I filled up the birdfeeders first thing this morning, made a jug of coffee, and sat in the window waiting for the birds to flock in. And very little happened. So I waited a little longer. And still nothing happened, and I put it down to the fact the sun was shining, all the snow had gone and the temperature was in double figures.
A dunnock mopping up seed scattered by great tits on the hanging feeder
Then at 9.26am a group of four long tailed tits arrived on the fat balls and from then on the birds came and went in rapid succession. So the plan was to count from 9.26 to 10.26 until at around 9.50 the dog vomited on the carpet so the next 20 minutes weren’t spent counting birds. The finish time was therefore a tad delayed, but the final counts were:
Species Total counted Maximum number at one time
Long tailed tit 18 5
Blue tit 18 3 Dunnock 3 1
Collared dove 6 2
Blackbird 13 2
Greenfinch 5 4
Wood pigeon 6 2
Robin 3 2
Starling 5 2
Great tit 3 2
Chaffinch 2 1
A female greenfinch enjoying some longed for sunshine
So all in all, what with the Vesuvian intervention from the dog, it was an entertaining hour and a half.
The Naturephile 