The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Each month for 1 hour over the past few years we have done a garden birdwatch. Only actual birds seen on the ground are counted and the maximum at any one time. We live in a bungalow on a typical estate and have small gardens to front & rear with no trees although there are a few in view dotted around. Todays highlight and never noted before - 3 Grey Wagtails sat on the roof opposite, and no they were not Pied, they were well observed. Rest of records -
Collared Dove 23
House Sparrow 5
Blackbird 3
Starling 27
Jackdaw 2
Crow 3
Woodpigeon 1
Sparrowhawk 1
Dunnock 2
Wren 1
Common Gull 1
Chaffinch 4

Are you going to do the RSPB's Back Garden Birdwatch in january?

Some interesting garden sightings there Alan - not least of all Common Gull, we have never recorded one in our garden, but no Blue Tits or Great Tits?
Each winter we complete the Lincs. Bird Club Garden Survey form, and have done for many years. With this it is the maximum number of birds sighted at one time each week that is entered. The main thing that we have noted so far this winter is the large number of Blackbirds - a peak of 33 coming to windfall apples, but very small numbers of Greenfinches. A few years ago they used to be dominating the nut feeders. They are either feeding elsewhere or numbers are declining in our rural area.
On the subject of Blackbirds - I don't think that I have ever seen as many.
When out walking or driving in the car, the hedges & fields seem to be holding great numbers of them, yet Fieldfare & Redwing numbers seem a bit down. Maybe the picture is different in other parts of the county?

Roy.

Roy, my garden feeders had good numbers of goldfinch during the summer but they are infrequent at present although i still see good numbers out and about. I presume they are finding natural food elsewhere.......like you a bit short of greenfinch to.

Richard

Ringing in a garden puts a totally different perspective on numbers as each one caught can be subsequently identified. In a small bungalow garden at Kirmond-le-Mire I caught 85 Greenfinches, 42 Tree Sparrows and 41 Goldfinches in November amongst others. The most the householder has seen at any one time is 32, 21 and 15 respectively! Since May I have ringed over 150 of each of these species.

I didn't post my observations to the RSPB back in Jan this year as I thought they were too boring to bother sending!

I take your point Stuart as I know that birds can rotate between gardens, however, regular and systematic surveying also gives an idea of changing trends. I referred to greenfinches and my thought that we were seeing fewer than previously. I have now looked at 8 years records of peak counts in our garden for the first week of December - see below.

2000-2001 = 14
2001-2002 = 22
2002-2003 = 30
2003-2004 = 27
2004-2005 = 18
2005-2006 = 17
2006-2007 = 4
2007-2008 = 4

We have a constant supply of peanuts available each winter.

Roy.

I've been doing the BTO's Garden Bird Watch for more than ten years.

Up to last year had fourteen feeders but it was costing me more than I can afford. Now I have eight and fill them twice a week.

Today had a dozen Goldfinch on the Droll Yankee nyger feeder, sometimes get up to thirty coming, they also like the sunflower seeds/hearts.

Have about nine Chaffinch every day, upwards of a dozen Greenfinch, same for House Sparrows and today had two dozen Starlings, because I have re-introduced fat balls.

Have Great, Blue and Coal Tit visit most days, Long-tailed Tits don't come very often.

Most Blackbirds on one day this year has been nine.

Other regular visitors include Common Gull [there are always 13 in the neighbourhood], Magpie, Robin, Wren, Wood Pigeon, Rook, Crow, Collared Dove [most seen at one sitting was 38 about ten year back] and Dunnock.

Others to visit now and then are Pied Wag, Goldcrest, Bullfinch, Mistle Thrush, Siskin, Song Thrush and Sparrowhawk.

My garden has lots of trees and shrubs.

Boring is still important ! If you imagine that 100,000 people didn't see any birds at all in their gardens then that would be significant, but if each of them didn't bother to send it in because it seemed uninteresting on it's own then we would never no !

The sum total was, and bearing in mind that only 5 mins before my hour started a sparrowhawk dropped in.........

1 Blackbird, 2 dunnocks and a House Sparrow.

I think next month, I am going to do 2 hours. One in the morning, and another in the afternoon.......