Sunday January 31
The RSPB's Big Garden Bidwatch weekend started on Friday. We did two x one hour sessions of watching, and maximum number counting, of our garden birds. The first session was yesterday from 10.30 -11.30 when we totalled 17 species
To-day, we watched from 2.30-3.30, seeing 18 species, adding 5 more species to yesterday's list.
Total
11 Blue Tit
3 Great Tit
7 Long-tailed Tit
8 Pheasant
4 Goldfinch
4 Greenfinch
3 Blackbird
2 Coal Tit
3 House Sparrow
3 Chaffinch
1 Nuthatch
2 Brambling
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker (female)
2 Magpie
1 Redwing
1 Wood Pigeon
2 Dunnock
1 Robin
To-day's Additions
1 Wren
2 Collared Dove
1 Sparrowhawk
1 Blackcap (male)
2 Jackdaws
23 species
Rules are simple. Only count the birds actually in the garden, no fly-overs included, and the maximum number of any one species seen simultaneously. We both take half the garden feeders each, constantly calling out the number of species present. As accurate as we can make it!
January Moth Trapping
The 60 watt actinic (thought to be better in winter than the 150 watt MV) light, Robinson moth trap has only been set five times this month. Too cold with very few moths flying. Friday the 29th was the best night, despite the strong wind, with 10 moths of 3 species, making the grand total of 4 species in the month. A lone Chestnut earlier in the week, Pale Brindled Beauty, Early Moth, and Spring Usher the other three.
Spring Usher 
Pale Brindled Beauty
 |
| Early Moth |
Many Moth-ers do not start trapping until Easter time, or when the weather is warmer. I like to know what's about. There is a national winter moth trapping survey whose intrepid members trap every Friday night during the winter months. This is allied to a summer survey which I was very tempted to join. In previous years, travelling on birding trips made regular weekly commitment impossible, in non-Covid years it still would.
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