If you’re in the UK, there’s still time to do the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2006 this weekend. Just watch your garden or local park for an hour, record all the bird species and what the maximum number you saw at one time was, and submit the results to the RSPB.
This year I saw:
blue tit – 6
great tit – 3
coal tit – 1
siskin – 3
chaffinch – 7
greenfinch – 5
goldfinch – 2
nuthatch – 1
wren – 1
dunnock – 1
goldcrest – 1
robin – 1
jay – 1
magpie – 1
carrion crow – 2
great spotted woodpecker – 2
ring-necked parakeet – 2
feral pigeon – 8
song thrush – 1
blackbird – 3
which isn’t bad. Marginally better than last year, though I’m interested to see I had three starlings last year, because there aren’t any around at the moment. Still no house sparrows, sadly. I’ve seen one about 5 minutes walk away, so perhaps in a year or two they’ll be back here.