Big Garden Birdwatch This Weekend

[Tilly2]

From the RSPB:-

Grab a cuppa, put your feet up and get ready to enjoy an hour with nature – it’s Big Garden Birdwatch time!

From dainty blue tits to bright bullfinches (pictured), you never know what might show up. Your Birdwatch creates an important snapshot of how garden birds are faring and when we add all of these snapshots together it creates a big picture for the whole of the UK.

You can also get involved by watching Big Garden Birdwatch Live, where we will be joined by special guests including Chris Packham, Dr Amir Khan, Iolo Williams and Megan McCubbin. Watch between 9am and 4pm Saturday and Sunday for:

• Live wildlife cams
• Expert commentary
• Special guests
• Question & answer sessions
• Species spotlights
• Behind the scenes stories

So tune in, feel inspired and share all the joy of the Birdwatch!

Here's the live camera link.

[roopower]

Have done this in the past but we have too many sparrows to count and they won't keep still! Sadly not much else to report so far this year - a couple of blue tits and the resident starlings, magpies and pigeons

[Togo]

I don't think that the bird "pictured" in the op is a Bullfinch Tills. The still shows what looks like a male Siskin but the yellow is a bit brighter than our scruffy specimens up here sport. The video shows Coal Tits and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. The link below will take you to the Birdwatch results online submission page.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/birdwatch-your-results/

[Togo]

Ahh ... If you let the video run for about 5 minutes it does eventually show a Bullfinch on a feeder, and Great Tits . I may have missed others when looking up the link.

[Tilly2]

Togo, the top part of my op is copied from my RSPB email.
Ending with a picture of a Blue Tit and a Bullfinch.

The live cam link is separate.

I may have confused people.

[Tilly2]

Roopower, the want to know about magpies, starlings and pigeons as well.
Just guesstimate the number of sparrows.

All the data is useful.

[fourteen85]

Trouble is all our birds seem to go away on a weekend break, no doubt they will be back on Monday

[Prudie]

I've done this last few years. Signed up a couple of days ago.

[Tilly2]

We saw a huge flock of beautiful lapwings on our walk this morning but I don't think they count. They're not exactly garden birds.

[Canary42]

Birds flying overhead are excluded. But your chosen site doesn't have to be a garden.

[Tilly2]

They were all in one field, Canary. Just walking about, looking for food.

[Prudie]

I wish it had been last weekend. A goldcrest spent ages darting about in a shrub right by our kitchen window. I do see them now and again where I live but not that often.

[Tilly2]

With a bit of luck, it'll be back Prudie. Keep your eyes peeled. :-)

[Togo]

Where there is one Goldcrest, Prudie, you are almost sure to find others. Like other birds they usually flock when feeding and want seeds. Sunflower hearts are a big attraction. When you do the count whether it be your "garden" or a field or meadow or copse, you should only count what has alighted at one given time not the total numbers. You can however change the total counted in your chosen hour. For example ... if at one given time there are 3 Long Tailed Tits on a feeder or perched within your designated "area" you have seen 3. Even if there are more fluttering around or passing close by. However if after this you see 4 at a given time then your total becomes 4, not 7. Can be a bit of a fluster when there are dozens of birds of different species all there at the same time. "She who must be obeyed" helps me. She will take the Goldcrest and Great Tit count for example and I do the rest.

[Prudie]

I only ever see them alone, usually picking insects etc from a tree or in our shrubs, never at the feeder. I don't think they eat sunflower hearts etc. Are you sure you don't mean goldfinches?

[Togo]

I do indeed Prudie. Silly me. You must have good eyesight to spot a Goldcrest anyway. They are Britain's smallest native bird. Beautiful creatures too. I have held one in the palm of my hand.

[Togo]

The Goldcrest is a passarine feeder(like the Wren) and feeds on insects and their larva. A few years ago (maybe 4) I heard a bump on the kitchen window and stepped out to see what it was. On the patio was a Goldcrest that must have mistaken the window reflection for a flight path to the shrubs opposite. It was sitting up but immobile and in the shade. I picked it up and could see that it was still breathing and did not appear to have a broken neck or wings. I took it down to a planter that was in the early morning sun and placed it there. I watched from a little distance for 3 or 4 minutes and it then flew away apparently unharmed. Still pleased with myself. Unbelievably small when you get so close.

[Tilly2]

Goldcrests like pine trees.