Big Birdwatch 2019: The Results

A cold sharp wind blowing from the North West affected this year's Big Bird Watch and although a good number of people came round on the guided tour, the weather conditions kept bird numbers down. Gulls are made of hardy stuff though and they were out in force on the north field - 36 Black-headed and 10 Common. We saw a flock of 20 Starling, another flock of 12 Goldfinch and it was also nice to see a Jay, the most colourful member of the Corvid family.

Other than that, it was the usual suspects: 11 Crows, 9 Woodpigeons, 8 Feral Pigeons, 6 Blackbirds, 6 Magpies, 4 Blue Tits, 4 Parakeets, 4 Robins, 2 Great Tits, 2 House Sparrows, 2 Long-tailed Tits and 2 Wrens - a total of 17 species, some way below the usual tally for these events. Never mind - our monthly surveys demonstrate that the birds are still around. They just don't like piercing cold winds any more than we do!

At the stall outside the cafe, around 12 children enjoyed themselves making fat balls and bird feeders during the course of the morning.  We also sold a few bird books kindly donated by Crofton Books which helped raise funds for the Friends of Hilly Fields. Thanks to Rachel from the Friends for all the work she put into this event, to Judith of Glendale who donated seeds and lard, to Richard from Brocsoc for help on the stall (and Trudy) and to ace birder Conrad who came round with us on the walk. Here's to better luck and better weather next year!

Our next bird event will be the annual Dawn Chorus Walk, currently scheduled for Thursday 4 April at 6am.