So what should we actually list?

Hello.

As far as I'm aware, it's just the birds in your garden you count, so anything that lands close to the garden wouldn't be counted unless it actually landed in your garden.  One of the confusions I have is what if a bird or birds land on a hedge which is the exact boundry between two gardens.  Are these counted or not, or does it depend on the way they are facing or even on which half of the hedge they land?

Paul.

Heron77 said:

Hello.

As far as I'm aware, it's just the birds in your garden you count, so anything that lands close to the garden wouldn't be counted unless it actually landed in your garden.

Paul.

That’s what I thought. It was the RSPB that reported the “glimpses of” and “sightings of” in their results. Perhaps they should stick to the results of the BGBW to avoid unnecessary confusion.

Good morning,

I think you are supposed to count any bird that uses the facilities in your garden. This includes feeders and food, water, trees, bushes, hedges, walls, fences, grass, shed roof etc etc. So if a bird lands on a boundary hedge or fence, then I would count it (whichever way it was facing!!!!!) as it was using a facility in my garden. I get sightings of various water birds because we are very close to the river and they have a flight path over my garden, but I don't count them. I do put scraps on my flat shed roof for the gulls, so if one of those swoops down and takes some food but doesn't actually land, I would count it.

There should be some definitive rules so we are all working to the same pattern.

Hi there,

Sparrow is right - birds flying over are not counted. Also, it's important not to just total up the birds you see during the hour - for example:

See 2 sparrows - record 2 sparrows
See 1 sparrow - do nothing
See 3 sparrows - record 3 sparrows (not 5)

Hope that helps,

Graham

I have copied this from the rules of the BTO weekly Garden Bird Watch. I assume the Big Garden Bird Watch follows the same rules.

The aim of Garden BirdWatch is to gather information on the birds using your garden and the resources that it provides. This means that you should keep a record of those birds actually using the resources within your garden - these could include birds feeding on your bird table, seen sitting in your trees or nesting on your house. Do not include those birds that are simply flying over your garden and not actually using it.

Elusive or nocturnal birds such as Wrens and Tawny Owls can be recorded if they are heard but not seen, if you can confidently identify their songs and calls and are certain they are using your garden as a resource. Do not, however, include those birds seen simply flying over your garden unless they are obviously on their way to visit it and use its resources. The major exception to this rule are birds such as Swallows, martins, Swifts and birds of prey which should be included if they are hunting over your garden - their prey counts as a resource provided by your garden.

This glimpses thing is interesting.

Last year my wife and I clearly saw a Cattle Egret near where we live.  Nn advice, we reported a rare bird form as there hadn't been any sighting in that part of Derbyshire (although there had been sightings less than 5 miles away).  Despite the clear description and markings observed, it was rejected.  Yet the RSPB reports glimpses as authoritative or reportworthy?

I have also seen Bullfinches regularly using our bird table which the RSPB book states unequivocally doesn't happen - it does.