RSPB Garden Bird Watch Results

We completed the RSPB garden bird watch this weekend, so thought we'd share with you our results. Seen in our Greenham, Berkshire garden over the course of an hour from 08:15 - 09:15 yesterday (26th January) were the following:

A Male Bullfinch was one of the birds recorded:

Species	Count
Bullfinch	2 (male + female)
Nuthatch	2 (breeding pair?)
Blue Tit	4
Great Tit	2
Robin	2
Coal Tit	1
Magpie	1
Woodpigeon	1
Collared Dove	2
Dunnock	1
Blackbird	1

Our other regular birds, the Marsh Tit and Great Spotted Woodpecker did not show during the garden bird watch.

Pallas's Warbler in Berkshire

We re-visited Moor Green Lakes near Finchhampstead in Berkshire today and managed to get some better pictures of the Pallas's Warbler. This rare UK visitor can been seen along the banks of the River Blackwater just past the conveyor belt of the new workings. Be sure to take a sturdy pair of wellies (it's extremely muddy) and follow the birders to see it!

As is normal in January - light levels were challenging for photography, despite the welcome sunshine today, so many of these pictures are taken at ISO1600 speeds with our Canon 500D body and Canon 100-400mm EF IS telephoto lens at F6.3. We try not to use F5.6 on this lens as wide-open it produces noticeably soft images. F6.3 (or F7.1 if light permits) produce sharper images with the Canon 100-400mm push-pull zoom lens, but higher ISO settings are needed to compensate, so there are drawbacks.

Pallas's Warbler Pictures

Pallas's Warbler at Moor Green Lakes - Short HD Video

Goldcrest sightings

If you have never seen a Goldcrest, then you have missed one of the UK's smallest and undoubtedly prettiest birds. Fast moving and very hard to photograph, these birds dart about all over the place - often in a frenzied manner.

Moor Green Lakes, near Finchampstead, Berkshire is an awesome place to spot these birds as they flit along the banks of the Blackwater River, in and out of bushes - feeding on insects. I would estimate that there are currently several hundred Goldcrests present in this area and the males can be seen raising their crests showing iridescent orange (pictured right). Quite a sight!

Pallas's Warbler

Today was a very cold day for birdwatching, but Steve was rewarded with good sightings of the Pallas's Warbler at Moor Green Lakes, near Finchampstead. It's a very rare bird in the UK and only an occasional visitor to western Europe.

The Pallas's Warbler breeds in southern Siberia and normally winters in subtropical southern China, so this bird is a long way from its normal winter territory!

The pictures aren't great as it was yet another dull grey day with very low light levels. This meant ISO1600 was used - so images were grainy as a result. Add to this the fact that the bird is small (about the size of a Goldcrest) and extremely fast moving - so photographic opportunities are brief!

To spot the Pallas's Leaf Warbler look out along the banks of the Blackwater River and watch out for the groups of Long Tail Tits and Goldcrests moving up and down the river. With a good pair of binoculars, the Pallas's Warbler can be spotted amongst them, and by all accounts has been around for several weeks, so seems quite content in its new Berkshire river-bank home. If in doubt, follow the group of birding enthusiasts who brave all weathers for a glimpse of the bird!

Male Bullfinch finds sanctuary

Steve managed to get this really nice picture of a male Bullfinch as it sat posing at the top of one of our garden bushes this lunchtime. It has become a regular visitor over recent days, no doubt because we have a wide variety of tempting snacks on display in our garden bird sanctuary!

The more aggressive female Bullfinch decided not to join him. Maybe too busy attacking some birds in another garden. She likes other birds to know who's boss :)

Pair of Bullfinches squabble

Very early this morning this pair of Bullfinches arrived on our seed tray, which contained broken up Suet Balls and sunflower hearts. Amusingly, the female didn't seem to want to share breakfast with the male, so she lunged at him. The male Bullfinch then decided to come back on his own five minutes later to complete his breakfast, without his aggressive female companion! Unfortunately, very low light levels means this short video is quite dark - it was taken at around 8:20am today - when it was barely light!

Marsh Tit sighting

The cold weather and lying snow (we have about four inches) has resulted in several rare garden birds making regular appearances today. This Marsh Tit (HD video below), was seen regularly on the sunflower feeder - which I have to say is a magnet for birds at any time of the year, but particularly when food becomes scarce.



These Marsh Tit pictures were taken under the low-light conditions that often prevail in January in the UK, so they are not great quality: