I spent an hour on Saturday counting birds in the garden and recorded the following:
Blackbird 2
Dunnock 3
Wood Pigeon 5
House Sparrow 8
Robin 2
Collared Dove 1
Goldfinch 3
Blue Tit 3
Great Tit 1
Feral Pigeon 3
Magpie 1
In past years I usually manage to count around 14/15 species so numbers were lower this year.
I still haven't seen a greenfinch in the garden this year and very few were around last autumn and early winter. I haven't noticed any signs of finches or house sparrows suffering from trichomonosis but for some reason greenfinch numbers have decreased dramatically. A pair of blue tits are still investigating the nestbox in the whitebeam. We had four robins in the garden yesterday - the resident pair who had to chase off two interlopers trying to sneak in from next door's garden.
Number of bird species seen in the garden this year = 20
Photo of the tame robin waiting on the patio for mealworms
2 comments:
I didn't get a chance this weekend to take part, but interesting your observations on less species. Of the reports I have read today, a few people have been saying this. Could be just coincidence, or maybe it is the cold weather taking its toll
Interesting (and worrying) that some others are reporting less species than usual. I suppose it could be coincidence but there again cold weather will probably have an effect on bird populations. We usually have male and female great spotted woodpeckers visiting the feeders several times a day but I haven't seen either for 10 days. It will be interesting to see the results when the RSPB publish them.
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