The RSPB 'Big Garden Birdwatch', 24-25 January 2015

January 24-25 was the RSPB 'Big Garden Birdwatch' . It is the world’s biggest garden wildlife survey and helps bird conservationist...

January 24-25 was the RSPB 'Big Garden Birdwatch'. It is the world’s biggest garden wildlife survey and helps bird conservationists gauge whether a particular bird species is on the rise or in decline. To take part all you had to do was, spend an hour in your garden counting the birds that visit it. Yes, that simple! I decided to spend an hour outdoors instead and catalogue the birds I spot. We live at Enfield Island Village and I absolutely love the location. The village is close to the River Lee Navigation, River Lea and the Cattlegate Flood Relief Channel. We are also located adjacent to an open countryside which includes the Epping Forest. All this translates to a lot of wildlife and we love it.

I was waiting for the weekend with a lot of excitement. I had taken part in the 'Big Garden Birdwatch' two years back and had spotted a Jay for the first time. Jays belong to the crow family but are more colourful. However, they are very shy birds and so are often difficult to spot. I was lucky to spot one up-close in our garden during the earlier bird watch. The bird was trying to pick seeds and insects from the freshly mowed garden and was there in our garden for quite some time.

This year I spotted around 14 different types of birds but could photograph only 9 of them. The rest were too quick for me! The birds that I spotted were: Carrion crow, Goldfinch, Great tit, male and female Blackbird, Robin, Woodpigeon, Redwing and Wren. The others I could not identify and neither was I able to photograph them. Of all the birds, the Wren was my favourite. Such a cute little bird. It was tiny and almost rounded but had a very loud chirp. And this little birdie played hide-and-seek with me for quite some time before I could capture a couple of photos. Mr.H and I spent around 2 hours making a note of the birds that we spotted in our local green space. Once back home we accessed the RSPB's website and used the 'Bird Identifier' to identify some of the birds we were unsure about.

Did you go bird-watching over the weekend?