RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

Every year, at the end of January, the RSPB holds its Big Garden Birdwatch. As well as encouraging people to take time to observe the wildbirds in their own gardens and in turn go to greater lengths to feed and support that wildliife, it also provides valuable data about the state of our garden birds. All that's asked of us is that we spend 1 hour watching our gardens; record the maximun number of each species that lands in the garden (fly overs don't count) and then submit the results to the RSPB. Easy!
It has been a number of years since I last took part. Generally there is very little birdlife in the garden however, after reorganising and filling the feeders in the garden, it seemed a perfect opportunity to get involved again. I filled the feeders shortly before 9am and then got myself in position for the hour long vigil.
Almost as soon as I set up, visitors started to appear; a couple of Blue Tits, a pair of Blackbirds; a Robin; a small flock of 4 Long-tailed Tits dropped in on the fat cake and a couple of starlings started to take an interest.
The birds came in dribs and drabs until, at about quarter to ten, a very different visitor appeared! A Grey Squirrel crept along the trellis before dropping down on the ground feeder which, over the following 10 minutes, it duely emptied. Having had its fill of peanuts it continued to bury the rest throughout the garden (my poor lawn!). When it had finished with the ground feeder, the infiltrator sneaked up the fence and, with a most impressive display of acrobatics, leapt over to the table feeder sat on top of the pole feeding station. It then proceeded to eat the lot!
However the Squirrel's antics did have a rather unexpected side effect: Spurred on by the mammal's confidence in the garden, the birds started to arrive en masse. For almost 15 minutes the garden was alive with life. All of the birds on the garden list below appeared in that time and in the maximum numbers shown. Many stayed for the majority of the time. The Blue Tits were so confident that they started checking out the old nest box.