Did you see more birds than usual in your garden, or did all the birds desert you during your hour birdwatch?
Take part in our fun poll and let us know!
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Here numbers were pretty consistent with last year with the exception that the number of starlings was much increased while the number of house sparrows was much diminished (1 solitary individual). Birds we see regularly (Great Tits, Goldfinches and Chaffinches) again avoided putting in an appearance during the selected hour even though the one chosen coincided with what is usually a period of high bird activity.
Murphy's law being what it is , it was on Monday 31st that (1) a flock of 15 Waxwings chose to visit the garden (I was unaware they made it as far as Ireland) and obligingly hang around for half an hour enabling me to take a number of photos, and (2) the long tailed tits whose approach to bird feeders seems to be based on an SAS style of tip and run raid finally deigned to settle for long enough to be positively identified, since when they have returned more frequently and stayed for longer
Unknown said: Did you see more birds than usual in your garden, or did all the birds desert you during your hour birdwatch? Take part in our fun poll and let us know!
Very disappointing. Very few birds this year. Generally the Magpie population has risen, sometimes 5 or 6 turn up, Blackbirds are on the up, two pairs, couple of Robins, a range of Tits, an odd Wren and a Thrush for the first time. Grey Wagtails not seen during 2010. Sparrows, Dunnocks and Starlings of course.
But, for BGBW, virtually nothing
And, wonderfully, some Long Tailed Tits 2 hours ago!!
Very disappointing and saw only one magpie and one house sparrow. Over a year or two we see a fair selection of birds but they are very infrequent visitors and there are some species we've only seen once or twice in the past 22 years at our present location.
We're intending to move from urban West Yorkshire to rural Lincolnshire sometime later this year, so we're hoping this will introduce us to new species and perhaps on a more frequent basis.