Wildlife Photography across the Water: Big Garden Birdwatch

Saturday, 28 January 2012

Big Garden Birdwatch

Before I was back in the house after putting out more food and suet/fat mix, the birds were already coming down. A cooler couple of days has bought in a few more birds, and so at about 10.30 this morning, I set about my annual BGBW.

And the tally?

As follows;

3 Starling
2 x Song Thrush
2 x Robin
2 x Dunnock
3 x Carrion Crow
7 x Chaffinch
4 x Blackbird
3 x Wood Pigeon
1 x Wren
3 x Blue Tit
2 x Collared Dove
1 x Sparrowhawk
1 x Coal Tit
1 x male Blackcap (just at the end of the hour)

So a couple of surprises for me.

Firstly the number of species within the hour (14), particularly as bird traffic has been so infrequent lately, as I recently blogged,

And Secondly, to see the Blackcap at the end of the watch was great as we have not seen any Blackcap this winter until today.

How did you fair with your garden count? Let us know through the comments, it would be good to hear.

So with my results uploaded, I popped out again to the site where I recently got the Red Kite images and had a great afternoons birding, which I will save for my next blog.

Martin

3 comments:

Anonymous28 January 2012 at 19:35
My results:

blackbird 4
chaffinch 2
goldfinch 2
greenfinch 6
collared dove 2
wood pigeon 2
dunnock 2
blue tit 3
long tailed tit 2
redwing 1
great spotted woodpecker 1
blackcap (male) 1

David Schenck - Ipswich

(ps. are you still planning a post on wildflowers?)
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WPATW29 January 2012 at 17:33
Hi David,

Thanks for your uoploads - some good sights there I havent forgotten the Wildlflower garden blog. Will get it done this week - promise

Martin
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Anonymous30 January 2012 at 11:46
Very disappointing results in my garden. Many of the regular visitors didn't show (collard doves, wood pidgeon, starlings, chaffinch). Occasional visitors that weren't really expected stayed away too (blue tits, wren, coal tit, long tailed tit, goldfinch, sparrowhawk). Even the sparrows of which usually 20+ can be seen were down to single figures. I was left with just great tits (2), robin (1), dunnock (1), blackbird (1) & sparrows (7). Not at all representative of the usual activity.

James.
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.