It's here! Big Garden Birdwatch Weekend!
Join us!
The Big Garden Birdwatch
It’s happening this coming weekend, from Friday 29th - Sunday 31st January.
It so easy to take part: just choose an hour anytime over the weekend, and settle yourself to watch birds in your garden, in your local park, or in any outside space around where you live. (Please follow your local regulations and guidelines regarding COVID-19).
Record the maximum number of each species that visits during that hour, and send the data to the RSPB.
There is still time to sign up (it's free) and take part in this awesome piece of Community Science.
See below for my interview with the RSPB’s Jamie Wyver.
Suzy’s Bird notes
We had a small amount of snow last weekend.
When I looked out in the morning, all the ground feeder trays were already covered. I put a small tray of seed and suet pellets under one of the shrubs, so that the early birds could get access to non-frozen food. The Blackbirds, Dunnock and Robin soon came to eat there.
During the afternoon the snow, which had been a few centimetres thick, started to melt in the heat of the sun. The Red-legged Partridge that visits my garden was sitting next to the greenhouse and as the snow was melting, great lumps were sliding off the roof.
I thought that the Partridge was risking getting dumped on by sitting so close to the greenhouse, so I set up my camera to film what happened. Sure enough, the snow slipped off the roof and dumped on the ground narrowly missing the bird. The Red-legged Partridge responded to the sound of the snow sliding and ran away at the last minute! I captured this on video, and repeated the key segment in slow motion at the end to show how it reacted and responded.
Upcoming Events
The Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up. And we can take part wherever we are in the world!
Watch the birds for at least 15 minutes, as many times as you want to, between Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2021.
Let me know if you would like to take part as a Team for The Casual Birder Podcast and I will arrange that.
For more information visit the official website
Tip of the week
Cut an apple into chunks and place out for the fruit eaters amongst your garden birds.
In the U.K. Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Fieldfares and Blackcaps will appreciate this. And it may draw in birds you haven’t seen before.
Give it a try!
Suzy’s Recommendations
Women Birders Happy Hour podcast
I do love this show, which celebrates amazing women birders from around the world, from professional ornithologists and guides to humble Casual Birders. It is hosted by Hannah, from the Hannah and Erik Go Birding podcast.
Learn the Birds
I recently found out about Learn the Birds, an initiative by a group of birders to share knowledge and experience, which was set up in August 2020.
A mix of paid and free webinars are presented by expert birders from around the world.
Upcoming guest on my show, Faraaz Abdool, gave a wonderful presentation this week about the birds of Trinidad and Tobago, and will be presenting a workshop on bird photography on 4th February. The cost is R115, about £6.
The Casual Birder Podcast
In my latest episode, Jamie Wyver of the RSPB tells us all about the Big Garden Birdwatch. You can watch the video of my interview here:
Visit my website for photos, blogs, and episode transcripts
Tell me about the birds you’ve seen
You can leave a voice message or written comment on my website.
Support the show
If you would like to support the production of the podcast, please consider buying me a virtual coffee.
We shall be counting! Love this weekend and last year was quite an impressive one for us as our house is in a fairly busy area. I think this time it will be better thanks to lockdowns! Can’t believe I just said that!