Wildlife Explorers and their families braved a bitter cold morning and rain showers to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch event at Pikelow Farm.

Amazingly the rain eased off and conditions were fair for almost the entire hour of the survey.
(Probably the only dry hour of the weekend!).

David Tolliday gave a quick introduction to the garden birds we would be most likely to see and their songs. (Everyone will remember the Collared Dove's call: "United"!)

David Taylor lead our birdwatching walk, giving a fascinating insight into how Pikelow Farm has been developed as a haven for wild birds and wildlife photogaphers alike!  An incredible mix of habitats and well-stocked bird feeders meant that the bird list for just one hour was made up of 30 different species.

Species list and count

Focusing the telescope.                  Counting Tree Sparrows.         Confirming our observations.

The resident pair of Mute Swans.

Mammal list and count
Field mouse, Field vole, Hare,
Shrew and Mr Taylor's Dog!

Tina's amazing photo of a shrew.
(We don't know who was most surprised!)

Big Garden Birdwatch has now been running for over 30 years and in that time more than three million Big Garden Birdwatch hours have been clocked up. The survey makes a major contribution to tracking garden bird numbers over the winter.

Visit The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch website for more information and to submit your results online.