Well, I'm pretty chuffed with my hour's tally for the Big Garden BirdWatch. Thirteen species isn't a bad haul for my little garden (though I hastily add that I'm in competition with no-one but myself!). I hope you all has an enjoyable hour taking part, and got to know your garden visitors just that little bit better.
Pick of the bunch for me were a couple of Goldfinches. In the past we've had over 30 at one time, but numbers in my garden have gone down in the last few years, against what has been a trend for winter numbers going up in gardens. As is their want, they were happy on the nyjer seed, while the Starlings focused on the fat balls, the Greenfinches (left) and House Sparrows were on the sunflower hearts, the Robin on the mealworms, and the Dunnock and Wood Pigeons mopped up underneath - nature sure knows how to sort itself out.
My only regular not putting in an appearance was my Song Thrush. But my House Sparrows did me proud, arriving in a group of four. My mum and dad in rural Worcestershire recorded just two, which they say is as many as they can hope for these days.
The most important thing now of course is getting those results online, so they can add to the national picture. Here's the link if you have yet to do so
But then the other big thing that Big Garden BirdWatch signals for me is that February is just round the corner (oh my word, look, it's arrived already!) and that means that gardening is just about to get busy! Within the next four weeks, I expect to plant the first seeds of the season, so that will mean pots to get ready, potting compost to prepare, and seeds to buy. This is where gardening for wildlife gets really interesting!