Nuthatch

Today's the day ……………………….. to watch birds

It was the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch 2021 this weekend and I chose the hour from 11.50am - 12.50pm this morning to do my count.

Watching birds in the garden is something I love doing whenever I can - so it was no hardship whatsoever.  Of course, you're always hoping that something unusual will turn up within your hour.  But they state categorically that you're not allowed to count birds that don't actually land in your garden.  So it's no good thinking that you can count those pink-footed geese or the red kites that fly high overhead!  My only real disappointment was that the woodpecker didn't show because he is actually a regular visitor.  Perhaps he will have been counted in someone else's garden?

Another regular visitor that did show was the nuthatch.  What did surprise me though was the fact that his food of choice was the mixed seed in the Robin feeder - and not the peanuts.  Perhaps it's quicker and certainly easier to grab a few seeds from the tray, rather than peck away at the nuts.

So my results are now submitted and - together with those of all the other hundreds of thousands of participants who have done the same - will build up a picture of what's going on with birds in our gardens...…………..