Thanks to Joanna for sending in her result – adding a wren to our total.
The 2018 Big Garden Birdwatch took place on the 27-29 January, when the RSPB asked everyone to spend an hour watching their garden (or allotment or local park) and note which birds they saw. This has been happening since 1979 and is the world’s biggest wildlife survey.
It gives the RSPB a fantastic insight into how well our birds are doing – which are thriving and which aren’t. Half a million people took part in 2017.
As an experiment, I thought I’d put together Chiswick statistics, with the help of CHAS members. Thank you to everyone who took part and who sent me their results: Anita, Sue, Aileen & Paula, Catherine, Jane and Lorrie. I did it in my garden too, giving results from 7 Chiswick gardens.
Between us, we saw a total of 88 birds from 19 different species. The most common was the goldfinch, a total of 23 seen in 4 gardens. Joint second came the great tit and the blackbird, 9 each, although the great tit visited 4 of the 7 gardens and blackbirds visited all of them. The blackbird was the only species seen by everyone. The highest number of birds seen in one garden was 20, the lowest 1 – although that was probably due to the unwelcome presence of a neighbour’s ginger cat.
Here are the full results:
| Species | Total Number Seen | Number of Gardens Visited |
|---|---|---|
| goldfinch | 23 | 4 |
| blackbird | 9 | 7 |
| great tit | 9 | 4 |
| wood pigeon | 7 | 5 |
| dunnock | 5 | 3 |
| robin | 5 | 4 |
| carrion crow | 4 | 1 |
| feral pigeon | 4 | 2 |
| magpie | 4 | 3 |
| blue tit | 3 | 2 |
| greenfinch | 3 | 1 |
| chaffinch | 2 | 1 |
| jay | 2 | 1 |
| long tailed tit | 2 | 1 |
| house sparrow | 1 | 1 |
| parakeet | 1 | 1 |
| sparrowhawk | 1 | 1 |
| wren | 1 | 1 |
So, what does this tell us? Only a little in isolation, although I think we can definitely say that goldfinches, like Billericay Dickie, are doing very well. This is consistent with the national trend – their numbers were up by 44% between 2007 and 2017. I’ll be aiming to compare our results with the RSPB’s for London as a whole later in the year, and repeating the exercise next year – hopefully, with a few more returns next time.
If you took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch but haven’t yet sent me your results, it’s not too late to do so. If you email them to me at editor@growchiswick.org, I’ll update the numbers.
Thank you, Jo, that’s a fascinating (and heartening) result. I’m sorry I couldn’t participate, but wouldn’t have been much use anyway, for 3 reasons: 1) we stopped having many birds in the garden since we had to remove our bird feeder many years ago (when it started to attract mice which took over the house; 2) we now have 2 cats which deter visitors (and eat the baby birds next door, which doesn’t help; and 3) I can recognise pigeons, parrots and magpies, but that’s about the extent of my bird watching skills.
Good to see others can tell the difference between a goldfinch and tit!
Kind regards,
Henry
Thanks Henry. Of course you wouldn’t want to attract mice to your house but there are many other ways you can help birds. You can:
– select plants which provide food – seeds or berries
– provide water – needed particularly in winter for both drinking & bathing
– avoid pesticides, so that birds can deal with your insect pests for you for free (and aren’t poisoned if they do eat insects killed by chemicals)
– provide a habitat with roosting & nesting potential – nice, dense shrubs, a tree or two and perhaps a nestbox.
And, of course, I’m sure your cats wear bells on their collars to give the birds a sporting chance!
Dear Jo,
Thanks, you’ve confirmed we’re on the right track:
– We have several bushes with berries (and bee-friendly flowers, too)
– We have a bird bath with water (now our dear dog Holly has died, it doesn’t get emptied)
– We never use pesticides
– We have a bird house at the rear of the garden (still waiting for a tenant – like our badger box!)
– And yes, both cats have bells on their collars, but one of them manages to sneak up on them anyway!
Kind regards,
Henry
I’m surprised there was only one sparrow. We have lots in our garden and they are never alone!
I’m so jealous of your house sparrows! We haven’t had any since the pyracantha by the back door died. They were one of 2 birds of particular concern in this year’s birdwatch (along with starlings), as they are doing so badly. The RSPB website says that the UK house sparrow population has been estimated as dropping by 71 per cent between 1977 and 2008 with substantial declines in both town and country. The situation is particularly worrying in England as the Breeding Bird Survey data indicate recent increases in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.