BWI Garden Bird Survey 2012/13 - Begins December 3rd

whyulittle

Our most popular survey, the Garden Bird Survey (GBS) helps us to keep track of the fortunes of Ireland’s garden birds. It attracts over 1,000 submissions each year. As the Irish countryside changes, gardens are becoming increasingly important havens for many species, and it is vital for us to know how their populations are faring. The GBS does this not only by giving us a good idea of how our garden birds themselves are doing, but also an indication of how the environment is faring in general.

Garden birds are among our most familiar and easily observed bird species, are easily attracted to feeders and bird tables, and can be watched from the comfort of our own homes.


The way the survey works is very straightforward...

Between December and February each year, we ask members of the public to keep note of the highest number of each bird species visiting their garden every week. We also ask for information on the size of the garden being surveyed, the kinds of food, if any, being offered to the birds, and so on. Taking part is fun, easy and an ideal way to get to know your garden birds better; it also makes an ideal school project.

See full details at BirdwatchIreland.ie.

Kess73

Ahh another set of months of watching ever little move in my garden.

whyulittle

First few Goldfinch in today, and I haven't even put the nyjer out yet.

Mabel

Brilliant thanks for the reminder! I missed it when I was living away from Dub and had no garden!

Mickeroo

Will be hoping for a slightly wider scope of species this year as I'm living back in Achill for a while after moving home from Castlebar

Mothman

Next Monday!!

Got a robin outside my window at moment.

My bird of the last month has been Jays. Near daily sightings. They were eating Raspberries for a while, but they're finished now. I wonder will they still be around next week

Mickeroo

Is it a good idea to spread the different feeders around the garden a bit? At the moment I have them all hanging off the one tree in the centre.

Bsal

Mickeroo wrote: »

Is it a good idea to spread the different feeders around the garden a bit? At the moment I have them all hanging off the one tree in the centre.

If you have the space I think its a good idea. It gives the different species some space and reduces the likelihood of disease and infections being spread from one another.

Kess73

And so it begins.

Mickeroo

Were we meant to input data on monday gone or do we put our first data in next monday?

Mothman

Week 1 is from last monday 3rd to next sunday 9th

OpenYourEyes

Does anyone know if it creates any problems if you fill in some weeks but not others? I do the survey at my family home, but wont be here for the next week or two!

Mickeroo

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Does anyone know if it creates any problems if you fill in some weeks but not others? I do the survey at my family home, but wont be here for the next week or two!

You're allowed miss 3 weeks afaik.

breghall

First time doing this and am wanting to do this right.. Can anyone point me in the direction of a site where i can get pictures of all birds mentioned in the list?
I was on the birdwatch ireland site but I have a visitor that i can't see in there and want to definetely ID it.
I am loving this by the way and I should have done it years ago

OpenYourEyes

breghall wrote: »

First time doing this and am wanting to do this right.. Can anyone point me in the direction of a site where i can get pictures of all birds mentioned in the list?
I was on the birdwatch ireland site but I have a visitor that i can't see in there and want to definetely ID it.
I am loving this by the way and I should have done it years ago

The birdwatch ireland and RSPB websites should be pretty useful for trying to ID birds, but maybe if you want to describe it here we might be able to help?

Mickeroo

Also if you have a smart phone there's some really good apps you can get. I have one called birds of Britain, only cost 89 cents. Has pictures and also plays the bird calls, very handy. You can use to keep record of what species you've seen too.

breghall

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

The birdwatch ireland and RSPB websites should be pretty useful for trying to ID birds, but maybe if you want to describe it here we might be able to help?

I'm nearly positive it's some sort of finch judging by the beak and that a Grrenfinch is here too. Maybe it's a different sex? it's mainly a light brown with a yellow/green stripe running down it's front.

breghall

Mickeroo wrote: »

Also if you have a smart phone there's some really good apps you can get. I have one called birds of Britain, only cost 89 cents. Has pictures and also plays the bird calls, very handy. You can use to keep record of what species you've seen too.

i'll get that , thanks Mickaroo.

whyulittle

Just had my first two Redpoll of the season in.

