Big Garden Birdwatch - 2012

The weekend of 28th and 29th is the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, the largest citizen science project in the world.
An opportunity to sit back, drink tea, eat cake and by counting the birds in the garden for one hour help contribute to a project which has documented the fortunes of the UK's garden birds over the past 30 years.
Last year, was the first time the survey featured in this blog (http://viewsoftheock.blogspot.com/2011/01/big-garden-birdwatch.html)
This year our  garden survey tool place on  between 3pm and 4pm on Saturday 28th February.
Chaffinch 6 (2011 count of 2)
Chaffinches are regular visitors to the garden, but this year was a record number, with six at the feeders at any time.
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Goldfinches 4 (2011 count of 4):
At the end of last year, the number of goldfinches was quite high, but in recent weeks there have only been a few visiting the garden, perhaps the mild winter has not forced them into gardens.  It will be interesting to see if the forecast cold spell will increase them.
However, there were only four in the garden this year, even so, with the 6 chaffinches at the same time, they were hard to count, until they all landed on the feeder at the same time:
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Collared Dove 2 (2011 count of 0):
Collared doves are now a regular bird in our garden, having worked out how to use a bird feeder:
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Blackbird 1 (2011 count of 2):
A pair of blackbirds have once again set up a residency in the garden and can often be seen hoping around, pulling worms out of the lawn and being argumentative with each other.  During the survey, only the male put in an appearance:
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Blue Tit 1 (2011 count of 2):
A blue tit made a fleeting appearance towards the end of the survey, taking some seeds off the feeder before disappearing:
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Wren 1 (2011 count of 0):

Surprisingly, wrens are one of the most numerous birds in the UK so it should not be too surprising that one is visiting the garden, but this is the first time we have seen one here.

Unlike most garden birds, wrens do not raise the young as a pair, instead the male will build a series of nests and the female will select her favourite and raise the young in it on her own.

The wren in our garden is almost certainly a male seeking out suitable nest sites, but it was hoping in and out of the compost bin, probably eating fruit flies and hopefully not thinking of it as a place for a nest:

Unfortunately there is no picture for the wren.

Dunnock 1 (2011 count of 0):
Dunnocks are another regular visitor to the garden (there used to be a pair, but one came into close contact with a sparrowhawk last year).
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Birds that were seen last year but not his year include:
Starlings -  Which occasionally land but will fly overheard most days
House Sparrows - Last year there were two house sparrows, but they have not visited our garden for many months, so not surprising there were no sightings during the survey
Pied Wagtail - Last years surprise was a pied wagtail, a very infrequent visitor to the garden, so again perhaps not surprising that it did not feature this year.


The results for the 2011 Big Garden Survey can be found at: http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/results.aspx

First water vole of 2012

Water voles don't hibernate, but can be difficult to spot in winter as they are not seeking mates or defending territories.  But there does seem to be some water vole activity on the Ock.  For example this burrow looks like it has been recently used.

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A bit further upstream, the first water vole of the year has appeared from it's burrow and  is eating, even though there isn't a lot of river plants to eat at this time of year.

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After finishing, it swam along the bank before disappearing underwater, probably using one of the underwater entrances that their burrows have.

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Water vole breeding season usually starts in April, but with this mild winter, it will be interesting to see if they start breeding earlier this year.

Winter birds on the Ock Valley Walk

A cold Tuesday morning seemed an ideal opportunity to start to burn off the Christmas excess by walking to work along the river. Although it can be dark in the morning, there is usually something of interest to see.
The bright flash of a kingfisher is always guaranteed to lift the spirits and seems somewhat out of place and almost exotic on a cold day in January in England.
Kingfishers migrate within the UK, often heading to warmer temperatures in the south, but either this one has decided to see out the winter on the river, is just passing through, or is not yet ready to move on:
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Buzzards are now quite common in Oxfordshire and are usually associated with the open fields and meadows where they hunt. So it is somewhat of a surprise is to see the dark shape of a buzzard as it flies amongst the trees. 
Perhaps it is trying to find a suitable nest site?  This could be interesting as it is along here that red kites have nested in previous years and they are usually tolerant of each other.
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A more common bird is the robin and they can often be seen, even with it's prominent red breast hidden in the gloom.
Unlike many small birds which from flocks in winter, robins remain territorial and can often be seen chasing each other. 

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And a bird that is always common on the Ock, especially near town, where they are often fed is the mallard.  Population numbers are boosted by migrants from Iceland and Scandinavia, but a decline in the wintering population has, perhaps surprisingly, resulted in the BTO classifying it's sat us as amber (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2010/wcrmalla.shtml):
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First signs of Spring?

New Year was spent in the Cotswolds and a walk on New Years Day in Batsford Arboretum revealed some flowers which you would not expect to see till spring...
A snowdrop, getting ready to flower
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And daffodils already in bloom.
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Maybe these are early blooming varieties or maybe spring is starting earlier....