Big Garden Birdwatch 2016 is here! The time to scrutinize every nook and cranny of your garden looking for as many different birds as you can in the space of one hour is upon us, and here at Arne we’re no stranger to it. You might think that the idea of taking an hour out to bird watch from the comfort of the visitor hut, with a cup of tea in hand and the log burner on, is one that we’d naturally shun and shy away from, but unfortunately for us duty called and this morning we begrudgingly partook. Within five minutes our first species had arrived, blue tit, and lots of them. Trying to frantically count little blue heads before they subsequently disappeared into the surrounding trees and foliage is a task surprisingly difficult at 9 o’clock in the morning, especially when undertaken by three blokes who haven’t yet finished their coffee, so we mutually agreed to come back to that species once our eyes were more practiced. Chaffinch and house sparrow became our focus along with the birds more accustomed to staying put when on the feeders. Over the course of the hour we logged twelve species, with peak numbers of great tit, chaffinch and coal tit. Nuthatch and siskin also made appearances along with a solitary greater spotted woodpecker, sadly no firecrest or brambling which have been known to occasionally hang around the car park!
But showboating isn’t what Big Garden Birdwatch is about, it’s the ones overlooked whilst on the feeders or ignored when seen in binoculars that matter. Creating a snapshot of the state of our garden birds is a fantastic opportunity to find out which birds may need our help more than originally thought. A personal pleasure for us was seeing healthy greenfinch visiting the feeders steadily, a bird that only a couple years ago was struggling and found its numbers declining. So get involved if you haven’t already and spend an hour noticing the regulars, the ones you may see every day and think nothing more of, the ones that ultimately would be missed from the garden if gone. Follow the link here to take part:
https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdwatch/