It seems a funny time of the year to carry out a bird watch.On Saturday and Sunday it was verry cold(1.9 deg.C.) and therefore birds are not so active.
Spring is the time to carry out a more realistic bird watch as they are nesting and feeding continuosly.
Hi Chas,
Thanks for your post. We hold the Birdwatch in January as the cold weather can usually be relied upon to bring birds into our gardens looking for food and shelter. Winter can often be the busiest time for bird activity as they need to fend off the cold by staying active and feeding as much as possible. Additionally, the shorter days mean fewer hours of daylight in which to forage.
Having said that, January this year has been unseasonably mild across much of the UK and as a result, birds have not been depending on our gardens as much as they normally would. There are still plenty of berries and seeds around, even some insects on the wing, so many birds have chosen to stay out in the wider countryside, taking full advantage of what nature has to offer!
We’ve had varying reports so far of bird activity for this year in participants’ gardens. Some have seen plenty of bird activity while others have seen hardly any birds at all. Whether what people have seen during their hour watching is representative of what they usually see in their garden or not, does not matter. So please, if you took part at the weekend but saw few or even no birds at all, do submit your results – it’s still vitally important information.
Hope that helps!
Sarah