Big Garden Birdwatch Results

Back in January, nearly half a million people counted 7.2 million birds over one weekend - counting the wildlife that counts on us. The numbers have been crunched by the RSPB scientists and we can now find out what we all saw.

This year in south-east England (my area) 92,000 people took part in Big Garden Birdwatch. The house sparrow remained the most commonly reported bird, with an average of three in each garden. Blue tits swooped in at number two, appearing in nearly three-quarters of all gardens, whilst the starling was the third most spotted bird.

The Top 10 birds seen in gardens this year were:

1. House Sparrow  2. Blue tit  3. Starling  4. Blackbird  5. Woodpigeon  6. Chaffinch  7. Goldfinch     8. Great tit  9. Collared dove 10. Robin

Starling

Female Blackbird

Goldfinches

Goldfinches have swooped into the number 7 spot. Before 2001 they were amber-listed. They are visiting our gardens more now and are particularly partial to nyjer seed.

For the first time in Birdwatch history the great spotted woodpecker has made it into the top 20.

Despite staying at number 1 spot the house sparrow is a red-listed species. Their numbers are down by 62% since the first Birdwatch.

Starling numbers have plummeted by 84% since the first Birdwatch in 1979. It is another red-listed species. The RSPB is urgently researching the reasons for the decline.

Song thrushes have declined by 81% since the Birdwatch began. They are currently in 21st place and like many of our favourite garden birds remain on the red list.

Some of the rarer garden visitors included Lapwing, Waxwing, Grey partridge, Barn owl and Chiffchaff and probably the rarest visitor in this Big Garden Birdwatch was a Yellow-rumped warbler!! 

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

No, it doesn't mean that you have to have a big garden to participate. 'Big' refers to the extraordinary number of people across the UK who do take part over this weekend. All you need to do is set aside one hour, either today or tomorrow, and record which birds and in what numbers, you see in your garden. Then send your record to the RSPB. This approach requires discipline. So, you start at 10:00am; that means you stop recording at 11:00am. You can almost guarantee that a bird you do not have on your list, suddenly appears at 11:10am. No, you mustn't!

So, I started at 9:00am this morning and almost inevitably birds I have been seeing all week decide to disappear or visit someone else's garden during my nominated hour! So, for what it's worth, here is my record for this morning:

10 x Goldfinch
8 x House Sparrow
2 x Blue tit
2 x Woodpigeon
8 x Starling
1 x Dunnock
2 x Feral Pigeon
1 x White Dove

And I haven't seen a Robin or a Blackbird or a Chaffinch or a Greenfinch or a Thrush - all day!

Weather - Forecast or Fantasy

I should not have taken notice of the local weather forecast this morning: 80% chance of rain all day. So, I postponed my visit to Warnham Nature Reserve and busied myself preparing all the garden bird feeders in readiness for the Big Garden Birdwatch that occurs this weekend. And I did all this in the dry - no sign of rain and it is now 12:30pm. I should have stuck to my original plan. Oh well...

I was watched closely by a Robin as I topped up the feeders - the first Robin I have seen this year. And a juvenile Dunnock showed keen interest in the food that finished up on the ground.

And the Goldfinches got stuck into the sunflower seeds as soon as I disappeared indoors.

Meanwhile I shall have lunch and then continue reading the book about Bletchley Park and the wartime code-breakers......