National Nest Box Week

The BTO's National Nest Box Week begins this month and you can take part in their online survey, Nest Box Challenge, which will monitor the success of nest boxes all over the country.

You can register your nest box here: http://www.bto.org/nnbw/nbc.htm

You don't have to be a member of the BTO to take part - the survey is open to everyone.

You will need to register (free!), enter a few garden details, and then enter your nest box details.

You can register more than one garden, or nest box, if you wish.

Once you are up and running you can start entering observations straight away. They want details and observations whether your box is used or not.

More details on taking part can be found here: http://www.bto.org/nbc/taking-part.htm

And there is an FAQ here: http://www.bto.org/nbc/faq.htm

BTO Garden BirdWatch 21-27 January 2007

1. Woodpigeon (6)
2. Chaffinch (12)
3. Blackbird (4)
4. Goldfinch (7)
5. Greenfinch (8)
6. Blue Tit (3)
7. House Sparrow (2)
8. Dunnock (1)
9. Robin (1)
10. Song Thrush (1)
11. Straling (20)
12. Collared Dove (2)
13. Pied Wagtail (1)
14. Siskin (1)
15. Sparrowhawk (1)
16. Black-headed Gull (4)
    

Images from Thursday

A reasonably quiet day today. A majority of the birds seem to vanish as soon as the sun comes out, only returning following rain or hail showers.

Starling


The increase in flock sizes resulted in a couple of sick birds arriving, like this Greenfinch

Dunnock on the orangutan

Garden Year List

Thought I'd update with the garden year list so far.

Birds recorded in the garden (in order of appearance):

1. Robin
2. Chaffinch
3. Greenfinch
4. Goldfinch
5. Wren
6. Blackbird
7. Collared Dove
8. Woodpigeon
9. Starling
10. Blue Tit
11. Sparrowhawk
12. House Sparrow
13. Dunnock
14. Jackdaw
15. Black-headed Gull
16. Song Thrush
    
17. Pied Wagtail
    
18. Siskin
    

That's not too bad considering how quiet things have been this winter. No idea where the Great and Coal Tits are, though.

A single female Siskin finally arrived on Wednesday - hopefully the rest will follow - and on Wednesday a single Pied Wagtail returned.

No new garden ticks so far.

Random Images

The garden was reasonably busy this afternoon but the activity seemed to come in short bursts.
Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Blue Tit, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Robin, Starling, Collared Dove and Song Thrush all put in an appearance today.

Our Siskins still haven't returned, and our Pheasants have been absent since late spring - last year they were daily visitors by now.

Some random images taken through the kitchen window (poor light today mostly, too):

Female House Sparrow

Goldfinch
Collared Dove
Female Blackbird

Song Thrush

This is only the second time we've recorded a Song Thrush in the garden since we moved here in May 2005. S/he was in the garden this morning for around five minutes - but due to the bullying tactics of a Starling and a male Blackbird s/he mainly stayed under the cover of the hebe and buddleia!

BTO Garden BirdWatch 14-20 January 2007

The figure in brackets shows the highest count for that species seen in the garden at any one time this week.

1. Greenfinch (20)
2. Goldfinch (5)
3. Woodpigeon (5)
4. Dunnock (2)
5. Starling (35)
6. Jackdaw (5)
7. House Sparrow (1)
8. Blackbird (4)
9. Wren (1)
10. Robin (2)
11. Chaffinch (50)
12. Blue Tit (1)
13. Black-headed Gull (5)
14. Sparrowhawk (1)
    

Sparrowhawk Wins

It had to happen at some point. Our Sparrowhawk finally managed to catch something in the garden today - a Goldfinch (just as I was counting them!)

The Birds Came Back Today!

The bird activity finally picked up this afternoon with the swift arrival of a flock of 50+ Chaffinch, c.20 Greenfinch, 35 Starling 5 Goldfinch, 4 blackbirds, 2 Dunnocks, a single Robin and a single Wren. I only posted this morning saying that we hadn't yet seen the large numbers of Chaffinch that we had last winter (85 in the garden at one point)! The increased activity arrived shortly after the first snowfall of 2007 - it snowed on and off for a couple of hours, but didn't stick, and there was a light SW wind - the afternoon temperature was 4°C.

