Now the community pages are back up and running, here’s the Big Garden Birdwatch follow-up post I promised...
I wasn’t at home last Saturday to see if any brave birds battled torrential rain and gale force winds for a mouthful of buggy nibbles (ground mealworms mixed with suet for those not familiar with such delicacies).
Instead I was closely following how this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch was unfolding via social media. Many people reported less than average sightings due to the weather – who can blame our feathered friends for sheltering from the storm? But still they counted in their droves, so much so that our website simply couldn’t cope and had to go offline for a lie down.
Excited to have a go myself, I came downstairs on Sunday morning only to find my feeder had blown off the tree and was languishing in the mud. I donned my wellies to rescue it and after a quick clean and change of food, I popped it back outside the front window and settled down with a bowl of cornflakes and my survey form just as the sun came out.
The first 10 minutes saw a few herring gulls and starlings fly overhead but no stopovers. I waited patiently and after 30 minutes I caught a little brown bird scurrying along out of the corner of my eye. Pen poised to mark it off my list, you can imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be a large leaf blowing in the wind...
Things went downhill for the latter half of my count when, oblivious to the important task at hand, some local children came rollerblading past (and past, and past). It’s great to see kids enjoying being active outdoors but their top-volume fun was enough to scare off any bird within a one mile radius!
As the clock ticked down I willed some birds to appear, particularly the little robin I’ve seen hopping about lately, but the hour ended without anything of note.
I was a little disappointed but not surprised. Living in an urban housing development where residents have laid artificial grass and mine is the only feeder in sight, it’s no wonder birds and wildlife are finding it difficult to make their homes there.
However I still submitted my results because it’s important for the RSPB to know where things aren’t, as well as where they are thriving. In fact, if anything, my zero score has inspired me to do more to give nature a home where I live so, by this time next year, there are too many birds for me to count in just one hour!
Don’t forget to send in your results - successful or not – before 16 February so we can crunch the numbers and work out where birds and wildlife need our help most.
Thanks to everyone who played their part in this huge citizen science project. More tips on helping nature in your patch are available at www.rspb.org.uk/homes.