For anyone who would like to take part in this weekend’s RSPB bird count please go to http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/index.asp . I chose to do my count today between 10-11am. You can see my results below. Results from the RSPB are expected at the end of March.
Update Mar 27:
The results for The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2007 are now out and can be seen at http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/results/ . Top of the list was the House Sparrow followed by the Starling with the Blue Tit taking third place.
| Starling |
13
|
| Chaffinch |
12
|
| House sparrow |
6
|
| Woodpigeon |
4
|
| Blackbird |
3
|
| Greenfinch |
3
|
| Blue tit |
3
|
| Robin |
2
|
| Goldfinch |
2
|
| Great tit |
1
|
| Coal tit |
1
|
| Dunnock |
1
|
Disappointingly, the results shown above did not really reflect the numbers of visiting birds usually in my garden. It was a lovely sunny morning and they did appear to enjoy sitting on sun-kissed branches of an over looking tree. Today I would have expected a few more blackbirds, blue tits and house sparrows. The two goldfinches are usually in a group of eleven or more so I don’t know where the rest went today! The table does however accurately reflect one species that has been increasing in numbers – the Chaffinch. I didn’t realise how many we had until I counted them today – they are in pairs so it will be interesting to see any signs of them preparing to nest.
Numbers of Starlings appear to be significantly dropping in the UK but today, and over the last two weeks, that has not been the case in my garden. Their numbers in my garden are seriously increasing – many more have been seen than the number recorded today.
Grated cheese -as it was ‘Birdwatch’ day I decided to gave the birds a treat. This treat is usually a weekend thing anyway but today I did sprinkle a little more than usual around the ground. I originally put out the grated cheese to see where the wren hides – but the blackbirds have really been enjoying it! I sprinkle the cheese in three places.
Who got the cheese today – the Starlings. I couldn’t believe it, some starlings bypassed the fat cakes which is their usual favourite, diving straight to the cheese on the ground. Some Starlings even dived in and out taking the cheese with them barely touching the ground! The poor Blackbirds were struggling to get to the cheese – but try they did.
I will go online later and submit my results – I believe this year may have the biggest response yet.