Back Garden Bird Race returns (Sunday 25 October 2020)
Well it's been a long, slow year. It seems like a lifetime ago that I was stood at the bottom of the cul-de-sac listening to the last of the Redwings heading north across the Sussex sky back to their breeding grounds in Scandinavia (here). And now I'm seeing the first of them returning back to Sussex. The winter visitors are returning to Sussex and we've already had reports of Fieldfares and Brambling appearing in people's gardens. As the weather gets colder your local birds will be relying on bird feeders for food - so now is the time to stock up on sunflower seeds and peanuts and see who is visiting your garden. The Bearded Vulture may have passed through Sussex last week on its journey back home to France but I'd be content with a Brambling or a Fieldfare. Lets see who shows up on Sunday...
Brambling photographed by Polly Mair in her Seaford garden on 12 October.
Throughout the darker days of the Covid-19 pandemic our weekly Bird Race event gave a lot of people a reason to step out into the garden or stare out of their window and get away from the bleak news.
We asked people to note down every species of bird seen or heard from their garden or window between 10-11 on a Sunday. For many it provided a vital distraction during these challenging times and became the only fixture in a week where the days started to merge into one. It also gave us all the chance to enjoy our local wildlife, learn some bird i.d. and take part in a group activity while locked down in our homes.
We'll be running the monthly Bird Race again this Sunday (25 October) - same time (10-11) and same rules apply (see our Bird Race page here)
Everybody is welcome to take part - whether veteran Bird Racers or first timers. I'll dust off my Back Garden Bird Race t-shirt and will be racing live, as usual, on our Sussex Wildlife Trust Nature Table Facebook page.
You can join us there or leave your bird lists in the comments section below this blog (before 1pm please). I'll write a new blog post with the results and post it on Sunday afternoon (in the 'News' section of the SWT homepage)
Good luck!
Comments
It rained all hour and mostly very heavy in Mannings Heath. Not surprisingly our worst return. Only 12 species: buzzard, carrion crow, wood pigeon, blackbird, magpie, blue tit, great tit, herring gull and heard but not seen robin, wren, green woodpecker and nuthatch. Thanks for organising. Do we get a medal for persistence!
25 Oct 2020 11:08:00
Woodpigeon
Jay
Carrion Crow
Blackbird
Robin
Pheasant
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Nuthatch
Coal Tie
Marsh Tit
Wren
Magpie
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Total: 14
25 Oct 2020 11:15:00
Rain and lack of binoculars may have dampened my total…
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Long Tailed Tit
Wood Pigeon
Blue Tit
Nuthatch
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Dunnock
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Blackbird
Pied Wagtail
Pheasant
Robin
Goldfinch
Sparrowhawk (chasing a pigeon)
17 species
Thank you Michael
25 Oct 2020 11:16:00
Excellent start with a Great-spotted Woodpecker on the nut-feeder for 5 minutes without me having to go outside. After that the birds were as unimpressed by the weather as I was. Rain more or less stopped play at 10.20. Just 8 species:
Great-spotted Woodpecker, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Magpie, Jackdaw, Herring Gull, House Sparrow.
25 Oct 2020 11:17:00
A very soggy Seaford resulted in a score of 15. I was expecting a selection of ducks but they didn’t materialise.
Jackdaw, Starling, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Blue tit, Goldfinch, Feral Pigeon, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Black-headed Gull, House Sparrow, Robin, Dunnock and finally in the last couple of minutes 2 Skylark were seen flying low over the recently ploughed field.
25 Oct 2020 11:18:00
Thanks for doing this gain Michael. monsoon conditions here in Barcombe. but 15 species, despite this. Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Nuthatch, Pied Wagtail (first seen during one of the Bird Races) Robin, Rook, Starling, Woodpigeon.
