SPRING IS NIGH. Birdwatching in North Devon

The birds are getting lively, the Blackbirds are trilling at dawn - I expect they are getting ready for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch which starts today. Here is a beautiful Robin posing for me in the sunshine at Rosemoor last Saturday. Leave a comment if you'll be taking part.

Not sure about the timing, as last year there is heavy rain and another named storm (Storm Ingrid) on the way today in the Southwest which seems to be par for the course for the Big Garden Birdwatch so a good oportunity to have a cup of coffee and count the birds through the window.

Want to attract a variety of birds? By far the favourite food for most of them are Sunflower Hearts but its best to have a variety of birdfood and always keep birdbaths filled up as they need water and love splashing about preening and fluffing their feathers at this time of year

My tips to encourage all types of birds to your garden.

Sunflower hearts - Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Sparrows, Blue Tits, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Greenfinch, Starlings will take over the feeding stations at this time if year.

Peanuts - Blue Tits, Woodpecker, Sparrows, Chaffinch, Robin
 

Niger Seed - Goldfinch, Blue Tit

Sunflower Seeds - Bullfinch
 

Meal Worms - Loved by ground feeders including Robin, Blackbird, Dunnock and Wren
 

Fat balls, Suet cake - all the birds love this

 

Attention -  its time for the Big Garden Birdwatch. Photo copyright Pat Adams North Devon Focus

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"Big Garden Birdwatch is the UK's biggest citizen science wildlife survey. By taking part, you can help us understand how our garden birds are doing right now.

Join the world's largest garden wildlife survey 23th-25th January 2026" - Find out more at  RSPB 

Big Garden Birdwatch is the UK's biggest citizen science wildlife survey. By taking part, you can help us understand how our garden birds are doing right now.

Focus Nature Notes. Farewell Summer

As harvesting is almost over and farmers trim the field hedgerows, apples and blackberries are ripening, purple heather, yellow gorse bloom on the high moorland and on the coast and grasses turn from green to gold it’s time to say farewell to Summer. A wet and windy one at times with unusually high temperatures recorded in parts of the UK, in a changing  and challenging world we can always depend on  wildlife to bring joy and complete the cycle. 

Butterfly numbers have been worryingly low but they seem to be making an appearance now, though not in great numbers. The Buddleia aka Butterfly Bush is still blooming in my garden and this week I have seen a Peacock, Red Admiral, Small White and a Speckled Wood.. Good news is that I have seen plenty of bees and insects.

The Swifts have long since gone. According to my nature notes 29th July was my last sighting and this week the House Martins and Swallows have been gathering. They sit together on the wires and flutter wildly aloft, swooping over the field so it won’t be long before they begin their long journey back to Africa.  The magical photo shows a lone Swallow on the wire, I hope he catches up with the rest of the gang.

As the main bird nesting season comes to a close, remember they still huddle quietly while the young ones get used to their new surroundings and the old ones hunker down for the moult so take care when trimming trees, bushes and hedgerows. Also take care when strimming, watch out for ground nesting birds, hedgehogs and other precious little critters. 

 

According to Natural England "The ‘Bird Nesting Season’ is officially from February until August and it is recommended that vegetation works (tree or hedge cutting) or site clearance should be done outside of the nesting season."

 

Just as I'm writing this  I noticed a little shimmering through the window, a fledgling Goldfinch fluttering its wings with mum or dad. Happy Days.

Photo copyright Pat Adams North Devon Focus

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 Read all about it

🐦RSPB. Brilliant Broods: A Guide to Bird Nests & Eggs https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/brilliant-broods-a-guide-to-eggs-and-nests

🐦Advice on protection of birds visit UK Government Wildlife & Countryside

🐦Act 1981 updates and legal information - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/69/contents

Wild birds: protection and licences https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wild-birds-protection-surveys-and-licences

 

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Pat Adams' North Devon Focus. My North Devon Coast & Country Chronicle

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Birds of a feather Class of 24….all change for this years fledgings

One of the benefits of living in the countryside and having a wildlife friendly garden is that, even on rainy days, I can follow the daily habits, progress and transitions of the birds through my window throughout the year. I have captured their first tentative outing after leaving the nest. watched the squabbling as they become more confident juveniles. Watching without disturbing their routines I can capture the subtle changes in their feathers as they transition into adulthood.

I spotted the first fledgling Blackbird on May 23rd.  Pictured below are just some of the transitions of the Blackbirds and those highly aggressive Starlings.

The kinds of  birds you attract to feeding stations depends entirely on the type of birdfood you put out. The birds that visit my garden all year round are Blue Tits, Blackbirds, Chaffinch, Sparrows, Robin, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Coal Tit Collared Doves, Wood Pigeons and a very illusive Wren with an annual return in the Spring of Siskin, Jay and Woodpecker. I have seen one Greenfinch on the feeder this year.

