Last weekend we decided to take part in this years Big Garden Birdwatch, an RSPB survey conducted every year at the end of January. The general idea being that for each species you record, you note the maximum number of that species you see landed in your garden at any one time. This hour can be anytime of day between 26th and 28th January in 2024.
We chose an hour that suited us, 10:15am to 11:15am on the 28th. Whilst this may have been a good time for us, it’s not a great time of day for observing birds. And so it proved to be, only two blue tits were seen within the boundaries of our garden during the whole hour. Both at the same time flittering between or Hazel tree and next doors buddleia.
So a little disappointing, especially as can be seen in the image above, the sun was out and the skies clear. The blue tits did stick around for about 8 minutes before departing. But other than a few crows seen in the distance and some gulls flying overhead, we didn’t really see any other birds at all.
This national survey has been going since the 70’s and sadly records some worrying declines in many bird species. Check out the RSPB’s website for more information.
DC:03/02/2024
Wildlife Garden 