Hopefully the Siskins will follow the Chaffinch and find their way back to our feeders sometime soon. Also, fingers crossed for the reappearance of a Brambling!

Starling



Goldfinch


Male Greenfinch

Female Chaffinch


Male Chaffinch

Male Blackbird

Chaffinches under one of the hanging feeders

Garden List 2006 (better late than never!)

Just realised I never posted our garden list for 2006 ... so here it is in order of apperance.

Birds recorded as being in the garden:

1. Blue Tit
2. Robin
3. Chaffinch
4. Greenfinch
5. Starling
6. Blackbird
7. Pied Wagtail
8. House Sparrow
9. Goldfinch
10. Dunnock
11. Coal Tit
12. Pheasant
13. Woodpigeon
14. Jackdaw
15. Black-headed Gull
16. Song Thrush
17. Great Tit
18. Carrion Crow
19. Wren
20. Siskin
21. Yellowhammer
22. Brambling
23. Great Spotted Woodpecker
24. Goldcrest
25. Sparrowhawk
26. Collared Dove
27. Feral Pigeon
28. Chiffchaff
29. Long-tailed Tit

Missing in 2006 but seen in 2005: Nuthatch, Tree Sparrow, Herring Gull

Full garden lists can be seen here:

http://www.bordersbirds.co.uk/2006/01/complete-garden-list.html

Random Photos!

The birds are slowly coming back!

Just a few random rubbish photos from this morning ...

Starling

Jackdaw giving me the evils

Jackdaw with over-grown bill

Black-headed Gull



And our Robin tucking into some fat cake




Snow is forecast for the Borders this evening, though I doubt it will actually materialise.

It was this week last year when our single Brambling first arrived (staying until March) - will we get one this year? We aren't currently seeing the large flocks of Chaffinch and Greenfinch that we had at the same time as the Brambling so I would be very surprised if one turned up now.

Also, our Siskins are still absent - will they return with the proper winter weather, if we get it?


Edit: It's snowing (30 mins after posting!)

BTO Garden BirdWatch 7-13 January 2007

It's been a while since I posted my BTO Garden BirdWatch list - it hasn't been worth blogging with so little on it - but things started to pick up a little bit last week and we had more species visit the garden in one day than had in the previous seven days combined. Overall, though, it was still very quiet.

This afternoon I had a quick look at some of the recent search terms people have used to get here and a very common one was "why are there no birds in my garden?" or a variant of that.

Here's the list:

Chaffinch (7)
Goldfinch (5)
Greenfinch (8)
Wren (1)
Blackbird (2)
Collared Dove (1)
Woodpigeon (3)
Robin (1)
Starling (10)
Blue Tit (1)
House Sparrow (3)
Sparrowhawk (1)

There's nothing to note this week other than a male Blackbird who seems to have claimed the pyracantha his own. He's often to be found just sitting under or near it. It's the only thing in the garden still covered in berries.

Sparrowhawk Returns

Well, it makes a change from a Robin!

This morning, Mr Sparrowhawk sat patiently on the fork handle waiting for a female Blackbird who was hiding, to his right, in the hebe. He sat there for around a minute before she finally flew out, alarm calling, with him hot on her trail. They both headed towards the wood.

I annoyingly only managed two shots [both identical] because of various obstructions!

Got Him at Last! Sparrowhawk

It was only a matter of time!




(as usual, he left empty-clawed)

We Have Lights!

NestCam is almost ready!

Before modification - The Eshwood box with no lights and original colour camera

With lights (only on half brightness in this pic) and new camera

We think the glare on the floor of the box is from the cardboard we've used to cover the inside of the original roof (a semi-transparent lid - the box originally relied on ambient light). We'll change it for something matt black/dark soon to remove the glare, and I also need to point the camera down by roughly half an inch. Birdman has had enough of going up and down ladders for one day - so it'll have to wait for now! The box now has 6 white LEDs in it - housed inside Meccano to stop any birds from pecking the wires. He's going to get some gadget or other to allow control of the lighting - which will work like a dimmer switch. The strip of Meccano at the back of the box was put there so I can measure the depth of any nest (fingers crossed!) - each hole is 1/2 inch apart. It needs to be secured down, though (or I could just draw a line on the back of the box with a pencil).

