Chocolate and cream comes to the Old Moor garden

For today's blog, we head to the wildlife garden at RSPB Old Moor near Barnsley, where Julia Makin has had the tastiest Big Garden BirdWatch!

"With the snow finally gone, a riot of colour hit the feeders in the Old Moor garden just in time for the Big Garden BirdWatch. Top of the visual feast were hot pink Bullfinches (six at least, right), plus chocolate Tree Sparrows and coffee-cream Willow Tits. What a confection! All of them are an absolute delight to see up close and in our garden setting, where we provide supplementary feed just like many of you do in your gardens. And all are species that have become increasingly hard to find in the countryside in the last couple of decades as their populations slumped.

"It was great to see that they had made it through the snows of early January. It can become such a struggle for birds to find food in the frozen landscape, and we saw here in our garden how numbers of birds increased as they took advantage of what were probably life-saving supplies we put out.

"I know, I know, we can boast our 'exotic' birds because our garden is right next to a nature reserve (and a brilliant one at that, I'd add - yeah, I know I'm biased!). But while very few Big Garden BirdWatchers will have recorded our tasty trio, it is the sheer act of recording exactly what you see that is such a vital tool. By sending in what you've seen, you also effectively let us know what you've not seen. It means we get a double picture - what birds are where, but also what is missing. It will be fascinating this year to see the changing distributions. Let's hope no more holes open up in the distribution of birds such as Starlings. And fingers crossed we'll see some species doing better than ever.

"And, who knows, maybe one day all the the conservation work to help declining birds will mean your garden has a delicious Bullfinch or Tree Sparrow or Willow Tit too."

Or maybe you DID see something out of the ordinary. Feel free to share!