Great British Garden Birdwatch

This weekend a great many families have been taking part in the world’s largest and longest running survey called “The Great British Garden Bird Watch”. This event started in the 1970s as part of the BBC childrens’ tv show – 'Blue Peter' – and quickly became a mainstream event, which has been run every year since 1979.

It’s quite simple with surveys, taken at home, or in local parks, being submitted over the internet or via snail mail (if the birds, in this cold, have left any snails) on a form duly provided by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

Nuthatch (to the right)

Starling (below)

It’s become one of those annual family events looked forward to each January .. my goddaughter and her family take part. You might ask why do they expect us Brits to watch birds either through the window, or in special bird spotting tents in the garden, or from tree houses in winter – quite logical really: the cold weather brings birds into our gardens, looking for food and shelter – so surprisingly it’s pretty much the best time of year to watch garden birds.

Why again watch for only one hour? Well simple really .. the RSPB thought it better to have lots of surveys for an hour of watching, than probably many fewer surveys made over two or three hours. What happens if no birds are seen? Again it’s a matter of what’s missing on the survey, as much as which birds show up. This is where the results of the surveys have highlighted problems, which then form the first step to help aid species recovery.

Preparation in the garden is the key – feeders will need to be put out, so the birds are used to having a regular supply of food and rain water (keeping it ice free) ensuring that they’re likely to come into the garden. With the recent prolonged cold snap it is expected that there will be a wide range of birds, as every day birds need to find and eat food equivalent to 40% of their own body weight to survive – so putting out those supplies is a lifeline.

Blue Tit (to the right)

This year three to five year olds at school are taking part in the Little Schools’ Birdwatch, and have been setting up feeders near their classroom windows, so they can see the birds, which will hopefully inspire the little souls to grow up to be twitchers or bird lovers.

There are special bird recipes kids can make up – cheese crumble: grated cheese sprinkled on the bird table to be found by robins, thrushes and starlings, or hidden among the bushes and flowerbeds to be pecked on the ground by dunnock, wagtails and wrens.

Chaffinch

Then there are cheesy fir cones: the gaps in pine or fir cones can be crammed with bird cake mixture, raisins, sunflower seeds, (good quality) peanuts, or bird seed, then hung from branches, the bird table or hide them under shrubs or bushes; the hanging cones are ideal for tits or finches; those on the ground or bird table will be found by starlings, blackbirds, thrushes, robins and sparrows.

Blackbird (below right)

How about a speedy bird cake? Mix together good quality bird seed, some peanuts, raisins and a little grated cheese; then add about 85 gm (3 oz) of softened suet or lard – mix well. Using an empty yoghurt pot for example – make a hole in the bottom, thread a knotted piece of string through, so that the pot will hang up, put in the ‘cake’ leave to set & then hang out. Or meld a few balls of the mixture and leave on the bird table. These will be loved by tits, greenfinch and possibly a great spotted woodpecker.

Last but not least – how about peanut butter cracks ?..... very easy. Just spread beanut butter into cracks in walls, fences or trees and you will attract tits, wrens and nuthatches.

Wren (our smallest bird)

Blackbirds in this country in the summer have the most wonderful dawn chorus, a really evocative mellow song, which really has to be considered the finest song of all British thrushes, and is the most common bird seen in our gardens. Recently I came home in the twilight and heard that magical song again .... so they have long days!

Robin (to the right)

Wild Monty – a British wildlife lover, who is not called Monty! – but blogs about the birds, wildlife, and plants around his home patch of Bristol. On a google ‘Cri de Coeur’, up popped Wild Monty with the answer to my summer dawn chorus .. that it must be a blackbird. Now I’ve popped back and he records having seen Chaffinches, Long-tailed Tits, Robins, a Wren, Blue Tits, a Great Tit, half a dozen Starlings, and as he describes them the usual gaggle of House Sparrows, three Blackbirds and a Grey Squirrel. In his local Park some other species. I must remember to keep looking at his blog as a learning curve and for general interest.

The most common birds in 2009 were the sparrow, starling and blackbird, while some of the most unusual birds included the skylark, the meadow pipit and the tawny owl. What will be found in 2010 – will the robin, that most English of birds featured predominantly at Christmas time, drop lower than its number seven of last year? We must wait and see.

House Sparrow

What birds do you have in your garden?

Blackbird Song, Garden Birds too - YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=997RTKzc39c

Dear Mr Postman – my mother is getting better and though she now can’t hear – I guess because of the throat infection – it’s an improvement. It is now obviously difficult as she can’t hear – so communication is tricky .. let us just hope this comes back soon. Yesterday was glorious – we had bright blue skies and a lovely sun .. further up the country they were struggling with snowstorms again.

Hilary Melton-Butcher
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