TURRICAN

Hi all. First time posting here.
The survey is a great idea.
At the moment in my garden I have about 4-5 coal tits/great tits/blue tits(not sure which)
House martins galore.
First robin at the window yesterday and first goldfinch on his own ,eating nuts.
I have nyger seed out now but haven't seen him today.
Starlings,crows, and 2 pied wagtails.

Mothman

TURRICAN wrote: »

Hi all. First time posting here.
The survey is a great idea.
At the moment in my garden I have about 4-5 coal tits/great tits/blue tits(not sure which)
House martins galore.
First robin at the window yesterday and first goldfinch on his own ,eating nuts.
I have nyger seed out now but haven't seen him today.
Starlings,crows, and 2 pied wagtails.

Brilliant,
but won't be House Martins.
Perhaps you meant House Sparrows?

Mothman

breghall wrote: »

First time doing this and am wanting to do this right.. Can anyone point me in the direction of a site where i can get pictures of all birds mentioned in the list?
I was on the birdwatch ireland site but I have a visitor that i can't see in there and want to definetely ID it.
I am loving this by the way and I should have done it years ago

You log all birds seen in the garden.
If its not on list, then enter the species in the blank rows at bottom.

Flyovers are not logged apart from Raptors (Bird of Prey)

TURRICAN

Mothman wrote: »

Brilliant,
but won't be House Martins.
Perhaps you meant House Sparrows?

Sorry yeah,sparrows.
I only relearning all the names.as a child I could tell you any one of their names.

Really nice to see them all.

mikka631

Most days I see the following around an Apple tree where I put up feeders. I also spread seed and mealworms on the ground and leave windfall apples.

Coal Tits 4-5 at a time
Blue Tits
Great Tits
Greenfinches
Goldfinches
Chaffinches
Dunnock only ever see one
House Sparrows
Collared Doves
Starlings, lots and lots as soon as the feeders are filled real bully boys
Jackdaws, they have the knack to knock down the peanut feeder and get the lid off
Robin, just the one I think, very territorial
Blackbirds, one male is very territorial, wont abide other blackbirds or Thrushes
Meadow Pippit, just the one
Thrushes
Magpies
Pied Wagtails

whyulittle

There is 25% off all bird food at B&Q at the minute.

A 12.75kg bag of peanuts goes from €28 to €21 - the best I could find anywhere last year for that size bag was in the region of €20-€25.

A tub of 50 fat balls is down to €6.70 after discount.

Bsal

I had 1 Eastern Jackdaw visiting the garden today, he came in 3-4 times. Sadly there's no entry in the survey for him/her. The silver collar is quite prominent on the neck and very easy to identify them from the normal Jackdaw.

mitosis

Two long tailed tits this morning. Haven't seen one in several years. Four waxwings yesterday.

TURRICAN

Quick question about the survey page.
Every time I go back to the page I have to go thru a few pages before I come to the spread sheet.
Also I input the birds as I see them but when I go back to the page my submissions have gone.

Is there a way to just load the page and input as you see them or correct them if you've seen more of a certain species?

Mothman

Yes a bit of a pain to go through about 6 pages before getting to the form.
To save the data, submit results needs to be clicked. I've just checked mine and last weeks entries are still there.

I've just entered 11! magpies for this week. Something was aggravating them as well as Hooded Crow and a Jay. Didn't see the culprit which may have been a cat or something that might take an interest in the hens!

Mickeroo

Bsal wrote: »

I had 1 Eastern Jackdaw visiting the garden today, he came in 3-4 times. Sadly there's no entry in the survey for him/her. The silver collar is quite prominent on the neck and very easy to identify them from the normal Jackdaw.

I'm pretty sure there's a way to add species to your list. There is a drop down box at the top of the spread sheet, but I couldn't get it to work for me.

