Last weekend was the Big Garden Birdwatch, during which I watched birds for the three days. I didn't see many birds for the first two days. However, on the last day, a large flock of birds arrived in my garden.
The best thing about bird watching is that you never know what you might see.
I also managed to convince my youngest to count birds. We both sat down in the room in front of our glass doors to the garden and were ready for a great bird count.
I had prepared well in advance for this day and tried to lure the birds to my garden by hanging coconut feeders on all the trees in both the front garden and at the back garden.
My garden has a lot of small trees and shrubs. Most are deciduous trees and some are evergreens or hedges. They provide excellent natural shelter, a source of food and habitat for the birds not only in the winter time. Many of the birds come back each year to those hedges and shrubs. This winter they often flew into the garden, especially when I put food out for them.
On that day, the birds were not interested in the food in front garden, because of the cars and people passing by. We rubbed our eyes in surprise on the back garden, because of so many birds were flying that we couldn't keep up with counting.
The birds flew from one tree to another, attracted by the scent of the feeders, which were filled with sunflower seeds, meal worms and fat.
I was impressed by a large group of starlings energetically flying down from the fence to the ground, and then sat on the branches of trees equipped with feeders.
I have noticed that starlings are smaller than blackbirds, and have glossy purple-green feathers. I could watch how the magpie with its long, massive beak and a long and wedge-shaped tail, amusedly was obsering at the starlings that were sitting on the trees in groups. The variety of these birds was fascinating. Observing them very closely allowed me to see their shapes, colors and the way they move.
My youngest enthusiastically peeked through the binoculars when she get outside and happily told me how many birds she had seen. Every time she started counting them, the birds suddenly were coming and flying away.
Even though the birds were within arm's reach, I wanted to focus on bird watching rather than setting up the camera and that's why I don't have any photo from that day. This time I didn't take a single picture, but I have wonderful memories of watching those birds. I could also relax and enjoy nature at that moment.
We counted together 43 starlings, one magpie and a blackbird in three days. There were also pigeons, all of them showed up.
The next day, early in the morning, we were woken up by the wonderful singing of a starling sitting on the edge of the neighbor's housetop, just as it is in the spring time. The whole day was sunny and cloudless, even though it's still winter. Maybe this starling predicted a great weather on that day, who knows.
It's very rare to hear a singer like that in my area because is not as much trees where I live. The last time I listened to such a beautiful concert was a few seasons ago. I even have a recording from that time. Some even say that starlings are very noisy, but I wish to have such noisy neighbors all the time.
Birds are cute creatures and I could watch them for hours. I always feel relaxed and happy, when can spent my time for birds watching. It is also great fun for the whole family. Every time, our family go to the the park, forest or garden, we like to watch and recognize birds. Even looking out the window into the garden, I always wait for birds to arrive and I like to watch them for a long time. Birdwatching, as you can see, does not always have to be associated with a special day in the calendar, and ''Big Garden Birdwatch'' does not have to be on our calendar only once a year.
Try to look around wherever you are and spot a birds which are so precious, fascinating and beautiful creatures.