Birdwatched

I don’t think I’ve written two posts in such quick succession before but as my last one was about my decision to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch I thought I ought to pop back to let you know how it went. So my final tally was… *drum roll please* zero.

Nothing. Nix. Zip. Diddly. Bupkis. Niente.

As mentioned in my previous post I was prepared for a low number as I’d noticed we didn’t seem to be getting many feathered visitors lately but even so I thought at least one little sparrow might have taken a breather on our garden wall. Being a naturally sarcastic person I did of course ham up my disappointment and spend most of the hour making jokes about the birds knowing what I was doing and waiting until my alloted hour was up before all swooping down to land on our lawn. This conspiracy theory was given credence when I saw starlings landing on the roof across from us. First 1, then 2, I think it got up to 7 at one point but for most of the hour at least one of them was there to make this birdwatcher aware that she was being birdwatched.

Joking aside I was not actually as disappointed as I pretended to be. First of all when it comes to experiments like this all results, even no sightings, are still useful so it was by no means a waste of time. And while no birds actually landed in our garden, I could still hear them and spotted a few flying passed. In addition to the starlings I saw crows, pigeons, gulls and a magpie so I know there are still birds nearby.

Additionally while I may have officially only been on the lookout for birds that didn’t stop me from keeping an eye out for other visitors to our garden. And I was delighted to see foxy take a stroll across, he was sporting a slight limp but thankfully he didn’t look too bothered by it. I’m hoping this sighting means that in another month or so we will have cubs (kits?) bouncing across the lawn again.

Before I starting the ‘watch’ I did wonder that if my jokey prediction of having no birds to log turned out to be true, would I get bored? Take away the birdwatching element and you’re essentially gazing out of the window for an hour. But what’s wrong with that? It was actually rather liberating to have an hour set aside for one specific task. I was able to press pause on the life admin, those dull but necessary things we all have to do, to say no that can wait as this hour is dedicated to spending time with nature.

I’m sure some would have found it dull but I found it soothing, just keeping an eye on things and seeing what I could spot. Foxy was the highlight of course but it was still a pleasant afternoon and reminded me that while walking is still the optimal way to connect with nature, gazing out of the window is a good back-up. While I can rarely justify committing a whole hour to nature-watching, it’s good to know that if I don’t have time for a stroll I can always take a 10-minute break and simply see what’s happening (or not happening) in the garden.

The final lesson is that I really need to get a bird feeder! Our decision to take part in the birdwatch was a bit last minute so we hadn’t thought about getting together anything to entice the birds to visit. In the past they have come regardless of this but perhaps they have found another place to hang out, a place with snacks and to be fair who could blame them.

Ultimately spending more time with nature can only be a good thing, it helps to soothe us and brings us joy so whether it’s a stroll or a stare it’s important to seize any opportunities that come our way and remember to respect, protect and enjoy.

That’s how I stroll.

That was supposed to be the end of the post but after writing this I was looking out of the window as I had spotted foxy again and then look who else decided to put in an appearance – ony 24 hours late, ha ha!