Big garden birdwatch...

[Ben Orme]

~T~ - See what you mean about the Starlings!

My list (1330-1430)

Blackbird - 3
Blue Tit - 1
House Sparrow - 12
Wood Pigeon - 1

Not bad for my tiny garden, and there were a couple of regulars missing! Most notably a pair of starlings, magpies, coal tits and a robin which likes to nip in.

Some of you sound like you have massive gardens to be able to cram all the birds in! Very jealous.

[tameblackbirds]

Originally Posted by Flywaver

Not calling anyone a liar. I can understand say two Robins in the garden which are notoriously territorial. But ive read someone that said 8! Unless there counting each landing.Or am i doing it wrong...

my 2 Robins are a pair and have been in the garden for a couple of weeks. Usually have a Robin nest every year. but know what you mean about 8 unusual as they fight terribly.


so far only 2 wrens counted here I have always had Wrens in my garden but fear the harsh winter will have taken it's toll. None in my garden since November

[thebeard]

gutted this year, i've been in work 9-5 both days this weekend

[Fauna]

Originally Posted by Flywaver

Not calling anyone a liar. I can understand say two Robins in the garden which are notoriously territorial. But ive read someone that said 8! Unless there counting each landing.Or am i doing it wrong...

It all depends on the size of the Garden. Perhaps something has happened to the original territory holders. I've certainly seen numbers of Robins move in when a Robin has been predated. I had a Robin killed by one of my Chickens on a small holding i used to have, over the couple of weeks after there were good numbers of Robins seen in the area (i made out 11 individuals, could have been more?), which soon whittled down to three new resident birds.

[Darren69]

My garden is 60 meters long so i had the Binoculars out - i probably didn't see all the birds - i also have allot of foxes in the garden too

[pammosley]

Our garden is tiny so I went 100 yards away to a section of our local park in the Orchard.
I was quiet pleased
Sunday 11.35-12.35 Cold but fairly bright.

Robin 3
Blackbird 2
Dunnock 1
Great tit 3
Blue Tit 3
Long Tailed Tit 3
Wood Pigeon 2
House Sparrow 2
Magpie 1
Crow 2
Chaffinch 1
& my star attraction-Nuthatch 1

I was supprised at so few Woodies & Crows.

[The_Doctor]

I've had 5 Robins in the past come together in the winter but they weren't that territorial. a disagreement here or there at the feeders but seeing as we have a large garden I don't know how they are away from the feeders

[shenk1]

The birds actually came out to play for us this year

Here are the scores from the Barnsley judges

Blue Tit 7
Coal Tit 3
Great Tit 4
Willow Tit 1
Long Tailed Tit 12
Starling 8
Blackbird 7
Chaffinch 7
Bullfinch 2
Greenfinch - disqualified as they didn't turn up
Collared Dove 3
Wood Pigeon 2
Magpie 1
Goldfinch 1
Dunnock 2
Robin 2
Song Thrush 3 (a record for the garden - looked like 2 boys fighting over a girl)
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1

And last but certainly not least - a new tick for the garden
Treecreeper 1

That concludes the results from Barnsley.
Not bad for our pokey little garden but we are fortunate to back onto fields.

shenk1

[RoyW]

I wasn't going to bother with this in what passes for a "garden" for my flat, but I decided to throw out a few scraps and give it a go.

The result:
7 Starlings (probably a dozen in total but 7 was the maximum at one time)
1 Woodpigeon


Not bad at all considering that my previous "garden" list consisted of 2 species (Pied & Grey Wagtail). Previous attempts at throwing out a few scraps have attracted nothing while I've been watching, probably largely because neighbours have to walk through to get to their doors, and next doors cat is usually sitting on the wall.
The "garden" (with birds!) can be seen here:

[SuzieandFlo]

I did my count today between 2.30 - 3.30pm.
One of my neighbours has recently put out lots more feeders than he used to have. He is retired so can keep them filled pretty much constantly. As a result, fewer birds have been using my feeders.
Yesterday, I cleaned my feeders and refilled them with newly bought seed. I also make my own fat cake which is popular with the starlings and jackdaws, and last weekend I had 3 Long Tailed Tits for the first time in my garden.
My count today was not a good reflection of the birds which normally use my feeders every day.
I also put a dish of live mealworms out today, they only lasted a few minutes once the starlings found them

My BGBW Count

Starling - 25
House Sparrow - 15
Blackbird - 2
Jackdaw - 2
Robin - 2
Blue Tit - 1
Chaffinch - 1
Collared Dove - 1

Missing regular visitors today were - Coal Tit, Great Tit, Dunnock, Wren, Wood Pigeon, Goldfinch, Siskin, Greenfinch and Rook. These are normally daily visitors in my garden. Starling numbers are normally around 30 - 40. House Sparrow numbers are usually around 40. It isn't that these birds have declined in number, they just didn't visit my garden during my count.