1 March
Has Spring arrived? This morning in the Gardens, the birds clearly though so. Lots of greenfinches & goldfinches around, and good views of the woodpeckers.
28 February 2010
The bird feeders we made last Saturday are up in various locations in the Gardens and we will be keeping them filled to help our resident birds get fit for the breeding season. Blue, great and long-tailed tits have already visited, as have starlings. The squirrels love them too, so we've added a squirrel-proof feeder.
8 February 2010
The last few days have been showing signs of spring, but there's another cold snap on its way. Still lots of redwings in the Gardens and a few fieldfares. These colourful cousins of the thrush are over from Europe in seach of food.
Look out for birds prospecting nest sites - blackbirds are the earliest to nest. Also blue tits, great tits, long-tailed tits, robins, wrens, song thrushes, chaffinches and magpies. In the eastern part of the Gardens, listen out for the drumming of our star birds - the pair of great spotted woodpeckers.
Other events planned for 2010 include a Dawn Chorus walk in May, and Bat Week in August.
31 January 2010
Despite the cold, the Gardens made a good spot for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, with plenty to see, though some of the smaller birds were clearly roosting somewhere to keep warm! The redwings are still around, mainly lurking near the Furzecroft fence and in the Sensory Garden. The wrens could be seen as well as heard, though foraging beneath the waterfall at the pond must have been cold. Blue tits and starlings were conspicuous by their abence - just single birds at various points in the Gardens. It was nice to see that the longtailed tits are still very much in residence. 150 feral pigeons, being fed, were not such a welcome sight. No sight or sound of the greater spotted woodpeckers - can you let us know if you hear them drumming?
24 May 2009
The woodpeckers are now feeding their chicks in the nest. Now that the Spring Festival is over, why not do a bit of springwatching? How many different bird species are resident in the Gardens or nearby? Let us know if you spot anything unusual.
19 April 2009
The first blackbird fledgling has been spotted - keep a look out for more baby birds demanding to be fed! Also a pair of goldcrests have been seen - listen out for their very highpitched calls. They're Britain's smallest birds and very hard to spot.