News Report

Here you will find news about what is happening in my garden; last updated on Saturday, 28 January 2012. There are also the nest box diaries to read.

Blue Tits in my Nest Box follows the day-to-day nesting activities of a family of adorable Blue Tits in a nest box fitted with a camera. The book is available as an e-book with all proceeds going to British Garden Birds. More details...

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January 2012

Most of January has been relatively quiet with only about a dozen species visiting the garden and relatively few birds of each of these. The cold spell towards then end of the month, however, has brought many more birds into the garden.

There are up to 5 Blackbirds visiting the garden. Typically, they spend their time chasing one another or foraging among the leaf litter underneath the shrubs, looking for invertebrates. A solitary Song Thrush has been briefly in the garden, though it can be heard most mornings, from before sunrise, singing its sweet, repetitive song. A larger Mistle Thrush has also been in the garden. A small flock of Redwings has been seen flying overhead, with a couple resting in a neighbour's tree.

Up to 3 Blue Tits are visiting the sunflower heart feeders. These are often accompanied by up to 2 Coal Tits and a pair of Great Tits. The Coal Tits continuing to do what they always do - snatching a sunflower seed and then dashing away with it.

A pair of Bullfinches have been visiting most days during the latter part of the month. These and up to 21 Greenfinches are feeding on the black sunflower seeds. The daintier Goldfinches stand their ground among the hustle and bustle, though they opt to feed on sunflower hearts or, less than in the past, niger seed. A male and a couple of female Chaffinches are also often in the garden, feeding on the ground underneath the hanging feeders.

Just one Dunnock is seen occasionally. This is the first winter in many that at least a couple of Dunnocks have not been an almost permanent feature in the garden. Likewise House Sparrows - even now we see no more than a couple in the garden. A diminutive Wren has been seen fleetingly on a few occasions.

A couple of Jays and a Magpie have resumed their visits to the garden.

There are 2 Robins though we usually see only one. On the few occasions both have been seen, there is no posturing or fighting, so I suspect they are a pair.

The male Sparrowhawk has executed a few surprise attacks on feeding birds, but none have been successful.

One of the biggest surprises of the month, so far, has been the appearance of 2 Starlings. They stayed only briefly and have not been seen since.

A Collared Dove and up to 6 Wood Pigeons occasionally descend on the garden.