As usual, some of the star birds we’d hoped for, such as the great-spotted woodpecker and the sparrowhawk, didn’t put in an appearance as we completed this year’s hour of observation for the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch.
All but three of the eleven species that we recorded visited the bird feeders, currently stocked with peanuts, sunflower hearts and Peckish bird seed. A cock pheasant and a blackbird foraged down the garden while a dunnock hopped about at the foot of the hedge.
Around 50 wood pigeons suddenly flew up from the wood, perhaps disturbed by a sparrowhawk, but not one of them visited the garden.