Well I'm not sure I'd want to count ours as the "Great Garden Birdwatch". We've done this bird count for the last few years and we are always amazed by the lack of birds in the garden when the count is due. Do they know that it's better for them if numbers are low and they get some widespread publicity about helping them out.
The menu on offer for the count was no different to any other day some standard bird seed, peanuts, niger seed, black sunflowers, sunflower hearts, suet pellets, fat balls, Golden Chorus and some dried meal worms.
This sparrow felt rather ashamed and didn't want to be identified lest he should be singled out for special attention having eaten in our garden on birdwatch day.
Thankfully though it was the sparrows who turned up in numbers. I think we do our best to keep a little flock of house sparrows fed through the year. They are happy to sit in the crab apple tree and wait their turn on the feeder which only has perching room for a couple of birds.
We managed six blackbirds. They're a little bit like the sparrows in their habits except they prefer to eat from the bird table taking it in turns to fly from tree to table for a feast of buggy nibbles.
Some of our other regular visitors decided to stay away. Normally we hear the starlings squabbling on the bird table as they try to find a space to land. Some take refuge on the window sill until they can push their way onto the bird table. How many did we have for the big count a grand total of five.
Even more amazingly we had one long tailed tit and one goldfinch. Since when do either of these birds go around in ones. The answer is only when it's garden birdwatch day.
Anyway it's over for another year now so the birds will be able to return to their normal routines. In our garden we have to be very glad of the little brown birds.
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