RSPB Garden Watch

We did the RSPB Garden Watch on a very dull Sunday afternoon. Sadly, no visits from the Hedge Sparrow (did it survive the harsh cold snap we had?) or the Long-Tailed Tits. All the usual suspects turned out, plus a group of chaffinches passing through.

4 Common Gulls
4 Chaffinches
2 Crows
1 Robin
1 Blackbird
2 Blue Tits
2 Great Tits
2 Woodpigeons
1 Magpie

Eartham Fallow Deer

A sunny Sunday afternoon walk around Eartham woods was rewarded by great views of a Fallow Deer stag and six does. Very few birds visible, only saw Chaffinch, Buzzard, Robin, Crow and Kestrel. In the morning a confused Red Admiral decided to wake up and sun itself....butterflies in January?

Edit: 22/05/09 I've just read on the Sussex Butterfly Conservation website that the first Red Admiral of the year was sighted at Lewes on 17th January, three days earlier.

Bullfinch at last!

A quick wander around Boxgrove produced the first Bullfinch that I have seen for several years - a female flitting around the hedgerow along the main road. A grey, gloomy day and a thick drizzle set in. Other birds sighted included Rook, Crow, Greenfinch, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Kestrel, Magpie, Starling, Mallard, Pheasant and a formation of 12 Common Sandpipers (id by flight and call) passing southwards overhead.

2008 Garden List

3 new additions to our very small garden list in 2008. The total number of species for the year was 19.

Blackbird
Blue Tit
Collared Dove
Common Gull
Crow
Goldcrest (new)
Goldfinch (new)
Great Tit
Hedge Sparrow
Herring Gull
House Sparrow
Long-Tailed Tit
Magpie
Robin
Sparrowhawk (new)
Starling
Swift
Woodpigeon
Wren

No Greenfinches this year and have probably been a bit lazy looking skyward for swallows, martins and passing waders and ducks.

Siberian Chiffchaff

After a brief thaw yesterday, the cold weather continues with a vengeance today and -3C and a thick frost again this morning. Unusual winter visitors are getting more and more media prominence and a Siberian Chiffchaff hit the headlines when it dropped in at a nature reserve in Stoke Newington, Hackney. Sounds odd, but it's an oasis in that part of London apparently. The bird at least had the good sense to settle at a supervised reserve, so he'll be better protected from twitchers than the poor Snowy Owl in Cornwall.

The RSPB have made news out of the cold snap, getting some coverage on GMTV about rare visitors with pictures of Waxwings as the headline. The Waxwings have certainly had plenty of coverage on hoslist. No doubt you have to be very lucky to see these things.......or start twitching.

Cold snap

Looking out at the frosty garden has got me thinking about the birds a lot lately - have been putting water and food out but have few takers at the moment. The Common Gulls are an ever-present and dive down for the kitchen scraps, the blackbird was pecking at the apples on the lawn before the sunrise and the Blue Tits and Great Tits have been foraging around the bay tree. Haven't seen our resident Hedge Sparrow for a few days.

The cold spell has lasted longer than any for 10 years and warnings are being put about for people to avoid disturbing lake and shore birds and thus wasting their precious energy.

A snowy owl has been staying in Cornwall for a few days, but being thoroughly pestered by some twitchers - it appears from postings written on Birdforum - I think I'll keep the next Snowy Owl I see in Sussex to myself.