Within 10 minutes of my long post yesterday I looked out and saw 2 woodpeckers, both males, so Mr and Juvenile, one on the peanuts and one waiting on the bamboo support cane.
5 minutes later there was a pair of robins as well, normally only seen at height of breeding season, which January isn't usually, here!
And then this morning I looked out at the flat garage roof, where I put food for ground feeders, as I passed the landing window and there were two magpies!!
They are determined to make me a liar, but have honestly never seen any of them do this before.
What a difference a day makes.. After having no visitors on Sunday, yesterday proved much better. Did another half hour in which there were 1 Robin, 3 Blackbirds, 2 Sparrows, 11 Goldfinch, 3 Thrush and 2 Starlings. When the half hour was up they all disappeared which I thought strange until I saw a neighbourly cat on the prowl. Fortunately he timed it well. Had he come any earlier it would have been a no show again.
Did mine yesterday. I did wonder if *anything* would turn up, but eventually most of the usual suspects did: blue tits, great tits, a coal tit, a robin, blackbirds, wood pigeon, collared doves, a crow and a chaffinch. No house sparrows, dunnocks or goldfinches at all, and I see more of them than anything else usually! But a female black cap, which I may have seen before but not IDed with any certainty, was my happy surprise. I stuck to the rules though and only reported what I saw in my designated hour. A brother who works for the RSPB would have my guts for garters if I didn't!
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
I am absolutely convinced that they know ! I wonder if the RSPB would consider changing it from a weekend to a week ? I bet they couldn't stay away from the feeders for that long !
They'll probably have to stick to the usual 3 days for the past data to remain consistant. Typically the snow today has brought in quite a few more birds than we had on the weekend. Still no sign of any greenfinches though.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
It will be interesting to see if the numbers have been affected by the weather when the results come out. My bird table has been busy since the weekend, with Mr Robin telling me off when the sunflower hearts ran out.😁
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
much better. Did another half hour in which there were 1 Robin, 3 Blackbirds, 2 Sparrows, 11 Goldfinch, 3 Thrush and 2 Starlings. When the half hour was up they all disappeared which I thought strange until I saw a neighbourly cat on the prowl. Fortunately he timed it well. Had he come any earlier it would have been a no show again.