TURRICAN

Mothman wrote: »

Yes a bit of a pain to go through about 6 pages before getting to the form.
To save the data, submit results needs to be clicked. I've just checked mine and last weeks entries are still there.

I've just entered 11! magpies for this week. Something was aggravating them as well as Hooded Crow and a Jay. Didn't see the culprit which may have been a cat or something that might take an interest in the hens!

So can you submit daily? For the same week beginning like.

Bsal

Mickeroo wrote: »

I'm pretty sure there's a way to add species to your list. There is a drop down box at the top of the spread sheet, but I couldn't get it to work for me.

Yeah I tried that too, didn't work for me either. I'am just going to count it as a Jackdaw.

richiek67

Think I'll start this ....Do sparrows count ?

V Bull

richiek67 wrote: »

Think I'll start this ....Do sparrows count ?

Do... and yes, there is a section for House Sparrows or if you are lucky to have Tree Sparrows, tick them off too..

whyulittle

Had a quick look at the feeders this morning, and my male Blackcap was back!

whyulittle

I spotted my first ever Brambling this afternoon, and in the garden as well!

Bsal

I had my first blackcap of the winter in the garden today, a male and a rare garden bird for me a Pied Wagtail. The last time one was in the garden was the harsh winter of 2009 or 2010.

OpenYourEyes

That reminds me, the BTO have a Blackcap survey on their website that some people might be interested in filling out! You just keep an eye out for one single day and record what you saw, and answer a handful of questions about what food is in your garden and if there was any aggressive/competitive interactions with any other birds that you noticed

Quick and easy, and might lead to some useful findings!

http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw/about/background/projects/garden_blackcap_survey

Half-cocked

Just added a new species to my garden list - Common Gull. Put some meat scraps on the bird table and it dropped in among a flock of Black-headed Gulls.

richiek67

Saw 2 male Siskins on the nuts on the tree this morning, Celbridge. Was not sure
at first what they were till I got my trusty bird book out...

Bsal

I had 2 Siskins in the garden today, thats a first for me

muckyhands

I think I already know the answer but just in case, is it worth anything to the survey if you only have the last month or so records for this?

There are robins, blue tits, great tits, chaffinches, blackbirds, pigeons, collared doves and gold finches in the garden, that I have seen over the past while, but I havent been filling out the forms and I can only realistically remember the past month or so's visitors with certainty.

Coud I still partake in it, does anyone know?

Thanks.

whyulittle

For the survey purposes, you can only miss three weeks.

That said, I'm sure they wouldn't turn down data. Send them an email or mention it on Facebook.

You can also take part in the BTO's BirdTrack. With BirdTrack, you can set up defined sites like your garden, but also send in casual records when you are out and about. You can submit your records by PC or mobile app. The data is shared with BWI.

richiek67

I had a group of Siskins too. Still here eating the nuts, aggressive little feckers too
Also had a bunch of 6 long tailed tits all on the feeder at once. I know these are fairly social birds but manners please ...lol

whyulittle

Sparrowhawk in the garden again today.

Also 3 Blackcaps including 2 females for the first time, and I think there may even have been a 3rd.

Bsal

I had my first Yellowhammer in the garden this morning since winter/spring last year. There a bit late this year. I usually have up to 7 in the garden for the last 3 winters.

whyulittle

I know it would be hard to beat that Amazon deal I posted last week, but Dealz have 100g bags of mealworms for €1.49 at the minute.

whyulittle

I had a single pair of Long-tailed Tits at the suet feeder today, don't think I've ever seen them outside of a ~10 flock.

bogtreader

Heard a woodpecker drumming today did not see it though

whyulittle

Watching the female Blackcap lately, she is like a little terrier! The poor quiet male doesn't get a minutes peace when she is about, but she chases about everything else as well.

whyulittle

Single Brambling back in the garden today for the first time in a few weeks.

The pair of LTTs were in again, and the Blackcaps have switched from 2 females and 1 male, to 2 males and 1 female.

Also 2 Greenfinch in which have been pretty scarce this winter.