I’ve always been a bird-lover.
As a child, my parents took me on lots of walks with the binoculars and the bird book. I didn’t realise at the time that I was learning so much, and I am now quite proud of my ability to tell a Blackbird from a Blackcap.
I get a lot of enjoyment from seeing my feathered-friends in the garden, and whilst as a teenager I used to hide my bird knowledge, I am now happy to embrace and share it with others.
I’m so lucky that we have a lot of bird visitors to our garden in Sutton Coldfield. By my reckoning, we’ve had over 20 different species of bird in our back garden since we moved in at the start of February 2015.
Firstly, the usual garden suspects – the Robin, Wren, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird, and Starling.
A pair of Goldfinches
Next up, the slightly less usual suspects… The Goldfinches are a daily visitor to our nyger seed feeders – one day I counted as many as 11. We’ve also had the Chaffinch, Greenfinches and a Blackcap. Just today, I was sat at the top of the garden beneath our blossom trees and the Blackcap was just metres over-head, checking out the flowers for insects.
The Chiffchaff and the Willow Warbler are the next on the list. The Chiffchaff (recognisable by it’s call) has been spotted once, but it’s hard to distinguish from some of the less common warblers. So when I saw what I assumed was a Chiffchaff but without any chiffing or chaffing I had to look it up online. I’m pretty sure it was the Willow Warbler.
Next up, my best spots – the Bullfinch and the Great Spotted Woodpecker. The bold and bright Bullfinch visited the garden on 24th March. I assumed it was a one-off, but I have seen it a couple more times since, along with the female (recognisable from it’s more muted colours). The male recently visited the bird feeders whilst we were pottering around in the garden. Obviously not quite as shy as I thought.
And perhaps the visitor who bought the most excitement – the Great Spotted Woodpecker. On Easter Sunday (5th April), my parents were visiting for dinner, and Mom spotted it enjoying it’s Sunday lunch on the fat ball feeder. It’s visited a couple more times since and one day visited three times for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Finally, the bigger birds – the Magpie, Wood Pigeon and Jackdaws. Our house has three chimneys, and two of them have Jackdaws nests (as do many of the other chimneys in the road)! I’ve also seen a male Sparrowhawk sitting on the garden fence – as beautiful as he is, I hope he’s not a regular visitor!
Last but not least, one of my favourite birds – the Buzzard. There’s a nature reserve not far away so we often see up to three Buzzards circling high above the garden. And sometimes they are much lower in the sky, at which point the Jackdaws mob them and chase them from their territory.
I think that makes 22 in total. I haven’t included the Buzzard in my bird count since it’s not technically in my garden. Maybe one day it will be (but I doubt it).