RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2017 - Day 2

On Saturday I took part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch in Dan's garden. Seeing the RSPB added an extra day this year I decided to do another bird count today at my mum's house.

The weather wasn't great - cloudy, cold and showery. This didn't stop the birds coming though. This is what I saw...

Plenty of Starlings

How can you not like this bird with it's stunning colours?

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2017- Day 1

This weekend Dan and I took part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. We equipped ourselves with cups of tea, cameras and a notepad, and watched events from our vantage point in the conservatory.

We started our one hour birdwatch at 10.30am. This is what we saw...

One of the bird treats was this cute heart I found...unfortunately it was overlooked and lately ungratefully knocked on the floor uneaten!

Our vantage point for one hour, equipped with pen, paper and more importantly cups of tea ;)

One of our first visitors - Jackdaw

A day out at The National Botanic Gardens of Wales

Date:  28 January 2017
Location:  The National Botanic Gardens of Wales, Middleton Hall, Llanarthne, SA32 8HN

After our bird count on Saturday we decided to venture to The National Botanic Gardens of Wales. The weather was pleasant, a little cloudy, but nice nevertheless. Throughout weekends in January, entry to the gardens was only £3 per person, so brilliant value for money!

The iconic glasshouse of The National Botanic Gardens

Armed with a bag of bird seed (bought at the reception) we went looking for wildlife! Our first stop was the nature reserve and was greeted by several Chaffinches. A inquisitive robin started following us around and almost took seed out of my hand. We also saw some wrens and blackbirds too.

A very friendly robin

The wildlife on Neath Canal

Date:  25 January 2017
Location:  Neath Canal (Neath to Briton Ferry)

I had an appointment in Neath and seeing the weather had been forecast to be nice I decided to walk home along Neath Canal. Luckily I had my camera with me and managed to discover quite a bit of wildlife on the way (incuding two new birds for me #My200BirdYear - A Mistle Thrush and Greenfinch).

The sun shining through the trees onto the canal

A friendly robin

A nice surprise to see a Mistle Thrush in one of the opposite fields

Waxwings at The Range, Swansea

I had a tip off that there were about 30 waxwings near The Range, Winch Wen, Swansea. I have never seen one before so off we set this morning to see if we could get lucky.

It's been a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. When we arrived at The Range carpark we could see a group of people with binoculars instead of shopping bags, we followed them to some nearby trees and there they were...about 15 beautiful waxwing sitting in one tree. I noticed there were some more in a nearby berry bush.

What a find and what a stunning bird, I hope the rest of 2017 will be this easy to spot rare birds, but I very much doubt it. This is now #42 bird for #My200BirdYear - you can see how I am doing here.

Here are some of the pics...

Waxwing on berry tree

Waxwing scoffing the berries

My 200 Bird Year Challenge!

Happy new year everyone :)

New year, new challenge and what better way to start than taking part in the Bird Watching Magazine challenge - #My200BirdYear. It encourages you to see 200 species in the course of 2018. This is a brief idea of what the challenge entails: 

"They can be anything from the birds you see on your back garden feeders, to seabirds passing offshore as you relax on the beach. There are no restrictions on where you do your birdwatching, and you won’t have to wait for your ticks to be approved by a committee – it’s all about enjoying new birds, and learning more about the wildlife all around us."

I am going to keep updating my page - you can find it above under My 200 Bird Year 2018.

#My200BirdYear http://www.birdwatching.co.uk/my200