Big Garden Birdwatch

This weekend, the Big Garden Birdwatch is taking place in the UK. Hopefully thousands of people will be taking part by counting the birds spotted during the period of an hour, any time during the weekend. The results are submitted to the RSPB and provide useful feedback about the health of the UK bird population.

I did my hour this morning, just watching the birds I saw in the garden from the comfort of my house!

The day dawned bright and sunny and the rain during the night has washed away most of the snow. There were plenty of birds and animals around making the most of the better weather.

Here is my count:

• 2 x blackbirds
• 3 x blue tits
• 1 x carrion crow
• 2 x coal tits
• 1 x dunnock
• 1 x great spotted woodpecker
• 3 x great tits
• 9 x long-tailed tits
• 2 x magpies
• 2 x marsh tits
• 1 x nuthatch
• 6 x pheasants
• 2 x robin
• 2 x stock doves
• 11 x wood pigeons
• 1 x wren.

That is 16 different species in total and does not include the green woodpecker who came along a bit later and the sparrowhawk who was sitting on top of the bird feeder this afternoon!






It was good to see the sun today after a couple of weeks of very dull dreary and cold weather.

I have been putting food out for the animals and birds while the snow has been on the ground. One afternoon last week there were 5 muntjacs on the back lawn vying for the food! The guy above was one of them and was very aggressive towards another male who tried to get in on the act. He was a bit more condescending to the females and youngster.

A New Baby!

The snow is still here and it's cold and miserable, but my spirits were lifted this afternoon when one of the Muntjacs brought her new baby to visit!






This little cutie is probably only 2 - 3 weeks old. It is tiny and complete with spots and was keeping close to Mum.






I hope there is enough food to keep it alive in this bitter weather.





Hopefully more photographs when it becomes a bit more adventurous!

Daffodils and Snow

An interesting week. On Wednesday I discovered this patch of daffodils in the garden which seem to have been flowering for some time. A touch of spring!

On Friday, winter arrived with 15 cms of snow.

Going back to Wednesday - a glorious sunny day tempted the Roe Deer family to visit. The doe and her twins born last May, who are now the same size as she is, spent most of the afternoon on the front lawn, eating anything they could find and washing it down with water from the bird bath!











The tough winter means the deer, both roe and muntjacs, are spending a lot of time in the garden. I guess there are more tasty shrubs and grass in the garden than in the woods. The Muntjacs especially visit numerous times each day.

It snowed all day on Friday and the weather has remained dull and miserable ever since.

The bird feeders are overrun with small birds - blue tits, coal tits, great tits and long-tailed tits. The robins, blackbirds and pheasants are congregating beneath the feeders to catch to the crumbs and dropped seeds.

Here is a photo of one of the Muntjacs with a little robin in the snow, taken this afternoon.

The temperature has not risen above freezing for the last 3 days - tough for the creatures with little shelter.