Blogger: Kim Matthews, Membership Development Officer

What do a sofa, Andy Murray and a cup of tea have in common?  Well, last Sunday they were all part of my Big Garden Bird Watch! 

It's not often that bird watching involves comfy furniture, or tennis for that matter.  However on Sunday morning the Murray match had already begun by the time I settled myself onto the arm of the sofa.  Armed with a supersized mug of tea I surveyed my garden domain.  All the feeders had been scrubbed and everything restocked to the brim with seeds and nibbles to tempt my feathered guests. 

Some years it seems like my garden birds choose the BGBW weekend as the perfect time to go away on a mini-break.  This year I was lucky and all the usual suspects were about.  Most conspicuous was a large mafia-like posse of blackbirds re-enacting West Side Story around the ground table.  One of these gang members was a charming fellow with a small, white dollop of bird poo on his head.  His badge of honour perhaps!

At the halfway mark I was up to 13 species, meanwhile things were not looking so good for Andy Murray who was already two sets down.  There was a burst of activity in the garden as the long-tailed tits came, saw, conquered a fat-filled coconut and then left.   Behind me I kept hearing about break points being won and lost, in front of me the garden was virtually empty.

With five minutes to go and still no new species I spot a house sparrow skulking in a shrub.  My first ever sparrow recorded in the BGBW.  They live just two doors down but rarely ever visit.  I've had maybe 3 garden sightings in the last 9 years.  And to think I grew up thinking they were the most common, boring bird!

Well, they think it's all over....and it is now, both for Andy Murray and for my Big Garden Bird Watch.  Time to submit my results.  14 - Love to me!