rule' is in place, after all, you can never carry out any real historical analysis on bird populations if you have varying data! But extra options would be very helpful!

Cheers,

Tony

Hi Kathy and Dave,

Just a coment on Starlings: I have a huge flock in the area (especially in Winter) but have noticed that a small percentage of them appear to have longer beaks than average. We call these 'the beakies', but just wondered if you (or anyone else) have encountered similar? The Beakies seem more adept at tacking fat balls/blocks than the others; is this evolution in progress?

Cheers,

Tony

Ian H said:

Just a quick poll to see how you think this years BGBW went with regards to bird activity in the gardens! Vote using the options below!

[Please visit the original post to access the poll]

First time I have done this though have been in RSPB many years.  I set aside a time which turned out to be cold and windy - hence grand total of 9 birds in one hour - six were house sparrows I suspect are living in my eaves anyway.  I just wonder how true a picture the survey will get.  The following day there were all sorts (gulls, crows, and many more) and the previous day a goldcrest put in a guest appearance but none of these will feature in the survey. 

As usual it was nearly a bird free zone when I did my watch. All week we had had birds everywhere all day, Sunday they had gone elsewhere.
Here is my tally..

Blackbird 1.
Blue Tit 2.
Carrion Crow 1.
Chaffinch 4.
Collared Dove 3.
Dunnock 1.
Goldfinch 4.
House Sparrow 1.
Jackdaw 2.
Robin 1.
Song Thrush 1.
Starling 3.
Wood Pigeon 1.
Siskin 1.
Rook 10.
Redwing 1.
Blackcap 1.
Pied Wagtail 1.

I can't believe I only saw one Sparrow, there are usually at least 10 here, Chaffinches also are usually far more numerous, ditto Starlings & Goldfinches.
All the birds I didn't see today, that are on the main list, are usually in the garden at some time during the day.
Do they know & keep away deliberately?

Sorry i missed the vote.:0(

Had a good hour in the morning with the usuals and several jackdaws arriving for water at the same time which was up on last year.We have lots of Wrens here and one spends lots of its time out back so OH stood at the window and it made an appearance, so a first on my list since we moved here.:0)))

Hi Sheena, still plenty of time to vote, in fact you have until Monday! Keep those results coming in as well, you can submit them via the link here.

Thankyou so much Ian......Done :0)

Many of my regular visitors did not appear,but to my suprise a pair of red poll arrived I had to get out two reference books to find out what they were as I have never seen these birds before.