This is the weekend of the annual RSPB wild-life watch. The idea is that each watcher sets aside an hour, settles down – with a cup of tea of course – and proceeds to count the number of birds seen.
In actual fact, you record the maximum number of each species recorded.
It gets quite exciting near the end of the hour – here is the result for Dalamory.
- 2 Dunnocks
- 4 Coal Tits
- 3 Great Tits
- 2 Blue Tits
- 14 Sparrows
- 1 Robin
- 10 Chaffinches
Not a great survey, but then it is a very cold and wet January afternoon. On a spring weekend there would easily be double or treble that number, plus the sparrow-hawk (ever hunting,) several collared doves, flocks of siskins, a pair of blackbirds, a wren, a couple of goldfinch and maybe a woodpecker or two. In the autumn we were also treated to 3 female pheasants plus their accompanying colourful male minder.
I love watching the titmouse and chickadee pairs. The goldfinches fly in 20 or more at a time. i think they are handsome little birds, too. Thanks for sharing this and the results for Dalamory.
I participate in the University of Cornell feeder watch. It is a weekly activity over the winter. Now that i am on travel my poor birds have been abandoned in this cold weather!
We did the watch as well – weather was so awful with sleet and lying snow. We had put out feeding a little before we started the watch and were given a beautiful display of all the local birds until a kestrel came in and scared them all away. It is good to devote and hour to simply sitting and watching birds – most relaxing.
I love your practical feeders.