Changes in Big Garden Birdwatch

I’ll begin this month with a reflection of the changes seen in the Big Garden Birdwatch over the last twenty years or so. What is fascinating is that we’ve seen a comparable change in the birds we’ve recorded in our garden, as can be seen below.
In the 1979 BGB top ten were;

1. starling 2. house sparrow 3. blackbird 4. chaffinch 5. blue tit 6. robin 7. greenfinch 8. great tit 9.dunnock 10. song thrush

In 2021 we have lost chaffinch, greenfinch, song thrush and dunnock and gained woodpigeon, goldfinch, magpie and long tailed tit.

The 2021 BGD Top ten now reads;
1. house sparrow 2. blue tit 3. starling 4.blackbird 5. wood pigeon 6. robin 7. great tit
8. goldfinch 9. magpie 10. long tailed tit

What’s happened to the birds in the local area this year.
My perception is that there are fewer species generally, and nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve recorded more song thrushes than in recent winter’s and there were lots of them singing for territory from mid February. Blackbirds are both singing and nest building, and robins seem to be appearing everywhere, singing beautifully from the treetops or hedgerow. We’ve had two pairs disputing territory in the garden but that argument was resolved and we now have one very active pair. Wrens are very active, and although not singing yet are more visible. Black caps were regulars in the village for many recent years, and bred locally, but this year our only sightings were in the churchyard in early March. A lone nuthatch reigns supreme from the top of the trees on the Village Green, and can regularly be heard giving it’s call a loud, kee-kee-kee. It often appears to be hacking at food trapped in a crevice in a tree, acting like a great spotted woodpecker but without the drumming. It also has the ability to go up and down a tree trunk, whereas the tiny mouse like tree-creeper can only go upwards. Incidentally we’ve been delighted to see the continued development of the new planting of crocus on the Village Green this year. The wet winters certainly seem to have help them become established, and they are beginning to rival the wonderful display of crocus that disappeared mysteriously some six years ago.

Kestrels have become one of my most seen species these last few weeks, with one pair regularly sighted near Vicars Cross Golf Course. Another seenoften on a telephone wire near Walk Mill, and another regularly near the “Cheshire Cat” There it seems to co exist alongside a large buzzard, which itself is often seen being mobbed by a pair of crows.

On a recent and now rare visit to Hockenhull I heard both cettis warblers and chiff chaff, and in the next week or so, hope to spot a wheatear passing through. They are regular spring visitors on route to the far north of the country. There were 200+ lapwing on and around the island in the lake, and three lively oystercatchers called as they gave me a flypast, landing on farmland just a hundred metres away. There are still redwing and fieldfare about, but I think the Icelandic pink foot have moved away, probably flying back to their breeding grounds. Great tits are always lively at this time of year, recognisable by their jet black crowns, and their call of tee cher- tee cher- tee cher.