Saturday 6th February - Spring before more snow.

Last weekend was the annual RSPB garden bird watch,  A single hour noting numbers and species of bird in that time. I couldn't do this on Saturday as it was so wet I had trouble seeing out of the windows, instead Sunday morning was chosen 10.30-1130am. The result was a fair average compared to previous years and much less than had been in the garden yesterday when it was wet, recording 27 Species (list below), the highest total previously is 29 with the lowest 24, Just before the hour started an Egyptian Goose flew over, which would have been a good addition but it missed the cut.  We went for a walk South of the village though the paths were still sodden with slippery mud, so not much seen. 

Garden bird watch list.

1. Buzzard 1

2. Red Kite 1

3. Sparrowhawk 1

4. Woodpigeon 4

5. Stock Dove 7

6. Collared Dove 2

7. Magpie 2

8. Carrion Crow 1

9. Jackdaw 3

10. Great Spotted Woodpecker

11. Blackbird 5

12. Redwing 1

13. Robin 2

14. Dunnock 2

15. Pied Wagtail 1

16. Blue Tit 4

17. Great Tit 5

18. Coal Tit 1

19.Marsh Tit 2

20. Chaffinch 17

21. Goldfinch 12

22. Greenfinch 3

24. Brambling 4

25.  Siskin 2

26. Lesser Redpoll 3

27 House Sparrow 2

There were 2 Tawny Owls making a lot of noise last night, either in the Beech or the Oaks near the garden. This morning had some early morning fog and then cleared to bright sunshine with a touch of warmth at 9c ! and was so nice to be outside with the feeling of Spring being just around the corner, a wander around the fields produced the first Firecrest of the year on the edge of the gully near the cleared area, it wasn't quite producing a song but was definitely thinking about it. I do wonder whether it has been in the gully all Winter. I'd seen one before Christmas but nothing since but it doesn't take much to hide a Firecrest. Approaching midday, the clear blue skies started to cloud up just a little, which felt perfect for raptors and right on queue I had 3 Goshawks in the same air-space together, my first sighting this year, I think 2 females and a male, with the females at one stage having a mid-air tussle. 4 or 5 Buzzards were also seen.

Heavy snow and ice predicted for tomorrow, so maybe the birds will increase.

Lesser Redpoll

Common Buzzard

Firecrest

Firecrest

Bit distant, 2 soaring Goshawk