Many of us have probably spent more time in our houses and gardens since March 2020 than ever before. It’s been a year apart, a time for weeding and planting, painting and tidying.
For many it has also been a time for taking more notice of the natural world around us. Many report that they’ve never seen so many birds and heard so much birdsong. “Are birds singing louder this year?” has been a frequent question. For some this is a first, taking time to watch a sparrow taking a bath in an upturned bin lid – watching a thrush feeding its chicks under a hedge; or developing a really close personal relationship with a robin “ who would almost eat out of your hand”. For others, it’s just more time to spend doing what they enjoy most – watching and appreciating the natural world around them.
Then there’s that day when you spot something – a bird, a butterfly, a bee or an insect you can’t put a name on. Out comes the camera phone – zoom in – a couple of clicks and you’ve got the evidence. With a bit of luck there’s someone in your neighbourhood who’s good at that sort of thing and can tell you that it’s a Goldfinch, a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly, a White tailed Bumblebee or whatever. Sometimes that’s enough to get you hooked. It might be a Dawn Chorus walk or the gift of a book on Irish Wildlife that does the trick. You can now sort out a Great Tit from a Blue Tit or a Peacock butterfly from a Red Admiral. With the help of a book on Irish Garden Birds you can just enjoy learning to recognise more species.
You may find yourself keeping a little list, a record of the visitors to your garden. You might decide to take it one step further. Each December, Birdwatch Ireland launches its Garden Bird Survey – and each year more and more people of all ages keep a checklist of the different species of birds they see weekly over the winter to the end of February.
Sitting by the kitchen window, with a bird table and a couple of feeders outside, you’ll probably tick off the usual suspects by elevenses on Monday morning. Yes – Robin first up, followed by a few House Sparrows scattered suddenly by the first troop of noisy Starlings of the day. Then after a lull, a Blackbird warily approaches that over ripe apple you left out - a pair of nervous Collared Doves hoover up some seeds from the bird table. Then the Jackdaws move in for a bit of old fashioned mayhem. And on it goes – tick – tick – tick.
Then on a particularly cold January morning your eye is attracted to what looks at first glance like a Greenfinch – except it’s too small - and the top of its head is black – and it hangs upside down like an acrobat. After a bit of furious page turning – Bingo – there it is. You’ve just seen your very first Siskin possibly a winter visitor from Northern Europe. One for the record!
