Garden Birdwatch 2011

I was away during the RSPB birdwatch so I did mine a few days late, just so I had a comparison year-on-year. It was a surprising set of birds missing the almost everpresent moorhens that we see all the time and also missing a number of common and regular birds such as sparrows, chaffinches and blue tits. However I did see most of these later in the day so I think it was just a matter of the specific timing. The last three years have seen increasing numbers of species each year - from 11 to 14 to 16 species last year. This time there were 10 species and that included mallards who have been on the moat in numbers recently - six were seen on the birdwatch.

New Species - Common Snipe

It's always good to record a new bird species on site although it's much better if I actually spot the bird. This report comes from a reliable source however. During the cold snap when almost every bit of water locally was frozen, a couple of snipe were seen in the stream. Next time I hope I get the nod as well so I can take a photograph.