25 Oct 2020 11:20:00
Hi Michael, Well it started so well and then the heavens opened about halfway through to give almost monsoon conditions here in Barcombe. Still managed 20 species (4 heard only) but think some Papal dispensation is in order for the time when I had to retreat inside. Species list:
Blackbird (5)
Robin (heard in song only)
Jackdaw
Rook
Goldfinch (8)
Magpie
Greenfinch (5)
Blue Tit
Starling
Woodpigeon
Crow (heard only)
Chiffchaff
Dunnock
Great Tit
Wren (heard only)
Goldcrest
Collared Dove
Herring Gull
Pheasant (heard only)
Swallow (2 flew over west)
Regards, Simon
25 Oct 2020 11:21:00
First exciting spotting (and hard to miss) double rainbow spanning our valley.
No sighting of our erstwhile ubiquitous siskins for a couple of months.
19
Blackbird
Buzzard
Chaffinch
Crow
Dunnock
Goldfinch
Jay
Kite
Magpie
Nuthatch
Robin
Sparrow
Bluetit
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Marsh Tit
Greater Spotted Woodpecker
Wren
Raven
Oooo! and a large spider in the bath!
25 Oct 2020 11:43:00
From our garden in Steyning in virtually constant rain until last 10 minutes:
1.Herring Gull
2.Wood Pigeon
3.Carrion Crow
4.Robin
5.Magpie
6.Jackdaw
7.Starling
8.Blackbird
9.House Sparrow
10.Goldfinch
11.Dunnock
12.Blue Tit
13.Great Tit
14.Wren
15.Skylark
16.Ring Ouzel (Star Bird!!) – ad.M seen briefly and distantly in downland bushes from our patio. One has been present for around a week but only seen very sporadically – this is the 3rd autumn in 5 years living here that we’ve seen stopover Ring Ouzels in the area.
17.Green Woodpecker
18.Jay (H)
19.Chaffinch
20.Swallow – 7 (groups of 2 & 5 passing through).
25 Oct 2020 11:46:00
Woodmancote
Wood pigeon
Carrion crow
Jackdaw
Blackbird
Moorhen
Pied Wagtail
Mallard with 4 two week old chicks!
Robin
25 Oct 2020 11:49:00
Bird Race results 25 Oct, from inside and includes hearing and seeing birds. Total 11
Wood pigeon, Carrion crow, Wren, Great tit, Blue tit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Robin, Heron*, Blackbird, Magpie
*Heron are after the fish in our pond. One became entangled in protective netting a while back. Huge commotion/squarking at 6 a.m., but fortunately managed to free itself!
25 Oct 2020 12:00:00
Grey cloud and persistent, at times heavy, rain made this morning’s event somewhat challenging. However, a brave performance by most of the regular cast resulted in the appearance of 17 species in the following order :- House Sparrow, Wood Pigeon, Robin, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Herring Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Black-headed Gull, Great Tit, Collared Dove, Starling, Dunnock, Rook (heard), Magpie (heard) and Wren (heard). The easily-recognisable guest cast members – the Thrush Family – from the East apparently had been held up on their journey. We hope to welcome them in November
25 Oct 2020 12:08:00
It started raining here at 10 and barely stopped for the whole hour, so bird activity limited and most sound drowned out by the rain. I was quite surprised to find I had seen 22 species, considering there were long periods with nothing.
Jackdaw, Robin, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Rook, Magpie, Black-headed Gull, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Curlew, Buzzard, Green woodpecker, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Chaffinch, Swallow, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Song Thrush, Siskin, Great black-backed Gull, Heron.
25 Oct 2020 12:29:00
One hour of looking out the window at my Brighton garden through a deluge. Surprised I managed 16.
1. House Sparrow
2. Goldfinch
3. Herring Gull
4. Great Spotted Woodpecker
5. Blue Tit
6. Jay
7. Coal Tit
8. Great Tit
9. Dunnock
10. Feral Pigeon
11. Starling
12. Robin
13. Magpie
14. Carrion Crow
15. Blackbird
16. Wood Pigeon
25 Oct 2020 12:47:00
Thanks Michael, I left my comments after 11am. If you didn’t see them, I shall try again, 15 species this week. Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Nuthatch, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Rook, Starling, Wood Pigeon.
25 Oct 2020 13:25:00