We’ve just done our hour taking part in this years Big Garden Birdwatch and we recorded quite a good list of birds.

We get a lot of different birds in and above the garden and I’ve record 65 species, seen or heard from the garden since we moved here nearly five years ago. Obviously, we were never going to record that many in just an hour but a total of 14 species in those 60 minutes is quite good, I think.

Our list is okay included the following:

• Blackbird – 2 individuals
• Blackcap – 1
• Blue tit – 4
• Chaffinch – 1
• Coal tit – 2
• Dunnock – 3
• Goldfinch – 4
• Great spotted woodpecker – 2
• Great tit – 5
• House sparrow – 6
• Jackdaw – 4
• Robin – 1
• Starling – 2
• Wood pigeon – 4

Despite such a good list, we missed some of our regulars including greenfinch and long-tailed tits. We also saw ravens and a red kite flying overhead but birds only count if they land in the garden. We’ve also had a grey wagtail in the garden several times recently and sometimes get a brambling at this time of year but sadly no sign of them today.

When we entered our data on the website, well over 2 million over entries had been made, which makes this a huge citizen science event. In this time of divisive politics and social discord, it’s quite heartening that so many people put aside an hour to join in something so positive.