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Pat Adams' North Devon Focus. My North Devon Coast & Country Chronicle

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Explore the Coast and' Country' side of  Bideford Bay and Beyond 

>North Devon Focus Website 

Watch the Birdie. Are you ready for the Big Garden Birdwatch 2022

The wind and rain of recent months has subsided and there seems to be a lot of fluttering in the garden at the moment, so thrilled that in addition to the regular visitors we now have a Male Bullfinch and a Nuthatch visiting each day, I do hope they stick around for the Big Garden Birdwatch at the end of the week. I regularly submit my results each year, here are my results for 2021.

6 Sparrows - 3 chaffinch - 5 goldfinch - 7 Starling - Blue Tit - Coal Tit - Wren

Dunnock - Robin - M & F  Blackbirds but they came later

Tap here for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch Results 2021

 

Birds in my garden January 2022

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Feathered Friends through the years   

The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is from 28th-30th January 2022. They are counting on you to count the birds in your garden. Click here to find out more

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Pat Adams' North Devon Focus. My North Devon Coast & Country Chronical

Facebook 😊

Flickr

Instagram

Youtube

Explore the Coast and' Country' side of  Bideford Bay and Beyond

>North Devon Focus Website 

North Devon Wildlife through the window. Seasonal photos of the birds in my garden

Well what a year. Stormy times, supermoons, lockdowns and Covid19 restrictions meant that I didn’t get to visit some of our favourite locations and all the events were cancelled for the year. Luckily for me I love my small messy garden and the bees, birds and butterflies love it too. 

The natural world did not take a break and continued as usual with the regular birds on and below the feeder. For the first time I enjoyed watching a couple of Siskins which stayed in the garden for a couple of months, I do hope they return and nest here. January 20/21 2020 a fleeting visit from some Long Tail Tits and wonder of wonders they returned with a flurry of snow on 23^rd January 2021. 

I had started putting out Niger Seed for the Goldfinches, which they enjoyed, I then added Sunflower Hearts to the menu, they loved those even more and continue to devour messily on a daily basis.  They have dominated the feeders throughout the year and it looks as though this year will be the same, I counted 11 yesterday, I am hoping they stay around for the Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend. The Sunflower Hearts are popular with most of the birds and probably why the Siskins visited. 

As usual the Swifts and Swallows arrived in the Spring, spotted the first Swallow flying aloft 17^th April, watched them gather on the wire above the garden on the 17^th September, the next day they were gone. Finally snatched a shot of the elusive Great Spotted Woodpecker in June, they are regulars in the garden but pretty much peck and go a bit like the Wrens. Sadly I only saw one Greenfinch a juvenile, I miss the House Martins that once used to build their nests in the corners of the windows beneath the roof.

I have watched as usual as the birds sing out, nest and raise their fledglings. Here are just some of the photos from 2020.

Great Spotted Woodpecker Photo credit Pat Adams

 Sparrow Fledglings - Photo credit Pat Adams

Male and Female Siskin. Photo credit Pat Adams

North Devon Birdwatching through the window. Photo credit Pat Adams

Birds in my garden 2020

Blackbird

Blue Tit

Chaffinch

Coal Tit

Dove

Dunnock

Goldfinch

Great Tit

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Robin

Sparrow

Starling

Wood Pigeon

Wren

The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is from 29th-31st January 2021. They are counting on you to count the birds in your garden Click here to find out more

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Pat Adams' North Devon Focus. A North Devon Coast & Country Chronical

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Flickr

Instagram

Youtube

Explore the Coast and' Country' side of  Bideford Bay and Beyond

North Devon Focus Website

Birdwatching. Life on the Torridge Estuary

Sometimes you don't need words, just watching nature is enough. The clip below was taken on a not very bright day on the 2nd December when the tide was out on the Torridge Estuary.  A murmuration, but not Starlings, however we enjoyed watching the flock rise and swirl up, up, down and around then quite a while. I have since found out that the birds were Golden Plover. Are they making a stop on their migration or over-wintering here

The Torridge Estuary is a haven for migrating birds but I haven't seen a flock this large before. In November I saw three Cormorant, each sitting on their own rock spot, four Egret, several gulls and a flock of Redshank swirling over the Skern. Scroll down for video clip....click through to YouTube if you want to watch on full screen....relax and enjoy. 

 Life on the Biosphere - Video clip credit Pat Adams (North Devon Focus)

For the Record, Life on Lockdown  Covid19 Day 254

Hello December. Robin's Winter song on lockdown Day 253

It's the first day of December, Covid19 Lockdown Day 253 not the brightest of times as we are in our second lockdown since March but there have been some fantastic skies, vibrant sunsets and awesome cloud formations.  Thank goodness for nature bringing us some joy in these difficult times.

Local walks and beaches have been heaving over the Summer so most days I have been restricted to watching the wildlife through my window and the garden.

Our resident hedgehogs have not visited for over a week, I have still left water at the door just in case. I am happy to say we have had hedgehogs in the garden for over twenty years and for the past couple of years have had a Trail Cam to capture their nocturnal pursuits. 

I could hear the Robin singing his heart out, but couldn't see him.....you've got to love nature's way of  hiding in plain sight.