So, there we go ... almost done, but not quite! Just a few more tweaks. Then all I'll need is a couple of occupants! It's bound to stay empty after all this faffing on, isn't it? :o)


A quick drive over to Homebase in Berwick this afternoon produced a year tick.

38. Common Buzzard

and back in the garden at long last

39. Goldfinch

Hauxley Nature Reserve

Today was my first proper chance at kicking off my year list, so we headed off to Hauxley Nature Reserve near Amble in Northumberland.

Hauxley is run by the Northumberland Wildlife Trust and comprises of two fresh-water lagoons which are overlooked by five hides. The large lagoons have several islands and the area covers a total of around 80 acres.

Weatherwise it was cold (to be expected in January!), overcast, raining and windy. Birdwise - a low number of the usual suspects only - but at least my list is now underway.

The view from Reception (posh!) Hide

Reception Hide
On the lagoons:

1. Greylag
2. Goldeneye
3. Mute Swan
4. Mallard
5. Wigeon
6. Shelduck
7. Teal
8. Moorhen
9. Canada Goose
10. Redshank
11. Curlew

At other areas around the reserve:

12. Oystercatcher
13. Coal Tit
14. Blue Tit
15. Chaffinch
16. Greenfinch
17. Tree Sparrow
18. Robin
19. Magpie
20. Carrion Crow
21. Blackbird
22. Pheasant
23. Woodpigeon

Also seen today (en-route):

24. Grey Heron
25. Turnstone
26. Black-headed Gull
27. Great black-backed Gull
28. Herring Gull
29. Pied Wagtail
30. Rook
31. Starling
32. Collared Dove
33. Jackdaw
34. Lapwing
35. Kestrel
36. Wren
37. Cormorant


Mute Swan

Look at all the birds!
Ah, here's a few!
Two (distant!) Greylag and a single Canada Goose on the Island in the middle

Greylags take flight
Gloomy
Plenty Mallard and Wigeon

Lots of nest boxes dotted around the reserve - some of which were being inspected by Blue Tits

Teasle
Oystercatchers on the shore - part of the reserve

We managed around an hour-and-a-half on the reserve before Birdboy (4) had had enough and wanted to head back to the car - not too bad considering the lack of action on the lagoons and the very cold weather.

The next sites will probably be local: Dundock Wood, The Hirsel & Lake. Birdboy starts back at Nursery on Monday morning so I hope to be able to walk around my local patch for an hour each day.

Year list so far: 37 (hey, there's plenty of time!!)

This Time Last Year

I thought I'd let you know how desperately quite the garden is just now - hence the lack of updates.

Here's our garden list for a year ago:

The figure in brackets shows the highest count for that species seen in the garden at any one time that week.

25-31 December 2005

Black-headed Gull (15)
Herring Gull (1)
Woodpigeon (2)
Carrion Crow (2)
Chaffinch (20)
Starling (26)
Dunnock (1)
Pied Wagtail (2)
Goldfinch (2)
House Sparrow (1)
Blackbird (2)
Blue Tit (2)
Jackdaw (4)
Robin (2)
Coal Tit (1)
Greenfinch (6)
Pheasant (1)
Wren (1)
Great Tit (1)

Now let's compare that to the same week a year later ...

24 - 30 December 2006

Black-headed Gull (2)
Robin (1)
Blackbird (1)
Chaffinch (2)
Goldfinch (2)
Starling (5)

See what I mean?! At the moment I'm lucky to even see a bird in the garden! Can the natural harvest really be keeping them away this much? I WANT MY BIRDS BACK!!!

I hope to make up for it a bit at the weekend. If all goes to plan we're going to visit a few birding sites that we used to visit regularly when we lived in Northumberland. We haven't decided exactly which sites yet, but it should be between Hauxley Nature Reserve, Cresswell Pond NR, Druridge Bay, Big Waters and Bolam Lake. Hopefully a visit to a couple of these sites will help kick start my (planned) year list. I'm not a twitcher, so I'll just be using the BTO short list and seeing how many of them I can get in the coming year while we're out and about.