This weekend has meant great excitement for bird lovers across the UK. Yes, it’s that time of year once again – it’s the Big Garden Birdwatch! Long-time readers of this blog will recall that I wrote up my experiences from last year, and I thought it would be fun to compare the two experiences.
First thing that was different to last years’ experience – I was prepared this time! I’ve sharing the responsibility of keeping the campus bird feeders topped up during lockdown, so I’ve had the keys on my person most of the time. This has been a great opportunity for me to regularly leave the house and experience some fantastic wildlife; the campus birds never disappoint.
Once the feeders were topped up (our feathered friends have something of a voracious appetite) with a wonderful buffet of seeds, sunflower hearts and fat balls, I settled in to wait for the birds. They didn’t take long to arrive – a couple of robins must have seen me and sounded the alarm for everyone else that dinner was served.
Robins and tree sparrows were the first to arrive, along with a couple of great tits. I was pleased to see the great tits come so close to the Hide today – I find that they aren’t usually so bold. I wonder if the sunflower hearts tempted them out into the open. A couple of blue tits also joined the fray, one getting a bit too close to a larger great tit and found itself getting chased away!
Some blackbirds and chaffinches arrived, scrounging for titbits on the floor of the Feeding Station. They were joined, surprisingly, by a lone pheasant, that snuck in through the fence from the farmer’s field! I haven’t actually seen a pheasant in so long, and it was great to have a chance to admire its amazing colourful glory. I was also extremely excited to see a pair of house sparrows – I don’t see them very often at the Hide, so this was a real treat.
And speaking of surprises, the Hide was also visited by a beautiful great spotted woodpecker! This is such a wonderful bird, and I really enjoyed watching it eat and eat and eat.
In the last few minutes, a stock dove, a woodpigeon and a jackdaw made themselves known, but all too soon the Big Garden Birdwatch was over for another year. I can definitely see why people do this in their house with a warm drink and the heating on – my hands were extremely cold and shivery which made locking up a bit more difficult.
When I got back, I attempted to submit my results to the website, but evidently a lot of other people had the same idea and the page kept crashing! I persisted, and did manage to get my results in. Here are last year’s and this year’s next to each other.
2020 Results
2021 Results
Very interesting at how many house sparrows were present at the Hide last year! But broadly speaking, it looks as though the same species have been spotted both years – with the exception of coal tits. They must have been hiding today, because I usually guarantee to see them whenever I visit.
I’m glad that I can compare these results like this – hopefully someone on the course will keep up the tradition next year!
Species List
Robin
Great tit
Tree sparrow
Blackbird
Chaffinch
Long-tailed tit
Blue tit
House sparrow
Magpie
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Pheasant
Stock Dove
Jackdaw
Woodpigeon