world's biggest bird watch

This weekend we spent hours counting birds for RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). Just because we don't have a British postcode, it doesn't mean we can't participate!  The birds flying over the channel don't read postal codes!  It's possible that birds overwintering in our garden could end up breeding in Britain, like this beautiful hawfinch (appelvink), for instance.  Or the bullfinch couple (goudvink) that's been taking advantage of our easy pickins' all winter .....

PLUS, the kids LOVE it, and they bond with mummy for an hour while drinking a cuppa tea, which makes the whole experience doubly worthwhile.  We always see some interesting animal behaviors too ..... take for instance, the goldcrest that's taken to feeding on our suet cakes and peanut-butter pine cones!

drums rolling, the weekend tally is ......  first British bird name (then Dutch):

2 blackbird (merel)

2 bullfinch (goudvink)

3 blue tit (pimpelmees)

4 brambling (keep)

4 chaffinch (vink)

2 coal tit (zwarte mees)

1 collared dove (turkse tortel)

2 crow (kraai)

4 dunnock (heggenmus)

2 goldcrest (goudhaan)

3 great tit (koolmees)

12 greenfinch (groenling)!!!!!!!

1 hawfinch (appelvink)

1 jay (gaai)

1 long-tailed tit (staartmees)

1 magpie (ekster)

1 marsh tit (glanskop)

1 nuthatch (boomklever)

3 ringneck parakeet

(halsbandparkiet)

1 robin (roodborst)

4 wood pigeon (houtduif)

1 wren (winterkoning)

# species = 22

# individuals = 56