Watching and Waiting

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Big Garden Bird Watch started.  My husband and I had our reference book at hand, our little ‘check’ sheets were on clip boards and we were poised, ready for action.

The day was starting out slow… a few of the tits came in, a little nervous looking, then they left.  Counting the tits is so hard… it’s like…. 1………..2……………3.4.5…………..6.7…………8…9….still 9 ………..10! hehe

It had been almost 15 minutes since anything had visited when the entire coaltit and bluetit community descended on the apple tree.   We counted and recounted as they happily hopped from nut feeder to fatty ball. 

Out of nowhere there was a sudden darkness that swooped down in front of the tree.  The little birds went off in all directions, leaving only two or three birds looking a little surprised.  Suddenly a chase ensued… it was unbelievable, I felt as though we were watching a documentary! The dark swoop was a Sparrowhawk and its agility to move between the small branches of the apple tree was just eye-poppingly quick!  We were willing the two little birds to break away, to give him the slip… they darted, he kept so close and suddenly they were gone.  The sparrowhawk looked defeated.  He stayed on the branch for two or three minutes before taking flight towards cover.

The garden was like a ghost town for the next 10 minutes until the defeated sparrowhawk made a second appearance.  He landed on the tree and swooped to the floor near to where the chase taken place.  I wondered if he thought one of the birds had taken refuge behind the shed but we later checked and couldn’t find anything.  I told my husband to go into the garden and chase him off .  The hawk wouldn’t return for a while if he was chased.

More birdless minutes passed…..     I texted my dad and Jane to tell them of the excitement whilst my husband tried to shove the cuddly toy hedgehog in his eye.  Boredom… it does strange things to you.

We both perked up when we saw the big old fat wood pigeon wobbling down the grass… then the collared doves arrived… a blackbird or two…. the unsettled tits came and left.  They only stayed long enough to grab nuts and seeds and then leave.

So our final count was….

2 Blackbirds

4 Blue tits

1 Chaffinch

8 Coal tits

2 Collared Doves

1 Dunnock (2 visits)

3 Great Tits

1 House Sparrow

5 Jack Daws  (or Jock Jaws as my daughter used to call them)

15 long tailed tits (6 or 7 visits)

1 Robin

1 Starling

1 Wood pigeon

1 Song thrush – definite mottled chest but could it have been a female blackbird?

1 nuthatch

1 Siskin

1 Sparrow Hawk (2 visits)

So it wasn’t a total disaster but to be fair, we see so much more that, usually.  The sparrow Hawk certainly knows how to spoil a party!

 

Watching Birds

Watching and waiting for all of the birds,

They arrive in small flocks, never in herds!

There were lots of tits of all different kinds

A Dunnock and a Siskin were our special finds.

Then the sparrowhawk arrived and did give chase!

The tits swerved branches at a very quick pace!

Peaceful for a while as the birds take cover.

Needing some time for them to recover.

Patience is rewarded, and from up above,

Flying in together, two collared doves!

No Woodpecker, no Jay, no Carrion Crow,

We lose heart a little at their ‘no show’.

by TC

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Tags: Big Garden Birdwatch, birds, Dunnock, Patience, RSPB, Siskin, Sparrow Hawk, Waiting, Watching

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