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Sunday, 13 April 2008

Garden Blues from the Big Garden Birdwatch

Over the weekend of 26 & 27 January, almost 7,000 people in Staffordshire helped the RSPB survey the birds in their garden as part of the annual Big Garden Birdwatch.

The results reveal that house sparrows were top of the garden bird league table in Staffordshire, with starlings and blackbirds as the runners-up.

Numbers of Blue Tits visiting gardens were significantly reduced, with the Staffordshire average falling from 2.9 in 2007 to 2.5 this year. The very wet weather last year meant that Blue Tits, who normally only have one brood per year, experienced their worst breeding season ever.

However, not all garden birds had the winter blues. The survey also showed that four colourful species of finches are increasingly visiting our gardens. Siskins, bullfinches, redpolls and goldfinches were all more common in the region's gardens.

For more information, visit the main RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch website.