RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2012

It's that time again, the annual RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch and I'm glad it wasn't any earlier because up to this weekend we've hardly had anything in the garden at all for months. Yesterday morning the garden suddenly burst into life but with things to do my hours stint at the window had to wait until today.

Sadly the lovely sunshine yesterday was today replaced with dull n grey so not picture this time around. Happily all the birds that arrived yesterday came back for an encore today, here's the full run down:

14 Starlings
10 Collared Doves
4 Blackbirds
3 Greenfinch
3 Goldfinch
3 Bullfinch
2 Blue Tits
2 House Sparrows
2 Chaffinch
2 Coal Tits
1 Robin
1 Wren

After the count we headed off to RSPB Old Moor in the hope of sunny spells and a Kingfisher, not to be unfortunately but we did see our first ever Redwing so not a bad day :-)

Yorkshire Wildlife Park

We had a lovely time over at Yorkshire Wildlife Park last weekend, with the colder weather both the Tigers and Lions were much more active than they are in the warmer months. The tigers Vladimir and Sayan will hopefully be getting together later this month to do their bit for the breeding programme, it would be lovely to see some tiger cubs in the future. Something else to look forward to will be the appearance of the Leopards which should be in time for Easter.

Vladimir - Amur / Siberian Tiger

Sayan - Amur / Siberian Tigress

Vladimir - Amur / Siberian Tiger

Sayan - Amur / Siberian Tigress

Lioness

Lioness

Lion

Grey Squirrel

RSPB Old Moor

I can't tell you how good the new photography hide is at RSPB Old Moor, the birds are really close and the light is much better than it was before. The best time is in the morning after the food has just been put out and before the light moves away during the afternoon.

With so much to see in the bird garden and at Tree Sparrow Farm we didn't venture any further, well just a shot walk to the wildlife pond to see if we could find the elusive Kingfisher which is seen almost every day. Sadly not, I think we're going to stake it out one day having never seen one here before.

On with the pictures then, starting with those wonderful Bullfinch...

Female Bullfinch

Male Bullfinch

Greenfinch

Reed Bunting

Chaffinch

Robin

Long Tailed Tits

Tree Sparrow

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Goldfinch

The weather isn't looking too bad this weekend, well not as wes as it has been anyway, hope everyone has a good one!

The Female Of The Species

Looking back at my Sparrowhawk images over the years I had noticed they had all been males. To let in the new year yesterday we had our first ever female Sparrowhawk. Not the greatest image with the rain lashing against the kitchen window but it's a nice comparison with the male, a bit bigger, more brown, white eye stripe and generally looks more fierce!



We did finally escape the house today, more on that next time.

Happy New Year 2012

For the first time in as long a I can remember I have no hangover on New Years Day having took it very steady last night with the intention of popping down to RSPB Old Moor for our first wildlife fix of the year. Disappointingly the early clear skies have given way to the usual wet n windy so it'll have to wait for another day, hopefully tomorrow.

The garden has been very quiet through most of the year, maybe due to us having to cut back on feeding following a nightmare 2008, 2009 and 2010. However things are picking up and the garden now sports nyger seed, biscuits, peanuts, mixed seed, fat balls, suet blocks and sunflower hearts. The birds are being very slow to return, possibly due to the mild winter so far, hopefully things will pick up soon, especially as Garden Birdwatch is fast approaching.

I'm also thinking of joining the year round BTO Garden Birdwatch for my Birthday which is also fast approaching, again!

One bird we have seen a lot of in 2011 is the Sparrowhawk, almost always in the same spot on the fence just outside the kitchen window. How I've not broken my neck sprinting for the camera numerous times I don't know. Yesterday I had just put the big lens on the camera so managed a few handheld shots through the window when he appeared once again.

I also had a dabble with video again yesterday which I tried at the beginning of last year but abandoned after being unable to find a decent free video editor. I've now found that the latest version of Picasa which I use for all my photo editing now edits video too. I'll be trying my hardest to remember that video button on the camera this year year.

So with the rain pouring down outside there's nothing more to do but snuggle up on the sofa and wish you all the best for 2012.

Paul & Debbie :-)