Big Garden Birdwatch

[70007]

I shall do my hour tomorrow morning, but wondered if anyone had any interesting or unusual birds visit during their count today?

[magnuspullus]

16.5 Million Magpie's

I used to know the song - " 1 for sorrow, 2 for joy, 3 for a girl" etc but with so many here today I gave up on 14.3 Million!

[70007]

16.5 Million Magpie's



Now I know there is a lot of hype surrounding the return of Kevin Keegan, but even the most optimistic Toon supporter would admit they don't have that many fans.

;)

[magnuspullus]

I think you are right.....Keegan Lookalike?

[goldfinch]

I did the Birdwatch at the weekend but it was very disappointing, I think some one tipped the birds off because there were very few around on the day!! Maybe the sparrowhawk I saw had something to do with it as well. Still an interesting hour spent watching the garden. :) Did anyone see anything else exciting whilst doing the birdwatch??

[Devon-Skylark]

I did it on Sunday - not bad - plus my stonechats turned up & a dancing pied wagtail but they weren't included in the list or even the second list, so I couldn't show off! :( lol

[70007]

I was surprised not to see a great tit, collared dove, woodpigeon or magpie during my hour. But then the culprit (neighbour's cat) wandered nonchalantly out from under the bushes after about 40 minutes, and my efforts to scare it off did not enhance the situation as far as the birds were concerned.

[SCRUMPY]

We did our hour on Sunday morning. Saw the usual culprits and Mr Robin was not amused that we couldn't go out to him to feed him his mealworms during that hour, because it would scare everyone else away.:(

He could see my husband in the conservatory doing his count, while I did mine from the bedroom overlooking our woodland garden because you can't see the whole garden from the conservatory. He kept going back and forth to each window trying to get our attention.:D

I did see a sparrowhawk swoop over the garden. We have seen it a number of times now and it keeps attacking our blackbirds.
Fortunately it didn't put the other birds off.

Of course, it's sods law that later on that morning a family of eight long tailed tits turned up at the feeders. Not a sign of them when we needed them!

[70007]

I tend to do mine between 8 and 9 a.m. My logic being that most people will be in bed on a Sunday morning, and disturbance would be at a minimum.

However, over the years I have come to the conclusion that certain birds will never visit at that time. Wood Pigeons for instance. They are absent for much of the day, but between 3 and 4 p.m. a pair invariably appear at the table and stay for 15-20 minutes fuelling up for the night.

Similarly, I hardly ever see Magpies in the afternoon, only in the morning.

I do not understand why this should be.

[70007]

Isn't Murphy's Law amazing?

Since typing that blurb about Woodpigeons and afternoon appearances only, they have been seen regularly on the bird table between 8.30 and 9 a.m.

:rolleyes: